Readers & Writers
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Readers & Writers
Portland is a City of Readers! The Library is your partner to explore, research, and share the love of reading and writing. We love recommending what to read next, what’s popular and what’s lesser known, and to spread the word about what’s going on in the library and in the community for readers and writers.
Are you looking for new ideas for Your Next (Great!) Read? We can help! Our Reader’s Advisory staff is ready to put their professional book-matching skills to work to find the right book for you.
Simply fill out this short form and we will email you a list of 5 or more book suggestions picked just for you. You can expect to hear back from us within one week.
Featured Book List
Horror, Scary, and Supernatural Tales
Tales of the supernatural and uncanny, ghosts and ghouls, monsters among us, vampires and witches, otherworldly beings, horror stories, and more fiction not for the faint of heart.
Additional Resources
Check out these other great resources for more reading inspiration:
Curated Book Lists for Adults
Book Sets for your Book Group
NoveList Plus
Books & Authors
LibraryReads
EBSCO host eBook Collection
Our Book of the Week project is created by Reader’s Advisory staff and is focused on sharing one great book from the library’s collections each week. The book might be fiction or nonfiction, a new title or an older gem from the stacks. You can see a photo of each new book of the week and a list of the books in our library catalog here.
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Portland Public Library is hosting a Halloween-themed reading of short fiction and poetry with a haunted vibe, a gruesome ending, or a shocking twist on October 25th from 6-7pm.
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Our Literary Lunch Series is held at noon the last Wednesday of each month. We host New England authors with recently-released work in conversation with a literary friend, colleague or critic. Bring your lunch and join us!
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Looking for help with reading suggestions? Would you love to get a personalized list of ideas based on your own reading interests? Our Reader’s Advisory staff is here to help! We’re ready to put our professional book-matching skills to work.
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Join one of our ongoing book groups at our branches, or let us help your book group with suggestions for what to read, book sets you can borrow, advice on book group strategy, and extra copies to supply you.
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Calling all writers! Are you looking for someone to critique your work? Interested in meeting other writers? Searching for inspiration and collaboration? Meet up with like-minded locals at Portland Public Library to discuss authors and ideas and listen to and inspire one another!
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The first annual Portland Public Library Reading Challenge is here! We have selected 24 book prompts and we challenge you to read one book from each category throughout the year. That’s just two books a month – will you accept the challenge?
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The Portland Poet Laureate is an honorary position given every 2-3 years to a resident of the Greater Portland area who is both an accomplished poet and an excellent ambassador within the community. Portland’s current poet laureate is Linda Aldrich.
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Portland Public Library hosts nationally touring authors at the Spotlight Series. Authors talk about newly released work followed by audience Q&A and a book signing. The series is co-hosted by Portland Public Library and sponsored by the Press Hotel and Bangor Savings Bank.
Learn More »Up Next at the Library:
From the PPL blog:
Here are October's staff picks—inspired by the changing of seasons. More »
Our September Staff Picks focus on lifelong learning at the library. More »
Our August Staff Picks offer an in-depth look at New Fiction! We share some of our favorite newer ti More »