BookSwell

Self-care is a radical act.The ARC - Respite Deck, West Hollywood Aquatic and Recreation Center (ARC), 8750 El Tovar Place, West Hollywood, CA 90069Celebrate National Poetry Month and lounge with a poet at the City’s 2nd annual Poetry Spa Day!This is an in-person event that will refresh and renew your soul through creative intersections with poetry, poets, and poetic “treatments.”Join the fun and relaxation at the Respite Deck of the City of West Hollywood’s Aquatic and Recreation Center at West Hollywood Park. From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., explore poetry at “spa stations” such as Feng Shui Poetry, Poemaroma (essential oils), Lotus Poetry (origami), and other poetic experiences. At 7:30 p.m., gather at the steps to hear all the poets share their words.Poetry Spa is a concept created by Brian Sonia-Wallace during his term as 2020-23 West Hollywood City Poet Laureate. This year’s event is curated by current West Hollywood City Poet Laureate Jen Cheng, and the spa stations and poets include:Terry Wolverton, author of eleven books, including her latest, Season of Eclipse, hosts the Poemaroma spa station.A. K. Toney is a griot, writer, musician, and educator who hosts the Listening Libations spa station where attendees get to mix poetry Read More ...

Do you like K-pop? Do you like reading? Join author Christine Ma-Kellams reading/signing for her new book The Band @Barnes & Noble TorranceJoin us for the Book Launch for The Band!Do you like K-pop? Do you like reading? Well if the answer to those questions were yes, get excited, Barnes & Noble Torrance is hosting debut author Christine Ma-Kellams to speak about her new book The Band. A book that is whip smart and darkly funny, follows a psychologist with a savior complex, who offers shelter to a recently cancelled K-Pop idol on the run.Join us Friday, April 19th at 6:00pm to have a discussion and signing with free book swag. More details & RSVP on Barnes & Noble Torrance website: https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/9780062166408-0

We are excited to welcome Piper Huguley to the Ontario City Library! This is a free event however you will need to reserve a seat.Piper G. Huguley’s biographical historical fiction, By Her Own Design: a novel of Ann Lowe, Fashion Designer to the Social Register (William Morrow Publishing) tells the inspiring story of the Black fashion designer of Jackie Kennedy’s wedding dress. By Her Own Design was a Booklist top 100 Editor’s Choice selection for 2022 and was named one of the top 100 books of 2022 in Canada by the Globe and Mail newspaper.Her next historical fiction book, American Daughters (April 2024), is the story of the decades-long interracial friendship between Alice Roosevelt and Portia Washington, the rebel teenage daughters of President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington, respectively. She is a literature professor at Clark-Atlanta University and blogs about the history behind her novels at http://piperhuguley.com . She lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and son.Piper's books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.Current Friends of Ontario City Library members are able to have early access to this event beginning at 6:00 pm. You can meet the author before the event begins and have Read More ...