Tag: escape the politics

Escape the Politics: Paint and Sip Program (in-person)

Join us for a paint and sip event in the atrium.

This program is part of our “Escape the Politics” Tuesdays in October series, sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.

We’ll create a fall scene using tabletop easels and acrylic paint.  All supplies will be provided. Enjoy mocktails while painting!

No experience necessary; this program is for adults ages 18+.

About our instructor: Bunni Nicole is an afro-latinx artist from New York, and is currently studying illustration at the Hartford Art School. Before attending art school, they were a montessori pre-school teacher, where they fostered a deep love for educating and inspiring others and wishes to continue that through their art. Bunni has illustrated band posters and album covers, but they wish to move their career to back children’s media and focus on making art for children’s books. While they have studied a variety of mediums, they work the most in gouache and oil paints.

Please register, as this program is limited to 12 people.

Marilyn Simon Rothstein Book Launch: Who Loves You Best? (in-person)

Join us for an in-person celebration with local author Marilyn Rothstein to celebrate the release of her new book.

This program is part of our “Escape the Politics” Tuesdays in October series, sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.

Marilyn will be joined in conversation with NYT bestselling author of twenty-five page turners Kristan Higgins (Look on the Bright Side, A Little Ray of Sunshine) and Amazon bestselling author of comedy-infused women’s fiction Maddie Dawson (Let’s Pretend This Will Work,  The Magic of Found Objects). Laughter guaranteed!

About Who Loves You Best:

A woman drops everything to spend more time with her grandchild, only to discover new truths about herself. A humorous, heartfelt, feel-good novel from the author of Crazy to Leave You.

For Jodi Wexler, a Florida doctor with a flourishing practice, only one thing’s missing: the chance to be with her eight-year-old granddaughter, Macallan.

When Jodi’s restauranteur daughter asks her to watch Macallan in the Berkshires while she takes care of some business out of town, Jodi can’t say yes fast enough. Neither Jodi’s podiatric patients nor her just-fired, suddenly retired husband can keep her away. But when Jodi arrives, she discovers she’s not the only grandma at Lisa’s house. Lisa’s mother-in-law, Di—a hard-nosed real estate agent—has moved into the house. What’s more, there’s Grannie Annie, the twenty-seven-year-old girlfriend of Lisa’s oddball father-in-law. They’re not the only surprises. Lisa’s marriage is faltering even as her new restaurant is taking off.

As the competition for Macallan’s attention among the three “grandmas” increases, Lisa drops a bomb about her life that changes everything. Under pressure, and determined to help her daughter, Jodi must choose her next step. Her decision surprises everyone—Jodi, most of all.

“Marilyn Simon Rothstein is a comic genius whose warmth and wisdom can also bring tears to my eyes. WHO LOVES YOU BEST—about multi-generational family and friendship—is her best book yet.”  —Jennifer Belle, author, SWANNA IN LOVE

“If you don’t laugh while reading Marilyn Simon Rothstein, you’re dead inside.”–Kristan Higgins, author, A LITTLE RAY OF SUNSHINE

“Marilyn Simon Rothstein returns with a hilarious, witty and wise novel about a podiatrist who finds her feet when she discovers that becoming a grandmother expands her world in unexpected and ultimately delightful ways.”–Thelma Adams, author, BITTERSWEET BROOKLYN

Please register so we can plan for enough refreshments!

Books by all three authors will be for sale at this event. Books are paperback, prices range from $12-16. Cash, or check payable to “Avon Library”

Escape the Politics: Live Country Music with Jim Moore

Join us for a live music concert with Jim Moore.  Jim is from the Northwest Corner of Connecticut and has been performing in the New England area for the past five years.  He grew up in a family with deep country music roots. His mother was a country singer and yodeler.  Early musical influences were Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson.

Jim has written many of his own compositions, including one for the homeless dilemma we face in America today. He performs at numerous homeless organizations throughout Connecticut, where they can enjoy his heartfelt song and country music.

In addition to classic country, Jim also performs classic 70’s music, including the Eagles, America, Simon and Garfunkel, and John Denver to name a few.

Please register, so we can set the community room up with appropriate seating.

This program is part of our “Escape the Politics” Tuesdays in October series, sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.

Escape the Politics: Basics of Chocolate Truffle Making (In-Person Event)

If you simply love chocolate and cooking or would like to learn to make some elegant desserts and chocolates, come to a lecture/demonstration entitled Basics of Chocolate Truffle Making.  The lecture will include some basic information about chocolate, the various types, and how to work with it. Samples and recipes will include several different types of truffle candies, perfect for giving your loved one.

This program is part of our “Escape the Politics” Tuesdays in October series, sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.

Presenter: Maria Brandriff is the former Assistant Director of the Cheshire Public Library, where she was in charge of public programming. Ms. Brandriff’s interest in fine cooking and baking came from growing up in a Ukrainian household where Viennese-inspired tortes and confections dominated every holiday. Since then, Ms. Brandriff has experimented with the traditional recipes and has come up with her own variations. She has also become more and more involved with the intricacies of working with chocolate. At holiday time she produces hundreds of chocolate truffle candies, which she shares with family and friends. Ms. Brandriff completed the Certificate of Gastronomy program at the University of New Haven in 2003. In early 2004 she had the opportunity to travel to the city of Arles in France for an intensive 3 day apprenticeship with a noted Provencal chocolatier. Ms Brandriff has also been the featured chef at the Chef’s Table series at Zinc Restaurant in New Haven.

Registration is required; this class is limited to 30 people.

Escape the Politics: Victorian Gossip Girl (in-person)

Join us for a dramatic presentation by Judith Kalaora of History at Play!

This program is part of our “Escape the Politics” Tuesdays in October series, sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library.

Mrs. Annie Adams Fields has incredible influence on literary decisions at Ticknor & Fields Publishing House (forerunner to Houghton Mifflin). Counting amongst her friends: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Annie witnessed Victorian revelry at the height of Transcedentalism, along with a nation’s despair, during the onslaught of Civil War– all from her home; The Waterside Museum in Beacon Hill, Boston. Now Mrs. Fields offers her guests intimate secrets and extraordinary observations, including her years with Sarah Orne Jewett in a Boston Marriage. Join Mrs. Fields! She is a consummate hostess. There will be laughter, disbelief, awe, and even blushing cheeks, as you hear the tantalizing tales of this preeminent literary scout and accomplished writer! (Based on Authors and Friends (1896) and Memories of a Hostess (1922).)

Running time: 60 minutes, followed by Q&A.

Please register!

Sponsored by the Friends of the Avon Library

The Author’s Guide to Murder: Ticketed Event/Friends Fundraiser – Registration Closed

Registration for this event is closed!

Friends of the Avon Free Public Library: Ticketed Event

Spend election night with us! Be among the first to enjoy meeting authors Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White, as we host an event to celebrate the release of their new book, The Author’s Guide to Murder. This is the final event in our Tuesday series, “Escape the Politics”.

This event is brought to you by The Friends of the Avon Free Public Library, who are delighted that these dynamic writers have chosen the Avon Library as one of the first on their promotional tour.

About The Author’s Guide to Murder

Agatha Christie meets Murder, She Wrote in this witty locked room mystery and literary satire by New York Times bestselling team of novelists: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White.

There’s been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the Highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley has been found dead—under bizarre circumstances—in the castle tower’s book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in…or, possibly, one of the castle’s guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American lady novelists.

The prime suspects are Kat de Noir, a slinky erotica writer; Cassie Pringle, a Southern mom of six juggling multiple cozy mystery series; and Emma Endicott, a New England blue blood and author of critically acclaimed historical fiction. The women claim to be best friends writing a book together, but the authors’ stories about how they know Brett Saffron Presley don’t quite line up, and the detective is getting increasingly suspicious.

Why did the authors really come to Castle Kinloch? And what really happened the night of the great Kinloch ceilidh, when Brett Saffron Presley skipped the folk dancing for a rendezvous with death?

A crafty locked-room mystery, a pointed satire about the literary world, and a tale of unexpected friendship and romance—this novel has it all, as only three bestselling authors can tell it!