Coronado Times

Biography & Memoir Book Club: "Between Two Kingdoms"
2023-02-08 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Join the Through Their Eyes Book Club in reading “Between Two Kingdoms” by Suleika Jaouard. Just a few weeks shy of her twenty-third birthday, a diagnosis: leukemia, with a 35 percent chance of survival. Just like that, the life she had imagined for herself had gone up in flames.
After four years, in a hospital bed fighting for her survival and chronicling the saga in a column for The New York Times, Jaouard embarked—with her new best friend, Oscar, a scruffy terrier mutt—on a 100-day, 15,000-mile road trip across the country. She set out to meet some of the strangers who had written to her during her years in the hospital. “Between Two Kingdoms” is a profound chronicle of survivorship and a fierce, tender, and inspiring exploration of what it means to begin again. (Amazon)
Through Their Eyes Book Club meets on the second Wednesday of month.

Poetry for the People
2023-01-04 11:00 - 12:00 | Winn Room, Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
This course will feature poems, both historic and contemporary, which enjoy iconic status. These poems, as well as their authors, are acknowledged as widely recognized and admired as having exceptional influence. All class members are encouraged to contribute their ideas and perceptions of the poems, enriching the discussions for everyone in attendance.

Chuck Kamar received his bachelor’s from Boston State and his master’s from Boston University. He taught for 34 years in the Newton Public Schools, the last 20 of which where at Newton North High School. In 1998 he won the Paul E. Elicker Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Emmy and Edgar winning "Law and Order" writer discusses new novel Primary tabs
2023-02-23 19:00 - 20:30 | Winn Room, Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Edward Zuckerman will discuss and sign his new novel, Wealth Management. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served, subject to availability. Books will be available for purchase at the event. Registration is not required but sign up here to receive e-mail reminders for this event.
About the Author, Edward Zuckerman:
Edward Zuckerman began his career as a journalist, writing about zombies, killer bees, talking apes and other subjects for Rolling Stone, Spy, the New Yorker, Harper’s, Esquire, and many other magazines. He wrote two well-reviewed nonfiction books, The Day After World War III and Small Fortunes, and then moved into writing for television dramas, including “Law & Order” (50+ episodes), “Blue Bloods,” and “Law & Order: SVU.” He has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America and an Emmy for his work on “Law & Order.” He lives in Manhattan, NY and Manhattan Beach, California. Wealth Management is his first novel.
About the Book, Wealth Management:
For fans of Jess Walter and Gary Shteyngart, this is a financial thriller featuring three Ivy League MBAs who must put their lopsided love triangle aside to snare international terrorists.
In the lush world-banking capital of Geneva, Switzerland, three young wealth managers (Catherine, Majid, and Rafe) are handling investments for clients with dubious pedigrees. When problems with troubled investments are “fixed” by murders and bombs, they come to suspect that their clients are Mafiosi and terrorists, but by then they are accomplices, are under threat, and have no easy way to back out.
Their efforts to save themselves — and innocent lives — are complicated by their being in a love triangle, by one of them secretly working with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to investigate the other two, and by the unexpected appearance of a detective from Nigeria who may or may not be in league with terrorists himself.

Lessons in Chemistry Author Event with Bonnie Garmas
2023-02-24 19:00 - 21:00 | John D. Spreckels Center, 1019 Seventh Street, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
On Friday, February 24 at 7:00 p.m., Coronado Public Library, in partnership with Warwick’s bookstore, will host Bonnie Garmus as she discusses and signs her #1 New York Times bestselling book, Lessons in Chemistry in the Grand Room at the Spreckels Center. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served, subject to availability. Limited preferred seating is available with purchase of Lessons in Chemistry through Warwick’s bookstore. Please visit https://www.warwicks.com/event/garmus-2023 or call the store at 858-454-0347 for more information.
Bonnie Garmus is a copywriter and creative director who has worked widely in the fields of technology, medicine, and education. She’s an open-water swimmer, a rower, and mother to two pretty amazing daughters. Born in California and most recently from Seattle, she currently lives in London with her husband and her dog, 99.
Lessons in Chemistry: Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry results.
But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six.
Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo.
Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.

Spoilers Book Club: "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly
2023-02-25 14:00 - 17:00 | Winn Room, Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Spoilers Book Club reads books that are turned into movies. We read the book and get together to watch the film. We compare the two and discuss what we did and didn’t like.
Event Details

Three female African-American mathematicians provide crucial calculations for NASA’s space race against the Soviets, all while dealing with the racist and sexist assumptions of their white co-workers.
Director
Theodore Melfi
Production year
2016
Rating
PG
Studio
Twentieth Century Fox
Runtime
127 minutes
Cast
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons

T. Jefferson Parker: In-Person Luncheon with the Author
2024-07-17 11:30 | Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Friends of the Coronado Public Library will host T. Jefferson Parker for an intimate luncheon with the author as well as a signing of his new book, Desperation Reef, on July 17 at 11:30 am in the Winn Room at the Coronado Public Library.
The $40 ticket includes lunch and a hardcover copy of the book. Proceeds support free programs at the library such as lectures, workshops, classes, concerts and children’s programs. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session and a chance to have the author sign books. This event is in partnership with Warwick’s Bookstore. To purchase tickets and reserve your seats, please register at cplevents.org. Don’t delay – seating is limited!
T. Jefferson Parker was born in Los Angeles and has lived all his life in Southern California. He was educated in public schools in Orange County, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California, Irvine, in 1976. His writing career began in 1978, with a job as a cub reporter on the weekly newspaper, The Newport Ensign. After covering police, city hall and cultural stories for the Ensign, Parker moved on to the Daily Pilot newspaper, where he won three Orange County Press Club awards for his articles. Parker’s first novel, Laguna Heat, was written on evenings and weekends while he worked as a reporter, and was published to rave reviews and made into an HBO movie starring Harry Hamlin, Jason Robards and Rip Torn. He has written over 28 novels. When not working, Parker spends his time with his family, hiking, fishing, beachcombing, and exercising his dogs. He cannot pass by a body of water without wanting to fish it. He also enjoys rock hounding, cycling and being outdoors.

About Desperation Reef:
Jen Stonebreaker hasn’t entered into a big-wave surfing competition since witnessing her husband’s tragic death twenty-five years ago at the Monsters of the Mavericks. Now, Jen is ready to tackle those same Monsters with her twin sons Casey and Brock, who have become competitive surfers in a perilous sport.

When he’s not riding waves, modeling for surfing magazines, or posting viral content for his many fans, Casey Stonebreaker spends his days helping with the family restaurant — catching fish in the morning and bartending at night. Casey’s love for the ocean and his willingness to expose illegal poachers on his platforms puts him on a collision course with a crime syndicate eager to destroy anyone threatening their business.
Outspoken Brock Stonebreaker couldn’t be more different from his twin. The founder of Breath of Life, a church and rescue mission that assists with natural disasters that no one else will touch, Brock has lived an adventurous and sometimes violent life. Not everyone appreciates the work that Brock’s Breath of Life mission accomplishes, and threats to destroy his mission—and his family—swirl around him.
As the big-wave contest draws closer, a huge, late fall swell is headed toward the Pacific coastline. Jen’s fears gnaw at her — fear for herself, for her sons, for what this competition will mean for the rest of her life.

Author Sandra Bonura Discusses Her Newest Book on the Spreckels Family
2024-08-30 13:00 | Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
After immigrating to America and becoming involved in the development of America’s sugar industry, Claus Spreckels became one of the richest Americans in history. He triumphed in an era rife with cronyism and corruption and ultimately transformed California’s agriculture, industry and transportation. But there’s always a cost for single-minded determination; the legendary family quarrels even included a murder charge.
Local author Sandra Bonura gives us a rags to riches story of this colorful and controversial immigrant who started the legacy known in Coronado, San Diego, and beyond. Join Sandra Bonura on Friday, August 30 at 1pm in the Winn Room as she discusses her newest book and all that went into writing this biography.
About the Book
Claus Spreckels (1828–1908) emigrated from his homeland of Germany to the United States with only seventy-five cents in his pocket, built a sugar empire, and became one of the richest Americans in history alongside John D. Rockefeller, Warren Buffett, and Bill Gates. Migrating to San Francisco after the gold rush, Spreckels built the largest sugar beet factory of its kind in the United States. His sugar beet production in the Salinas Valley changed the focus of valley agriculture from dry to irrigated crops, resulting in the vast modern agricultural-industrial economy in today’s “Salad Bowl of the World.” When Spreckels gave America its first sugar cube, he became the “Sugar King.”
The indomitable Spreckels was a colorful and complicated character on both sides of the Pacific. A kingpin in the development of the Hawai‘i-California sugarcane industry, he wielded a clenched fist over Hawai‘i’s economy for nearly two decades after occupying a position of unrivaled power and political influence with the Hawaiian monarchy, while also advancing major technology developments on the islands. The Sugar King’s legacy continued as the Spreckels family developed large portions of California, building and breaking monopolies in agriculture, shipping, railroading, finance, real estate, horse breeding, utilities, streetcars, and water infrastructure, and building entire towns and cities from infrastructure to superstructure.
In The Sugar King of California Sandra E. Bonura tells the rags-to-riches story of Spreckels’s role in the developments of the sugarcane industry in the American West and across the Pacific, triumphing in a milieu rife with cronyism and corruption and ultimately transforming California’s industry and labor. Harshly criticized by his enemies for ruthless business tactics but loved by his employees, he was unapologetic in his quest for wealth, asserting “Spreckels’s success is California’s success.” But there’s always a cost for single-minded determination; the legendary family quarrels even included a murder charge. Spreckels’s biography is one of business triumph and tragedy, a portrait of a family torn apart by money, jealousy, and ego.
About the Author
Historian Dr. Sandra Bonura is a retired professor who is busy on her 2nd career resurrecting the forgotten stories of overlooked historical figures. She is a frequent storyteller and lecturer on the importance of using a multitude of primary sources to gain perspective on major historical events. Sandee is an award winning author of eight published works based on found archival treasures.
RELATED
“The Sugar King of California” Gives Deeper Insight Into the Spreckels Family

George Galdorisi and the Algorithms of Armageddon
2024-09-05 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
It is unclear if U.S. policy makers and military leaders fully realize that we have already been thrust into an artificial intelligence (AI) race with authoritarian powers. Join George Galdorisi as he discusses how his new book Algorithms of Armageddon examines this most pressing security issue.
Register to receive reminder emails only; registration does not guarantee seating for this event. Registration is not required.

George Galdorisi is Director of Strategic Assessments and Technical Futures for the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific. Prior to joining NIWC Pacific, he completed a thirty-year career as a naval aviator, culminating in 14 years of consecutive experience as executive officer, commanding officer, commodore, and chief of staff.
During his career as a naval aviator he completed an array of operational assignments in all five Navy fleets. After completing a tour as Test Director in the LAMPS Mk III helicopter Program Office, he was one of a small cadre of officers who stood up the Navy’s first LAMPS Mk III squadron, HSL-41. His operational assignments culminated in commanding officer tours of HSL-43, the Navy’s first operational LAMPS Mk III squadron, HSL-41, the LAMPS Mk III Fleet Replacement Squadron, USS Cleveland (LPD-7), and Amphibious Squadron Seven. His last operational assignment spanned five years as Chief of Staff for Cruiser-Destroyer Group Three, during which he made combat deployments to the Western Pacific and Arabian Gulf embarked in the USS Carl Vinson and USS Abraham Lincoln. During this final tour he also led the U.S. Delegation for military-to-military consultations with the Chinese Navy.
He began his writing career in 1978 with an article in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings. He has written fourteen books, including the New York Times best seller, Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor, the novelization of the Bandito Brothers/Relativity Media film and The Kissing Sailor, which proved the identity of the two principals in Alfred Eisenstaedt’s famous photograph. His reboot of the best-selling Tom Clancy’s Op-Center Series includes three consecutive the New York Times best sellers, Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire and Scorched Earth. His most recent fiction project is a new series of Rick Holden thrillers published by Braveship Books (The Coronado Conspiracy, For Duty and Honor and Fire and Ice). His most recent non-fiction project is AI at War How Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Are Changing Naval Warfare. Additionally, he has published more than four hundred articles in professional journals and national newspapers.
He has received a number of national and international writing awards, including: the Navy League of the United States Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement, the U.S. Naval Institute General Prize Essay Contest, the Surface Navy Association Literary Award, the Navy League of Australia’s Annual Essay Competition, the Naval Helicopter Historical Association Literary Award, and the Military Writers Society of America Silver Medal Award, among others.
He is a 1970 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and holds a Masters Degree in Oceanography from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Masters Degree in International Relations from the University of San Diego. He graduated from both the Naval War College’s College of Command and Staff and the College of Naval Warfare, and in 1994 he received the Naval War College’s Admiral John Hayward Award for Academic Achievement. Additionally, he is a graduate of MIT Sloan School’s Program for Senior Executives.

You’re Leaving When? with actress and New York Times Bestselling Author Annabelle Gurwitch
2024-09-10 13:00 - 14:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
You may recognize actress Annabelle Gurwitch as the longtime cohost of the fan favorite “Dinner & a Movie” or from her appearances on television’s “Seinfeld,” “Murphy Brown,” “Boston Legal,” and “Dexter.” But did you know that she is as talented as she is beautiful? Earning a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022, as well as being a New York Times bestselling author, who has written and developed adaptations of her books for HBO, F/X, NBC, Lifetime networks, including a current film project for the Hallmark Channel based on You’re Leaving When? to star Andi MacDowell.
Annabelle has been chronicling living with Stage IV lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during Covid, and she’s given patient advocate talks at scientific conferences around the globe including in Vienna, Rome, Singapore, and Brisbane.
Don’t miss the chance to meet this remarkable woman on Tuesday, September 10 at a special book discussion of her book You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. Books will be available to purchase through our co-sponsor, Adventures by the Book. Click here to pre-purchase a book and reserve your seat.

About the Author:
Annabelle Gurwitch is an actress, activist, and author of five books including the New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort. She’s written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Hadassah amongst other publications.
She was the longtime cohost of the fan favorite “Dinner & a Movie” on TBS and a regular commentator on NPR. She’s performed on the Moth Mainstage, Joe’s Pub, at Carolines on Broadway, The New York and Aspen Comedy Fests, and at arts centers around the country. Her acting credits include: “Seinfeld,” “Murphy Brown,” “Boston Legal,” and “Dexter.” Once in while she returns to acting playing Rabbi Gurwitch on “Better Things” on FX or a therapist for an FBI agent in Michael Bay’s “Ambulance.” Annabelle has been chronicling living with stage iv lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid. She’s given patient advocate talks at scientific conferences around the globe including in Vienna, Rome, Singapore, and Brisbane.
About the Book:
You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility is a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022. In these essays, Gurwitch embraces homesharing, welcoming a housing-insecure young couple and a bunny rabbit into her home. The mother of a college student in recovery who sheds the gender binary, she relearns to parent, one pronoun at a time. She wades into the dating pool in a Miss Havisham-inspired line of lingerie and flunks the magic of tidying up. You’re Leaving When? is for anybody who thought they had a semblance of security but wound up with a fragile economy and a blankie. Annabelle uses personal stories and humor to illuminate issues in the social zeitgeist including “harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most” (Tara Parker Pope, New York Times).

An Evening with Sarah Federman
2024-09-11 18:30 - 20:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Library, with the Worldview Project and the San Diego Diplomacy Council, present an evening with Dr. Sarah Federman, author of Last Train to Auschwitz: The French National Railways and the Journey to Accountability. Join us on September 11, 2024, at 6:30 pm for an insightful discussion and a unique opportunity to meet the author in person. A “compelling blend of victims’ narratives and rigorous historical and legal analysis, making a significant contribution to our understanding of corporate accountability and transitional justice,” according to Leigh Payne of the University of Oxford, this book shares the story of how the French National Railways were complicit in the Holocaust.
Light refreshments will be provided.
About the Book
In the immediate decades after World War II, the French National Railways (SNCF) was celebrated for its acts of wartime heroism. However, recent debates and litigation have revealed the ways the SNCF worked as an accomplice to the Third Reich and was actively complicit in the deportation of 76,000 Jews and other civilians to death camps. Sarah Federman delves into the interconnected roles—perpetrator, victim, and hero—the company took on during the harrowing years of the Holocaust. Grounded in history and case law, Last Train to Auschwitz traces the SNCF’s journey toward accountability in France and the United States, culminating in a multimillion-dollar settlement paid by the French government on behalf of the railways. The poignant and informative testimonies of survivors illuminate the long-term effects of the railroad’s impact on individuals, leading the company to make overdue amends. In a time when corporations are increasingly granted the same rights as people, Federman’s detailed account demonstrates the obligations businesses have to atone for aiding and abetting governments in committing atrocities. This volume highlights the necessity of corporate integrity and will be essential reading for those called to engage in the difficult work of responding to past harms.
About the Author
Sarah Federman is an author, educator, and conflict resolution practitioner. Prior to this work, she spent a decade as an international executive working with clients such as Google and the NFL. A job transfer from Manhattan to Paris led her to an encounter with her own name on a Holocaust memorial wall. This moment prompted her to turn her attention to helping people avoid mass violence, focusing specifically on corporate complicity. She is now an Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution at the Joan B Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego.

Mystery Book Club: A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
2024-09-16 14:00 - 15:00 | Conference Room – Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book Club will meet regularly on the third Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering. Registration is not required.
We will be discussing A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh. Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here.

Spoilers Book Club: "Postcards From The Edge" by Carrie Fisher
2024-09-21 14:00 - 17:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Spoilers Book Club reads books that have been turned into movies. We read the book and get together to watch the film. We compare the two and discuss what we did and didn’t like.

“Postcards From The Edge” by Carrie Fisher

When we first meet the extraordinary young actress Suzanne Vale, she’s feeling like “something on the bottom of someone’s shoe, and not even someone interesting.” Suzanne is in the harrowing and hilarious throes of drug rehabilitation, trying to understand what happened to her life and how she managed to land in a “drug hospital.”
Just as Fisher’s first film role—the precocious teenager in Shampoo—echoed her own Beverly Hills upbringing, her first book is set within the world she knows better than anyone else: Hollywood. This stunning literary debut chronicles Suzanne’s vivid, excruciatingly funny experiences inside the clinic and as she comes to terms with life in the outside world. “Postcards from the Edge” is more than a book about stardom and drugs. It is a revealing look at the dangers—and delights—of all our addictions, from money and success to sex and insecurity.
Film
“Postcards from the Edge” (1990)
Rated R
Runtime: 1h 41m

Best of the Best Book Club: "Firekeeper's Daughter" by Angeline Boulley
2024-09-25 11:00 - 12:00 | Conference Room – 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. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering. Registration is not required.

For our September meeting, we will discuss the 2022 Printz Medal winner Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley, a groundbreaking young adult thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community.
About Firekeeper’s Daughter:
Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team.
Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug.
Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims.
Now, as the deceptions—and deaths—keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she’ll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she’s ever known.

An Evening with World Renowned Drummer, Memoirist and Speaker Zoro
2024-09-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Spend an evening at the library with a musical legend as he discusses and signs his book Maria’s Scarf: A Memoir of a Mother’s Love, a Son’s Perseverance, and Dreaming Big, and shares a mini musical performance.

As one of the world’s most respected musicians, Zoro the Drummer has commanded some of the most famous stages in the world of rock and R&B music with his drums. Throughout more than thirty years of his career, Zoro has been consistently voted the number one R&B drummer and clinician by the premier music industry publications Modern Drummer, Drum!, and Rhythm Magazine.
He has toured and recorded with Lenny Kravitz, Bobby Brown, The New Edition, Jody Watley, Philip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire, and many more. Additionally, Zoro is an educator, motivational speaker, and author of The Big Gig: Big-Picture Thinking For Success.
Zoro’s novel, Maria’s Scarf: A Memoir of a Mother’s Love, a Son’s Perseverance, and Dreaming Big, is a beautiful and transformative memoir that tells the story of a family fighting for survival against almost insurmountable odds. Through laughter, tears, and many misadventures, Zoro touches the heart of every reader—young or old, citizen or immigrant—and speaks to the dreamer in all of us, encouraging everyone to live fantastical lives.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first come, first served. Books will be available to purchase through our co-sponsor, Adventures by the Book. Click here to pre-purchase a book and reserve your seat.

Spoilers Book Club: The Mist by Stephen King
2024-10-19 14:00 - 17:45 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Spoilers Book Club
The Spoilers Book Club reads books that are turned into movies. We read the book and get together to watch the film. We compare the two and discuss what we did and didn’t like.
Event Details

In the wake of a summer storm, terror descends…David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they become trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town. As the confinement takes its toll on their nerves, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody, begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins. She insists a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned. Clearly, staying in the store may prove fatal, and the Draytons, along with store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller, attempt to make their escape. But what’s out there may be worse than what they left behind.
This exhilarating novella explores the horror in both the enemy you know—and the one you can only imagine.
The Mist (Rated R)
2007
2h 6m

Mystery Book Club: The Good Detective
2024-10-21 14:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club will meet regularly on the 3rd Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering below. Registration is not required.
We will be discussing The Good Detective by John McMahon. Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here.

Mystery Book Club: "Seventeen" by Hideo Yokoyama
2024-11-18 14:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club will meet regularly on the 3rd Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering below. Registration is not required.
We will be discussing Seventeen by Hideo Yokoyama.

Friends of the Library Holiday Book and Gift Sale
2024-11-23 10:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Friends of the Coronado Public Library (FOL) are holding a Holiday Book & Gift Sale on Saturday, November 23, from 10 am to 3 pm, in front of the Coronado Public Library.
Items for sale include gift items, DVDs, holiday cards, Christmas books, coffee table books, and a large selection of books for children, teens and adults.
Please bring your own bags. Credit and debit cards preferred.
All sale proceeds fund Library programs sponsored by the FOL.
The sale will be cancelled in the event of rain.

Why Civic Education Matters with David Davenport
2024-12-05 11:00 - 12:00 | Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Join the Library for an insightful discussion with author David Davenport on his book, A Republic If We Can Teach It: Fixing America’s Civic Education Crisis. Davenport examines the urgent need for better civic education to preserve the republic, highlighting the disconnect between young Americans and the foundational principles of self-government and freedom. Attendees will learn about this important issue and actionable solutions to bridge this civic knowledge gap at this talk.

David Davenport is a research fellow emeritus at the Hoover Institution specializing in constitutional federalism, civic education, modern American conservatism, and international law. During his career at Hoover, he also served in administrative capacities as counselor to the director and the inaugural director of Hoover’s Washington, DC, program. Davenport is the former president of Pepperdine University (1985–2000). Under his leadership, the university experienced significant growth in quality and reputation. He is the cofounder of Common Sense California and the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership. He also served on the board of California Forward, a major bipartisan reform group, and was a member of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Performance Review Commission. He is a former senior fellow of the Ashbrook Center, where he worked on civic education projects.
Davenport and Jeffrey Sikkenga have co-authored a new book on civic education in 2024, A Republic If You Can Teach It: Fixing America’s Civic Education Crisis. With his colleague Gordon Lloyd, Davenport co-authored Equality of Opportunity: A Century of Debate, which was released in 2023. They also co-wrote How Public Policy Became War (2019), Rugged Individualism: Dead or Alive? (2017), The New Deal and Modern American Conservatism: A Defining Rivalry (2013); These books offer distinctive ways of understanding both historic and current debates between progressives and conservatives in the United States.

A Republic If We Can Teach It: Fixing America‘s Civic Education Crisis is a call to action, an effort to save our republic through better civic education. America faces a crisis in civic education that imperils the long-term health of the country. Too many Americans―especially young people―do not have the knowledge of history and principles necessary to sustain the republic. In what has become a vicious cycle, young people are not learning about their country―its history and how it works―and they grow up disengaged and distrustful. Too many young people do not understand the principles of self-government on which America was founded. And they do not understand America’s history as the story of the struggle to live up to those principles of freedom articulated in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Instead, too many believe that America’s story is essentially one of oppression, not freedom―injustice, not hope. In the first half of the book, authors Jeff Sikkenga and David Davenport diagnose the problem while proposing solutions in the second half. Truly, America faces a civics crisis and action is needed now to reverse the trend.

"Taking Turns" Book Signing Before Holiday Parade
2024-12-06 15:00 - 16:30 | Fair Trade Decor, 828 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Come join the holiday fun at a book signing of “Taking Turns”
Author Marianne Blackstone Tabner will be outside of Fair Trade Decor (828 Orange Ave.) on Friday, Dec. 6 before the annual holiday parade. Stop by between 3 and 4:30 pm to grab a holiday treat and enter for a chance to win a free signed book of the children’s book “Taking Turns.” Books will also be available for purchase and are regularly carried at Fair Trade Decor.

Mystery Book Club
2024-12-16 14:00 - 15:00 | CA
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club will meet regularly on the 3rd Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering. Registration is not required.

We will be discussing The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here.

Stu Stall Book Launch: "DARK SIDE: True Stories From A Teenage Pot Smuggler"
2024-12-19 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
From the author of HELL HOUSE: True Stories From The Redheaded Stepchild, comes a riveting new book DARK SIDE: True Stories From A Teenage Pot Smuggler. The book is filled with tales of adventure, lust, danger, and betrayal. Stu Stall is a voice for the voiceless in a powerful journey fraught with danger and tales of partying, surfing, living in the ’70s and smuggling marijuana. A book filled with stories of coercion, manipulation and schmoozing and how people ended up doing things they never thought they would do in a million years as they drifted into the abyss and were trapped sometimes forever in the Primrose Labyrinth. Ride with Stu on a journey through some epic stories about stuff you just can’t do any more. There are multiple stories that will blow your mind.
About the author: Stuart Stall was born at Coronado Hospital, the second of four children born to Andy and Joan Stall. To obtain his finance degree from San Diego State, he worked for many years as the maître d’ at Chez Loma. He raised two sons who graduated from Coronado High School (CHS) and is himself a class of ’72 graduate (his father was CHS class president in 1942). He’s fond of saying he’s “a recovering mortgage and real estate broker.”

"Postmortem" - Exploring the Impact of the John Wayne Gacy Murders with True Crime Author Courtney Lund O'Neil
2025-01-09 19:00 - 20:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Join the Coronado Public Library and Warwick’s Bookstore for an unforgettable evening with author Courtney Lund O’Neil, in conversation with Jacqueline Alnes, as she shares her gripping true crime memoir Postmortem. In the vein of I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, this compelling work revisits the chilling crimes of “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy, offering a unique perspective on the emotional aftershocks that his violence left behind. Praised as as “harrowing” and “unforgettable” in a starred review from Publishers Weekly, O’Neil’s skill in blending her mother’s memories with her own reflections, offers “profound new insights into an oft-told American horror story.”
With thought-provoking layers of personal reflection, community impact, and the broader American psyche, Postmortem offers an intimate view of how one family’s grief rippled outward, forever affecting their lives and countless others. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear the author share her poignant story and insights.
Free open seating is first-come, first-served, subject to available space. Guaranteed Preferred Seating is available with pre-order of Postmortem through Warwick’s at https://www.warwicks.com/event/oneil-2025 or by calling the store at 858-454-0347.

An Evening with Two-Time Oscar Nominee and Author John Sayles
2025-01-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
Be one of the first to hear acclaimed filmmaker and two-time Oscar nominee John Sayles discuss his latest novel, To Save the Man, in an exclusive pre-release event. Originally crafted as a screenplay, Sayles changed this powerful story into a novel, bringing to life the haunting history of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. Sayles will be in conversation with Coronado Island Film Festival Executive Director Merridee Book, discussing the journey from screenplay to novel and offer his unique insights on the book and this incredibly powerful story and its reverberations through history.
A book-signing will follow. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served, subject to availability. Limited preferred seating is available with purchase of To Save the Man through Warwick’s bookstore. Please visit https://www.warwicks.com/sayles-2025-reserved-seat or call the store at 858-454-0347 for more information.

John Sayles is a much-celebrated film director who has made 18 movies, beginning in 1980 when his debut Return of the Secaucus Seven was released. Among the other movies he is known for directing—and often writing as well—are Lianna, Brother from Another Planet, Matewan, Eight Men Out, City of Hope, Sunshine State, Passion Fish and Lone Star, the last two of which earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay. He also has written screenplays for other directors, including the iconic 1980s horror movies The Howling and Alligator. Sayles also directed three of Bruce Springsteen’s most famed music videos for the songs Born in the USA, Glory Days and I’m on Fire.
As an author, Sayles has written numerous novels and short stories since 1975, when his first novel, Pride of the Bimbos, appeared. His second novel, Union Dues, was nominated for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Subsequent books include At the Anarchist’s Convention, Los Gusanos, Dillinger in Hollywood, A Moment in the Sun, and Yellow Earth. Sayles has been honored by, or been guest speaker for, such respected organizations as the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American Studies Association. His screenplay for the film Sonora, released in 2021, won the Ariel Award, Mexico’s equivalent to the Oscar, for Best Adapted Screenplay. Sayles divides his time between Los Angeles and Connecticut.

About To Save the Man In the vein of Never Let Me Go and Killers of the Flower Moon, one of America’s greatest storytellers sheds light on an American tragedy: the Wounded Knee Massacre, and the ‘cultural genocide’ experienced by the Native American children at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School . . . In September of 1890, the academic year begins at the Carlisle School, a military-style boarding school for Indians in Pennsylvania, founded and run by Captain Richard Henry Pratt. Pratt considers himself a champion of Native Americans. His motto, “To save the man, we must kill the Indian,” is severely enforced in both classroom and dormitory: Speak only English, forget your own language and customs, learn to be white. As the young students navigate surviving the school, they begin to hear rumors of a “ghost dance” amongst the tribes of the west—a ceremonial dance aimed at restoring the Native People to power, and running the invaders off their land. As the hope and promise of the ghost dance sweeps across the Great Plains, cynical newspapers seize upon the story to whip up panic among local whites. The US government responds by deploying troops onto lands that had been granted to the Indians. It is an act that seems certain to end in slaughter. As news of these developments reaches Carlisle, each student, no matter what their tribe, must make a choice: to follow the white man’s path, or be true to their own way of life . . .

Merridee Book is the CEO + Artistic Director of the Coronado Island Film Festival. Before that, she spent 3 years as the Vice President of Development at the San Diego International Film Festival. She has held key positions in the arts and entertainment industry, and the non-profit sector for 30 years., working with bestselling authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, major studios and record labels. These relationships culminated in producing and hosting an inspirational television program, DeeperLiving. She has held several board director positions including the Coronado School of the Arts and she currently sits on the board of the well-respected Patrons of the Prado, a non-profit that raises funds for ten beneficiaries in Balboa Park, the largest urban park in the U.S.

Best of the Best Book Club: "The Vegetarian" by Han Kang
2025-01-22 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. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering below. Registration is not required.
For our January meeting, we will discuss the 2016 Booker Prize winner The Vegetarian by Han Kang, who recently made history by becoming the first Korean and the first Asian Nobel laureate in literature.
Place this title on hold via our online catalog, or check out the e-book through the CloudLibrary app.

About The Vegetarian
Before the nightmares began, Yeong-hye and her husband lived an ordinary, controlled life. But the dreams—invasive images of blood and brutality—torture her, driving Yeong-hye to purge her mind and renounce eating meat altogether. It’s a small act of independence, but it interrupts her marriage and sets into motion an increasingly grotesque chain of events at home. As her husband, her brother-in-law and sister each fight to reassert their control, Yeong-hye obsessively defends the choice that’s become sacred to her. Soon their attempts turn desperate, subjecting first her mind, and then her body, to ever more intrusive and perverse violations, sending Yeong-hye spiraling into a dangerous, bizarre estrangement, not only from those closest to her, but also from herself.
Celebrated by critics around the world, The Vegetarian is a darkly allegorical, Kafka-esque tale of power, obsession, and one woman’s struggle to break free from the violence both without and within her.

Book Launch with "USA Today" Bestselling Author Jennifer Coburn: "The Girls of the Glimmer Factory"
2025-01-22 18:30 - 19:30 | Coronado Library Winn Room, 640 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The library, in partnership with Adventures by the Book, presents an exclusive pre-release celebration of The Girls of the Glimmer Factory, the latest novel from Jennifer Coburn, author of Cradles of the Reich. Set against the backdrop of WWII, this poignant tale of resistance, friendship, and the dangers of propaganda is inspired by the true story of Theresienstadt.
Meet the author and hear her discuss this moving story about two women on opposite sides of history—Hannah, a Jewish prisoner fighting to reveal the truth, and Hilde, a Nazi loyalist desperate to make a name for herself in the Reich Ministry of Propaganda.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating is first-come, first-served, subject to availability. Limited preferred seating is available with purchase of The Girls of the Glimmer Factory through Adventures by the Book. Please visit adventuresbythebook.com/calendar-event/jennifer-coburn-1-22-25 for more information.
A New Glimpse Into WWII: “The Girls of the Glimmer Factory”

About The Girls of the Glimmer Factory: Hannah longs for the days when she used to be free, but now she is a Jewish prisoner at Theresienstadt, a model ghetto where the Nazis plan to make a propaganda film to convince the world that the Jewish people are living well in the camps. But Hannah will do anything to show the world the truth. Along with other young resistance members, they vow to disrupt the filming and derail the increasingly frequent deportations to death camps in the east.
Hilde is a true believer in the Nazi cause, working in the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda. Though they’re losing the war, Hilde hasn’t lost faith. She can’t stop the Allied bombings, but she can help the party create a documentary that will renew confidence in Hitler’s plans for Jewish containment. When the filming of Hitler Gives a City to the Jews faces production problems due to resistance, Hilde finds herself in a position to finally make a name for herself. And when she recognizes Hannah, an old childhood friend, she knows she can use their friendship to get the film back on track.

Jennifer Coburn is the author of Cradles of the Reich, a historical novel about three very different women living at a Nazi Lebensborn breeding home at the start of World War ll. She has also published a mother-daughter travel memoir, We’ll Always Have Paris, as well as six contemporary women’s novels. Additionally, Jennifer has contributed to five literary anthologies, including A Paris All Your Own. Jennifer lives in San Diego with her husband, William. Their daughter, Katie is currently in graduate school. When Jennifer is not going down historical research rabbit holes, she volunteers with So Say We All, a live storytelling organization, where she is a performer, producer, and performance coach. She is also an active volunteer with Reality Changers, a nonprofit that supports low-income high school students in becoming the first in their families to attend college.

Mystery Book Club: "A Death of No Importance"
2025-01-27 14:00 - 15:00 | Coronado Public Library, 640 Orange Ave, Coronado, CA, 92118, United States
The Coronado Public Library’s Mystery Book club will meet regularly on the third* Monday of each month. Receive reminder emails about our meeting by registering. Registration is not required.
* Due to the holiday this month, we will be meeting on the fourth Monday.

We will be discussing A Death of No Importance by Mariah Fredericks. Check out the book in print or ebook format from the Coronado Library Catalog by clicking here.
