The Sanibel Public Library is thrilled to announce its 2025-2026 season Author Series lineup. For more than a decade, the Library, partnering with the Sanibel Public Library Foundation, has connected local readers to award-winning authors by bringing in high-caliber writers for an intimate evening, followed by a champagne reception. Past guests include Joyce Carol Oates, Sue Monk Kidd, Jodi Picoult, David Baldacci, Dennis Lehane, Amor Towles, Erik Larson, Margaret Atwood and many more.

William Kent Krueger

Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 50 years to a marvelous woman who is a retired attorney. He makes his home in St. Paul, a city he dearly loves.

Krueger writes a mystery series set in the north woods of Minnesota. His protagonist is Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Tamarack County and a man of mixed heritage—part Irish and part Ojibwe. His work has received a number of awards, including the Minnesota Book Award, the Loft-McKnight Fiction Award, the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Dilys Award, and the Friends of American Writers Prize. His last thirteen novels were all New York Times bestsellers.

Ordinary Grace, his stand-alone novel published in 2013, received the Edgar Award, given by the Mystery Writers of America in recognition for the best novel published in that year. The companion novel, This Tender Land, was published in September 2019, and spent nearly six months in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list. His novel, The River We Remember (2023), was an instant New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and International Bestseller. His most recent book, Apostle’s Cove (2025), continues with Cork O’Connor revisiting a case from his past and confronting mysterious deaths in the present.

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Ticket Lottery Registration: Monday, November 10 – 17

Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult received an AB in creative writing from Princeton and a master’s degree in education from Harvard. The recipient of the 2003 New England Book Award for her entire body of work, she is the author of twenty-seven novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers House Rules, Handle With Care, Change of Heart, and My Sister’s Keeper, for which she received the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children. Visit her website at JodiPicoult.com.

Monday, January 19, 2026

Ticket Lottery Registration: Friday, December 19 – 26

Kristin Harmel

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and are sold all over the world. Many of her novels have been optioned for film and television. The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau is coming this June.
Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida. In addition to a long magazine writing career, primarily writing and reporting for PEOPLE magazine (as well as articles published in numerous other magazines, including American Baby, Men’s Health, Woman’s Day, and more), Kristin was also a frequent contributor to the national television morning show The Daily Buzz. Her first novel was published in February 2006.
Kristin was born just outside Boston, Massachusetts and spent her childhood there, as well as in Worthington, Ohio, and St. Petersburg, Florida. After graduating with a degree in journalism (with a minor in Spanish) from the University of Florida, she spent time living in Paris and Los Angeles and now lives in Orlando, with her husband and son. A breast cancer survivor, she is also the co-founder and co-host of the popular weekly web show and podcast Friends & Fiction.

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Ticket Lottery Registration: Saturday, January 10 – 17, 2026

Abby Jimenez

Abby Jimenez is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of laugh-out-loud, pull-at-your-heartstrings romantic fiction. Her novels have sold over 1.5 million copies and been translated into 28 languages. Some of her favorite highlights include a Good Morning America Book Club pick, a BOTM’s Book of the Year Award, and the Minnesota Book Award. Before her writing career, Abby was in the national spotlight as a Cupcake Wars champion and founder of Nadia Cakes bakery, which has since gone on to win numerous Food Network competitions and amass an international following. She lives near Minneapolis with her husband, three daughters, and four dogs—all TikTok famous in their own right. Abby loves romance novels, coffee, doglets, and not leaving the house.

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Ticket Lottery Registration: Wednesday, February 18 –  25, 2026

How to obtain tickets:

The Sanibel Public Library will continue to utilize a “lottery system” ticketing procedure to meet high demand and to ensure as many as possible have the opportunity to attend an Author Series event. Requests for Author Series tickets may be made at the Library’s website beginning on the dates listed. Names of those requesting tickets will be placed in a lottery and selected at random, and then be notified by email. Requests made before or after that time will not be honored. Tickets are distributed at no charge to Sanibel Public Library cardholders; one card per person; two tickets per card. Tickets must be requested online at www.sanlib.org. If you are unable to access the online form or if you would like assistance using the online form, call or come into the Sanibel Public Library for assistance.

The Library Foundation

Major funding for the Author Series is provided by the Sanibel Public Library Foundation and its generous donors. Each Author Series event will start at 7 p.m. – doors will open at 6:15 p.m. After an intimate evening with the author, a champagne reception will follow with light Hors D’oeuvres and a book signing opportunity. You must present a physical ticket to Library staff to enter the event.