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Not only are we thrilled to witness the rare and wonderful Jane Gardam touch down in our humble events space this evening (Tuesday 5/14 at 7pm), and not only will Lee Woodruff follow her on Wednesday evening, but then, on Thursday we have something really big in store. |
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Tuesday, May 14 at 7pm Jane Gardam Last Friends In conversation with Audrey Schulman Staff favorite Jane Gardam presents the last volume of her acclaimed and much loved Old Filth trilogy, a tale of love, friendship, and bittersweet experience. She chronicles the story of brilliant Terry Veneering, Old Filth’s greatest rival. The son of a Russian acrobat and a local English girl, Veneering’s atypical origins do not seem to fit the elegant man he is to become. Audrey Schulman (Three Weeks in December) will be joining her. |
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Wednesday, May 15 at 7pm Lee Woodruff Those We Love the Most Maura Corrigan must deal with her grief after her son runs into the street and is hit by a neighbor. Her husband, Pete, would rather drink than face the flaws in his marriage, and Maura’s own parents, Roger and Margaret, are riddled with worries about their own marriage. In this gripping family drama, Lee Woodruff dares to ask what keeps marriages from falling apart? What ties families together? Is love all it takes? |
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Thursday, May 16 at 7pm Theron Humphrey and Maddie Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics Theron Humphrey and his sweet-natured Coonhound Maddie are making their Boston stop. After discovering Maddie’s uncanny sense of balance, Theron began photographing her in unlikely places, becoming a sensation on Instagram and Tumblr. If you follow @thiswildidea, come meet the man and dog behind it all. |
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Friday, May 17 at 7pm Breakwater Reading Series Join us for a night of new stories, essays, and poems by MFA candidates from Emerson, BU, and UMass Boston. For more information, visit breakwaterreadingseries.blogspot.com. |
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Saturday, May 18 at 10:30am Children's Storytime Do you love picture books? Join us in our children’s section as our fine children’s team reads stories aloud every third Saturday of the month. |
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Saturday, May 18 at 7pm Bash Reading Series Co-sponsored by Greying Ghost Press, Black Ocean Press, and Sixth Finch This month's BASH features Joshua Harmon (Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie), Jean-Paul Pecqueur (Case Against Happiness), Carl Olivia Adams (Forty-One Jane Does), Anne Cecelia Holmes (Junk Parade), Joe Hall (The Devotional Poems), Julia Story (Post Moxie) and celebrates the release of Joshua Ware's new chapbook, Imaginary Portraits. |
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Monday, May 20 at 7pm Write Your Own Craft Book Panel With Abby Glassenberg, Jennifer Urban-Brown, Virginia Johnson, Stacey Trock, and Kari Chapin Join Abby Glassenberg (The Artful Bird, Stuffed Animals), Kari Chapin (Grow Your Handmade Business), Stacey Trock (Crocheted Softies), Jennifer Urban-Brown (editor at Roost Books), and Virginia Johnson, owner of Cambridge's Gather Here as they discuss how to write your own craft book. |
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Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look
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All the Great Prizes: The Life of John Hay, from Lincoln to Roosevelt
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The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo
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Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center
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Brilliant Blunders: From Darwin to Einstein - Colossal Mistakes by Great Scientists |
Inferno |
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| After the disappointing sales of his previous titles, Dan Brown tries once again to scratch his way into the ranks of the bestsellers. Only time will tell if his unique brand of history, mystery and thrills can finally attract some attention from a reading public whose reception of his earlier efforts could be best described as lukewarm. But those hardcore fans of Brown's will be thrilled to pieces to find their latest fix on our shelves today. Brown's trademark blend of history, art and codes tackles the great poet Dante, as Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon is once again compelled to venture into a dark underworld of mystery and danger in order to save the world as we know it. |
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Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Knopf Hardcover, $26.95 |
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| The newest novel from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Half of a Yellow Sun, The Thing Around Your Neck) explores that age-old difficulty: the long-distance relationship. But of course, this one is a bit more problematic than most. Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love as students in Nigeria, and Ifemelu is able to escape the military-ruled country to study in America. Obinze is not quite so lucky, and life takes him to London, and to an entirely new life. The story of how life can derail love, and how love can get back on track from across the ocean and a deep cultural divide is beautifully illustrated by Adichie. | ||
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| Rick Atkinson's long-awaited conclusion of his "magisterial" study of the European theater of WWII has finally hit the shelves. In The Guns at Last Light the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian shines a light on the final desperate year of the effort, from D-Day to the German surrender. Check out a glowing review here. | ||
| If You Want to See a Whale Julie Fogliano, Erin Stead Roaring Brook Press Hardcover, $16.99 Ages 2-6 |
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Get on a bigger boat than these kids are in. Or get over to the Harvard Museum of Natural History for their jaw-dropping whale skeletons hanging from the ceiling. But most important of all, you will need to keep your mind from wandering, because whales don't wait around. They are here and they are gone. And if your imagination is running wild, like that of the curious boy in this wonderful book, you will find your attention pulled away by inchworms and pelicans and possible pirates. |
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Kudos as well to the team of Stein Erik Lunde & Oyvind Torseter, because this book reads like a mysterious dream and looks like every illustration was made by hand the second before you turned the page. Take a look for yourself. |
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Big Nate: Genius Mode Lincoln Peirce HarperCollins Paperback, $9.99 Ages 8-12 |
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| Here comes the latest comic compilation from Lincoln Peirce, all about king of detention and cartooning genius Nate Wright! Nate thinks studying is no sweat. But Francis isn't so sure. Can Francis convince Nate to hit the books? Or will Nate's genius wow everyone? | |||
The Breath of Parted Lips: Voices from the Robert Frost Place, Vol II |
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| Frost wrote, “Young poetry is the breath of parted lips. For the spirit to survive, the mouth must find how to firm and not to harden.” At Frost Place young poets learn to firm their mouths without hardening their hearts. This is a collection of poetry inspired by Frost and Donald Sheehan, who has nurtured the poet's former home as a sanctuary for poetry. | ||
Screw Unto Others George Hayduke Paladin Press, 1987 Used Paperback, $8 |
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| This is some awful stuff in here. Bad karma is flowing author George Hayduke's way for the foreseeable future just for putting these revenge ideas in print. Got neighbors who aren't so keen on disposing of their trash appropriately? Why call the town, or the police, or even (gulp) talk to them about it? No, that stuff never gets you anywhere, so before you put yourself through the trouble just take Georgie's advice, create a "Missing Child" poster for some fictional neighborhood kid with a police artist sketch of the suspected kidnapper that closely resembles your neighbor's face. That'll teach that jerk, right?! I don't really recommend this book, it's just that I couldn't not tell you about it. It's totally reprehensible. |
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| Although Bacon described the works in this collection "but as recreation of my other studies", they were hailed by his contemporaries as writings of great worth, and after their publication they even went so far as to say that he had invented the essay form. Ever humble, and somewhat confused by their willingness to assign the invention to him, he rejoined "But, look, I titled the book Essays, and you all knew what I meant! It's very nice of you to say, but I clearly did not invent this stuff. Stop saying that, please." This edition is particularly lovely, set in a large black and sepia print. |
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| Hidden Harmonies Robert & Ellen Kaplan Bloomsbury Press, Hardcover Orig. $25, Sale $5.99 |
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| Through their books (The Nothing That Is, The Art of the Infinite, Out of the Labyrinth) Robert and Ellen Kaplan have put together an engaging and accessible course in mathematics. In Hidden Harmonies, they tell the story of the Pythagoream Theorem, that bit of math class that even the most out-to-lunch student manages to hang onto for many years. The tale behind this most recognizable of equations: where it came from, who actually is responsible for it, and what marvels have unfolded from its discovery, is told with the Kaplans' usual wit and erudition. | ||
The Little Book of Microcars Adam Quellin Veloce Books, Paperback Orig. $9.95, Sale $4.99 |
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These cars are tiny. And we know what happens to tiny cars, right? You can pick some of these up and put them on the roof of your other car, if you wanted to. This book is adorable, and the cars inside are enough to make you laugh out loud when you next see some slick car commercial that goes on and on about the industry-leading innovations and game-changing style that their status quo behemoth represents. |
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Charlotte Rogan's debut novel asks how much of one's humanity one is willing to give up to gain a life of privilege. In the summer of 1914, a young newly-married couple—returning to their families in America after their elopement— find themselves adrift on the Atlantic after their ocean liner goes under. Too many people, one small boat. For any to live, some have to die, and our narrator, young Grace, must make life-and-death decisions to keep her dreams, and her life, afloat. |
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The look on my face? I should think it was obvious. It's this wallpaper. A bunch of grapes on a scale, some dangling kitchen utensils up there in the corner...and an eagle flag topper?! Gosh, what a mess. Wait...no...the look on my face was just gas. It's always just gas. |
It's the beginning of the rest of their lives! They never, ever again have to read a book unless they want to read it. (That was the only reason I needed to never go back to school.) If you know a graduate of any age, the Booksmith Card & Gift Room has sooooo many wonderful items to show how proud you are! If you are a graduate yourself, come get a book. Any book. I won't tell you which one. It's time to reintroduce yourself to reading for pleasure. |
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Next Book Club meeting: June's selection: |
In Orbit: Collaborative Performance Celebrating the Sibling Relationship |
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Yesterday I brought home a few sheets of bubblewrap for the kids to pop, and when books-in-bed time came around, Libbie asked if she could pop hers while we read. Jackson, too. I said ok, with the condition that they would stop if I asked them to. They popped for a few minutes, and at first it was kind of neat, a rhythmic snapping to accompany the Oz book we are reading, until it wasn't neat, and it had to, just had to stop. I put the book down and we agreed that they should pop fifteen more apiece, and then we finished up the chapter. |
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| currently reading Epiphany of the Long Sun by Gene Wolfe, a really really long book. currently feeling this. |
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