Blydyn Square Books

2021 Reading Challenge
2021-01-02 08:00 - 2021-12-31 23:59 (America/New_York) | Blydyn Square Books, PO Box 412, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, United States
It’s the New Year and we’re kicking off our annual Reading Challenge. This year, it’s easier than ever (since so few people have managed to complete the challenge in recent years): You only have to read 11 books for 2021!
Use our list as a guideline or just read ANY 11 books. Post your list in a comment here or on our Facebook event page before 2021 is over and you’ll be eligible to win a prize. Have fun!

Let's Discuss Nectar in a Sieve
2022-01-06 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club to talk about Kamala Markandaya’s novel Nectar in a Sieve.

Happy Hour
2022-02-03 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join us for our bimonthly happy hour. We’ll talk about books, publishing, working with a small press, or whatever comes up.

Let's Discuss Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart
2022-03-03 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book club to discuss Douglas Stuart’s novel Shuggie Bain.

Happy Hour
2022-03-31 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the staff and authors of Blydyn Square Books to chat about publishing, working with a small press, the ups and downs of the writing life, and whatever else comes up. Hope to see you there!

Book Launch Party for Fifty-four Holly Lane
2022-04-23 13:00 - 16:30 | Red Cedar Grille, 249 Bethlehem Pike, Colmar, PA 18915
Join us as we celebrate the launch of Christine C. Heuner’s debut novel, Fifty-four Holly Lane. The author will be on hand to sign copies of the book and chat with readers. We’ll enjoy a spread of light refreshments, and we’ll give away some door prizes to a few lucky guests. Hope to see you there. All are welcome!

From the book’s back cover:
Ashleigh and Tommy Gallagher are full-fledged members of the “Sandwich Generation” who move in with Tommy’s aging parents, John and Peggy, to rescue them from bankruptcy. At the same time, they’re also raising their two teenagers, Emily and Troy. Ashleigh’s crush on a much younger colleague, John’s hoarding, Peggy’s denial of past wrongs, and Tommy’s work stress divide the family. When a major crisis occurs, will the Gallaghers be able to overcome their grievances and support one another, or will the family fall apart?

Let's Discuss Unbroken
2022-04-28 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club to discuss Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken.

Book Launch Party for The Long Walk Home
2022-05-07 13:00 - 16:30 | Red Cedar Grille, 249 Bethlehem Pike, Colmar, PA 18915
Join us as we celebrate the launch of James Brian Kerr’s The Long Walk Home: How I Lost My Job as a Corporate Remora Fish and Rediscovered My Life’s Purpose. The author will be on hand to sign copies of the book and chat with readers. We’ll enjoy a spread of light refreshments, and we’ll give away some door prizes to a few lucky guests. Hope to see you there. All are welcome!

From the book’s back cover:
Imagine losing your high-paying job as an executive after almost thirty years at a multibillion-dollar company. How would you react? When it happened to author James Brian Kerr, the answer was simple: Walk more than twenty miles home.
In The Long Walk Home: How I Lost My Job as a Corporate Remora Fish and Rediscovered My Life’s Purpose, Kerr invites us to join him on his strange journey from impending unemployment to self-discovery, and reminds us that the only true journey is the journey within. Written in lyrical prose, The Long Walk Home will inspire anyone facing job loss or feeling alienated by the artificiality and inhuman pace of modern corporate life.

Happy Hour
2022-05-26 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the staff, writers, and readers of Blydyn Square Books to chat about publishing, what it’s like to work with a small press, what you’re reading (or writing), and whatever else comes up. You bring the drinks; we’ll bring the book talk!

A Chat with James Brian Kerr, Author of The Long Walk Home
2022-06-23 18:00 - 19:00 | Online Event
Lost your job in the craziness of COVID? Just graduated from school and not sure what to do next? Thinking about retiring, changing jobs, or pursuing a lifelong dream? Whatever your circumstances, you’ll find inspiration in James Brian Kerr’s debut book, The Long Walk Home: How I Lost My Job as a Corporate Remora Fish and Rediscovered My Life’s Purpose.
Imagine losing your high-paying job as an executive after almost 30 years at a multibillion-dollar company. How would you react? When it happened to author and former Fortune 500 PR executive James Brian Kerr, the answer was simple: Walk more than 20 miles home.
In The Long Walk Home, Kerr invites us to join him on his strange journey from impending unemployment to self-discovery, and reminds us that the only true journey is the journey within.
Join the authors and staff of Blydyn Square Books and the members of the Blydyn Square Book Club via Zoom (https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89481868463) on June 23 at 6:00 p.m. (ET) for a very special evening with author James Brian Kerr. We’ll talk about his book and his insights on today’s turbulent work environment, and he’ll answer questions from readers. Hope to see you there!

Happy Hour
2022-07-21 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the authors and staff of Blydyn Square Books to chat about books, publishing, what it’s like to work with a small press, or whatever comes up.

Let's Discuss Richard Russo's Empire Falls
2022-08-18 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss our latest selection, Richard Russo’s Empire Falls.

Chat with Author Christine C. Heuner
2022-10-13 18:00 - 19:00 | Online Event
Join us for a very special meeting of the Blydyn Square Book Club as we chat with author Christine C. Heuner about her debut novel, Fifty-four Holly Lane!

From the back cover:
Ashleigh and Tommy Gallagher are full-fledged members of the “Sandwich Generation” who move in with Tommy’s aging parents, John and Peggy, to rescue them from bankruptcy. At the same time, they’re also raising their two teenagers, Emily and Troy. Ashleigh’s crush on a much younger colleague, John’s hoarding, Peggy’s denial of past wrongs, and Tommy’s work stress divide the family. When a major crisis occurs, will the Gallaghers be able to overcome their grievances and support one another, or will the family fall apart?

Happy Hour
2022-11-10 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the authors and staff of Blydyn Square Books to chat about books, publishing, what it’s like to work with a small press, or whatever comes up!

Let's Discuss 1984
2022-12-08 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club to talk about George Orwell’s classic novel 1984.

2022 Reading Challenge
2022-12-31 19:00 - 19:30
Join us for our annual Reading Challenge and read 12 books in 2022. Use our list as a guideline or just read ANY 12 books. Post them on our Facebook event page before 2022 is over and you’ll be eligible to win a prize. Enjoy!

 A book with a time of day (morning, evening, etc.) in the title
 A book with a first name in the title
 A book that is the author’s first book/publication
 A book with an animal in the title
 A book with a blue cover or spine
 A book set in a country that isn’t your own
 A book where no one dies
 A book starring a female protagonist
 A book with an adjective in the title
 A book you’ve read at least once before
 A book that’s been on your “to be read” list for at least a year
 A book recommended to you by a friend or colleague

Happy Hour
2023-01-05 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the writers, staff, and readers of Blydyn Square Books for our bimonthly Happy Hour. We’ll chat about reading, writing, working with a small press, or whatever comes up. Hope to see you there!

Book Club - Fahrenheit 451
2023-02-02 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the members of the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Hope to see you there!

Happy Hour
2023-03-02 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the authors, staff, and readers of Blydyn Square Books to chat about reading, publishing, working with a small press, or whatever comes up!

Let's Discuss Lessons in Chemistry
2023-04-06 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the members of the Blydyn Square Book Club as we talk about Bonnie Garmus’s novel Lessons in Chemistry.

Happy Hour
2023-05-04 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the staff, writers, and readers of Blydyn Square Books for our bimonthly Happy Hour. We’ll talk about books, publishing, and whatever else comes up!

Visit Us at the Kenilworth (NJ) Street Fair!
2023-05-21 10:00 - 16:30 | Boulevard, Kenilworth, NJ, Boulevard, Kenilworth, NJ, 07033, United States
Come see us at the Kenilworth Street Fair! We’ll be hosting a table at this annual outdoor event. You’ll get a chance to meet Christine C. Heuner, author of Fifty-four Holly Lane; Everett De Morier, author of Thirty-three Cecils; James Brian Kerr, author of The Long Walk Home; and Blydyn Square Books Editor in Chief Tara Tomczyk, author of Secrets Most Writers and Publishers Will Never Tell You.
Hope to see you there! For more information, see NJFamily.com.

Let's Discuss Should We Stay or Should We Go?
2023-06-08 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss Lionel Shriver’s novel Should We Stay or Should We Go.

Illustration Contest
2023-07-01 12:00 - 23:59 | Online Event
Blydyn Square Books is looking for an illustrator to create the drawings for an upcoming children’s book (early reader, approximately ages 5 to 9) we’re developing.
No experience required. The contest is open to all artists, whether they’re professionals, amateurs, or students.

How It Works:
Read the text below, which is an unedited portion of the book we’re hoping to have illustrated. Using the excerpt, come up with your best artistic interpretation in an illustration to accompany the text.
We’ll consider art in any medium. Please submit at least one image, but no more than five. All artwork should be entirely done by hand. Although we may allow the chosen illustrator to utilize computer enhancements for the final product, for this contest, we need to see your actual, all-human artistic skill. 🙂
Submit your illustration(s) by email to info@blydynsquarebooks.com no later than July 1, 2023. We’ll announce the winner on our website and social media on July 20, 2023.
The winner will receive a contract to illustrate the complete book and a cash prize.

Excerpt:
A long time ago there was a village called Wensley, which, as you know, is the town where all the liverwurst in the entire world is made. In fact, most of the people who lived in Wensley made liverwurst. Oh sure, there was a baker, a tailor, a shoemaker, a blacksmith, and a bookstore, but everything else had to do with the production of, the sale of, or the shipment and packaging of liverwurst.
Now, Wensley was a very old town and the people there had been making liverwurst for a very long time. Most of the liverwurst makers in Wensley remembered their parents making liverwurst and their parents before them making it. It was assumed that when a young person reached a certain age, he or she would go to one of the factories and start making liverwurst. Because, after all, why would anyone want to do anything else?
And because Wensley was a very old town and because the people did things pretty much the same way day after day and year after year, there were very few things that were different in Wensley from one day to the next. A Tuesday in June was pretty much the same as a Tuesday in October—or a Thursday or a Saturday, for that matter. Things remained the same and there were very few surprises.
In fact, most of the people of Wensley had never even heard of that word: surprise. If you were to ask someone on the street what that word meant, most would not know or understand it, even if you explained it to them. Why would something different happen, or why would you even want it to?
One day, a stranger came to Wensley. He was a short, fat man with a yellow hat. The short, fat man went to the bakery to get a loaf of bread because he was passing through town and was getting hungry. The man who owned the bakery didn’t see very many strangers, so he asked the unknown man his name.
“Cecil,” the man said. And he paid for his bread and left.
Cecil? That’s a funny name, the baker thought, because the baker had never met anyone named Cecil before and he thought it was very odd to do something you’ve never done before.

Happy Hour
2023-07-13 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join the staff, authors, and readers of Blydyn Square Books for our bimonthly Happy Hour. We’ll chat about books and writing, getting published, and whatever else comes up. Hope to see you there!

Let's Discuss Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes
2023-08-24 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss Kathleen West’s novel Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes. Hope to see you there!

Celebrate Thirty-three Cecils Day!
2023-09-01 19:00 - 21:00 | The Belmar Pub and Grill, 95 Main St Binghamton, New York 13905, 95 Main St, Binghamton, NY, 13905, United States
Join us for the first annual celebration of Thirty-three Cecils Day on September 1, the date in the award-winning novel when the two main characters, Walker Roe and Riley Dutcher, were murdered. We’ll be meeting at Binghamton’s famous Belmar Pub (Dutch’s favorite spot in the novel) to enjoy refreshments, some book chat, and an appearance by the author himself, Everett De Morier. Hope to see you there!

Let's Discuss Cloud Cuckoo Land
2023-10-19 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join us to discuss Anthony Doerr’s novel Cloud Cuckoo Land.

2023-12-07 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss the novel The Vanishing Half.

2023 Reading Challenge
2023-12-31 | Online Event
Read 23 books for 2023! Use our list below as a suggestion or just read ANY 23 books and you’ll be eligible to win our annual prize. Just post your list of books here, on our Facebook page, or email us before midnight on December 31, 2023, and you’ll be entered into the drawing. Happy reading!
