August 23 at 3pm, join Spenser for his non-fiction book club discussion of Doppelganger by Naomi Klein.

Save the date for a day filled with authors and book talks and signings and bookish wonder. We are helping to plan the Westchester Book Festival right here in Katonah this year! November 8, 2025. Author talks at the Katonah library, workshops at Oak & Oil Gallery and Chroma, and authors ALL day here at the Katonah Reading Room for author chats and book signings. We can’t wait. Tickets on sale in September. Be sure to stay tuned.

Penny has been reading up a storm this summer. Come check out her picks for your next read.

If you haven’t sat on a rock or a beach or in a meadow painting yet this summer, what are you waiting for? The ultimate summer happy can be found traveling with Beam paints in your pocket, ready to create at any moment. Come see what travel sized happy we have waiting for you.

Want a milkshake without the milk? Try our alternate milk frappe: Oat or Almond milk, ice, caramel (whipped cream add on).

Sour patch kids and a book. Is there anything better on a summer day? Whiling away the time in some shade, finding a new story, catching a moment to yourself. Don’t forget to read with your kids this summer and join our book bingo. The sour patch kids help the process.

A rag tag group of employees at a fast food restaurant come together in this beautiful tale of life. Family histories and traumas coming together in a mess of humanity, pulling together people with different backgrounds, different experiences into a sweet team of support.

“William Kamkwamba was born in Malawi, a country where magic ruled and modern science was mystery. It was also a land withered by drought and hunger. But William had read about windmills, and he dreamed of building one that would bring to his small village a set of luxuries that only 2 percent of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water. His neighbors called him misala—crazy—but William refused to let go of his dreams. With a small pile of once-forgotten science textbooks; some scrap metal, tractor parts, and bicycle halves; and an armory of curiosity and determination, he embarked on a daring plan to forge an unlikely contraption and small miracle that would change the lives around him…

Giving up your coffee and turning to matcha? We have the perfect mix, whisked and crafted into delicious combinations.

The perfect hostess gift, we love these old fashioned games. Shut the box is a great dice game which also keeps the kids’ math skills honed. Fun and practical!

Next up: Cinnamon Rolls & Villainy July 26th at 12:30pm with special guests Emily and Jimmie hosting. A kind-hearted baker with a dark secret.

This summer, set a goal to read WITH your kids, AROUND your kids, and TO your kids.

Children who see their parents reading are shown to develop a habit of reading and an enjoyment of reading in the future, plus what better excuse to sit around reading a book — you’re a ROLE MODEL, have to do it! AND children whose parents read to them develop stronger language skills, emotional literacy, and academic skills!

SO we invite you to FAMILY Book Bingo! ANY family member can add their finished title to the bingo card and earn PRIZES when they come in to tell us about it. Bring a “completed” card (be able to put a title in each category) and pull from our prize jar. Prizes include free ice cream, book discounts, candy, gift cards and more!

If you’d like a printable form to bring: click here. Family Book Bingo prizes end September 1, 2025, so get reading!

July 19 at 2:30pm with Christine, come discuss this horror, sci-fi masterpiece. “A thought-provoking meditation on grief, acceptance, and the monstrous sides of love and loyalty, Gerardo Sámano Córdova blends bold imagination and evocative prose with deep emotional rigor. Told in four acts that span the globe from Brooklyn to Berlin, Monstrilio offers, with uncanny clarity, a cathartic and precise portrait of being human.”

July 26th at 2pm with Spenser. Non-fiction Bookclub “Culture Creep” Notes on the Pop Apocalypse. “From the critically acclaimed author of Dead Girls comes a sharp, engrossing collection of essays that explore the strange career of popular feminism and the steady creep of cults and cult-think into our daily lives.”

We LOVE these retro toys. It’ll take you back to the time wasting summers of your youth in an instant. Get the kids off their phones and into unplugged summer fun with bouncy balls and magic tricks and gag gifts.

Tons of cute camp gifts to send on our shelves (we know, no food!) - from stickers to pens to bouncing balls and games. Love these cute little stickers to place on an envelope as “sticker confetti.”

Find yourself some cute stationery and a great one and engage in an old fashioned letter writing campaign this summer. Grab these gorgeous wax stamps to finish it all off. Perfect for writing to kids at camp, an old friend, or maybe a long distance lover. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t love a beautiful surprise piece of mail.

Announcing the NEW Westchester Book Festival, November 8th, 2025, Katonah, NY. There will be author lectures at the Library throughout the day, drawing hundreds of newcomers to the area, as well as local authors at the Reading Room for book signings and meet & greets. We are inviting ALL Katonah businesses to join the FUN. We are hoping that this book festival will bring people in to town right before the holidays, highlighting Katonah as the place to BE, EAT, and SHOP, and of course to celebrate books. Get in the spirit — decorate your windows with book themes, sell a specialty book in your store, post on your social media. Fill out this form to participate in the Book Festival or get in touch with Gretchen at the Katonah Reading Room with any questions or ideas, g@katonahbooks.com.

Author reading & signing with Jeanmarie Sanford, Saturday, July 12th at 10am. All ages are welcome at this signing and interactive reading with Jeanmarie. Come hear this lovely story which is designed to inspire self-love, confidence, and a sense of belonging.

Join Penny July 22 at 1pm for our popular Foodie Book Club. “How to Share an Egg is a journey of deep flavors and surprising contrasts. By turns sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, this is one woman’s search to find her voice as a writer, chef, mother, and daughter. Do the tiny dramas of her own life matter in comparison to everything her father has seen and done? This moving exploration of heritage, inheritance, and self-discovery sets out to find the answer.”