It is that time of year when I take a long vacation (i.e. for the rest of the year). This year I thought I would give you a list of books I’m planning on reading. The key part of that last sentence was “planning.” This list is entirely aspirational and many if not most will…
Charles Emmerson’s 1913 is a book I’ve been meaning to read since it came out in 2013. What drew me to it was actually my enjoyment of The Proud Tower by Barbara W Tuchman. You might remember Tuchman for Guns of August about the opening couple of months of World War I (Guns of August…
If you are a fan of Jane Austen and Mary Shelley I highly recommend reading the book Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel. Kessel combines the novels Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein that sparked my interest in coming across this book. I was curious to see how the two books combined would play out. Kessel uses Mary Bennett…
I just listened to Good Clean Fun by Nick Offerman, which is a memoir? a how-to-book? a satire? After enjoying Ruth Reichl’s My Kitchen Year (a cookbook? a memoir? a tell-all?), I thought I’d give this a try, but it wasn’t really for me. I’m currently listening to The Cleaner, by Brett Battles, a thriller…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library soon How to Behave Badly in Elizabethan England: A Guide for Knaves, Fools, Harlots, Cuckolds, Drunkards, Liars, Thieves, and Braggarts by Ruth Goodman Every age and social strata has its bad eggs, rule-breakers, and nose-thumbers. As acclaimed popular historian and author of How…
So what do you think of when you think of the Crimean War (assuming you think anything)? Charge of the Light Light Brigade or Florence Nightingale? Those are some of the only iconic images left from the war. Orlando Figes’ Crimean War is, not surprisingly, a much deeper dive. I’ve read a couple of Figes…
mood board noun an arrangement of images, materials, pieces of text, etc., intended to evoke or project a particular style or concept. The Wee Free Men The Wee Free Men – Terry Pratchett “The first in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching. A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1386 Tamerlane Sacks Tblisi Tamerlane, aka Timur, was the Turkic Emir of Samarkand who conquered much of Central Asia…
I have to say I can’t actually remember how I stumbled on this book. I may have been trolling the internet for historical fiction and found it that way. At any rate I ended up with this rather esoteric work of historical fiction that I loved. Sadly we don’t have a copy of The Bookseller’s…
I’m almost done with When by Daniel H. Pink, which is about effective timing. Certain types of work are more effective at certain times of day. Being aware of this face and of our individual “chronotypes” (per wikipedia: “a chronotype is the behavioral manifestation of underlying circadian rhythms of myriad physical processes. A person’s chronotype…
I’ve always been rather suspicious of stories that claim to be about something that was “forgotten.” Usually “forgotten” really means “not heard of by a lot of people because they didn’t really care until the book came along.” The Forgotten 500 falls into that category but its a story that was buried pretty far down.…
I’m listening to My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl, read by the author. Ms. Reichl was the last Editor-in-Chief of Gourmet and this book is her recipe-laden memoir of the year after the magazine shut down. It’s your standard food-related memoir, but because it has very short chapters, it zips right along. It’s odd to…
You may remember me mentioning Elsa Hart’s City of Ink a couple of months ago when I was reading the next installment of her Li Du Mystery series The White Mirror. City of Ink is the third book in the series and one that I approached with a little trepidation. What drew me to the…
In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters—Catherine, Lydia, and Emeline—flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic, but a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to both Lydia and Emeline. All three daughters will be…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library soon Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah’s War Against America. By Fred Burton. On April 18th, 1983, a van rigged with 2,000 pounds of heavy explosives broke through the security perimeter of the American embassy in…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1360 – Treaty of Brétigny Ratified The Treaty of Brétigny marks the end of the early phase of the…
Unless you are a close follower of Spanish history you may not be aware that prior to modern times there technically was no such thing as Spain. Originally the concept of Spain was just the region of Hispania, the Roman province on the Iberian peninsula. Even during the early modern period the people we think…
In the annals of art theft, no case has matched―for sheer criminal panache―the heist at Ireland’s Russborough House in 1986. The Irish police knew right away that the mastermind was a Dublin gangster named Martin Cahill. Yet the great plunder ―including a Gainsborough, a Goya, two Rubenses, and a Vermeer― remained at large for years.…
If you have read any Roman history or historical fiction it probably falls into two categories. Its set in the very late Republic and involves Pompey and Caesar and Octavian and Anthony duking it out over who’s going to control Rome. The other is set much later at the imperial period and involves the coming…
Like most Americans, I got my knowledge about the mob in Cuba from watching The Godfather Part 2. Havana Nocturne was actually a book I picked up out of my interest in the Cold War but I learned quite a bit more from it than that. As the name suggests this is the parallel stories…
Whoa whoa whoa whoa. You’re looking for something that just might fill that Peter Kavinsky-sized hole you can’t seem to get over after watching To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before roughly a gazillion times? Those are some big Converses to fill, but perhaps one of the books on this list will come close. (Maybe?)…
On March 20, 1969, the day after she slipped a color-coded piece of paper into an on-campus mailbox designated for ride sharing requests, University of Michigan student Jane Mixer was murdered. Picked up by the man who had replied to her request for a lift back to her hometown, a man she did not know…
For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, true crime journalist Michelle McNamara was determined to…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1187 Siege of Jerusalem Begins The Kingdom of Jerusalem was established after the First Crusade along with several other…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library soon Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership. Are…
The whole idea behind the concept of a Cold War is that there is opposition without war. Now we all know that when they say “without war” they mean we managed to not incinerate ourselves in a global nuclear conflagration. There was plenty of hot war in the Cold War. That is where the argument…
After the success of the Hamilton musical based on Chernow’s biography Alexander Hamilton, it is not surprising that Grant would be a hit. In fact it was such a hit, the History Book Group here at the library picked it for its September book. We will be discussing it September 19 at 7pm. This like…
Getting into the tabletop roleplaying game hobby can feel a little daunting. This is often due to complexity or expense, with some games requiring multiple books and supplemental material. The Peabody Institute of Danvers roleplaying game collection is a fantastic resource for new players. Not only can they try these games for free, but we…
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. opens with a woman setting in a house somewhere in Victorian London. She is taking up her quill to write out the history of the shadowy government organization called D.O.D.O. She is bound and determined that her narrative will destroy that organization. Flash forward to present day Boston where…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1485 Battle of Bosworth Field Bosworth was the last major battle of the Wars of the Roses and the…
The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies — humans with extraordinary abilities — who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone… except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to…
Anyone who knows me knows that I love food (I also like fancy hotels, but I can rarely afford to stay in them). All kinds of food from seven course French feasts to stuffing my face with hush puppies and soda. There very few things I won’t eat (I’m looking at you cranberries). I can…
“In June 2015 Alberto Manguel prepared to leave his centuries-old village home in France’s Loire Valley and reestablish himself in a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Packing up his enormous, 35,000‑volume personal library, choosing which books to keep, store, or cast out, Manguel found himself in deep reverie on the nature of relationships…
The first thing you learn from Inheritance of Rome is studying the dark ages is hard. The introduction is basically an explanation of why we can’t really know for sure what the dark ages were like. Not only are the sources limited but scholars are carrying around a lot of nationalist and modernist personal baggage that…
Looking for some family friendly entertainment on hot summer nights? The Peabody Institute of Danvers has a selection of animated movies and television shows that appeal to all ages. Gravity Falls: Six Strange Tales Gravity Falls: Even Stranger Gravity Falls: The Complete Series Gravity Falls is one of those rare shows combining light hearted humor…
African American: Before She Was Harriet by Lesa Cline-Ransome In this beautifully illustrated book, Lesa Cline-Ransome tells the inspiring life story of Harriet Tubman. The book reads in reverse-chronological order, starting with Harriet reflecting on her life now that she has grown older. This is a great book for anyone hoping to learn more about…
Wuthering Heights was a tough read for this cynophilist, and I’ve often wondered if I would have enjoyed it more had the dogs in the book not suffered a cruel fate. To this day, having read the book years upon years ago, what sticks in memory most tenaciously is wrapped around dogs – and that Heathcliff…
Ballad of the Anarchist Bandits is the story of a crime wave that gripped Paris and to a lesser extent the rest of France from 1911 to 1912. Although largely unknown today, it sent waves of panic throughout Paris. Headlines about the crime even drove the sinking of the Titanic of the front page of…
In tandem with my reading of White Mirror, I’ve also been listening to Imperial Twilight. I was vaguely aware that there was an Opium War and that it basically amounted to the British declaring war on China to force them to buy drugs from their colony in India. And that is basically what happened but…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 306 Constantine I is Declared Emperor of Rome By His Troops. Constantine was born in the Balkans and like…
Do you ever have those times where you really love a book and you think “oh I can’t wait until the next one comes out!” Then life moves on and suddenly you look back and not only have you missed the next one but you missed the next one after that. That’s what happened to…
About Man In An Orange Shirt: “From novelist Patrick Gale, this is a tender, powerful film sure to spark conversation about outdated attitudes and equal rights. Two love stories set 60 years apart are linked by a secret that echoes through generations, from a forbidden relationship impossible during WWII, contrasted with a present-day romance that…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library soon Bonanza King: John Mackay and the Battle over the Greatest Riches in the American West by Gregory Crouch Born in 1831, John W. Mackay was a penniless Irish immigrant who came of age in New York City, went to California during…
Born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, Maisie Cothay has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father has warned her not to venture into the wood lest she vanish like her female ancestors – but one day he disappears, and…
My first inclination was to have !!! stand-in for my thoughts on this book. Exclamation marks are about as coherent as I’m likely to get when it comes to Helen Oyeyemi’s work. (Have you read her? If not, I’ll gladly wait here while you place a hold on any one of her books. (And if…
July brings four new core roleplaying game books to the Peabody Institute of Danvers. The Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook, a vital resource for running a Call of Cthulhu 7th edition campaign. Our Starfinder collection is rounded out with the Starfinder Alien Archive, a supplement for both players and gamemasters. The daring world of Théah…
Collections often contain one or two stories in particular (or more, that’s always a wonderful bit of luck) that linger with their reader; a story or two that simultaneously satisfies and leaves one wanting more. In the case of All the Names They Used for God, that story, for me, was “Glass-Lung.” Read the summary below;…
You may remember from a post of mine a couple of weeks ago that I was reading Buckley’s latest, Judge Hunter. I enjoyed that book so much I basically turned around and pulled Relic Master right off the shelf and dug in. Relic Master has a lot of the same features I loved about Judge…
Find these books and more in Patrick’s display on the 3rd floor: What Science Has Done: A Miscellany of the Unusual and Amazing. Tyson, Neil deGrasse Astrophysics for people in a hurry Summary:"The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1685 James Scott Duke of Monmouth declares himself King sparking the Monmouth Rebellion James Scott was Charles II’s illegitimate…
I have a vague recollection of watching the Academy Award-winning film adaptation of this novel, possibly on television, and possibly not all the way through, start to finish, but certainly a long time ago. Likely it was for the best that I did not seek out the novel at that time; I wouldn’t have appreciated…
The Peabody Institute of Danvers not only has superhero graphic novels, but a growing collection of non-fiction titles. These books use sequential art to make complex topics more accessible. They work especially well with reluctant readers. Make no mistake; these books are complex, funny, and smart. Several of the titles have even made it onto…
Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The cover was the main reason I picked up Buckley’s The Judge Hunter a couple of weeks ago. The parrot and the feel of the dust jacket just sucked me right in and it really paid off. The Judge Hunter is set in 1664 after the…
Summary: Once upon a time, Beatrice and her five best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim changed everything. One year after graduation, Beatrice is returning to Wincroft hoping she’ll get to the bottom of Jim’s death. But as the night plays out in a haze of stilted…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Neverworld Wake – Marisha Pessl “Once upon a time, back at Darrow-Harker School, Beatrice Hartley and her five best friends were the cool kids, the beautiful ones. Then the shocking death of Jim–their creative genius and Beatrice’s boyfriend–changed everything. One year after…
Summary: In the fall of 2010, Abby Norman was repeatedly hospitalized in excruciating pain, but doctors insisted it was a urinary tract infection and sent her home with antibiotics. Norman ultimately dropped out of college and embarked on what would become a years-long journey to discover what was wrong with her, and it wasn’t until she…
Picture this: you’re a shy high school student who suddenly receives an invitation to a 3 day long party on an island, hosted by your school’s most popular students. Things start out well enough but then slowly the people around you start dying in the most suspicious of ways. What a terrifying nightmare, right? Well…
Books have a way of finding me. I don’t really ever have a moment when I don’t know what to read. I have moments when I can’t decided between the plethora of options I have to read. The Roads to Sata is a good example of books finding me. A few weeks ago I came…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1430 Joan of Arc Captured by the Burgundians During the Hundred Years War, Burgundians, allied with the English, laid…
“Is vocabulary destiny? Why do clocks “talk” to the Nahua people of Mexico? Will A.I. researchers ever produce true human-machine dialogue? In this mesmerizing collection of essays, Daniel Tammet answers these and many other questions about the intricacy and profound power of language. In Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing, Tammet goes…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library in June The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke by Andrew Lawler A sweeping account of a four-hundred-year-old mystery, the archeologists racing to unearth the answer, and what the Lost Colony reveals about America–from…
“In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child–not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power–the power of witchcraft, which can transform…
April showers bring May flowers. This year April and May bring four new Roleplaying games to the Peabody Institute of Danvers. Call of Cthulhu, a horror RPG with strong ties to the New England Area. FATE, a unique rules light system that focuses on the narrative of the game. Monster of the Week, another rules…
Jeffery Cox’s Morning Star, Midnight Sun is what I tend to think of as a “learning curve” study. A campaign, in this case the Guadalcanal campaign, or a theater of operations is presented to the reader as a bit of a shambles and then we watch as the participants slowly work out how to fight…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. On the Come Up – Angie Thomas “Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least get some streams on her mixtape. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died right before he…
“In 1965 writer-activist-monk Thomas Merton fulfilled a twenty-four-year dream and went to live as a hermit beyond the walls of his Trappist monastery. Seven months later, after a secret romance with a woman half his age, he was in danger of losing it all. Yet on the very day that his abbot uncovered the affair,…
Long before the specter of terrorism haunted the public imagination, a serial bomber stalked the streets of 1950s New York. The race to catch him would give birth to a new science called criminal profiling. The most interesting chapter of Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling was its epilogue, when…
“Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers and Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley are forced to confront the past as they try to solve a crime that threatens to tear apart the very fabric of a quiet, historic medieval town in England The cozy, bucolic town of Ludlow is stunned when one of its most revered and respected citizens–Ian…
Collected Poems in English – Joseph Brodsky “One of the greatest and grandest advocates of the literary vocation, Joseph Brodsky truly lived his life as a poet, and for it earned eighteen months in an Arctic labor camp, expulsion from his native country, and the Nobel Prize in Literature. Such were one man’s wages. Here,…
“Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier. Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in…
“Selected by Ross Gay as winner of the inaugural Jake Adam York Prize, Analicia Sotelo’s debut collection of poems is a vivid portrait of the artist as a young woman. In Virgin, Sotelo walks the line between autobiography and mythmaking, offering up identities like dishes at a feast. These poems devour and complicate tropes of femininity―of…
Hillary Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Free from the constraints of running, she speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye; the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance; and the double standard confronting women…
Collected Poems – Edna St. Vincent Millay’ “Alongside Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, and E. E. Cummings, Millay remains among the most celebrated poets of the early twentieth century for her uniquely lyrical explorations of love, individuality, and artistic expression. This invaluable compendium of her work is not only an essential addition to any…
Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize * Poet Laureate of the United States * * A New York Times Notable Book of 2011 and New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice * * A New Yorker, Library Journal and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * “With allusions to David Bowie and interplanetary travel, Life on Mars imagines a soundtrack for the universe to…
“That’s what great poetry is. A superb serenity in the face of chaos. Wise enough to play the fool.” [From “Reading Philosophy at Night”] “The poem is an attempt at self-recovery, self-recognition, self-remembering, the marvel of being again.” [From “Notes on Poetry and Philosophy”] “Good poetry has never swerved from its purpose as an inexhaustible…
So one Saturday I was emptying the book drop and Claire North’s The End of the Day was on the top of the pile of books. I looked at the dust jacket and thought it sounded intriguing. There was work to be done though so I checked it in and put it on the shelving…
Selected Poems – Thom Gunn “Thom Gunn was an Elizabethan poet in modern guise, though there’s nothing archaic, quaint, or sepia-toned about his poetry. His method was dispassionate and rigorous, uniquely well suited for making a poetic record of the tumultuous time in which he lived. Gunn’s dozens of brilliantly realized poems about nature, friendship,…
Ready Player One is generating a lot of 80s nostalgia. And we’ve got the solution. Fiction King, Stephen Cujo Summary: Outside a peaceful town in central Maine, a monster is waiting. Cujo is a two-hundred-pound Saint Bernard, the best friend Brett Camber has ever had. One day Cujo chases a rabbit into a bolt-hole –…
“This highly-anticipated debut boldly confronts addiction and courses the strenuous path of recovery, beginning in the wilds of the mind. Poems confront craving, control, the constant battle of alcoholism and sobriety, and the questioning of the self and its instincts within the context of this never-ending fight.” Kaveh Akbar shares and recommends poetry on Twitter,…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Dread Nation – Justina Ireland “Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever. In this new America, safety for all depends on the…
Poems – Elizabeth Bishop “Elizabeth Bishop is one of America’s greatest writers, and her art is loved and admired by readers and fellow poets alike. The poems that make up Bishop’s small and select body of work display honesty and humor, grief and acceptance, observing nature and human nature with painstaking accuracy. Her poems often…
A Little Book on Form: An Exploration into the Formal Imagination of Poetry – Robert Haas “From the former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winner, an illuminating dissection of poetic form, traditional and modern, for students, enthusiasts, and newcomers alike In addition to his magisterial poetry, Robert Hass is beloved for his…
A small sample of the many new history book titles arriving at the library in April Patriot Number One: American Dreams in Chinatown by Lauren Hilgers. “Nearly three years ago, journalist Lauren Hilgers received an unexpected call. Hello, Lauren! a man shouted in halting Mandarin. We might be seeing you in New York again soon! The voice belonged to…
Genre Blending (also called Genre Crossing, Genre Mixing, Cross-Genre) is when an author mixes together aspects of two or more genre styles in the same work. In this case Historical Fiction, SciFi or Fantasy. That’s my rather simplistic definition of Genre Blending. I can’t decide if there have been more of these books coming out…
Do you know what it’s like to be kept a secret? Do you know how it feels to hide part of your identity from the world? For Tanner Scott and Sebastian Brother, this is just part of their daily lives as they navigate the intricacies of living in Provo, Utah, a town comprised mainly of…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 44BC Julius Caesar Murdered Yes it is the Ides of March! Julius Caesar, then dictator of Rome after the…
“From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Kelly Barnhill comes a stunning first collection of acclaimed short fictions, teeming with uncanny characters whose stories unfold in worlds at once strikingly human and eerily original. When Mrs. Sorensen’s husband dies, she rekindles a long-dormant love with an unsuitable mate in “Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch.” In…
In honor of Women’s History Month we offer a selection of books of Historical Fiction and History featuring women. These books are located on our Read This Book Display in the library and many others in our Fiction and Non-fiction collections. Historical Fiction Jump to Non-Fiction History Thomas, Sherry A conspiracy in Belgravia Summary:Being shunned…
One of my main literary pleasures is pulp fiction, the serialized magazines from the early 20th century. Printed on cheap paper, pulps comprised one of the larger popular literature movements in the United States. At only ten cents an issue the demand for these periodicals far outstripped the supply. While they touched on most genres,…
Did you know that there is a debate going on as to whether Italy should exist? We take the nation state of Italy for grated but not so long ago it didn’t exist. Prior to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1860 the very concept of “Italy” was in a constant state of…
These new titles and many more will be available in the Teen Room. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi “Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders…
For anyone who has ever felt just slightly out of place in a world where society dictates how we must look, what we must like, and who we must love in order to fit in, The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli breaks the mold. For Albertalli’s protagonist, Molly Peskin-Suso, this is a life she is painfully…
First published in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is the predecessor to electronic role-playing games like Diablo, Skyrim, World of Warcraft, and more. In a game of D&D one person takes the role of the Dungeon Master, acting as storyteller and referee. Characters and monsters controlled by the Dungeon Master are called Non-Player Characters or…
Conant, Jennet. A covert affair : Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS Summary:A stunning account of Julia Child’s early life as an OSS agent in the Far East. Prud’homme, Alex France is a feast : the photographic journey of Paul and Julia Child Summary:Through intimate and compelling photographs taken by her husband Paul…
The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza – Shaun David Hutchinson “Sixteen-year-old Elena Mendoza is the product of a virgin birth. This can be scientifically explained (it’s called parthenogenesis), but what can’t be explained is how Elena is able to heal Freddie, the girl she’s had a crush on for years, from a gunshot wound in a…
It’s the 14th century. Two brothers, William and John, are walking home through the hellscape that is the Devon countryside in the grip of the black death. As they walk past piles of bodies, it becomes clear that they too are dying. They are given a choice, by who they don’t really know, go home…
Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece by Robin Waterfield In his latest book, independent scholar and translator Waterfield (Taken at the Flood: The Roman Conquest of Greece, 2014, etc.) sets a daunting task: to cover in one compact volume roughly 750 years of history, in an area from Sicily to Syria, through three eras:…
Loving Vincent – Nominated for an Academy Award (Animated Feature Film) “On 27th July 1890 a gaunt figure stumbled down a drowsy high street at twilight in the small French country town of Auvers. The man was carrying nothing; his hands clasped to a fresh bullet wound leaking blood from his belly.This was Vincent van…
In our Today In History Reading List feature, we take the events of a particular day in history and try to give you a work of fiction and a work of non-fiction relating to those events. 1788 Sydney Australia Established by Arthur Phillip The British First Fleet under Governor Arthur Phillip arrived at Port Jackson…
Here’s the thing: I can’t remember the last book that made me laugh so hard, so often. And I’m talking out loud, tear-producing laughter. The kind of laughter that prompts whoever is nearest to inquire in a suspect manner, Is it really that funny? A question that, due to residual laughter, can only be answered with…
Silk Roads is the History Book Group title for January. I tend to devour books on the silk road. There’s something about towns with names like Samarkand and Merv and Bukhara that just ignites my inner adventurer. That said, this is not that book. At least not entirely. This book largely explores the roll that…
Cruel Prince – Holly Black “Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially…
I’ve always been fascinated by how commerce worked in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Like how do you move a hundred pounds of cloth from Yorkshire to Europe so you can sell it? How do you take out a loan when interest is considered a mortal sin? There is something simultaneously otherworldly and familiar about…
Personal History – Katharine Graham “In this bestselling and widely acclaimed memoir, Katharine Graham, the woman who piloted the Washington Post through the scandals of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate, tells her story—one that is extraordinary both for the events it encompasses and for the courage, candor, and dignity of its telling. Here is the awkward child…
There are so many good movies, novels, and nonfiction works coming out in 2018! Here are my most anticipated… January 9 Nice Try, Jane Sinner by Lianne Oelke After being expelled from high school, seventeen-year-old Jane signs up for a student-run reality show while attending a local community college. As the show grows from a…
