Six years ago The Sitting Room began producing a small publication every Spring based on a particular theme. The the community's many readers and writers contribute to these volumes. They are then compiled by J.J. Wilson, with essential help from Sarah Baker, Michael McCaffry, Karen Petersen, and others.

This simple process has resulted in some wonderfully readable anthologies that combine well-known writers beside people publishing for the first time on such evocative subjects as War and Peace (2003), Nature (2004), Humor (2005), and Books (2006 & 7). Public readings from these compilations occur at the Sitting Room birthday parties, the annual Sonoma County Book Festival, and indeed anywhere we are invited.....The books are "sold" for $5 or more donation and are given away too. Archive copies are, of course, always available for reading at The Sitting Room.

The 2006 "Readers Unite!" theme tapped such a rich vein that we decided to continue with it this year in a volume with the sprightly title (suggested by Barbara McCaffry), "Readers Re-Unite!" Copies are available now at the Sitting Room.

To grand fanfare at a party on June 8, the Sitting Room's 2008 publication "Spirit Matters: Spiritual Voices in a Secular Age," edited by Rosemary Manchester was launched with a public reading and a discussion led by Carol Lee Flinders, who also wrote the Introduction. Copies are available to read at the Sitting Room, of course, and also to buy for a minimum $5 donation (it costs a bit more to produce but we are yearning for people to read it far and wide!) If it is unlikely that you will be going by The Sitting Room, email J.J. Wilson and she will mail you however many copies you wish.

There will be another public reading during the 9th Annual Sonoma County Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 20, at 10 a.m. On Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa and of course copies will be available there.

Next year's publication, also edited by Rosemary Manchester, will be devoted to people's travel experiences. Click here for specific guidelines. Please contribute!