March’s meeting of the Order of Books and Banter will be discussing The Poet Empress by Shen Tao. This stunning debut is sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent & the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles and She Who Became the Sun.

Wei Yin is desperate. After the fifth death of a sibling, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel, dissolute heir of the blood-gutted Azalea House—where poetry magic is power, but women are forbidden to read.

But in a twist of fate, the palace now stands on the knife-edge of civil war, with Wei trapped in its center. . . with a violent prince.

To save herself and the nation, she must survive the dangers of court, learn to read in secret, and compose the most powerful spell of all. A ballad of love. . . and death.

The Poet Empress is an epic fantasy that explores darker themes, subjects, and scenes that may not be suitable for all readers. Please see the author's content note at the beginning of the book.

We’re very pleased to welcome James Owen to Skylark to discuss his debut true crime book, The Wicked Among Us. It’s a riveting read and an entertaining and fascinating evening is guaranteed! Come join us on Thursday, February 19!

Atop the Ozark Mountains and in the buckle of the Bible Belt, the murder of an eccentric lawyer reveals a tragic family drama and an examination of a community that would rather see some crimes left unsolved.

Rolland Comstock lived in what was described as “a Grimm Fairy tale.” With his pet wolves roving the estate and a world-famous book collection to obsess over, Rolland was no ordinary country lawyer. When he was murdered, Rolland’s story turned into a tragic mystery—a mystery some in the community did not want to see solved.

This intimate true crime tale not only seeks to resolve the question of who killed this man but also to examine his life as well. Beneath his quirky personality, there were secrets and turmoil at odds with the ultra-conservative community Rolland called home. Some were wicked enough to say Rolland got what he deserved. The Wicked Among Us is a legal thriller from the perspective of a tragic victim who can no longer tell the story himself.

James Owen left the family farm to become a lawyer to some success. In fact, that is where he became involved with the intriguing circumstances that make up The Wicked Among Us. He was appointed a judge and, after that, worked in state government for a few years. James now runs the nonprofit Renew Missouri focused on clean energy advocacy. In addition, he writes a film column for the local Gannett newspaper and is the film critic for a local talk radio station. He also hosts two podcasts: Renew Gurus and FilmSnobs. James lives in Columbia, Missouri with his wife, Claire, and their two kids, Cecile and Miles, along with an unruly dog named Rosie.

Valentine’s, Schmalentine’s.

Come and join us for February’s New Romantics Bookclub on Wednesday, February 18, when we’ll be discussing the brilliant Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot by the bestselling Alexis Hall. The fun starts at 6:30 p.m., and attendance, as always, is completely free.

Audrey Lane is perfectly fine. Really. So what if she left her high-powered job as a Very Important Journalist—and her even higher-powered long-term girlfriend—to live a quiet life as a reporter for the second-biggest newspaper in Shropshire? And so what if she keeps hearing that same higher-powered long-term now-ex-girlfriend in her head night and day, constantly judging just how small Audrey's allowed her life to become?

She's fine. She's happy. She's perfectly within her groove. Do not-in-their-groove people get weekday drunk and impulsively apply for the UK's most beloved baking show?

All right, so maybe she's not completely fine, but being on Bake Expectations is opening her world again in ways she never anticipated. First through fellow contestant Doris, whose personal story of queer love during WW2 captures Audrey's heart, imagination and journalistic interest like nothing has in ages. Then through Jennifer Hallet, the most foul-tempered (and fouler-mouthed) producer, woman, and menace Audrey has ever met. Jennifer should be off-limits, but her fire lights something unexpected inside of Audrey, making her want to burn back a million times brighter. A million times hotter. A million times more herself than she's been in a long, long time.

Hey gals and pals! Join us for a night of crafts, bingo, and bevs. We will have paint supplies and mocktails for your enjoyment and close the night of with bingo! Tickets are available in store or online for $15.00 per person - link to purchase is here! We would love to see you there!

We’re thrilled to welcome poet Aly Acevedo to Skylark to read from her new collection of poems, My Dear Cult Leader.

My Dear Cult Leader by Aly Acevedo is a winding, weighty collection-at once layered with scars and warm, velvet nights.

The collection dissects cyclic violences through the figures of the 'cult leader' and his followers, interwoven with personal narratives of trauma and survival. Acevedo examines the lasting effects of sexual assault and toxic relationships on the body and mind. Dynamically sensory and emotionally raw, Acevedo's work calls for female safety and solidarity, and strikes a remarkable balance between devastation and hope.

My Dear Cult Leader gives careful attention to the wounds of humanity--finding in them the way back to love and self-empowerment.

Aly Acevedo is a Puerto Rican and Vietnamese poet, educator and speaker based in the Kansas City area. Her debut collection, My Dear Cult Leader (Button Poetry, 2026), examines the long shadows of a toxic relationship and the aftermath of sexual assault, weaving personal history with persona poems that explore power, trauma and reclamation. Her writing has been featured in Frontier Poetry, TRASH MAG, Ink and Marrow, Anti-Heroin Chic and elsewhere.

Beyond the page, Aly is a lover of fantasy novels, licorice root tea and admiring the birds that visit her back porch. She lives with her husband, two cats and dog. Find her on Instagram at @_AlyAcevedo_.

Mark your calendar for a very special meeting of the Order of Books and Banter on February 10. We’ll be discussing the wonderful cozy fantasy, Cursed Cocktails, and we’re thrilled to announce that the author, S.L. Rowland, will be joining us for the evening to discuss the book!

Cursed Cocktails is a cozy, low-stakes fantasy of found family, delicious drinks, and starting over later in life. Perfect for fans of Legends & Lattes, Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, and TJ Klune. You’re going to love it. Come join us!

When life gives you lemons, squeeze them into a stiff drink and stir.

After twenty years defending the frozen north against some of the most dangerous threats in the nine kingdoms, Rhoren "Bloodbane" has finally earned his retirement. While the blood mage's service to the realm may have ended, burning veins and aching joints remain, and Rhoren soon learns that a warmer climate offers relief from his chronic pain.

And a chance at a fresh start.

In the warm and relaxing atmosphere of Eastborne, the umbral elf finds a new purpose and a sense of belonging. He may have left the frozen north behind, but he brings with him the skills and strength gained from a lifetime of defending the realm. Along with his most prized possession-a book of drink recipes inherited from his father.

Spilled cocktails may not carry the same weight as spilled blood, but opening a tavern brings a unique brand of challenges. With the right friends and a little bit of luck, he might just have a recipe for success.

We’re all a bit obsessed with The Merge, by Grace Walker. It’s a thrilling and ominously prophetic debut set in a world when Earth and its resources have been pushed to breaking point, giving rise to a revolutionary—and highly controversial—procedure in which two people’s consciousness can be combined to exist in one body. Lots of us have read it, lots of us have opinions about it (imagine that) and we want to talk with you all about it, as well! So we’ll be discussing it in our first Skylarking book club of 2026, on Thursday, January 29 at 6:30 p.m. Come and join us!

How far would you go to never say goodbye?

Laurie is sixty-five and living with Alzheimer’s. Her daughter Amelia, a once fiery and strong-willed activist, can’t bear to see her mother’s mind fade. Faced with the reality of losing her forever, Amelia signs them up to take part in the world’s first experimental merging process for Alzheimer’s patients, in which Laurie’s ailing mind will be transferred into Amelia’s healthy body and their consciousness will be blended as one.

Soon Amelia and Laurie join the opaque and mysterious group of other merge participants: teenage Lucas, who plans to merge with his terminally ill brother Noah; Ben, who will merge with his pregnant fiancée Annie; and Jay, whose merging partner is his addict daughter Lara. As they prepare to move to The Village, a luxurious rehabilitation center for those who have merged, they quickly begin to question whether everything is really as it seems.

An exhilarating, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, The Merge is a personal story of love, family, and sacrifice, as well as a thought-provoking examination of the limits of control, resistance, and freedom in our modern world.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT.

Join us for our first in a new series! These ticketed events will be a more intimate conversation with the authors. With your ticket, you will receive a copy of the book, a scoop of Sparky's Ice Cream, and an evening of spontaneous camaraderie. This will be a must-attend for all Romantasy readers out there!

Seating/availability is strictly limited and on a first-come-first-served basis, so be sure to reserve yours early!

Outlander-meets-The Princess Bride plus Camelot in a fresh, big-hearted, feminist, timeslip adventure reimagining the epic saga of King Arthur, as told from the perspective of his spunky and surprising queen, Vera – complete with time travel and good running shoes!

Vera always knew she didn’t fit in. When she learns that she is meant to be in another time, she leaps at the chance to embrace a new life in a world of valor, intrigue, and unexpected magic in this bold and romantic retelling of Arthurian legend . . .

22-year-old Vera is at a crossroads: waiting tables, grieving her previous relationship, and jogging aimlessly each morning as if toward an uncertain future. Then an odd man shows up at her workplace, insisting that she was once the legendary Queen Guinevere of Camelot, and that her lost memories hold the key to changing both the past and the present. Somehow, it all feels like the direction she’s been looking for. But when she asks the mysterious man to tell her more about Lancelot, Arthur, and a faithless queen, he can only say that much of what she’s heard about Camelot is wrong. The truth, he claims, is something she must see for herself.

After jumping through a portal in Glastonbury’s historic center, Vera is not prepared for what she finds. Magic is everywhere, but a curse on the kingdom means it dwindles every day. She has no idea how to perform a queen’s duties. Her fast friendship with Lancelot sets gossip flowing, and the stranger she must call “husband” often refuses to meet her eye. Arthur is a puzzle: cold, forbidding, and, while angry to her face, keeps leaving secret tokens of tenderness in her chambers. Worst of all, Vera’s memories—and the answers locked within them—show no signs of returning. If Vera is truly destined to save Camelot, she’ll have to trust her instincts. And her king will have to trust her . . .

Paula Lafferty is the author of La Vie De Guinevere, a feminist timeslip reimagining of King Arthur’s legend that was independently published through a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign before being traditionally released by Kensington Publishing. It has since become an international sensation, published in 10 countries and translated into 8 languages, with an audiobook edition narrated by Julia Whelan. Born and raised in Kansas, she earned BFA in Film Production from Chapman University and a Master of Divinity from Saint Paul School of Theology. She now lives with her husband, daughter, and dog in the Kansas City, KS area and can be found online at PaulaLafferty.com, on Instagram @paulalafferty_writes and on Tiktok @paulalafferty.

Join us for the first New Romantics book club of 2026 when we gather to discuss the (very) steamy new werewolf romance from Lana Ferguson, The Mating Game. As usual, we’ll meet in the shop at 6:30 on the third Wednesday of the month. It’s free to attend, and all are welcome! Perhaps we’ll see you there?

Two wolf shifters reluctant to love discover there’s no fighting the call of the wild in this steamy romance by USA Today bestselling author Lana Ferguson.

Contractor Tess Covington has spent her entire life as a regular non-shifter human, so after she lands in the Denver ER with flu-like symptoms, it comes as a complete shock to be told that, no, she’s not sick—she’s actually a late-presenting omega wolf shifter. With her family in dire financial straits and a contract for her own television show on the line, she can’t afford not to complete the renovation job she came for. And given that her newly emerged wolf is in danger of going into heat, she’ll just have to do her best to follow the doctor’s advice to keep away from alpha shifters.

Alpha wolf Hunter Barrett has spent most of his adult life living by a routine, and a big part of that involves staying clear of omegas after having one stomp on his heart. So when the tiny contractor shows up at his place smelling like the one thing he’s determined to avoid, he thinks it must be some sort of cosmic joke. But with his lodge on the verge of failing and this sweet-smelling omega his only hope to turn things around . . . he’s left with few other options than to grin and bear it.

Set on avoiding each other as much as possible, they find things unexpectedly starting to heat up between them enough to thaw even the frostiest of hearts. Though even with the pair going head over paws for each other, there’s no changing that their fling has an expiration date. The more time they spend together, the more they realize they’re playing a dangerous game—one where the only thing on the line is their hearts.

Join us for the first Order of Books and Banter of 2026, when we will be discussing Fallen City, by Adrienne Young!

As usual, we’ll meet upstairs at the shop at 6:30 on the second Tuesday of the month, which for those you keeping score is January 13. All are welcome, and attendance is free! We’d love to see you there!

In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate's daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods.

Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city's Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.

Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel's inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.

As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.

December’s Skylarking Book Club selection is The Heart-Shaped Tin by Bee Wilson. We’ll be meeting a week early (because, you know, CHRISTMAS) on Thursday, December 18. Alex will be here, too!

One August day, months after her marriage abruptly ended, a heart-shaped baking tin fell at Bee Wilson’s feet: the same one she had used to bake her wedding cake twenty-three years prior. This discovery struck a wave of emotions that propelled her search for others who have attached magical and personal properties to the objects in their kitchens.

Wilson’s best-selling Consider the Fork considered how kitchen items changed the way we eat; in The Heart-Shaped Tin, she delves into how these objects change the way we live. She meets people who open up about a favorite wooden spoon, a salt shaker inherited from a parent, and a vintage corkscrew collection. Our beloved items become powerful symbols of identity and memory, representing friendship, grief, love, superstition, safety, and even political resistance. Crossing continents, cultures, and time periods, Wilson deftly moves between a 5,000-year-old bottle for drinking chocolate and her children’s favorite melon baller; a metal spoon made by a Holocaust survivor and her mother’s silver-plated toast rack; a bombarded Ukrainian kitchen cabinet and her grandfather’s Wedgwood teapot. In telling these stories, she comes to terms with her grief over the dissolution of her marriage and the loss of her mother after a battle with dementia. The heart-shaped tin, in the end, becomes a moving reminder of the power of new beginnings.

Thoughtful, tender, and beautifully written, The Heart-Shaped Tin is a celebration of the fundamentally human urge to keep mementos, even in an increasingly rational age. It will change the way you look at both precious family heirlooms and humble household objects.

Our final New Romantics get-together of the year will be on Wednesday, December 17, when we’ll be discussing the suitably festive Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal, by perennial favorite, Meghan Quinn! Come and join us!

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn comes a brand new holiday rom-com with all the humor and heat her fans adore.

Nothing says I love you like trespassing, public humiliation, and a town-wide Christmas spectacle to win your crush back.

Atlas "Max" Maxheimer did not sign up for this. One minute, he's anxiously trying to keep his family's Christmas tree farm from imploding. The next? He's passed out in the snow after getting clocked by a suspiciously strong bottle of soda.

Enter Betty: new in town, full of holiday cheer, and helping her uncle open a rival tree farm next door. Max is convinced she's out to destroy everything Evergreen Farm stands for. Betty thinks Max might be one sleigh short of a winter parade.

Cue the holiday chaos.

Between blizzards, blown reputations, wildly misguided romantic plots, and one stolen ornament with a seriously tragic backstory, this small-town war turns into something far messier—and much more delicious—than either of them expected.

We are all big fans of Rebecca Kuang’s work here at Skylark and we CANNOT WAIT to gather to discuss her latest brilliant book, Katabasis. We’ll meet in the shop on Tuesday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m.

Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own. 

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she’s going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams….

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don’t even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn’t always the answer, and there’s something in Alice and Peter’s past that could forge them into the perfect allies…or lead to their doom.

Small Business Saturday is on November 29! Come and help us celebrate and support not just Skylark, but all the wonderful local shops, restaurants and services in the District that make our community what it is. This holiday season will be an especially important one for small businesses everywhere, and we would dearly love your support to help us make it a good one.

Every purchase at a small business makes a difference: when we choose to shop small, we’re not just making a purchase, we’re investing in the businesses that keep our economy strong - because small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They create jobs, fuel innovation and keep our communities strong.

To mark the occasion at Skylark, we’ll be doing some limited giveaways while stocks last, and every purchase will be entered into our drawing for the now-traditional bag stuffed stupidly full of goodies. Our make-a-bookmark crafting station will be running all day, and we’ll also be giving away free tote bags with every purchase over $100 (until we run out!) And other fun stuff, too. Come and join us, and #shoplocal!

Join us for the last of a three part journal binding series. Each workshop, Liz will be leading us in a different binding technique. All supplies and materials are provided. Tickets are required to attend and are $20 each - purchase here! Space is limited!

November’s edition of the Skylarking Bookclub will feature a discussion of one of our most popular authors, the very wonderful Olivie Blake, and her newest novel, Girl Dinner, a darkly fun novel about power, lust, and eating your fill, as wealthy moms and sorority girls practice a sinister new wellness trend.

Ali Hazelwood calls Girl Dinner “at once hilarious, scathing, insightful, and heartbreaking.” And TJ Klune says this: "Bracing and darkly funny, Girl Dinner is filled with the fire of feminist rage that burns so good. Also, some cannibalism, as a treat."

As always, attendance is free, and the discussion starts at 6:30 p.m. We’d love to see you there! PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS NOT IN ITS USUAL LAST THURSDAY OF THE MONTH SPOT - BECAUSE THANKSGIVING.

Good girls deserve a treat.

Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected.

After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future. Once she's taken into their fold, the House will surely ease her fears of failure and protect her from those who see a young woman on her own as easy prey.

Meanwhile, adjunct professor Dr. Sloane Hartley is struggling to return to work after accepting a demotion to support her partner's new position at the cutthroat University. After 18 months at home with her newborn daughter, Sloane's clothes don’t fit right, her girl-dad husband isn’t as present as he thinks he is, and even the few hours a day she's apart from her child fill her psyche with paralyzing ennui. When invited to be The House’s academic liaison, Sloane enviously drinks in the way the alumnae seem to have it all, achieving a level of collective perfection that Sloane so desperately craves.

As Nina and Sloane each get drawn deeper into the arcane rituals of the sisterhood, they learn that living well comes with bloody costs. And when they are finally invited to the table, they will have to decide just how much they can stomach in the name of solidarity and power.

Our November selection for the New Romantics Book Club is Overdue, by Stephanie Perkins! We’ll meet to discuss at the shop at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19! See you there!

Overdue is a beautiful, slow-burn romance full of lust and longing about new beginnings and finding your way.

Ingrid Dahl, a cheerful twenty-nine-year-old librarian in the cozy mountain town of Ridgetop, North Carolina, has been happily dating her college boyfriend, Cory, for eleven years without ever discussing marriage. But when Ingrid’s sister announces her engagement to a woman she’s only been dating for two years, Ingrid and Cory feel pressured to consider their future. Neither has ever been with anybody else, so they make an unconventional decision. They'll take a one-month break to date other people, then they'll reunite and move toward marriage. Ingrid even has someone in mind: her charmingly grumpy coworker, Macon Nowakowski, on whom she’s secretly crushed for years. But plans go awry, and when the month ends, Ingrid and Cory realize they’re not ready to resume their relationship—and Ingrid’s harmless crush on Macon has turned into something much more complicated.

We’re thrilled to welcome Jake Adelstein back to Skylark to discuss his new book, The Devil Takes Bitcoin, the wild, true story of cyber-era commerce, crime, cold-hard cash, and one of the greatest heists in history. This will be a fascinating evening which you will not want to miss!

Even in hell, Bitcoin talks. This modern take on an old Japanese saying still holds true. Cryptocurrency was supposed to do for money what the internet did for information, but it didn't work out that way. Its virtual existence unleashed real-world chaos--especially in the homeland of its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. Tokyo was the center of the world's largest Bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox, until that company collapsed with nearly half a billion dollars' worth of Bitcoin gone missing. It might be the greatest heist in history. If it was a heist.

So what really happened? The Devil Takes Bitcoin tells the true story of the humble-to-hot commodity, from the former geek website that launched the boom to an inside world of absent-minded CEOs, hucksters, hackers, cybercrooks, drug dealers, corrupt federal agents, evangelical libertarians, and clueless techies. You'll discover Bitcoin's connection to the infamous Silk Road, learn why hell has nothing on Japan's criminal justice system, and get the lowdown on the high cost of betting with the Devil's dollars. All of this for less than the price of a single Bitcoin.

The book is described by Amy Gray of The Saturday Paper as: “A whirlwind account of crypto’s rise and rot. Reading Adelstein’s tale is like listening to the best storyteller at the pub, full of outrageous anecdotes, pithy takedowns, and a clear-eyed account of how crypto’s true lifeblood was always crime … The Devil Takes Bitcoin is a weirdly successful vibe check from what may be the internet’s last Wild West: funny, chaotic, horrifying, and deeply revealing of how belief and greed blur until they’re indistinguishable … If you want to be entertained, informed, and a little appalled, pull up a bar stool.’

Jake Adelstein has been an investigative journalist in Japan since 1993, reporting in both Japanese and English. His podcast about the mysterious deaths at the Harry Truman VA hospital in Columbia, Missouri—Witnessed: Night Shift won 🥇 Gold (True Crime) at the 2025 Signal Awards—the Oscars of podcasting. 

From 2006 to 2007 he was the chief investigator for a U.S. State Department-sponsored study of human trafficking in Japan. He has been writing for The Daily Beast, The Japan Times and other publications since 2011, and was a special correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. Considered one of the foremost experts on organized crime in Japan, he works as a writer and consultant in Japan and the United States. He co-hosted and co-wrote the award-winning podcast about missing people in Japan, The Evaporated: Gone with the Gods in 2023. He is the author of Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan (Vintage), which is now a series on Max, and also The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld (2023). He has appeared on CNN, NPR, the BBC, France 24, and other media outlets.

ON Tuesday, November 11, we’ll be having our regular meeting of the Order of Books and Banter, to discuss THE BABY DRAGON CAFE by A.T. Qureshi. As usual, we’ll meet in the shop at 6:30 p.m. See you there for an excellent, cozy discussion!

The perfect cozy, romantic fantasy and USA TODAY BESTSELLER for fans of Gilmore Girls and dragons.

When Saphira opens her cafe welcoming pet baby dragons, she isn't expecting it to be quite so hard to keep the fires burning. But her young dragon patrons keep incinerating her furniture, which means selling coffee isn't covering all her costs.

Local heart-throb Aiden is a gardener, though his disobedient baby dragon is a major distraction from his beloved plants. However, Saphira's caf gives him an idea - he'll ask Saphira to train his dragon, and pay her enough to keep the cafe afloat.

They know they're the answer to each other's problems, but happy-go-lucky Saphira and gorgeous-but-grumpy Aiden couldn't be more different. Can they find a way to work together - and maybe even ignite some fire of their own?

We are very pleased to partner with our friends at the University of Missouri Center for the Humanities to offer an online poetry reading given by Ellen Samuels, emeritus professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison and award-wining author. Ellen will read from her newest poetry collection, Your Body Should Be a Part of the World.

The event is free to attend, but does require registration. Happily, it’s easy! Just click here.

This poetry collection is a meditation on chronic illness, survival, and community that moves between the intimate space of the sickroom and the messy persistence of nature. Your Body Should Be a Part of the World is the winner of C&R Press’s 2024 Winter Soup Bowl Chapbook Prize and also won the 2024 Brain Mill Press/Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Chapbook Prize.

Samuels is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she taught for many years in the Departments of English and Gender & Women’s Studies. She founded and directed the UW Disability Studies Initiative and was one of the founders of the community-based Madison Disability Pride Festival. She has been active in disability studies, writing, and activism for over two decades.

October’s Skylarking Bookclub will be the stunning new memoir by Booker Prize winning author, Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me. We’ll be meeting at the shop at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 30. Can’t wait to see you there!

A raw and deeply moving memoir from the legendary author of The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness that traces the complex relationship with her mother, Mary Roy, a fierce and formidable force who shaped Arundhati’s life both as a woman and a writer.

Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s first work of memoir, is a soaring account, both intimate and inspirational, of how the author became the person and the writer she is, shaped by circumstance, but above all by her complex relationship to the extraordinary, singular mother she describes as “my shelter and my storm.”

“Heart-smashed” by her mother Mary’s death in September 2022 yet puzzled and “more than a little ashamed” by the intensity of her response, Roy began to write, to make sense of her feelings about the mother she ran from at age eighteen, “not because I didn’t love her, but in order to be able to continue to love her.” And so begins this astonishing, sometimes disturbing, and surprisingly funny memoir of the author’s journey from her childhood in Kerala, India, where her single mother founded a school, to the writing of her prizewinning novels and essays, through today.

With the scale, sweep, and depth of her novels, The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, and the passion, political clarity, and warmth of her essays, Mother Mary Comes to Me is an ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace—a memoir like no other.

Join us for a haunting night of full of tricks and treats. Come to discuss your favorite reads! Thrillers, horrors, mysteries, fantasies, and perhaps a dash of romance – we want to know them all, and maybe help you find your next chilling read. You’ll drink curated cocktails and enjoy delicious treats. There’ll also be a fun trivia game and a costume contest – so make sure to dress up in your finest Halloween outfit!

Tickets for this event are $20 each and can be purchased here.

Needing some holiday flare in your life? We have just the book club for you! Join us a special Halloween book club featuring Emily Jane’s American Werewolves. For this super special, spooky book club, we will be providing some treats to bring the season into the store! 

Many full moons ago, a young American boy with ambition in his belly and the moon in his veins followed his destiny west, determined to carve a path to success no matter the carnage.

Two centuries later, a city is captivated by the strange and savage murder of a young woman. Her roommate, Natasha, no longer able to afford their apartment alone—and hounded by both rumors of wolves and a pop-star’s angry fan-swarm—has resorted to living in her car. There’s nothing left for her…except vengeance.

Across town, Shane LaSalle is about to see his wildest dreams come true. He already has a gorgeous apartment and a high paying job in venture capital. Now the partners of Barrington Equity have invited him to board the company’s private jet for an exclusive retreat. But with partnership finally in his reach, Shane realizes he’s losing his taste for just how ruthless and all-consuming the firm is.

Epic and electric, American Werewolves brings readers from the wilds of the New World to the opulent board rooms and golf courses of the twenty-first century, where devouring the weak is an American birthright as old as the country itself.

Join us for a three part journal binding series (this is the second of these - the final one is on November 24.) Each workshop, Liz will be leading us in a different binding technique. All supplies and materials are provided. Tickets are required to attend and are $20 each - purchase here! Space is limited!

Witches of Columbia, tonight is your night! From 6-8pm, anyone who comes in dressed like a witch will be gifted a tome selected by our resident high witch for all of your witchy needs. Join us for a night of surprises and cider! 

We are very excited to welcome Rebecca Lexa to Skylark on Thursday, October 23, who will be discussing her new book, The Everyday Naturalist, a step-by-step guide for spotting and recording key traits and characteristics of animals, plants, and fungi.

If you've ever consulted a field guide to identify a new bird at your feeder, you know the process isn't as easy as it sounds. In fact, it seems like you have to know a lot about that mystery bird to even figure out where to start.

The Everyday Naturalist fills in the gaps by explaining what traits to pay attention to when encountering a new species; how and when to use field guides, apps, and other resources; what to do if you get stuck; and more. Rather than focusing on one region or continent, these skills and tools are designed to help you classify nature anywhere you are—whether on familiar territory, traveling, or in a new home.

In chapters about animals, plants, fungi, and organisms like lichens and slime molds, naturalist and guide Rebecca Lexa goes into detail about what sets each of these kingdoms apart from each other—from color, shape, and texture to reproductive characteristics, behavior, and habitat—and includes more than forty full-color photos and drawings to illustrate key points. She also provides detailed case studies to demonstrate how to use all of these traits to identify specimens across multiple kingdoms.

This easy-to-follow guide empowers you to learn more about the species around you, then use what you know to preserve the world you love. And at a time when biodiversity is imperiled worldwide, nature needs more advocates than ever.

Rebecca will also be presenting her talk "Five Reasons to Be an Everyday Naturalist", highlighting some great benefits of learning to identify the living beings around us. Come and join us for what promises to be an inspiring evening!

Rebecca Lexa is a certified Oregon Master Naturalist, registered Oregon Outfitter Guide, and a writer and educator in the Pacific Northwest. She has a master's degree in counseling psychology with a certificate in ecopsychology, the psychology of how we connect to the natural world. She specializes in helping everyday people learn skills and tools for identifying the animals, plants, and fungi around them and gaining a deeper relationship with nature.

This month’s title for the New Romantics Book Club is Zom RomCom by Olivia Dade! We’ll be meeting in the shop on Wednesday, October 15, for all the usual shenanigans!

Teaming up with your neighbor during a zombie outbreak is a no-brainer, but if it turns out he’s a vampire . . . the stakes couldn’t be higher, in this infectious new paranormal romance from the USA Today bestselling author of Spoiler Alert.

When Edie Brandstrup attempts to save her sweet, seemingly harmless human neighbor from the first major zombie breach in two decades, she’s stunned to be saved by him—and his ridiculously large sword—instead. As it turns out, he's actually a super-old, super-surly vampire. But for all her neighbor's newly revealed cynicism and lethality, Gaston "Max" Boucher (yes, Gaston) is unexpectedly protective. He wants her to stay in his safety bunker until the breach is resolved. Edie can’t risk more innocent people getting killed, though—and Max won’t let her save them alone.

As they unravel a sinister conspiracy to set zombies loose on the world (again), the duo meet a host of lovable allies and discover they're not the only ones willing to fight for the future of humanity. Despite the awful timing, Edie finds herself falling for the vampire who’s helping her save the world . . . but all their dangerous plans could end their future before it even begins. As she and Max battle side by side, Edie must decide whether having a love worth living for also means having a love you'd die for—and, in a world that grows deadlier by the minute, whether that’s a risk she’s willing to take.

October’s title for The Order of Books and Banter is Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross. Come and join us!

Set in the world of the gods first introduced in Divine Rivals, #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Ross delivers a sweeping, beautiful adult novel filled with tension, romance, and dark secrets.

True love is more divine, than any ruthless god.

Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.

Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life—begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.

As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.

We’re very excited to welcome to Skylark Thomas E. Weber, veteran journalist Thomas E. Weber, who will be introducing his new book, Cloud Warriors, a riveting story of the people pushing boundaries of science and technology to build better weather forecasts—providing life-saving warnings and crucial intelligence about nature’s deadliest threats

Killer tornadoes. Catastrophic hurricanes. Lethal heat waves. Across the United States and around the world, extreme weather events bring an unending torrent of death and destruction. One indispensable tool consistently offers the ability to help reduce the impact of these calamities: the weather forecast. For centuries, humans have sought to foretell nature’s next moves, from ancient farmers to trailblazers of the Space Age, who brought computers and satellites to bear on the problem. Now a new wave of advances, including artificial intelligence and data-gathering drones, makes it possible to accurately detect these fearsome events further in advance. They provide critical time to prepare and get people out of harm’s way—an undertaking made ever more urgent by the effects of climate change.

In a remarkable tale of innovation and perseverance, Thomas E. Weber takes readers into the world of the pioneers creating these game-changing forecasts. From storm chasers racing to hunt twisters and physicists unraveling the secrets of the atmosphere, from scientists studying how people react to warnings to humanitarian groups rushing to avert famines, Weber goes behind the scenes to show how predictions keep getting better. He explains what’s needed to turn these forecasts into actions that prevent tragedies and how anyone can become more weather literate to protect themselves in emergencies. Cloud Warriors will change the way you think about treacherous weather—and the power of being able to see it coming.

Thomas E. Weber is a writer, editor, and veteran newsroom executive with a lifelong interest in how science and technology shape society. He was The Wall Street Journal's first internet columnist and later became a bureau chief for the paper. As executive editor of Time, he supervised the magazine's feature journalism. He has taught journalism and publishing at Columbia University and New York University, as well as at his alma mater, Princeton University. He lives in New York City with his wife.