Writte by Writing Education Specialist, Sharma Shields
February 14th isn’t just Valentine’s Day, it’s also Library Lovers Day!
According to the National Today website, Library Lovers Day began in Australia in 2006 and has spread worldwide, with libraries around the globe highlighting reader-to-book matchmaking events (like our “Blind Date with a Book” selections) and encouraging residents to write love letters to their favorite libraries. While Valentine’s Day emphasizes gift-buying, long-stemmed roses, fancy meals, and dressing up, Library Lovers Day celebrates the wealth of community and free resources libraries provide to us all, no matter who we are or who we’re with or not with, and even if we’re wearing sweatshirts and pajama bottoms (lol).
To celebrate Library Lovers Day, we’re hosting a “Quiet Reading Party” at the Liberty Park Library on, you guessed it, February 14th, from 4:30-5:30 PM. Bring a book from home or grab a book from our library shelves, find a comfortable seat in the event rooms or in the library general, and enjoy a quiet reading experience surrounded by other library lovers and bibliophiles. Ebooks and audiobooks are also welcome (so long as the audiobooks have headphones). We’re calling it a “Quiet Reading Party” rather than a “Silent Reading Party” because public libraries should never be expected to be silent spaces.
And to help us kick off Library Lovers Day 2026, here are book recommendations from local writers, arts organizers, and book lovers around our region. All of these titles are available for checkout at Spokane Public Library.
Margaret Albaugh, artist, photographer, and author of Where I End and You Begin: “Intermezzo sticks out to me immediately. This is Sally Rooney’s latest and I always enjoy the way she examines her characters, their desires, their motivations, and their grievances. She does a good job of exploring the different ways that we meet love, grief, and our shadows. And I borrowed the audiobook from the Spokane library!”
Chris Bieker, author of the Rex Begonia mystery series (first in the series is Murder at Manito): “I like both fiction and non-fiction. Most recently I read Who Is Government: The Untold Story of Public Service. Edited by Michael Lewis and written by a number of authors, the book includes case studies of important work conducted by federal agencies. It is work which the average American probably has no idea is done on our behalf but impacts our everyday lives. Also, I recently read Louise Penny’s Grey Wolf, a mystery, of course. I’m on the long waiting list for Paper Girl. Yup, equal attention to local bookstores and libraries!”
Jenny Davis, educator and published essayist who runs writing workshops at Spark Central: “My favorite book I’ve read this year is probably Orbital, by Samantha Harvey. Orbital takes place over the course of a single day in the lives of the six astronauts/cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station. The story meditates on the nature of human connection, time, and perspective. What it means to be. The writing is lush, stunning. It’s a short book, and one I’m likely to reread any time I need a little distance from my own quotidiana; highly, highly recommend.”
John Decker, President and General Manager of Spokane Public Radio, recommends The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. “McBride is so good at filling his stories with characters you can relate to on all sorts of levels. The story flows with ease, which made me feel a part of Chicken Hill.”
Lisa Gardner, Director of City Communications for Spokane City Council and Spokane’s NAACP President: “Can’t Get Enough by Ryan Kennedy is the perfect spicy read for a cold evening. As the third in a series about friends, it’s the cherry on top, blending forbidden love with urban fairytale. Maverick Bell is sure to top any single woman’s Valentine’s Day wishlist.”
Mel Hewitt, artist, printmaker, and book binder at LibroBuch (www.librobuch.com): “I was really moved by Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. I have never been so moved by a work where I actually want to go out and do something about it. It has inspired me to create a one-of-a-kind fine binding of this book, put it up for auction, and give the proceeds to a tuberculosis charity.”
Leyna Krow, author most recently of the story collection Sinkhole: And Other Inexplicable Voids: “I Lost My Tooth! by Mo Willems. My son picked this book out from the library last week and has insisted that it be read to him 3-4 times a day, every day since. If you are going to read the same book over and over to a kid, I think this is a pretty good choice because it’s long so it lasts for a while, and there are cute squirrels in it. Also, my daughter Bixby walked in while I was typing this and asked what I was doing, then asked if she could recommend a book too. So, here’s hers: Wings of Fire #5: The Brightest Night by Tui Sutherland. ‘I am obsessed with this series. The fifth book is my favorite because it is when a terrible war stops and a young dragonet meets her parents. It is a bold and adventurous story.’”
Jack Nisbet, author most recently of The Doctor and the Dreamer and beloved local historian and naturalist: “Joe Sacco is a Maltese journalist/illustrator who has published several amazing books about Mideast conflicts. In Paying the Land he uses straight-ahead interviews and meticulous drawings to provide an outsider’s view of the complexities of native life in the Northwest Territories.”
Stephanie Oakes, educator and author, most recently of The Meadows: “My favorite book of the past year was The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. Don’t be intimidated by this massive tome! It’s both complex and incredibly readable. It gave me everything that I wanted from other fantasy epics like Game of Thrones: more LGBTQ+ characters, less violence against women, and a lot more magic.”
Laura Read, poet and author most recently of The Serious World: “Sonora Jha’s new book, Intemperance. I greatly enjoyed Jha’s The Laughter because of its humor, its social critique, and its unreliable narrator. and Intemperance shares that book’s humor and feminism, but this one has a very reliable and winning narrator, a bit of magical realism, and a love story. Perfect for Valentine’s Day!”
Maya Jewell Zeller, poet and author most recently of The Wonder of Mushrooms, recommends Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum’s Elita, which takes place in Seattle, and features a ferality that includes the waterscape of Salish Sea and the islands like McNeil (renamed in the book), and the tangle of bramble both interior and exterior that women (and girls!) face in the last century of America. The book is distinctly feminist, distinctly shadowy, and so deliciously full of place that I immediately cozied into it, with thrill and mystery and joy. Would make an amazing holiday read, too.
