Category: For Readers

Laura Wool’s Beach Reads

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

 

Laura Wool, our Homebound Librarian who provides library materials to residents of Falmouth who are unable to travel to the library, has complied a list of her favorite beach reads this summer.  Check out her reading list below!

 

 

This Summer will be Different by Carley Fortune

“When her best friend flees Toronto a week before her wedding, Lucy follows her Prince Edward Island to help her through her crisis and resist the one man she’s never been able to, but his flirty quips have been replaced with something new, making her wonder if her heart is still safe.”


One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

“Charlie was 19 when Alice took his photo near her Nan’s cottage in Barry’s Bay, but now he’s a grown-up flirt who makes Alice feel seventeen again—warm nights on the lake with Charlie are a balm for Alice’s soul, but she begins to worry for her heart.”



The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose

“It’s been eleven years since high-powered attorney Sarah Morgan defended her husband, Adam, against the charge of murdering his mistress. Sarah has long since moved on, starting a family with her new husband, Bob Miller, and changing careers. After discovering Bob engaged in a one-night stand, Sarah wastes no time filing for divorce. However, amid their ugly separation, new DNA evidence is uncovered in the case against Adam, forcing the police to reopen the investigation and putting Sarah right back in the spotlight.”

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose

“Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. As a named partner at her firm, life is going exactly how she planned. The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He’s a struggling writer who has had little success in his career and out at the couple’s lake house, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers. When Kelly is found brutally stabbed to death, Sarah must take on her hardest case yet, defending her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress”

A Novel Summer by Jamie Brenner

“In her return to Provincetown after a best-selling novel exposes local secrets, an author returns to her idyllic Cape Cod hometown to face her betrayal but rediscovers her passion and community through a summer managing a friend’s bookstore.”



Beach Vibes by Susan Malley

“Beth’s idyllic life running her Malibu beach shop unravels when she discovers her brother’s infidelity and must make a moral decision threatening her newfound happiness and forcing her to choose between love and loyalty.” 



The Summer that Changed Everything by Brenda Novak

“It’s been fifteen years since Lucy Sinclair sat in a courtroom and watched her father be sentenced to life in prison. He murdered three victims–all people she knew–which ruined her life at just seventeen. But now she’s back in Virginia to talk to him, wondering if there’s more to the story of what happened that fateful night.  Problem is, there are plenty of those in this small coastal town who would prefer things stay quiet . . .”

Beach House Rules by Kristy Woodson Harvey

“When Charlotte Sitterly’s husband is arrested for a white-collar crime, she and her daughter Iris are locked out of their house by the FBI. Cut off from her bank accounts and feeling desperate, Charlotte takes up an acquaintance’s offer to stay at a beachfront former bed-and-breakfast that’s home to a community of single mothers and draws plenty of gossip in the small coastal North Carolina town. Charlotte and Iris find solace but when the women discover a secret link between them, it changes everything they thought they knew about the unconventional family they’ve created and leaves them wondering whether their coming together was a coincidence at all.” 

PBS America250 Reading List

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Stories That Shaped A Nation

PBS Books has curated a literary journey that celebrates the path to American freedom and commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.  This special reading list brings together compelling titles across three distinct genres—nonfiction, historical fiction, and children’s literature—to illuminate the courage, complexity, and conviction behind America’s founding.

Nonfiction

“Dive into meticulously researched works that provide powerful insights into the Revolution and the broader context of American independence that are written in a novelist style. These books reveal untold stories and broaden our understanding of the era—from George Washington’s leadership and the complexities of Indigenous and African American experiences, to the moral struggles that defined the fight for liberty.”

You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe
Poor Richard’s Women by Nancy Rubin Stuart
Liberty Is Sweet by Woody Holton
Independence by John Ferling
Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts
Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution by Claire Bellerjeau, Tiffany Yecke Brooks, and Vanessa Williams
American Inheritance by Edward J. Larson
1776 by David McCullough
Founding Mothers and Ladies of Liberty by Cokie Roberts
African Founders by David Hackett Fischer
The First Conspiracy by Brad Meltzer
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams by Stacy Schiff
Valiant Ambition by Nathaniel Philbrick
The British Are Coming by Rick Atkinson
The Fate of the Day by Rick Atkinson
The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk
Independence Lost by Kathleen DuVal

Historical Fiction

“Experience the era of revolution through the eyes of unforgettable characters brought to life by gifted storytellers. These novels blend fact with fiction, immersing readers in personal dramas set against the backdrop of historical transformation. Whether following the bold disguise of a woman soldier or the trials of Eliza Hamilton, these stories add human depth to our nation’s founding.”

A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon
My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
The Traitor’s Wife by Allison Pataki
America’s First Daughter by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie
Tell the Bees That I Am Gone by Diana Gabaldon
The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs

Children’s Books

“Inspire the next generation with accessible, engaging, and age-appropriate books that bring the American Revolution to life. These titles are packed with colorful illustrations, fascinating facts, and heroic figures—from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to the everyday kids and families who shaped history.”

Seeds of America Trilogy by Laurie Halse
History Smashers: The American Revolution by Kate Messner
Guts & Glory: The American Revolution by Ben Thompson
Washington, Adams, and Jefferson by C.A. Worman
Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson
The History of the American Revolution by Emma Carlson Berne

Knife by Salman Rushdie

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Consider this your invitation to read and discuss narrative nonfiction with us! In the Narrative Nonfiction Book Club we will be reading across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel.

Join us on Saturday, September 6th at 11am in the Hermann room as we discuss our latest book pick, 2024 National Book Award Finalist, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder by Salman Rushdie. 

This book club is free to the public and copies of the book are available at the circulation and adult service desks one month prior to our book club meeting.  To register to attend, CLICK HERE.

Knife Synopsis:

“From internationally renowned writer and Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie, a searing, deeply personal account of enduring a brutal attempt on his life, thirty years after the fatwa that was order against him.”

“On the morning of August 12, 2022, Salman Rushdie was standing onstage at the Chautauqua Institution, preparing to give a lecture on the importance of keeping writers safe from harm, when a man wearing black clothes and a black mask rushed down the aisle toward him, wielding a knife.  His first thought: So it’s you. Here you are.

What followed was a horrific act of violence that shook the literary world and beyond.  Now, for the first time, and in unforgettable detail, Rushdie relives the traumatic events of that day and its aftermath, as well as his journey toward physical recovery and the healing that was made possible by the love and support of his wife, Eliza, his family, his army of doctors and physical therapists, and his community of readers worldwide.

Knife is Rushdie at the peak of his powers, writing with urgency, with gravity, with unflinching honesty.  It is also a deeply moving reminder of literatur’s capacity to make sense of the unthinkable, an intimate and life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art – and finding the strength to stand up again.”

About the Author:

“Salman Rushdie is the author of fifteen novels, including Midnight’s Children (for which he won the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Shame, The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, and Quichotte, all of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize; a collection of stories, East, West; a memoir, Joseph Anton; a work of reportage, The Jaguar Smile; and three collections of essays, most recently Languages of Truth.  His many awards include the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel, which he won twice; the PEN/Allen Foundation Literary Service Award; the National Arts Award; the French Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger; the European Union’s Aristeion Prize for Literature; the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature; and the Italian Premio Grinzane Cavour.  He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University, and a former president of PEN America.  His books have been translated into over forty languages.”

Cue The Sun!

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Consider this your invitation to read and discuss narrative nonfiction with us! In the Narrative Nonfiction Book Club we will be reading across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel.

Join us on Saturday, August 2nd at 11am in the Hermann room as we discuss our latest book pick, 2025 Andrew Carnegie Finalist, Cue The Sun! The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum. 

This book club is free to the public and copies of the book are available at the adult service desk one month prior to our book club meeting.  To register to attend, CLICK HERE.

Cue the Sun! Synopsis:

“The rollicking saga of reality television – an ambitious cultural history of America’s most influential, most divisive artistic phenomenon, from the Pulitzer Prize – winning New Yorker writer.

Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre?  Any why can’t we look away?  In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary” – from its contentions roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump – Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it.  At once gimlet-eyed and empathetic, Cue the Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.

A shrewd observer who adores television, Nussbaum is the ideal voice for the first substantive history of the genre that, for better or worse, made America what it is today.”

About the Author:

“Emily Nussbaum is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she’s worked since 2011, originally as the magazine’s television critic.  In 2016, she won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism.  Previously, she was the culture editor for New York, where she created the Approval Matrix.  She is also the author of I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution, which was a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, Clive Thompson, and their two children.”

 

Local Travel Guidebooks Talk and Book Signing

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us at the Falmouth Public Library on Tuesday, August 5th at 6:30pm in the Hermann meeting room for a local travel guidebooks talk followed by a Q&A and book signing with authors Linda Humphrey and Kim Foley MacKinnon! 

Linda will be discussing her local travel guidebook Secret Cape Cod and the Islands: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure and Kim will talk about her 100 Things to Do in Massachusetts Before You Die and 100 Things to Do on Cape Cod and the Islands Before You Die guidebooks. 

Copies will be available for purchase at the event by Eight Cousins.  All are welcome!  To register to attend, CLICK HERE or visit/call the library’s adult services desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Linda Humprey’s Secret Cape Cod and the Islands

“Secret Cape Cod and the Islands reveals the best and most unexpected aspects of the region and shows you how to experience them for yourself. Want to know where to find the best places for watching a sunset, swimming in hidden ponds, savoring a chef-prepared feast in a farm field, making your own jam, or seeing a play with Broadway-level talent? Veteran journalists Linda Humphrey and Maria Lenhart, aka the Hard News Travel Team, left no scone unturned while spending countless hours investigating the secret treasures of a region they have known and loved for many years.”

Linda Humphrey is an award-winning writer and editor based in Falmouth and New York City. A former editor at Cosmopolitan and Travel Weekly, she is the co-author of Secret Cape Cod and the Islands: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful and Obscure (Reedy Press), which won the Lowell Thomas Silver Award (second place) for the best travel guidebook of 2024. Sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation, the Lowell Thomas Award is the highest national recognition for travel journalists.

Kate MacKinnon’s 100 Things to Do

“Explore the Bay State, from rich historic sites in Boston to stunning beaches on Cape Cod to a world-class arts scene in the Berkshires, and learn about the state’s must-see spots, from museums to markets and everything in between in 100 Things to Do in Massachusetts Before You Die.  While miles of gorgeous beaches are the calling cards of Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, there is so much more to these Massachusetts gems.  100 Things to Do on Cape Cod and the Islands Before You Die offers visitors and locals alike a chance to try and taste the very best, with itineraries and seasonal ideas for the whole family.”

Kim Foley MacKinnon is a freelance food and travel writer who has lived in Boston for more than 25 years. Kim’s other books include Secret Boston: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure and 100 Things to Do in Boston Before You Die, 2nd edition. She is also the executive editor of Girl Camper magazine. Other writing credits include the Boston Globe, Food Network, Forbes Travel, Travel + Leisure, Cruise Critic, and U.S. News & World Report, among others.

Frostbite

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us at our next narrative nonfiction book club meeting on Saturday, July 12th at 4pm in the Hermann Room.  We will be discussing Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves by Nicola Twilley.  Author Nicola Twilley will be joining us via Zoom for the first portion of our book club! To register to attend, CLICK HERE.

Synopsis:  “How often do we open the fridge or peer into the freezer with the expectation that we’ll find something fresh and ready to eat?  It’s an everyday act-but just a century ago, eating food that had been refrigerated was cause for both fear and excitement.  The introduction of artificial refrigeration overturned millennia of dietary history, launching a new chapter in human nutrition.  We could now overcome not just rot but seasonality and geography.  Tomatoes in January?  Avocados in Shanghai?  All possible.

In Frostbite, Nicola Twilley takes readers on a tour of the cold chain from farm to fridge, visiting off-the beaten-path landmarks such as Missouri’s subterranean cheese caves, the banana-ripening rooms of New York City, and the vast refrigerated tanks that store the nation’s orange juice reserves.  Today, nearly three-quarters of everything on the average American plate is processed, shipped, stored, and sold under refrigeration.  It’s impossible to make sense of our food system without understanding the all-but-invisible network of thermal control that underpins it.  Twilley’s eye-opening book is the first to reveal the transformative impact refrigeration has had on our health and our guts; our farms, tables, kitchens, and cities; global economics and politics; and even our environment.

In the developed world, we’ve reaped the benefits of refrigeration for more than a century, but the costs are catching up with us.  We’ve eroded our connection to our food and redefined what fresh means.  More important, refrigerator is one of the leading contributors to climate change.  As the developing world races to build a US-style cold chain, Twilley asks: Can we reduce our dependence on refrigeration?  Should we?  A deeply researched and reported, original, and entertaining dive into the most important invention in the history of food and drink, Frostbite makes the case for a recalibration of our relationship with the fridge-and how our future might depend on it.”

About the author:  “Nicola Twilley is the author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves (2024), and co-host of the award-winning Gastropd podcast, which looks at food through the lens of history and science, and which is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network in partnership with Eater.  Her first book, Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine, was co-authored with Geoff Manaugh and was named one of the best books of 2021 by Time Magazine, NPR, the Guardian, and the Financial Times.  She is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and the author of Edible Geography.

Country of the Blind

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Our next narrative nonfiction book club pick is the 2024 Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland.  Come pick up a copy of the book at the adult services desk, register to attend, and then join us at our book club meeting on Saturday, June 7th at 11am in the Hermann room to share your thoughts!  To register now, CLICK HERE!

Synopsis:  “We meet Andrew Leland as he’s suspended in the liminal state of the soon-to-be blind: he’s midway through his life with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that ushers those who live with it from sightedness to blindness over years, even decades.  He grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from outside in.  Soon – but without knowing exactly when – he will likely have no vision left.

Full of apprehension but also dogged curiosity, Leland embarks on a sweeping exploration of the state of being that awaits him: not only the physical experience of blindness but also its language, politics, and customs.  He negotiates his changing relationships with his wife and son, and with his own sense of self, as he moves from his mainstream, “typical” life to one with a disability.

Part memoir, part historical and cultural investigation, The Country of the Blind represents Leland’s determination not to merely survive this transition but to grow from it – to seek out and revel in that which makes blindness enlightening.  Brimming with warmth and humor, it is an exhilarating tour of a new way of being.”

Perkins Library Informational Session

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Come learn about the Perkins Library from Mr. Erin Fragola and the services that they have to offer you or someone you know on Friday, May 16th at 3:30pm in the Hermann Room!  This event is free to the public and everyone is welcome.  Click here to attend.

 

Talking Book Player & Book Cartridges

The Perkins Library is a free, accessible library for Massachusetts residents who are unable to read standard print due to visual, physical, or reading disabilities. It provides audiobooks, braille, large print books, and playback devices at no cost via mail. The collection includes fiction, non-fiction, magazines, and audio-described DVDs. They also offer Tele-Fun, a remote social program with games, films, and group activities held by phone or computer. Materials and services are available to adults, teens, and children.

Mr. Erin Fragola is the Marketing and Outreach Manager at Perkins Library in Watertown, the Regional NLS Library providing accessible resources for people living in Massachusetts who have print disabilities as well as the institutions that serve them. Erin has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Worcester State University and a masters degree in Library and Information Science (LIS) from Valdosta State University in Georgia with a focus on information access and accessibility.

Do you have questions about Perkins Library and their services but can’t make it?  Call Perkins Library toll free at 1-800-852-3133 or email them at library@perkins.org.

American Civil War Exhibit & Events

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Fire and Thunder: A Massachusetts Black Soldiers in the Civil War Exhibit
Tuesday, April 1st – Wednesday, April 30th
Adult Collections Room

For the month of April, the “Fire and Thunder” 16 panel exhibit will be on display in the Adult Collections Room for the public to view during library hours.

“The institution of slavery was a disease deeply embedded in the tissue of the new American republic.  Though abolished in Massachusetts in the 1780’s, on the national stage it survived, to be destroyed only after a long and bloody civil war.  “Fire and Thunder” tells the story of how black soldiers in Massachusetts fought – in the press, on the streets, from the pulpit, the lecture podium, and the battlefield – in defense of human dignity and freedom.”

This exhibit is free to the public and is on loan from the Commonwealth Museum.

 

Ken Burns ‘The Civil War’ Documentary Screening
Monday, April 14th – Friday, April 18th, 1pm
Hermann Meeting Room

‘The Civil War is an epic nine-episode series by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns.  Heralded as an unforgettable introduction to a four-year conflict fought in 10,000 places, the film vividly embraces the entire sweep of the war: the complex causes and lasting effects of America’s greatest and most moving calamity, the battles and the homefronts, the generals and the private soldiers, the anguish of death in battle and the grief of families at home.

The library will be screening this entire Civil War documentary series over the course of a week from Monday, April 14th to Friday, April 18th.  It is free to the public and is supported by the Friends of the Falmouth Public Library.  If you can’t make it to our Ken Burns Civil War screening but still would like to watch it, you can watch the entire Civil War series from the convenience of your own home using Kanopy, a free streaming service with your Falmouth Public Library card.

Monday, April 14th: 1pm-2:45pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1861: Episode 1 ‘The Cause’

Tuesday, April 15th: 1pm-3:25pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1862: Episode 2 ‘A Very Bloody Affair’ & Episode 3 ‘Forever Free’

Wednesday, April 16th: 1pm-3:35pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1863: Episode 4 ‘Simply Murder’ & Episode 5 ‘The Universe of Battle’

Thursday, April 17th: 1pm-3:20pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1864: Episode 6 ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death’ & Episode 7 ‘Most Hallowed Ground’

Friday, April 18th: 1pm-3:20pm . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
1865: Episode 8 ‘War is Hell’ & Episode 9 ‘The Better Angels of our Nature’

 

Bravery & Honor: Falmouth Soldiers & Sailors ~ A Walking Tour at Oak Grove Cemetery
Saturday, April 26th, 1pm
Oak Grove Cemetery (46 Jones Road) . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

“When Abraham Lincoln sent out a call to arms Falmouth men bravely responded, reporting in large numbers to the Union army and navy.  Many of these Veterans are buried in Oak Grove Cemetery.  Come hear compelling stories of a select few as this tour stops by personal grave and the renovated Grand Army of the Republic plot – one of the few examples in Massachusetts of this early type of memorial.”

This approximately 75-minutes long tour will be on Saturday, April 26th at 1pm.  It is free and open to the public and will be held rain or shine at the Oak Grove Cemetery located at 46 Jones Road in Falmouth.  We will meet inside the chapel at the cemetery, which is handicap accessible.  If the weather is inclement, we will stay inside the chapel; otherwise, plan on an easy stroll in the park-like setting.

 

Narrative Nonfiction Book Club
Saturday, May 1st, 11am
Hermann Meeting Room . . . . . . CLICK HERE TO REGISTER


The narrative nonfiction book club is back from hiatus and returns with our first book pick of the year The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War by Erik Larson.  Come pick up a copy of the book at the adult services desk, register to attend, and then join us at our book club meeting on Saturday, May 1st at 11am in the Hermann room to share your thoughts!

“On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president.  The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one State after another seceding and Lincoln, powerless to stop them.  Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.  Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records, master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter, a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals.”

Maddie Day/Edith Maxwell Author Talk & Book Signing

Posted on by Jessica O'Connor

Join us at the Falmouth Public Library on Saturday, October 5th at 3pm in the Hermann meeting room for local author talk and book signing with Maddie Day – a.k.a. Edith Maxwell!  She will be discussing her new books A Case for the Ladies and Murder at the Rusty Anchor.  Copies of her books will be available for purchase at the event from Eight Cousins.

A Case for the Ladies: A Dot and Amelia Mystery

“This novel brings a pre-fame Amelia Earhart to life in 1926, when she lived in a Boston suburb and worked as a teacher and social worker at a settlement house founded to help immigrant women. After Amelia meets fictional lady PI Dot Henderson, and more than one young immigrant woman is found murdered, the two put their heads together to seek justice for the less powerful.”


Murder at the Rusty Anchor: A Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery

“A rainy July weekend in Westham means the beaches are empty and business is dead at Mac’s Bikes but couldn’t be livelier inside the Rusty Anchor Pub. But come Monday morning one patron is not so lively when the chef opens up and finds a body behind the bar. It’s last call for Bruce Byrne, an elderly high school teacher who’s been around so long it seems like he taught everybody.”

 

Maddie Day/Edith Maxwell is the Agatha Award and Macavity Award-winning author of the Cozy Capers Book Club Mystery series and the Country Store Mysteries, as well as other series. A member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America, she is a regular contributor at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and belongs to The Wickeds, a group of six bestselling authors who blog at WickedAuthors.com. She lives with her beau north of Boston, though she knows both Indiana and Cape Cod intimately. She is a talented amateur chef and gardener and can be found online at edithmaxwell.com.

This event is free to the public. CLICK HERE to register online event calendar or visit/call the adult service desk at 508-457-2555 x7.