A Special Place by Sheri Lewis Wohl

 Always a reader, I also always wanted to be a writer. In grade school, I made it my mission to read every fiction book in the elementary school library.  Then one day, my dad bought me a glorious ten-speed bicycle. My world opened up. No longer dependent upon anyone to take me places, I learned to fly. And where, you might ask, was my favorite place to ride that bike? The Spokane Valley Library. I would put on my backpack and pedal to the library with its cool slanted roof and modern architecture. Where inside the world grew larger and larger.

Mostly, I started with fiction. Novel after novel, from drama to classic horror to science fiction. Then the card catalog and I became the best of friends. A new world opened up and I began my love affair with research. Class assignments became windows to the world inside that big white building where people talked in hushed tones but shared a love of the written word. From middle school to high school, community college to university and finally, through graduate school, again and again, I walked through the doors always feeling as though I'd come home. Years turned to decades, and this writer moved away from the place that meant so much and played such a huge role in supporting and nurturing a creative soul.
 

As with all things, time brings changes. My heart grew heavy as I recently drove past my special place. The asphalt is cracked, the once bright white exterior has faded, and the letters declaring it to be the Spokane Valley Library, gone. Memories refused to be erased by the march of time and I smiled.  A mile away, a new library has risen. Twenty-first century modern with bright colors, green grass and a large parking lot. I watched those coming in and out of the building wondering which of them would someday be like me and find themselves signing their own books for the readers who discover their work. Best of all, inside the doors of the bright new building is a librarian, who like those who gave so much to me, helps a new generation discover the magic inside a public library, and that librarian is my daughter-in-law.

 

 

Website: https://sherilewiswohl.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sherilewiswohl/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sheri_lewis_wohl/

We Love Libraries Winner: Red Hook Library in Red Hook, New York!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WLL and WLB News Editor: Gail Lukasik’s fifth mystery and first gothic historical mystery is The Darkness Surrounds Us, Her memoir, White Like Her: My Family’s Story of Race and Racial Passing, was named one of the most inspiring stories of the year by The Washington Post. She is also the author of the Leigh Girard Mystery series and the stand-alone mystery, The Lost Artist. Gail appeared in the documentary, History of Memory, which is available on Amazon Prime. Her follow up book to WLH, What They Never Told Us: True Stories of Family Secrets and Hidden Identities Revealed, was released in November 2024. Website: www.gaillukasik.com

Here's a spreadsheet with our members' books. This month's releases are in a separate worksheet. Sort the spreadsheet by author name, location, title, or release date.

Sisters in Crime hosts LIVE webinars each month. Webinars last 60-90 minutes depending on the topic and the audience questions! These webinars are open to all.

Looking for diverse books? For many years, SINC has curated Frankie’s List, an extensive list of crime novels by people of color and other marginalized groups. Frankie Y. Bailey, building on work by the late Eleanor Taylor Bland, began to compile a list of published Black crime writers over a decade ago. Frankie has expanded the list to include other WOC and LGBTQ+ authors. Here’s a link: https://www.sistersincrime.org/page/FrankiesList