The Falmouth Public Library is hosting a free, online Libby webinar by the experts at OverDrive on Wednesday, May 11th at 10am! With the Libby app, you can access the entire CLAMS digital library collection to read and listen to eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines all for free with your library card!
Register today to learn how to sign into Libby, navigate around, browse and search for titles, borrow titles and place holds, manage notifications, and much much more!
Can’t make this webinar but are interested in learning more about Libby? Register and a recording of the webinar will be sent to you for you to watch whenever it is best for you!
We are happy to announce that The Soul of an Octopus: a Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness, by Sy Montgomery, has been chosen as the Falmouth Reads title for 2022.
The Soul of an Octopus is described as a book that “explores the emotional and physical world of the octopus—a surprisingly complex, intelligent, and spirited creature—and the remarkable connections it makes with humans.”
Sy Montgomery worked as a volunteer at the New England Aquarium in Boston and developed a unique understanding and connection with their resident octopus. After reading this book your feelings about octopus will be forever changed!
We will encourage children to read Inky’s Great Escape, the fascinating story of Inky, an octopus at the National Aquarium in New Zealand. One night Inky climbed from his tank and slipped through an overflow drainage pipe, escaping back into the ocean!
As we read The Soul of an Octopus and Inky’s Great Escape, we invite the community to borrow library passes to visit the New England Aquarium. Further information about events and activities for Falmouth Reads 2022 will be coming soon.
The octopus in this photo is Ruddy who was a New England Aquarium resident octopus in 2019. Ruddy was particularly photogenic as she like to hang out in the front corner of the tank. We invite anyone visiting the aquarium to submit a digital photo for an online exhibit. While the octopus don’t mind having their photo taken, please do not use the flash; they don’t like that.
“The New England landscape has long been battered by some of the most intense weather in US history. Discover the legendary storms that have devastated New England, including: the Great New England Hurricane of 1938 that killed 564 people; the Worcester Tornado of 1953; the Snow Hurricane of 1804 that demolished orchards and killed dozens of sailors off the coast; and the Blizzard of 1978 that brought Boston to a standstill for weeks.”
Eric Fisher is Chief Meteorologist for CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV News and anchors weather segments weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m., as well as WBZ-TV News at 10 p.m. on TV38 (WSBK-TV). He is also a contributor for CBS News, often found reporting on breaking severe weather across the country. Born and raised in New England, Eric says there are few places on earth that produce weather like this little corner of the U.S. It offers the challenges of blockbuster snowstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, frigid cold snaps and dramatic seasonal shifts. Eric vividly remembers Memorial Day of 1995 as a day that helped solidify his path as a meteorologist, when an infamous tornado ripped through Great Barrington in the Berkshires. Glued to the red warnings crawling across the screen and watching the radar, his career in weather was born. Eric joined WBZ-TV News from The Weather Channel in Atlanta where he spent three years as a Meteorologist. He produced and delivered national forecasts and contributed to numerous live reports on extreme weather for The Weather Channel, NBC Nightly News, TODAY and MSNBC. Previously he worked as the morning meteorologist at WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Mighty Storms of New England is also available for purchase at Eight Cousins.
Check out the video below of Marie Zahn’s talk from Please Tuesday, January 25th from 7pm-8pm as she discussed the Science and History of Shipwrecks: Archaeology and Conservation and answered audience questions!
The journey of an artifact from the past into the present. When it comes to shipwrecks, archaeologists have a potential time capsule of the past. It’s a safe assumption to claim that most shipwrecks happen unintentionally – all of the objects on board, from the parts of the ships themselves to the cargo and personal items of the crew, sink together. What you have is a single slice of history preserved in one place. A small moment in time captured unexpectedly. This discussion into the world of underwater archaeology focusses on the challenges of artifact conservation and the effects of different underwater environments on ships and their artifacts. See how material objects deteriorate and decay over time by looking at shipwrecks from diverse time periods throughout history as well as spanning the globe in terms of construction and final resting places – from ancient Greece to pirate treasure!
Marie Zahn, a Cape Cod native, is the Director of the Brooks Academy Museum and A. Elmer Crowell Decoy Barn Museum for the Harwich Historical Society, as well as serving as the Administrator for the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth. Prior to this, she spent several years working on an early 18th century shipwreck as an archaeologist, conservator, and science education coordinator. When she’s not talking about history, Marie volunteers as a Solar System Ambassador for NASA, acting as a liaison between the space agency and the public, spreading awareness of current and upcoming NASA missions and sharing news about ongoing work in the space sciences and space exploration. Marie’s work in science and archaeology has given her a unique perspective and appreciation for history. She believes that history is a continuous narrative, and that it is of the utmost importance to make connections between the past and where we are today. Marie aims to make science open, inclusive, and accessible to anyone that’s curious about the past, present, and future.
This morning was the last regular WCAI radio show that I will be doing-you can listen to it here! As of October 30th I retired from the Falmouth Public Library. You can take a look at two blogs I wrote about this departure. One is about my being a reference librarian and one is about my time on WCAI. It has been an absolute pleasure to spend time every month with Mindy Todd and whichever book talker happens to be there that month. When Mindy asked me last month what book topic I would like to talk about for my last show, I immediately came up with RADIO! How it is possible that we had never done this topic, I’m not quite sure, but it was the perfect topic for the last show.
Here is the article that includes the Jack Binns Tribute song we mentioned! Scroll to the very bottom to hear it.
Join us on Tuesday, October 5th, via Zoom, for a talk by Catherine Prendergast, author of The Gilded Edge: two audacious women and the cyanide love triangle that shook America.Kirkus Reviews writes : “The text reads like a dramatic novel fueled by sex, alcohol, and quests for fame and fortune.” Publisher’s Weekly writes: “… this punchy feminist tribute offers a fascinating look at two forgotten women of the Gilded Age.” Booklist writes: “Life in Carmel among its bohemian artists is a captivating subject, but Prendergast deepens it by entering the narrative to relay the difficulties she encountered researching Carrie and Nora, two fascinating women whose lives were largely buried in archives devoted to the men in their circle… Prendergast’s vivid history offers a sobering take on a romanticized time and place in which the men were lauded while the women were nearly erased.”
Cathy Prendergast writes: “Can’t wait to pen my book tour with a talk (virtually) at Falmouth Public Library. My home away from home. Much of this book was written in Falmouth at my uncle’s house (or Coffee Obsession when he was napping.)
Our favorite bookstore, Eight Cousins, will be taking pre-orders for Cathy’s book, with a limited number of bookplates signed by the author.
We hope you can join us. Just click HERE to register for Cathy’s Zoom talk.
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” wrote Leo Tolstoy at the beginning of his novel ANNA KARENINA. On the book show this month Dennis Minsky joined us, as we shared books about both happy and unhappy families. From a classic book of photography created by Edward Steichen to the LETTERS OF SHIRLEY JACKSON to the story behind the classic children’s book ALL-OF-A-KIND FAMILY by Sydney Taylor. Feel free to leave a comment below with your favorite book about fictional or real families! If you missed the show, you’ll be able to listen on CAI’s website. And if you would like to join me for Cathy Prendergast’s talk about her new book The Gilded Edge: two audacious women and the cyanide love triangle that shook America on Tuesday, October 5th, at 7:00 PM, you can sign up for her Zoom talk here.
This morning on The Point book show, we had a visiting host, and a new book talker! You can listen to it here! Steve Junker, Managing Editor of News at WCAI, sat in for Mindy Todd and Jayne Iafrate joined us for the first, but I am sure not the last, book talk. Our topic was nautical books. Below is the list of all the titles we mentioned, and if you want to add your favorite to the list, just send us an email at info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org.
Jayne’s Picks
Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (Norton Critical Edition)
Adventurers Afloat: a nautical bibliography by Ernest W. Toy, Jr. The sub-title is: “A Comprehensive Guide to Books in English Recounting the Adventures of Amateur Sailors upon the Waters of the World in Yachts, Boats, and Other Devices and Including Works on the Arts and Sciences of Cruising, Racing, Seamanship, Navigation, Design, Building, etc. from the Earliest Writings Through 1986.” While this is a reference book, and usually non-circulating, I have made it circulating for the time being should anyone want to take a closer look.
The Falmouth Public Library is hosting a free virtual Libby webinar by the experts at OverDrive on Wednesday, September 1st at 10am! With the Libby app, you can access the entire CLAMS digital library collection to read and listen to eBooks, eAudiobooks, and eMagazines all for free with your library card!
Register today to learn how to sign into Libby, navigate around, browse and search for titles, borrow titles and place holds, manage notifications, and much much more!
Can’t make this webinar but are interested in learning more about Libby? Register and a recording of the webinar will be sent to you for you to watch whenever it is best for you!
This morning on the monthly book show we discussed books that featured islands. If you missed the show, you can always listen online. Mindy and Jill were joined this morning by Stefanie Corbin, owner of Footprints Cafe LLC Bookstore located in Buzzards Bay. What is your favorite book that is set on an island?
