Main Library

American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan has received critical acclaim for setting the record straight on the myths surrounding Bergdahl’s case. Investigative journalist and former Idaho Mountain Express reporter Michael Ames will visit the library to discuss the book he co-authored with Matt Farwell, a former Army infantryman and combat veteran who fought in the same Afghan province where Bergdahl disappeared. Ames will discuss the book’s most shocking revelations, why military and government sources decided to speak out, and why Bowe Bergdahl’s story still matters in the Wood River Valley and beyond.

This program will be Livestreamed and will be archived on our website HERE. 

Growing up in Ketchum in the 1950’s, Dana Quinney found magic in the wilds that was this place in those days – unplowed, unskied, untracked, and unpeopled.  Her memoir, Wildflower Girl, recounts the life of an adventurous woman born for wild places, leading her to a distinguished career in field biology – working for Idaho Army National Guard, teaching at The College of Idaho and University of Idaho, and holding the position of Natural and Cultural Resources Manager for the State of Idaho Military.

With special thanks to the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, please join The Community Library for a free, public talk and reading with acclaimed author Barry Lopez, winner of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for Arctic Dreams and National Book Award finalist for Of Wolves and Men. 

Book signing will follow.

If you aren’t able to attend in person, Livestream the conversation HERE. (Livestreaming will only be available at the same time as the program and will not be archived on our website.)

For more information on the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference, please visit their site HERE.

Join acclaimed artist Tony Foster for a look at his art, his process, and how his work in and around the Sun Valley area has influenced his other exhibitions and explorations abroad.

Join us for an evening with author Julie Weston, who will read from and talk about her recently released book, Moonscape.

Once again, Nellie Burns and Moonshine leap into trouble–this time in Craters of the Moon in southwest Idaho. Nellie accompanies Sheriff Asteguigoiri to the lava fields as his photographer. Three people are missing there, doing “God’s work,” according to Mayor Tom of a nearby town. Marked on maps as “unexplored” and “unknown,” the miles of lava resist easy navigation and Nell’s photography. Rosy Kipling, the one-eyed miner and Nell’s friend, is recruited with Mayor Tom and Moonshine to assist in the search amidst concerns about a religious cult and money related to the missing. Physical obstacles as well as secrets and lies and consuming greed endanger all. And alone, Nell faces an attempt on her sanity and her life in this remote and almost inaccessible natural phenomenon.

Julie Weston grew up in Idaho and practiced law for many years in Seattle. Her memoir of place, The Good Times Are All Gone Now: Life, Death and Rebirth in an Idaho Mining Town (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009) received honorable mention in the 2009 Idaho Book of the Year Award. Her debut fiction, Moonshadows, was a finalist in the May Sarton Literary Award. Basque Moon (Five Star Publishing), the second in her Nellie Burns and Moonshine mysteries, won the 2017 WILLA Literary Award in Historical Fiction. Weston and her husband, Gerry Morrison, live in Hailey, Idaho, where they ski, write, photograph and enjoy the outdoors. Visit www.julieweston.com for more information.