2022 Reading Challenge
2022-12-31 19:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York)
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!

Happy Hour
2024-01-11 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-03-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join Blydyn Square Books and the East Coast Arts and Literature League as we discuss books, art, music, or whatever comes up!

Let's Discuss The Midnight Library
2024-02-15 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join us to discuss Matt Haig’s novel The Midnight Library.

Let's Discuss Remarkably Bright Creatures
2024-04-11 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join us to discuss Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Let's Discuss The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store
2024-06-06 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss James McBride’s The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store.

The Long Walk Home Fitness Challenge
2024-06-15 09:00 - 23:00 | Lakeside School, 111 Chestnut Ln, North Wales, PA 19454, 111 Chestnut Ln, North Wales, PA, 19454, United States
PLEASE NOTE: This event is being rescheduled. Instead of having a kickoff event on June 15 (which has proven to be a difficult date for most attendees, thanks to graduation/Father’s Day events), we’ll be hosting a closing event in September (official date to be announced). The Fitness Challenge will still go on throughout the summer, though, so please see the details below or on our announcements page.

See you soon!

In his debut memoir The Long Walk Home: How I Lost My Job as a Corporate Remora Fish and Rediscovered My Life’s Purpose, author James Brian Kerr tells the story of how he reacted to the news that he was about to lose his job of almost 30 years by walking home . . . 22 miles.

What started off as just a walk home from the office became a meditation and a transformative journey to self-discovery and a whole new life.

We challenge you to follow in Kerr’s footsteps and take your own “Long Walk Home.” It’s your chance to take a break from the “hamster-wheel” existence that so often rules our lives and get out for a meditative walk while raising money for charity: the Lakeside School in North Wales, Pennsylvania!

Although this will be an ongoing challenge you can do anytime (more details to come!), we hope you’ll join us for the kickoff event at the Lakeside School!

Let's Read The Latecomer
2024-08-15 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club to discuss The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz.

Let's Discuss The Razor's Edge
2024-10-03 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club to talk about Somerset Maugham’s novel The Razor’s Edge.

Happy Hour
2024-11-07 17:00 - 18:00 | Online Event
Join us for Happy Hour (virtually, on Zoom)! We’ll talk about books, writing, working with a small press, or whatever comes up. This event is cohosted by our sister organization, the nonprofit East Coast Arts & Literature League.

Book Launch for Jack the Pit Bull
2024-11-15 19:00 - 20:00 | Online Event
Join us and author Taylor Evans for a virtual launch party celebrating the release of Jack the Pit Bull, our very first children’s picture book!

Let's Discuss Ask Again, Yes
2024-12-05 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
Join the Blydyn Square Book Club as we discuss Mary Beth Keane’s novel Ask Again, Yes.

2024 Reading Challenge
2024-12-31 17:00 - 23:59 | Online Event
Read 24 books for 2024! Use our list below as a suggestion or just read ANY 24 books and you’ll be eligible to win our annual prize. (We’ll give you credit for completing the challenge as long as you read at least 10 books!)
Just post your list of books here, on our Facebook page, or email us before midnight on December 31, 2024, and you’ll be entered into the drawing. Happy reading!

Happy Hour
2025-01-16 17:00 - 18:30 | Online Event
Join the authors and staff of Blydyn Square Books and members of the East Coast Arts & Literature League (ECALL) for a virtual happy hour. We’ll talk books, writing, art, creativity . . . or whatever comes up! Hope to see you there!

Let's Discuss The Teacher
2025-02-20 17:45 - 18:45 | Online Event
This time at Blydyn Square Book Club, we’ll be talking about Freida McFadden’s popular novel The Teacher. Hope to see you there!

Ask Me Anything with Editor in Chief Tara Tomczyk
2025-03-07 19:00 - 20:00 | Online Event
As we get ready to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Blydyn Square Books, we’re giving readers and writers a unique opportunity to meet (via Zoom) with Tara Tomczyk, our editor in chief and founder, to discuss the publishing industry, writing tips, Blydyn Square’s vision for the future, or whatever comes up!
