Author Archives: Erin Lewis

Summer Movie Matinee for Adults

Summer Movie Matinee for Adults: The Martian

Friday, August 7, 2026

Doors open at 1:15 PM, movie starts at 1:30 PM, Lower Level Meeting Room

Register to reserve your seat!

Join us for a showing of The Martian, a film adaptation of the book by the same title by Andy Weir. A lone astronaut (Matt Damon) is left behind on the hostile surface of Mars after an exploratory mission goes awry and must use his ingenuity to create a habitat where he can survive. Meanwhile, his crewmates and a team of scientists work to rescue him, in defiance of NASA protocol. Rated PG-13.  © Twentieth Century Fox

Light refreshments will be served!

If you enjoy The Martian, in September we’ll be showing Project Hail Mary, also a film adaptation of an Andy Weir book!

The Author’s Corner with Jenna Blum

The Author’s Corner with Jenna Blum in conversation with Jane Healey

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

7:00 – 8:30 PM, Lower Level Meeting Room

Register online to reserve your seat!

Known for such brilliant historical novels as Those Who Save Us, Stormchasers and The Lost Family, A Mighty Blaze co-founder and New York Times bestselling author Jenna Blum now offers a contemporary, suspenseful novel about love, loss, and revenge in the world of books: Murder Your Darlings.

Photo by Janna Giacoppo


Jenna earned her MA at Boston University in Creative Writing and has taught workshops for Boston University, Grub Street Writers and A Mighty Blaze.

Jenna is based in downtown Boston, where she’s the proud human of her black Lab Henry Higgins.

Jane Healey is the author of The Saturday Evening Girls Club, Goodnight from Paris, The Secret Stealers, The Beantown Girls, and her latest The Women of Arlington Hall. Jane is also the host of The Jane Healey Happy Hour, a monthly webinar and podcast featuring interviews with premier fiction authors and their latest novels. She and her family live in Melrose. 

Molly’s Bookstore will have copies of Jenna’s books available for purchase at the event that Jenna will sign after her talk.

Light refreshments will be served, sponsored by The Friends of the Melrose Public Library.

2026 Mass Center For the Book Reading Challenge

12 Months 12 Books

  • January: A book about or set in winter – Suggested related titles
  • February: A book outside your usual genres or come in to MPL to spin our Genre Wheel! Can’t stop by? Spin the virtual genre wheel online!
  • March: A book featuring an unlikely friendship
  • April: A short story or essay collection
  • May: A book set in Massachusetts
  • June: A book with a sympathetic villain
  • July: A book found at a Little Free Library, tag sale, or used bookstore
  • August: A book that could be considered taboo
  • September: A book about a journey
  • October: A mystery, thriller, or ghost story
  • November: An adult classic you’ve never read
  • December: A book that connects to your heritage or cultural identity

How the challenge works:

  • Choose a book that fits the monthly challenge.
  • After you read, fill out this form to tell Mass Center for the Book about the book.
    • Using their submission manager, you will be able to log in and access the entries you’ve logged throughout the year.
    • Dedicated readers will be invited to a year-end celebration hosted by Mass Center for the Book.
    • Mass Center will be drawing two names on the last day of each month to win a free book! Make sure you get your entries in before the end of the month.
    • If you read a book in each of the 12 months, you will be entered in a drawing to win 1 of 2 totes filled with books.
    • Visit Mass Center for the Book for full information!

Virtual – Historical Fiction Book Recs with Jane Healey

Virtual – Historical Fiction Book Recs with Jane Healey

Tuesday, August 11, 2026

6:30-7:00 PM via Zoom

Register Online!

Love Historical Fiction but not sure what to read next? Join bestselling author, Jane Healey, monthly for 30 minutes of pure book recommendations – the best of historical fiction out there! We’re sure you’ll find something to like from Jane’s many enthusiastic reviews.

A list of all recommendations will be shared for those who register. There will also be recordings of each meeting uploaded to the Ashland Public Library YouTube Channel.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is in collaboration with a multitude of MA and NH libraries.

Jane Healey is the author of The Beantown Girls, a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestseller, The Secret Stealers, which was an Amazon First Reads Editor’s Pick and a Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice, and her debut, The Saturday Evening Girls Club. Goodnight from Paris is her newly released novel from Lake Union Publishing. Jane is also the host of Historical Happy Hour, a monthly webinar and podcast featuring interviews with premier historical fiction authors and their latest novels. She and her family lives outside Boston. We can’t wait to hear what Jane will be recommending – be ready for your TBR pile to fall over! 

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