Writers Circle at WordHaven BookHouse offers local writers a comfortable place to share and develop their work, receive feedback and guidance, encourage and support other writers, and discuss all aspects of the writing process. Open to all forms of writing and all experience levels. Free to attend.

Writers Circle will meet at WordHaven the first Tuesday of each month, from 6-8pm. The circle will be led by published author and award-winning book designer, Erika Block, owner of Gray House Publishing.

Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of My Sister's Keeper and Small Great Things, pens her most riveting book yet with a startling and poignant story about the devastating aftermath of a small-town tragedy.

Sterling is an ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens--until the day its complacency is shattered by a school shooting. Josie Cormier, the daughter of the judge sitting on the case, should be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened before her very own eyes--or can she? As the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show--destroying the closest of friendships and families. Nineteen Minutes asks what it means to be different in our society, who has the right to judge someone else, and whether anyone is ever really who they seem to be.

Katrina Serwe, PhD, worked as a therapist, professor, and researcher in the field of occupational therapy for over two decades. She started poemwalking (a made-up hobby that is exactly what it sounds like) after a delightful midlife crisis and wrote two related books of poetry. First Steps (Brain Mill Press, 2025) won the Brain Mill Press + Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Chapbook Contest. A Thousand Miles of Poetry: Poemwalking Wisconsin’s Ice Age National Scenic Trail will be released April 2026 with WWA Press. You can follow her journey at www.katrinaserwe.com.

Town & Country's Must Read Books of Winter 2026 | Most Anticipated in Autostraddle, Literary Hub, and Debutiful | Book Riot's Best Queer Books of January 2026

A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel.

Sam, finally sober and stable with a cat and a long-term boyfriend in Brooklyn, returns alone to Hemlock, her family’s deteriorating cabin deep in the Wisconsin Northwoods. But a quick, practical trip takes a turn for the worse when the rot and creak of the forest starts to creep in around the edges of Sam’s mind. It starts, as it always does, with a beer.

As Sam dips back into the murky waters of dependency, the inexplicable begins to arrive at her door and her body takes on a strange new shape. As the borders of reality begin to blur, she senses she is battling something sinister—whether nested in the woods or within herself. 

Hemlock is a carnal coming-of-addiction, a dark sparkler about rapture, desire, transformation, and transcendence in many forms. What lives at the heart of fear—animal, monster, or man? How can we reject our own inheritance, the psychic storm that’s been coming for generations, and rebuild a new home for ourselves? In the tradition of Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, Hemlock is a butch Black Swan and a novel of singular style, with all the edginess of a survival story and a simmering menace that glints from the very periphery of the page.

Practice reading and using tarot spreads! You may bring your own decks and books. If you don’t have a deck to use, one can be provided.

Hosted by Amanda Bergemann from COLORFLOW

Writers Circle at WordHaven BookHouse offers local writers a comfortable place to share and develop their work, receive feedback and guidance, encourage and support other writers, and discuss all aspects of the writing process. Open to all forms of writing and all experience levels. Free to attend.

Writers Circle will meet at WordHaven the first Tuesday of each month, from 6-8pm. The circle will be led by published author and award-winning book designer, Erika Block, owner of Gray House Publishing.

What if everything you set yourself up to be was wrong?

Frances has always been a study machine with one goal: elite university. Nothing will stand in her way. Not friends, not a guilty secret—not even the person she is on the inside.

But when Frances meets Aled, the shy genius behind her favorite podcast, she discovers a new freedom. He unlocks the door to Real Frances and for the first time she experiences true friendship, unafraid to be herself. Then the podcast goes viral and the fragile trust between them is broken.

Caught between who she was and who she longs to be, Frances’s dreams come crashing down. Suffocating with guilt, she knows that she has to confront her past…

She has to confess why Carys disappeared…

Meanwhile at university, Aled is alone, fighting even darker secrets.

It’s only by facing up to your fears that you can overcome them. And it’s only by being your true self that you can find happiness.

Frances is going to need every bit of courage she has.

A coming-of-age read that tackles issues of identity, the pressure to succeed, diversity, and freedom to choose, Radio Silence is a tour de force by the most exciting writer of her generation.

"Extraordinary. Books like this are why I love reading. This novel about marriage and friendship and life and dying is a marvel." —Elin Hilderbrand

“Profound and moving and real.”—Andrew Sean Greer

“Some Bright Nowhere is a novel that draws you in deeply and holds you there. Wonderful.”—Meg Wolitzer

The bestselling, beloved author returns with her first novel in over a decade, an intimate and profoundly moving look at a long marriage and the ways in which a startling request can change a couple’s understanding of who they are, together and apart.

Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable.

Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has willingly—lovingly—shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered.
What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days.

Ann Packer makes a triumphant return with this powerful novel that is tender and raw, visceral and unexpected. Emotionally vibrant and complex, Some Bright Nowhere explores the profound gifts and unexpected costs of truly loving someone, and the fears and desires we experience as the end of life draws near.

Subzero Quest: Legends Awaken 

The world is buried in ice, but for Hannah Anderson, survival means more than braving frozen Chicago—it means finding a way to save her family. When she learns of the Virtual Deck, a groundbreaking tournament where ten thousand players will compete for a prize beyond imagining—life in the sun-lit Equatorial Zone—Hannah seizes her only chance. But the deeper she’s drawn into the brutal contest, the higher the cost becomes. Subzero Quest: Book One blends desperate scavenging, fierce competition, and the fragile hope of escape into a relentless sci-fi adventure where every choice could tip the balance between survival and ruin.

Writers Circle at WordHaven BookHouse offers local writers a comfortable place to share and develop their work, receive feedback and guidance, encourage and support other writers, and discuss all aspects of the writing process. Open to all forms of writing and all experience levels. Free to attend.

Writers Circle will meet at WordHaven the first Tuesday of each month, from 6-8pm. The circle will be led by published author and award-winning book designer, Erika Block, owner of Gray House Publishing.

Poetry pushes readers to pause for a closer look at life. It is an invitation to encounter the ordinary and extraordinary with wonder, awe, and sometimes even a little humorous irreverence. The poems in this debut collection by Scott McConnaha do just that. Whether it be the celebration of simple pleasures, the crimes of childhood, longing for change, living through loss, or even challenging the faith that seemed so certain just a short time ago, McConnaha’s poignantly gripping poems call us to be fully attentive to all that life brings and to accept that some questions may never be answered.

Scott McConnaha’s poems are reflective of the many directions life has taken him. Now living in Wisconsin, he grew up on the Great Plains of Nebraska, served as a U.S. Army infantryman, studied in the seminary, taught high school English and Spanish, was a reporter and editor, healthcare mission leader, and ultimately became the CEO of a health system overseeing hospitals and nursing homes. He and his wife, Colleen, have four children and two grandchildren. His articles, essays, and poems have appeared in numerous publications.

The 1619 Project’s lyrical picture book in verse chronicles the consequences of slavery and the history of Black resistance in the United States, thoughtfully rendered by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones and Newbery honor-winning author Renée Watson.


A young student receives a family tree assignment in school, but she can only trace back three generations. Grandma gathers the whole family, and the student learns that 400 years ago, in 1619, their ancestors were stolen and brought to America by white slave traders.
But before that, they had a home, a land, a language. She learns how the people said to be born on the water survived.

 
And the people planted dreams and hope,
willed themselves to keep
living, living.
 
And the people learned new words
for love
for friend
for family

for joy
for grow
for home.
 
With powerful verse and striking illustrations by Nikkolas Smith, Born on the Water provides a pathway for readers of all ages to reflect on the origins of American identity.

I am facilitating an end of the year/beginning of the next year reflective journaling class so we can take a moment to sit with what we learned last year, what we are ready to let go of, and what we are hoping for in 2026. This is a free class and you can just show up if you want to join us!

From the award-winning author of Herc, an enrapturing feminist tale that brilliantly reimagines the story of Aphrodite and how she transformed herself from a lowly outsider to the darling goddess of love, for readers of Madeline Miller and Jennifer Saint.

Aphrodite saw the gods on Mount Olympus and decided she wanted a piece of what they had. Only problem is, she’s not a goddess, just a lowly being who's supposed to remain in a distant cave, keeping the threads of Fate woven neatly. But Aphrodite’s never let anyone tell her what to do…

Weaving herself a web of lies and careful deceptions, she convinces everyone she’s the goddess of love and that her rightful place is among the Olympians, who lord it over everyone else at the top of the world, but under the stifling rule of Zeus. For the first time, she has the best of everything, as well as friends, peers, even loved ones. Only, being a goddess isn’t quite like she thought. Those who oppose Zeus tend to disappear, or worse. And one day, Aphrodite decides she’s had enough…death of her…

Christina Wilke-Burbach, PhD, is a Spiritual/Transpersonal Psychologist, Anthropologist, Death Witch, Death Doula, Deathwalker, Psychopomp, Psychic, Poisoner, Occultist, Cemeterian, and works full-time in the Deathcare Industry. She is a High Priestess with The New York City Wiccan Family Temple, an ordained minister, and a Reiki Master Teacher.

Her specialty is working with the dead. She works exclusively with chthonic and Underworld Deities. Her ministry and craft focus on death and dying, guiding souls to the otherworld, facilitating communication and messages between the dead and the living as a medium, leading seances, paranormal investigations and clearings, facilitating death rites and funerals, helping people with their death wishes and death plans, placing the dead in their final resting space, writing obituaries, funeral flower arrangements and designing gardens for the dead.

I’m Sarah Torfin, a transplant from the heart of central Appalachia. Although my profession is geology, my heart is deeply rooted in music. I was classically trained on violin using the Suzuki Teaching Method, where I was taught to trust my ear for music before I learned how to ever read a page of sheet music. I have always found peace in being able to convey the emotions of a piece of music on my violin (or fiddle), and occasionally add a little Appalachian twang when it feels as though a piece needs it! Through my music, I hope to bring everyone a sliver of peace that I always had growing up in the Shenandoah and New River Valleys.

https://torfinviolin.godaddysites.com

G. Anthony is a healing writer, author of Nobody’s Words, and poet whose work opens space for truth and transformation. As a healing guide, he leads workshops, books, and retreats that explore the intersection of creativity and emotion, where writing becomes a bridge between our inner wounds and wholeness.

Writers Circle at WordHaven BookHouse offers local writers a comfortable place to share and develop their work, receive feedback and guidance, encourage and support other writers, and discuss all aspects of the writing process. Open to all forms of writing and all experience levels. Free to attend.

Writers Circle will meet at WordHaven the first Tuesday of each month, from 6-8pm. The circle will be led by published author and award-winning book designer, Erika Block, owner of Gray House Publishing.