Coronado Times

Coronado Legends: Ghost Stories and Local Lore book launch
2026-05-14 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
What secrets linger beneath Coronado’s sunny shores? Discover them at the launch of Coronado Legends, a captivating collection of local ghost stories and mysteries written by David J. Schmidt. From the haunting legend of Kate Morgan at the Hotel del Coronado to eerie tales of poltergeists, haunted hotels, and even our own haunted library, it shows a side of Coronado’s past not all might know!
The evening also includes live storytelling performances by members of Storytellers of San Diego, who will theatrically bring select tales to life, creating an immersive experience filled with intrigue, mystery, and a touch of the supernatural.
Books will be available for sale at this free event. Seating is first come, first seated.

Mystery Book Club: "The Word is Murder"
2026-05-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club meets regularly on the third Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering here. Registration is encouraged but not required.

We will be discussing The Word is Murder by Anthony Horowitz. Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here or by searching the title in Cloud Library and/or Libby.

Best of the Best Book Club: "When You Trap a Tiger" by Tae Keller
2026-05-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Best of the Best Book Club meets regularly on the fourth Wednesday of each month to discuss books that have won major awards.
For our May meeting, we will highlight AAPI stories by discussing the winner of the 2021 Newberry Medal When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller, an uplifting story that brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of stories and save her grandmother.
Place this title on hold via our online catalog, or check out the e-book through the CloudLibrary app.
About When You Trap a Tiger
Some stories refuse to stay bottled up…
When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal–return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health–Lily is tempted to agree. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice…and the courage to face a tiger.
Tae Keller, the award-winning author of The Science of Breakable Things, shares a sparkling tale about the power of stories and the magic of family.

Bridge & Bay Garden Club: Emily Dickinson's Garden with Rhianna Basore
2026-05-26 09:30 | Winn Room, Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Bridge and Bay Garden Club invites you to join them with Rhianna Basore, who will speak on Emily Dickinson, her gardens, and the legacy of her 1,800 poems, most of which were discovered after her death.

A Story of Resilience: Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration
2026-05-26 11:00 | CA
As part of the One Book, One Coast program, join us for a powerful and personal talk with Kay Ochi and Setsuo Iwashita as they share their and their families’ experience with the Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II. Their conversation will allow attendees a meaningful opportunity to reflect on a pivotal moment in history, honor lived experiences, and deepen our understanding of resilience, injustice, and community. All are welcome to attend this important and engaging conversation.
One Book, One Coast brings together library systems across California, Washington State, and Oregon for a shared community reading program that celebrates literacy, learning, community, and civil discourse. All participating libraries will read and discuss They Called Us Enemy by George Takei with physical copies of the book available to borrow and unlimited digital copies of the eBook in English and Spanish available from April 1 through June 6 on the Libby app by Overdrive.
Learn more here

"No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson" with author & journalist Gardiner Harris
2026-06-04 19:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Join the Coronado Public Library and the Harvard Club of San Diego for an author talk with journalist Gardiner Harris, discussing his acclaimed book No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson. This powerful work of investigative journalism examines the history of one of the world’s most trusted companies, uncovering decades of controversial practices and their impact on public health.
No More Tears was chosen as one of the five best in 2025 by both the National Book Critics and the LA Times. The Financial Times longlisted it as a Best Business book. It also was chosen as a best book of 2025 by the New York and Chicago Public Libraries.
Described by the Financial Times as “a savage takedown…[that] brings the receipts,” the book offers a compelling and eye-opening look at the pharmaceutical industry. This free event includes an author presentation and discussion, with time for audience Q&A.
Free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first seated.
Books will be available for presale through Bay Books. Orders must be received by May 27. Call 619-435-0070 to order. Limited copies will be available for purchase at the event.

Mystery Book Club: "The Hunter"
2026-06-08 14:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club meets regularly on the third Monday of each month. Due to scheduling issues, this month’s meeting has been moved up by one week to the second Monday in June. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering. Registration is encouraged but not required.
We will be discussing The Hunter by Richard Stark (1962). Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here.

Brains and AI: The Future of Education and Learning
2026-06-10 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
On Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30 pm, join the Coronado Public Library as we welcome UCSD’s Dr. Terrance Sejnowski who will share insights into the future impacts of AI on education and learning. Classrooms, teachers, lessons, homework, reading, writing, and arithmetic look the same today as they did when we were children, what will the future bring to education? How will artificial intelligence (AI) and personal social robots shape the next generation? This lecture is based his personal experiences with “Learning How to Learn,” a wildly popular Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), with 6 million viewers in 200 countries, his insights from how brains learn, and the recent developments in AI described in his book ChatGPT and the Future of AI. This free lecture is open to all.
Terry Sejnowski received his Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School before joining the faculty at Johns Hopkins, where he was a Professor of Biophysics. He currently holds the Francis Crick Chair at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies and is a Distinguished Professor of Biology and Computer Science and Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, where he is co-director of the Institute for Neural Computation. He also is the founding editor-in-chief of Neural Computation and is currently President of the Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation Board. In 1992, Sejnowski co-authored The Computational Brain with Patricia Churchland and in 2002 the book Liars, Lovers, and Heroes; What the New Brain Science Reveals About How We Become Who We Are with Steven R. Quartz. His book, The Deep Learning Revolution, was published by the MIT Press in 2018.

Book signing with Caitlin Rother for "Staged"
2026-06-20 13:00 - 15:00 | Bay Books, 1007 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Caitlin Rother, New York Times bestselling author of 17 books, will hold a book signing at Bay Books for her new book Staged, the sequel to her first thriller, Hooked.

Staged picks up where Hooked, the first in Rother’s “Katrina & Goode” thriller series, leaves off. But in short order, the two primary suspects in the recent murder of two biotech execs who were developing a sex drug turn up dead. One of these victims dies from a reportedly self-imposed hanging in his jail cell, followed by his father, who is found dead of an apparent heart attack several hours later. Both deaths seem very suspicious to surfing homicide detective Ken Goode and investigative reporter Katrina Chopin, because the forensic evidence doesn’t pass the smell test. Were one or more of these deaths staged?
As the investigation proceeds, Katrina soon realizes that the cold-case murders of her parents, both federal judges, and the alleged suicide of her twin brother, may be related to the four more recent deaths. Katrina and Goode work under the radar to connect dots between them, which point toward a cover-up by a cabal of wealthy elites that hires hitmen to keep its money and secrets safe.
Amid colorful descriptions of San Diego’s relaxed lifestyle and the beautiful beaches of La Jolla, this book is filled with nonstop investigative action and intrigue. All the while, Katrina and Goode, accused of “canoodling in public,” must navigate ethical boundaries that are constantly tested by an increasingly intense sexual attraction that poses a risk to both of their jobs—and their lives, as a stalker continues to pursue and threaten them.

Celebrating Independence Day with Richard Lederer
2026-06-23 11:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
On Tuesday, June 23 at 11 am, San Diego legend Richard Lederer will be serving up his trademark wit and wisdom in a special performance at the Coronado Public Library. This year, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, our nation’s birth certificate and mission statement. Union Tribune columnist and International Punster of the Year, Richard Lederer will talk about the significance of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Gettysburg Address.
With more than 60 books to his name, including the exceptional Anguished English series, Dr. Lederer has a unique ability to make language both enlightening and fun. Dr. Lederer is also the founding co-host of the popular KPBS program, “A Way With Words.” A recipient of the prestigious Toastmasters International Golden Gavel award, Dr. Lederer will be sure to leave you laughing and learning. This event is free to attend thanks to the support of the Friends of the Coronado Public Library and the City of Coronado. Head to cplevents.org for more information.

Summer on the Strand: Lego Engineering Challenge
2026-06-24 09:30 - 10:30 | Silver Strand Youth Center, 1302 Leyte Road, Coronado, 92118, United States
Join us this Summer on the Strand!
The Coronado Public Library, in collaboration with the Silver Strand Youth Center, will be hosting exciting events for all ages every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. all summer long. Kids, teens, and adults can sign up for our Summer Reading Program at these events, log their reads, and pick up their prizes while enjoying a different fun-filled event each week. These events will take place outside, so pack your sunscreen and a blanket to sit on and enjoy. Please note that public restrooms are not available at this location.
This program is made possible thanks to the support of the Friends of the Coronado Public Library and the City of Coronado.

On Wednesday, June 24, get ready to build. We are bringing our LEGO Engineering Challenge to the Strand. Build your own creation, or see if you can complete the challenge.

Best of the Best Book Club: "The Thirty Names of Night" by Zeyn Joukhader
2026-06-24 11:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Library, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Best of the Best Book Club meets regularly on the fourth Wednesday of each month to discuss books that have won major awards.
For our June meeting, we will be discussing the winner of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhader, a novel about three generations of Syrian Americans haunted by a mysterious species of bird and the truths they carry close to their hearts.

About Thirty Names of Night
Five years after a suspicious fire killed his ornithologist mother, a closeted Syrian American trans boy sheds his birth name and searches for a new one. As his grandmother’s sole caretaker, he spends his days cooped up in their apartment, avoiding his neighborhood masjid, his estranged sister, and even his best friend (who also happens to be his longtime crush). The only time he feels truly free is when he slips out at night to paint murals on buildings in the once-thriving Manhattan neighborhood known as Little Syria, but he’s been struggling ever since his mother’s ghost began visiting him each evening.
One night, he enters the abandoned community house and finds the tattered journal of a Syrian American artist named Laila Z, who dedicated her career to painting birds. She mysteriously disappeared more than sixty years before, but her journal contains proof that both his mother and Laila Z encountered the same rare bird before their deaths. In fact, Laila Z’s past is intimately tied to his mother’s in ways he never could have expected. Even more surprising, Laila Z’s story reveals the histories of queer and transgender people within his own community that he never knew. Realizing that he isn’t and has never been alone, he has the courage to claim a new name: Nadir, an Arabic name meaning rare.
As unprecedented numbers of birds are mysteriously drawn to the New York City skies, Nadir enlists the help of his family and friends to unravel what happened to Laila Z and the rare bird his mother died trying to save. Following his mother’s ghost, he uncovers the silences kept in the name of survival by his own community, his own family, and within himself, and discovers the family that was there all along.

Art as History: Contemporary perspectives on American and San Diego stories
2026-06-25 18:00 - 19:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Drawing on the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego’s permanent collection, this presentation explores how contemporary artists over the last 50 years have engaged with United States history and reflected on it through their practices. Through a virtual tour of selected works, we will examine how artists have reimagined historical narratives — with a special focus on San Diego histories and the stories that shape our region. Join us for this visual journey connecting art, memory, and place.

Spoilers Book Club: "Hamnet"
2026-06-27 14:00 - 16:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
All spoilers, all the time! This month, Spoilers Book Club is reading Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet, the moving and imaginative novel about love, loss, family, and the story behind one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.
We’ll read the book, watch the film adaptation, and then dive into a lively discussion of what worked, what changed, what surprised us, and which version stayed with us most. Come ready to share your thoughts — spoilers encouraged!
No sign-up required.

Best of the Best Book Club: "Seven Empty Houses" by Samanta Schweblin
2026-07-22 11:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Best of the Best Book Club meets regularly on the fourth Wednesday of each month to discuss books that have won major awards.

For our July meeting, we will read and discuss the winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature, Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin, a deft collection of seven stories that carries the reader in and out of the fragility of the mind, the spirit, and the body
About Seven Empty Houses
The seven houses in these seven stories are strange. A person is missing, or a truth, or memory; some rooms are enticing, some unmoored, others empty. But in Samanta Schweblin’s tense, visionary tales, something always creeps back inside: a ghost, a fight, trespassers, a list of things to do before you die, a child’s first encounter with darkness or the fallibility of parents.
In each story, twists and turns will unnerve and surprise: Schweblin never takes the expected path and instead digs under the skin, revealing surreal truths about our sense of home, of belonging, and of the fragility of our connections with others. This is a masterwork from one of our most brilliant modern writers.

An evening with New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd
2026-07-29 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Join New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd for a captivating evening of mystery, romance, and literary intrigue inspired by her newest novel, Teach the Torches to Burn.

In this imaginative reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the famous star-crossed lovers survived, married, and raised a daughter of their own. As Verona prepares for her wedding, a shocking murder threatens to unravel the celebration, setting the stage for a thrilling mystery filled with family secrets, danger, and suspense.
The evening opens with a performance by the San Diego Shakespeare Society, featuring Sidney Scripps, Michael Hoag, Rebecca Reisman, and Kevin Manley in pivotal scenes from Romeo and Juliet. As Shakespeare wrote, “Gallop apace you fiery-footed steeds,” you won’t want to miss this unforgettable evening inspired by one of literature’s greatest love stories.
Christina will discuss the novel, her creative process, and her fresh take on one of literature’s most enduring stories. The program will include an author conversation, audience Q&A, book signing, and the opportunity to purchase copies of Teach the Torches to Burn.

This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-seated, subject to availability. Limited preferred seating is available with purchase of a book through Adventures by the Book. Please visit adventuresbythebook.com/calendar-event/christina-dodd-7-29-26/ for more information.
