Nature Festival Storytime WITH Kristen Littles May 14th At 2:30PM!

Crystal is a special raccoon with a special story. Her little life begins with some big challenges. Lost and abandoned, Crystal needed help. And just when she thought she found it, her life takes another very big turn and she finds herself adjusting to a new normal. She sometimes feels different from other raccoons and wonders, will she be accepted for who she is?

Crystal's story of perseverance, love, and acceptance is heartwarming and inspiring. She reminds us that we are all special, important, and we are accepted for the unique and extraordinary individuals that we are.

Crystal the raccoon will be in attendance. 

Join us for a book signing and reception for Stephen Doster and Benjamin Galland to celebrate the release of their new Amelia Island Coffee Table Book: Palms, Priests, and Pirates: The Epic History of Amelia Island, Florida.

In Palms, Priests, Pirates: The Epic History of Amelia Island, Florida, Stephen Doster offers the first comprehensive examination of the rich and captivating history of this unique barrier island off the northeast coast of Florida. Drawing on extensive research and a deep personal connection to the region, Doster has chronicled Amelia Island’s remarkable story—from its initial Native American settlement, through the Spanish colonial era and the founding of Fernandina, to the island’s tumultuous periods of pirate raids, American “patriot” invasions, Civil War upheaval, and devastating yellow fever outbreaks. 

By weaving together these diverse threads of Amelia Island’s past, with spectacular images by acclaimed photographer Benjamin Galland, Doster aims to offer readers an unparalleled understanding of the island’s pivotal role in the broader history of Florida and the early formation of the United States. From the cultural clashes between Indigenous populations and European colonizers to the strategic military significance of this Atlantic coastal outpost, Doster’s book

provides a fresh and illuminating perspective on an often-overlooked corner of

American history. Ultimately, Palms, Priests, and Pirates celebrates the remarkable resilience and enduring spirit of Amelia Island, a place whose dramatic saga from its earliest occupation to the present has remained largely untold—until now.

Each ticket includes a signed copy of the book and a plus one voucher. Complimentary food and drink will be served. There will be live music as well. Reception will take place on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft which is only accessible via stairs. For questions, email info@thebookloftamelia.com. To purchase tickets, click here.

Having made a comfortable living creating one form of fiction—advertising—the migration to another form, novels, was a natural extension of Tom's career as a copywriter and creative director in ad agency settings. In effect, he’s gone from making good money writing drivel, to making chicken feed writing fiction. Fortunately, the former more than paid the bills, the latter is an avocation. He is the author of nine novels, seven of which are set to varying degrees on or around Amelia Island, FL. The first novel, his initial foray into fiction, is set primarily in Heaven.

Join Tom in learning about his newest novel, a sequel to his 2025 novel LifeLine. 

Life is like a yo-yo for fourteen-year-old Bloom Howard. It has ups and downs, and it goes all around. With her parents' constant arguing, her little brother's illness, pressure to keep her grades up, and now a plagiarism accusation on a state writing test, Bloom's anxiety and depression rise and fall quicker than her beloved yo-yo. That's precisely when Bloom's life takes a turn. Through writing poetry, meeting an otherworldly muse, revisiting a friend from an ancient text, and connecting with writers both young and old, Bloom risks sharing her voice with the world. Along the way, she may just find that truth still exists, even in a world of deceit.

An evening at The Book Loft with award winning author, Kevin Powers, to celebrate the launch of his newest book, Children of the Wild.

Children of the Wild is a gorgeous, haunting love story set in the Virginia mountains and on the battlefields of WWI France. With the spare and exquisite prose and profound insight that made The Yellow Birds a landmark work of American fiction, Powers once again illuminates the savage, complex, and timeless bonds of loyalty, honor, and heroism, and breaks new ground with a profoundly moving story of love and its endless endurance.

Ewer’s Rock, Virginia, 1917. Roy Young is restless, eager to leave this isolated rural valley for university and return with the technical knowledge to modernize his family’s farm and bring them properly into the twentieth century. Samantha Hatton, the minister’s daughter and Roy’s best friend since childhood, knows that both Roy and the town expect them to marry. But Samantha, a daring and ambitious young woman, hungers for more. Above them on the mountain, tending to a lost herd of cattle, is silent Ennis Duke, the mysterious wild boy whose arrival in the valley will upend Ewer’s Rock’s understanding of itself and its place in the world. Within a year, the lives of these three young people will be dramatically transformed. America has joined the Great War, and Roy and Ennis feel duty-bound to join the fight. In the crucible of conflict, thousands of miles from the familiarity of home, the two men forge a fierce bond. Back in Virginia, Samantha’s love and courage endure unthinkable sacrifice in a corner of the world fractured by violence.

Purchase your tickets here. Each ticket includes a signed copy of the book and author talk with Kevin Powers. Complimentary food and drink will be served. The event is located on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft and is accessible by stairs only.

Theme: Evening Under the Stars

Attire: Wear any shade of blue to complement the theme and the colors of the book.

Join us upstairs at The Book Loft to make your own beaded felt bookmark with DIY Influencer Liz Rishel of Within the Grove.

Tickets include supplies, instruction, and light refreshments and drinks. Purchase your tickets here. The event is located on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft and is accessible by stairs only.

About Liz:

With a knack for creativity and a passion for teaching, Liz, the brain behind 'Within the Grove', is on a mission to empower you to transform your home. As a former Kindergarten and 1st-grade teacher, she adeptly turns complex projects into fun, engaging learning experiences. Liz's blog and social media channels brim with a variety of interior and exterior DIY projects, each thoughtfully presented to inspire and instruct. With her blog's namesake inspired by her first home amongst Florida's famed orange groves, Liz is your guide to creating a home you love. Dive into her grove of knowledge and turn your house into a home that reflects your personal style.

In the near future, China wins the Pacific War that leaves the United States vanquished and bankrupted. Beijing is plotting to make a puppet of the next US President, in command of a corrupt and hypocritical government that has created two Americas: one of ease, affluence, and influence; and one where people struggle to survive. Now paroled military officers and ordinary Americans are beginning to fight back. Their plan is to put a spy into the highest reaches of government. Philip Nolan agrees to infiltrate the Internal Security Division--America's Gestapo--and replace his look-alike brother as the head of a vast secret police network built to intimidate, arrest, and imprison the government's critics. Nolan risks capture, torture, and death as he works undercover to aid the rising Resistance. This is a gripping dystopian thriller that explores the themes of loyalty, identity, and the struggle for freedom in a world where truth is a rare commodity and courage is the ultimate weapon. 

Alec DunBarton (aka The Singing Sleuth) and his wife, Paige, didn't expect trouble. They had been instructed to join the Centaurus, currently on its British Isles cruise. The controller disembarked the ship without official leave, and Alec has been asked to audit his books for irregularities. On the second night of the cruise, Vera Blythe, the president of the Greater London Titanic Club, is found dead in her cabin. She wholeheartedly supported the actions of J. Bruce Ismay, the Titanic's infamous chairman of the White Star Line. Since Vera had the tongue of a viper, no one was surprised to learn she was poisoned.

Alec's suspects are Agatha Jensen, an advocate for the Titanic's first officer; Don Wison, who prefers machines to people; Sorcha McCarthy, granddaughter of the housekeeper who had worked for the shipbuilder's family; Neil Shepherd, a mama's boy and Anti-Lordite; Sarah Sinclair, a shy relative of a Carpathia passenger; and Sam Warren, an urbane collector and former treasurer of the Titanic Club.

Join Alec as he learns about the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage and the club members who had strong opinions about the ship's memorable heroes and villains.

Listen to Mac McCollum share about her life as a CSI for a metro Atlanta police department and her new book, Swan's Don't Swim in a Sewer.

Join us on Wednesday, June 24th at 6:30 PM for an evening with award winning, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl "Mac" McCollum. Mac will talk to us about her background as a CSI and her newest true crime book, Swan's Don't Swim in a Sewer, publishing May 12, 2026.

Ticket includes admission, a signed copy of the book, and complementary snacks and drinks. The event is located on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft and accessible by stairs only. Purchase your tickets here.

Bob Allison is a Nassau County resident and has lived here in the county for almost fifty years. During this time he has created Fernandina Harbor Marina, served in a local countywide elected office, and pioneered most of the provisions of the current Nassau County Tree Ordinance. He was the first developer in the County to use tree surveys in the planning of residential land developments preserving several hundred acres of Nassau County's virgin oak canopy forests. With his wife, he manages the largest citrus groves in the county and 100% of their annual crop is given to charities managing local food banks and food giveaway programs. His work in land development has had a major impact on Amelia Island and it includes lakes built, new roads imagined and built, and the construction of major large residential subdivisions on Amelia Island like Egans Bluff on Simmons Road. All proceeds from Bob's book signing will be donated to Community Hospice of Florida.

Join us upstairs at The Book Loft for an author talk with Eliza Knight about her newest book, Lost in the Summer of '69.

Ticket includes admission, a signed copy of the book, and complementary snacks and drinks. The event is located on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft and is accessible by stairs only. Purchase your tickets here.

Lost in the Summer of '69

Three generations of women, an unforgettable summer of music, and the epic cross-country road trip they'll never forget.

Summer, 1969: Eleanor Bell doesn't have anything to lose. According to the doctors, she might not remember how to sing or play guitar soon, so why not head west now? Why not join the music festivals sweeping the country and lose herself in the music again, in a swan song of her own?

Except she forgets, maybe on purpose, to tell anyone where she's going. When her daughter, Leanne, discovers her mother missing, she enlists the help of her own daughter, Nora, to help her find Eleanor. The last thing Nora wants to do before starting as one of Yale's first female undergrads is hit the road. But then Nora hears something strange on the radio—her grandmother's voice, singing. Nora and Leanne hop in their Chevy for a cross-country road trip, always one step behind Eleanor, who has been dubbed the Dame of Rock n' Roll by none other than Johnny Carson.

Full of nostalgia and awash with the warmth of summer, Lost in the Summer of '69 is an epic celebration of savoring the encore-no matter what the next act may bring.

Get the inside look at an FBI undercover operation that exposed an Italian mafioso’s global crime network.

This remarkable and entertaining story takes readers through the challenges, twists and turns, and inevitable administrative roadblocks one encounters while running a high-profile and complex FBI investigation. Interwoven throughout the story are highlights of key bureaucratic changes driven by culture and policy that took place within the FBI at the time. Jerry Hester explains how those changes had a negative impact on not only the Paesan Blues investigation but also the entire future of the FBI’s effectiveness and reputation. 

This story is based on the life of a man named Michelangelo Rizzo, known as Michele to his family and later Mike to everyone else. It reads like a novel and spans eighty years, two continents and several U.S. states. The story opens in 1909 as this thirteen-year-old fatherless boy leaves his hometown of Platania in the mountains of southern Italy on a solo journey to find the grave of the man whose blood runs in his veins, a man he cannot possibly remember. Through flashbacks, we come to understand the circumstances and challenges faced by Mike's father and millions of others who were part of a thirty-year migration to the Americas in the late 1880s and early part of the Twentieth Century. The story traces Mike's journey to the new world and the various detours and challenges he encounters along the way. From the port of New York, to the steel mills and coal mines of Pennsylvania; then on to a road building project along Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio, and finally arriving in the state where his father is buried and where he settles, Connecticut, Mike's journey is filled with joy, love, loss, tragedy and triumph of spirit. 

With her signature blend of magical and heartfelt storytelling, USA TODAY bestselling author Jennifer Moorman returns with The Charmed Library, a love letter to libraries, favorite childhood stories, and readers who have fallen for fictional heroes. Like many other public libraries, the one in Blue Sky Valley, North Carolina, is a haven for readers. But it's also unlike any other. In this library, fictional characters step off the page into real life. Assistant librarian Stella Parker has no idea. Still reeling from her father's death and—more recently—a breakup, she hasn't noticed. All she knows is she's stuck in a job she's overqualified for and stumped about what to do with her life. Everything changes when she burns her beloved journal. Words matter to Stella. For as long as she can remember, she's seen them. Words appear--in varying colors and fonts--rising from surfaces, bouncing over objects, and even wiggling out of people. Words give her insight into emotions and untold stories. But the words change for Stella after she burns her journal. Suddenly they're demanding, urgent--and painful. Then Stella stumbles upon strange characters in the library after hours. One is an oddly familiar World War II soldier who introduces himself as Jack--Jack Mathis, the main character from her favorite book. A fictional hero and Stella's first crush. Standing in front of her in the flesh. Jack tells Stella about the magic hidden in the library. Skeptical, Stella rashly invites a villain to visit, and chaos ensues. As she discovers the importance of protecting the library's secret and gets to know the real Jack, words continue to appear. What are they trying to tell her? Much too quickly, Stella is faced with the reality that all stories must end, and magic comes at a price. The characters who visit the

library can only stay for fourteen days. And Jack's time is almost up. A cozy, Hallmark-esque rom-com, The Charmed Library invites readers to escape to a world where words come alive and book boyfriends leap off the page.

The event is located on the 2nd floor of The Book Loft and is accessible by stairs only.

In 1564, the teenage girl Ellie is given the opportunity to leave her home in France, traveling to the unknown New World of Florida, to serve as the chambermaid of René Laudonnière at the remote outpost Fort Caroline. Ellie must bravely face the mysterious indigenous people of Florida, rebellious French settlers, and violent Spanish soldiers who consider the French Huguenots to be heretics as well as invaders on Spanish property. During her often harrowing adventures, Ellie finds dedication, purpose, faith, and love. This work of fiction is largely based upon the real-life journals of Fort Caroline commander René Laudonnière, and mapmaker and artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues.