6-08-2025 12:02am

Library Kickstarts Summer Reading with Mocktails and Must Reads

Darlene Cancell Editor

Photo by Westwood Minute/Maddie Mulligan

By Maddie Mulligan

Pulling into the Westwood Public Library at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday night, it’s easy to expect an empty parking lot when the library normally closes 30 minutes earlier. But on Friday, May 30th, an excited crowd waited outside the library’s doors to be let in for this summer’s Mocktails and Must Reads event.

One year since the first Mocktails event, this summer’s Mocktails and Must Reads was a way to kickstart summer reading by gathering the community together for a presentation on recommendations from the librarians. Highlighting this year’s adult summer Reading Road Trip, the library encouraged people to sign up and log their reading hours for chances at prizes.

Kristy Pasquariello, director of Readers’ Services, explained that the event was created after noticing that many people were seeking out book recommendations. Outlining how the library is a place for more than just studying, Pasquariello said that the library aims to provide events to meet more of what patrons are looking for.

“The reason we actually started doing this is because we wanted people to associate books and reading with fun, light hearted, kind of casual entertainment,” said Pasquariello.

Describing how the attendees for Mocktails and Must Reads has grown significantly since its inception, Pasquariello said that it has continued to attract a larger and larger audience—including those from outside of Westwood. This was only made more clear by the bustling lobby as people kept arriving for the event right up until the presentation began at 7:00 p.m.

Walking into the library, tables were set up with little activities to participate in while mingling before the presentation started. Patrons were kept busy with a raffle draw for the chance at an advanced reader copy of a book. Also of interest was a whiteboard listing out everyone’s current reads.

Buzzing around eagerly in anticipation, many event goers were also venturing to the second floor to visit the book sale. With free stickers spread across one table as well, patrons could be seen widely grinning as they took part in what the library was handing out.

As the name of the event suggests, mocktails were also provided by library staff, as well as popcorn to feed the appetites of event goers. Strawberry ginger smashes and lime rickeys were presented in little plastic cups, each with a palm tree stirrer—perfect to kick off summer.

The presentation then began, with every seat in the library’s community room taken. Select librarians gave a few of their most anticipated new releases before Pasquariello and Readers’ Services Librarian Julia Horwitz gave a lightning-round style presentation of the entire summers’ most anticipated reads. Here were some of the highlights:

Lizzy’s picks:

The Compound by Aisling Rawle
The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Garnett
Don’t Let Him In by Lisa jewell

Lizzy McGovern, library director, gave no particular theme with her choices, but raved about each of them nonetheless. From finding her reality TV fix with The Compound to feeling both tremendously heartbroken and fulfilled at the same time with The Road to Tender Hearts, McGovern couldn’t say enough about how she thinks each person needs to read these titles this summer.

Vicki’s picks:

Tip of the Iceberg by Mark Adams
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz

Frazier’s picks:

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin
The Someday Daughter by Ellen O’Clover
Under the Same Stars by Libby Bray

As the library’s Teen Services Librarian, Frazier Arets chose all young adult fiction books as her recommendations. Though YA books are often thought to only be for young adults, Arets urged the attendees to still consider reading them since they are really for anyone to enjoy. Arets and McGovern both particularly loved Under the Same Stars, its intricate plot over multiple time periods, with their descriptions causing many in the audience to murmur in interest.

Kristy’s picks:

So Far Gone by Jess Walter
Palm Meridian by Grace Flahive
We Don’t Talk About Carol by Kristen L. Berry

Julia’s picks:

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang
The Dry Season by Melissa Febos

Breaking up the presentation with a lighthearted Bingo game, many of the event goers leaned in to chat with those around them throughout the presentation. Laughing along with the librarians as they presented, the community was certainly engaged and entertained by Mocktails and Must Reads.

Sarah Werth, a Westwood resident who has attended Mocktails and Must Reads events in the past, said she particularly enjoyed this summer’s kick off event. “I try to be a reader. It's very nice to come here and at least get to, like, learn about different things I could read.”

As patrons trickled out after the presentation, many stopped to continue to chat with other community members and the librarians themselves. Despite being late on a Friday night, those who enjoy reading were able to come together and indulge in what the library had—and will continue to have—to offer.

Thanks to Maddie Mulligan, student at Boston College, and head editor for the arts section of The Heights, an independent, student-run newspaper, for contributing this article to Westwood Minute. Ms. Mulligan is interning with Westwood Minute for the summer.