We are excited to announce that the Spring Read is “The Guise of Another” which is the second book in a series by Allen Eskens! Meet Allen on March 10 at 7 p.m. at the Treaty Site History Center.
Spring Read Announced!
January 28, 2016 Reserve your spot!
March 27, 2015
Upcoming events!
March 9, 2015St. Peter Reads This Fall – Where Am I Wearing? and Where Am I Eating by Kelsey Timmerman
August 27, 2014
Fueled by passion and curiosity, Kelsey Timmerman tells the story of the items we often take for granted and how they connect us to the world as global and local citizens.
From garment factories in Cambodia to banana plantations in Costa Rica, Kelsey Timmerman is dedicated to addressing global issues through storytelling. By traveling the world and telling the stories of the people he meets, Timmerman is able to educate his readers and initiate dialogue about our responsibilities as local and global citizens. In his first book, WHERE AM I WEARING? (2nd Edition, April 2012, Wiley), he traveled the world to find out where his clothes came from. Visiting garment factories in Asia and Latin America, he shared the stories of the people who make our clothes. From a 20-something t-shirt maker in Honduras to a single mother of two in Bangladesh, Timmerman humanizes the issues of globalization and provokes readers to check their tags and think about where their clothing comes from. In his next book WHERE AM I EATING? (April 2013, Wiley), he confronted slavery in the Ivory Coast cocoa industry, and explored Fair Trade coffee farming in Colombia, as he uncovered the realities of the global food industry that is supporting our “all-American” diet.
An acclaimed public speaker, Timmerman has lectured on travel and globalization around the world. He is particularly passionate about educating students through humor and storytelling, and encourages them to think globally and act locally. He is a frequent keynote speaker at universities, high schools, and conferences. He brings the world to students, and, through a partnership with the socially responsible travel company The Village Experience, he takes students to the world on weeklong excursions around the globe.
The author will speak at Christ Chapel on Wednesday, September 10th at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.
The book can be purchased at The Book Mark at Gustavus, Community & Family Education, City Grille, Nutter Clothing, Saint Peter Food Co-op, St. Peter Herald, Saint Peter Public Library, Swedish Kontur, Treaty Site History Center, and Whiskey River Emporium.
Copes of the book are also available for loan at Saint Peter Food Co-op, the Saint Peter Public Library, and the Whiskey River Emporium.
Third Annual St. Peter Reads Book Festival
March 3, 2014
St. Peter Reads is delighted to present the third annual St. Peter Reads Book Festival to take place on Saturday, April 5, 2014. The 10:00 a.m. brunch at Gustavus Adolphus College features a keynote by local author, Nicole Helget.
Ms. Helget’s recently released novel, Stillwater, set in the mid-1800s at the height of the logging boom, is a tale of frontier life in the territory of Minnesota. She is best known for her memoir, The Summer of Ordinary Ways, but has also written children’s books, in addition to her previous novel, The Turtle Catcher.
The ticketed event also features several other authors in what is termed as a Moveable Feast. They will spend time at the brunch tables, meeting attendees and visiting about their respective books. These chosen authors’ works cover a wide range of topics: from mysteries, to biography, to books for children, even to woodworking. Authors include Jan Dunlap, Becky Fjelland Davis, Connie Claire Szarke, Lori Sturdevant and Spike Carlsen, among others.
All authors will be available following the Brunch to sign their books, which will also be available for purchase. The public is invited to this time of book signing which begins at 12 Noon.
For more information or to make a reservation, visit the St. Peter Community and Family Education website, or call 507-934-3048. The cost of the brunch, catered by Dining Service of Gustavus Adolphus College, is $20. Seating is limited.
Think Spring – and Authors Brunch
December 3, 2013Calling all authors! St. Peter Reads is now accepting applications for the Moveable Feast portion of the April 5, 2014 Author Brunch.
image courtesy of David Wright
St. Peter Reads This Fall – A Pearl in the Storm
August 11, 2013
Ahoy! The community reading event coming in September (in conjunction with the Reading in Common program at Gustavus, is Tori Murden McClure’s memoir, A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean. In 1998, McClure set out to row across the Atlantic by herself. While she hoped to set a record, she didn’t know it would prove to be a record year for hurricanes. Now president of Spalding College in Louisville, Kentucky, her story is about what motivates a woman to explore the most dangerous and isolated parts of the world and what she has learned about herself in the process.
The author will speak at Christ Chapel on Thursday, September 19th at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.
The book can be purchased at The Book Mark at Gustavus, Community & Family Education, Nutter Clothing, Saint Peter Public Library, Swedish Kontur, Treaty Site History Center, and Whiskey River Emporium.
Copes of the book are also available for loan at Family Fresh Market, the Saint Peter Public Library, and the Whiskey River Emporium.
St. Peter Book Festival, April 6, 2013
February 5, 2013
There’s a lot to look forward to at the second annual St. Peter Book Festival. All events will be held at the St. Peter Community Center.
Brunch With the Authors, 10:00-11:45 ($20, register here)
- William Kent Krueger (keynote speaker) & a Moveable Feast of Authors
Book Festival, 1:00-5:00 pm (free to all)
- Meet area authors
- Attend panel presentations – adults and readers (grades 4-6)
- Purchase books
- Author storytime & activities for families with young children
Brunch @ the St. Peter Book Festival
January 14, 2013
The St. Peter Book Festival will feature a brunch with local authors. Attendees will enjoy a keynote address from William Kent Krueger, author of the Cork O’Connor mystery series, who will introduce his new stand-alone novel, Ordinary Grace.
In addition to Krueger’s talk, the brunch includes a moveable feast of authors to meet, and a scrumptious meal.
The cost is $20.00. Register through Community Education for the brunch – and don’t delay, as seating is limited.
About Ordinary Grace [from the publisher]:
All the dying that summer began with the death of a child . . .
New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.
Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family, which includes his Methodist minister father, his passionate, artistic mother, Juilliard-bound older sister, and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother—he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.
Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.
Are you an author? register here.
Are you a publisher? register here.
Call for Authors – and Publishers!
November 7, 2012Did you know Minnesota is a publishing hotbed? It is – particularly for children’s books, but with many other award-winning publishers in all genres. You might just get to meet some of them at this spring’s St. Peter Book Festival, now in its second year.
To register as a publisher or author to participate in the April 6th event, there’s a form available for publishers and another one for authors.
St. Peter Reads 