Coronado Times

Best of the Best Book Club: "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" by Richard Flanagan
2026-01-28 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 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 January meeting, we will discuss the 2014 Booker Prize Winner The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan, a magisterial novel of love and war that traces the life of one man from World War II to the present.
Place this title on hold via our online catalog, or check out the e-book through the CloudLibrary app.
About The Narrow Road to the Deep North
August, 1943: Australian surgeon Dorrigo Evans is haunted by his affair with his uncle’s young wife two years earlier. His life, in a brutal Japanese POW camp on the Thai-Burma Death Railway, is a daily struggle to save the men under his command. Until he receives a letter that will change him forever.
A savagely beautiful novel about the many forms of good and evil, of truth and transcendence, as one man comes of age, prospers, only to discover all that he has lost.

Secrets before shelf date: A pre-pub launch with Kaira Rouda on "We Were Never Friends'
2026-01-28 18:00 - 19:00
Join the Library and Adventures by the Book for a special author event and book launch featuring thriller author Kaira Rouda and her new book We Were Never Friends.
Five former Theta Gamma Mu sorority sisters reunite at Roxy Gentry’s luxurious Palm Springs estate for what’s supposed to be a celebratory engagement weekend, but old grudges and long-buried secrets quickly surface. The glamorous setting echoes a Spring Break tragedy from 25 years ago, and as tensions rise, the weekend spirals into a dangerous reckoning. Darkly funny, deliciously dramatic, and dripping with suspense, this is a reunion you’ll never forget. Dive into the twisty world of We Were Never Friends, where sisterhood is forever, friendships are… complicated, and the past never stays buried.
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 We Were Never Friends through Adventures by the Book.
Please visit adventuresbythebook.com/calendar-event/kaira-rouda-01-28-26/or more information.

About the Author
Kaira Rouda is an award-winning USA Today, Amazon #1, and International Bestselling Author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Three of her novels have been named Amazon Editor’s Picks for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The Next Wife was named a Suspense Magazine’s Best Book of 2021 Award, and a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense Novel and a 2022 Silver Falchion first runner-up for Best Book of the Year. To date, her novels have been translated into a dozen languages.
A former magazine editor and society columnist, Kaira won the Stevie Award for Women in Business for creating the first female-focused residential real estate brand, Real Living, and growing the brand to more than 22 states before its sale to Berkshire Hathaway. Her first book, Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs led to a national speaking tour where she inspired thousands.
About the Book
Sisters? Forever. Friends? NEVER. Who knew a reunion weekend could be so deadly?
Meet the sorority sisters of Theta Gamma Mu:

Roxy Callahan Gentry, the ruthless former sorority president and current hostess who has painstakingly choreographed every detail of this weekend—even matching the cocktails to her couture—to prove that she remains their undisputed queen
Amelia Dell, the widow drenched in old money and alcohol, with her big pot-stirring spoon and uninvited boy-toy in tow
Jamie Vale, the double-legacy pledge, straight-A student with no sparkle, now a top cardiologist with a picture-perfect family—and a well-guarded bad habit
Beth Harrison, the scholarship student who never quite fit in and was only admitted because her best friend Sunny insisted that the two were a package deal
Sunny Spencer, the carefree and beloved friend to all, or so it seemed—until she wasn’t

They’ve been summoned to Roxy’s luxurious Palm Springs vacation home to celebrate the engagement of her son to Beth’s daughter. But the refurbished 1920s estate is eerily reminiscent of the hotel where tragedy struck during Spring Break twenty-five years ago. Long-simmering tensions and shocking secrets begin bubbling to the surface like bodies—because while the weekend was supposed to be about celebrating the future, it’s not so easy to bury the past…

Learn the art of storytelling: Finding the Stories in Your Life
2026-02-03 18:00 - 19:30
Everyone has a story to tell — what’s yours?
For those who love stories — or want to learn how to tell better ones, don’t miss the Coronado Public Library’s hands-on workshop series where you can Learn the Art of Storytelling. Starting February 5, this five-session series will return to the Library on consecutive Tuesday’s at 6:30 p.m. Our lives are filled with stories; this series will help you learn to cultivate and share them with friends, family, and more. Each session focuses on a different element of storytelling, helping you bring real experiences to life and connect with others through the power of story. Participants will have the chance to showcase their new skills at the San Diego Storytelling Festival on March 21.
Registration is requested for the February 3 introductory session. All other sessions are walk-in, no registration.

Feb. 3: “Finding the Stories in Your Life” with Marilyn McPhie.
Our lives are filled with stories! In this workshop we’ll dive into our memories — the people, the places, the triumphs, the disasters, the memorable moments — and emerge with stories worth sharing in family gatherings, business settings, podcasts, memoirs, on social media, onstage, and more.
Marilyn McPhie has been a professional storyteller since 1985, performing at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, corporate and private events, and festivals around the country, including the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival an the TEDx stage. Her stories are delivered with wit, wisdom and humor that delights, informs and entertains.

Ink & intrigue: "Hooked" with Caitlin Rother
2026-02-05 19:00
Join us for an evening with Caitlin Rother, bestselling author and investigative journalist, as she explores the twists and turns of her latest thriller, Hooked, set right here in San Diego. Drawing on her background in true-crime reporting — including her acclaimed Death on Ocean Boulevard, set in Coronado — Rother brings real-world tension and insight to her fiction. Hear how investigative journalism fuels her suspenseful storytelling and what it takes to keep readers guessing until the final page.
Books will be available for sale at the event and a book signing will follow the talk.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Investigative reporter Katrina Chopin is back home in San Diego on a mission (or two). The first is personal: reheating the cold case of her parents’ murder and investigating her brother’s reported suicide. The second involves a new spate of deaths with alleged causes that just don’t smell right. She and Detective Ken Goode need each other’s help for both. But she has to keep the sexy surfer at arm’s length, because dating him is off limits. For now.
Teaming up, they make coordinated progress down each path. Digging deeper into La Jolla’s corrupt network of elites, they uncover a pattern of lies, depravity, and greed. And with every new discovery, Katrina is pulled closer to danger…and to Goode.
Sharing sexy phone calls and sunset drinks isn’t exactly following the rules, but fully crossing that line could jeopardize the case. As they start to connect the dots, they realize they must risk everything to bring down the shadowy cabal that kills to keep its secrets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 16 books, ranging from true crime to thrillers and memoir. A New York Times bestselling author and investigative journalist, Rother worked nearly 20 years for daily newspapers. Writing books full-time since 2006, she draws from decades of watchdog reporting on topics from addiction to suicide, mental illness, murder, government, political corruption and the criminal justice system. A popular speaker, she has appeared more than 250 times on TV, radio, and podcasts as a crime expert. A former writing instructor of 10 years, she coaches a limited number of aspiring author clients. In her spare time, she goes ocean swimming, sings and plays keyboards in a jazzy, bluesy trio called In the Lounge. Explore the photo galleries and learn about her latest titles, backlist, videos, and podcasts at caitlinrother.com.

An evening with New York Times bestselling author Paula McClain
2026-02-09 19:00 - 20:00
The Coronado Public Library, in partnership with Warwicks Bookstore presents Paula McLain, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin. McLain will discuss and sign her new novel, Skylark. A mesmerizing tale of Paris above and below, where a woman’s pursuit of artistic freedom in 1664 intertwines with a doctor’s dangerous mission during the German occupation of the 1940s, it’s a story of courage and resistance that transcends time.
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 Skylark through Warwick’s bookstore. Please visit www.warwicks.com/mclain-2026-reserved-seat or call the store at 858-454-0347 for more information.

About the Author
Paula McLain is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels, The Paris Wife, Circling the Sun, and Love and Ruin. Her latest instant bestseller is When the Stars Go Dark.
Paula McLain was born in Fresno, California in 1965. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became wards of the California Court System, moving in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. When she aged out of the system, she supported herself by working as a nurse’s aide in a convalescent hospital, a pizza delivery girl, an auto-plant worker, a cocktail waitress — before discovering she could (and very much wanted to) write. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan in 1996.
McLain’s essays have appeared in Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, O the Oprah Magazine, Huffington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times and elsewhere. She is also the author of the memoir, Like Family: Growing up in Other People’s Houses, two collections of poetry, and the debut novel, A Ticket to Ride. She lives with her family in Cleveland.

About Skylark
1664: Alouette Voland is the daughter of a master dyer at the famed Gobelin Tapestry Works, who secretly dreams of escaping her circumstances and creating her own masterpiece. When her father is unjustly imprisoned, Alouette’s efforts to save him lead to her own confinement in the notorious Salpêtrière asylum, where thousands of women are held captive and cruelly treated. But within its grim walls, she discovers a small group of brave allies, and the possibility of a life bigger than she ever imagined.
1939: Kristof Larson is a medical student beginning his psychiatric residency in Paris, whose neighbors on the Rue de Gobelins are a Jewish family who have fled Poland. When Nazi forces descend on the city, Kristof becomes their only hope for survival, even as his work as a doctor is jeopardized.
A spellbinding and transportive look at a side of Paris known to very few — the underground city that is a mirror reflection of the glories above — Paula McLain’s unforgettable new novel chronicles two parallel journeys of defiance and rescue that connect in ways both surprising and deeply moving.

Learn the art of storytelling: Shaping Your Story
2026-02-10 18:00 - 19:30
Everyone has a story to tell—what’s yours?
The Storytellers of San Diego invite you to explore the art of sharing stories from your own life, your grandparents, your friends, or your imagination! Each workshop focuses on a different element of storytelling, helping you bring real experiences to life and connect with others through the power of story. Participants will have the chance to showcase their new skills at the San Diego Storytelling Festival on March 21, 2026.
Registration was requested for the February 3 introductory session. All other sessions are walk-in, no registration.

February 10: Shaping Your Story and Making it Yours with Emily Stamets
Explore fun, practical techniques for learning, remembering, and making a story your own—no matter your style or experience level.
Emily Stamets is a storyteller specializing in original fantasy with a modern feminist twist. A dynamic and theatrical storyteller, she brings over two decades of Theatre Arts experience to the stage. With over ten years of full-time teaching experience and five+ years 1:1 coaching experience, Emily is a highly effective teaching artist and coach.

Learn the art of storytelling: Crafting Worlds with Words
2026-02-17 18:00 - 19:30
Everyone has a story to tell—what’s yours?
The Storytellers of San Diego invite you to explore the art of sharing stories from your own life, your grandparents, your friends, or your imagination! Each workshop focuses on a different element of storytelling, helping you bring real experiences to life and connect with others through the power of story. Participants will have the chance to showcase their new skills at the San Diego Storytelling Festival on March 21, 2026.
Registration was requested for the February 3 introductory session. All other sessions are walk-in, no registration.

February 17: “Crafting Worlds with Words” with Mindy Donner
Learn how to “show, not tell” and transport your listeners into the vivid and unforgettable world of your story through rich imagery and sensory detail.
Mindy Donner folds her background in movement and puppetry arts into her storytelling repertoire, exploring myths, folktales and personal tales. She taught Learning Through the Arts at Cal State San Marcos for nine years, and produced original puppet plays for children and adults. She enjoys performing South of the Border Tales in Spanish and English with a musical partner.

Learn the art of storytelling: Creating & Connecting through Emotion
2026-02-24 18:00 - 19:30
Everyone has a story to tell—what’s yours?
The Storytellers of San Diego invite you to explore the art of sharing stories from your own life, your grandparents, your friends, or your imagination! Each workshop focuses on a different element of storytelling, helping you bring real experiences to life and connect with others through the power of story. Participants will have the chance to showcase their new skills at the San Diego Storytelling Festival on March 21, 2026.
Registration was requested for the February 3 introductory session. All other sessions are walk-in, no registration.

February 24: “Creating & Connecting through Emotion” with Almena Mozon
Learn how to craft stories that resonate in this interactive workshop on using the power of emotions in your storytelling. Explore techniques for creating vivid moments, building authentic connection, and shaping narratives that move audiences.
