"The reference staff has espionage on its mind these days. Actually, we began plotting our moves before all the recent news coverage of email hacking by the Kremlin; the August death of Doris Bohrer, an Allied spy in World War II; and the execution of Iranian scientist/spy, Shahram Amiri.
Our mission? Two-fold: first, to increase our number of active cases on the shelf (in other words, buy more espionage books); and second, to establish a spy ring with a variety of fictitious members for a six-month duration (in other words, have espionage as our new theme for the library’s fiction book club). All systems are now go. This week new books arrived and the fiction book club announced the titles for the next six months.
To satisfy part one of our mission we have purchased an attractive set of paperbacks by Ian Fleming, creator of the suave British secret agent with a license to kill, James Bond. (We have also purchased several terrific nonfiction works, but that is another blog.) Ian Fleming drew heavily on his own past in creating his Bond character and his glamorous missions. Fleming, like Bond, was born in England and had first-hand experience with the Soviet Union when he worked for Reuters News Agency in Moscow. “During WWII [Fleming] served as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence and played a key role in Allied espionage operations.” (From “About the Author” in the Thomas & Mercer series.) Bond, the most famous fictional cold war spy, was in the Royal Navy. And did you know, that Fleming lived part time in Jamaica, where not coincidentally, several Bond books are set? Intrigued? Here is a list of the complete series that arrived this week. If you want to check some out, you’d better move fast as they won’t stay in one place for long!
To satisfy part two of our mission, we have dedicated the next six months to reading espionage books in our fiction book club. We’ll range from classic to contemporary authors.
http://www.falmouthpubliclibrary.org/reading/book-groups-for-adults/"...
