Zoom event: Liz O’Donnell, author of Working Daughter

Posted on by Sue

We are pleased to welcome Liz O’Donnell, author of Working Daughter: A Guide to Caring for Your Aging Parents While Earning a Living, on Wednesday evening, September 16th, at 7 p.m. at the Falmouth Public Library. Liz will share her own experiences, both darkly humorous and heart-breaking, and pass on her lessons learned. Rescheduled from spring, and even more timely now!

Working Daughter is a revealing look at adults caring for their aging parents, and how these unpaid family caregivers are trying to manage eldercare along with raising their children, maintaining relationships, and pursuing their careers. It shares Liz’s story- she was enjoying a fast-paced career in marketing and raising two children when both of her parents were diagnosed with terminal illnesses on the same day. The book will be available for sale by Eight Cousins, online or in the store.

Liz is the founder of Working Daughter, a community for women balancing eldercare, career, and more. An award-winning writer, Working Daughter is her second book, which Library Journal named one of the Best Books of 2019.

A former family caregiver, she is a recognized expert on working while caregiving and has written on the topic for many outlets including The Atlantic, Forbes, TIME, WBUR and PBS’ Next Avenue and has delivered keynotes on the topic to many audiences including Harvard University, MIT, the Marketing to Moms Conference, and the Women Leading Government Conference.

This event is free and appropriate for adults, and is sponsored by the generosity of the Trustees of the Falmouth Public Library.

This is a Zoom event, and registration is required by 5 pm on the day of the program. To register, please click here-the link will be emailed to you before the event!

NOTE: Downloading the Zoom application previous to the start of the event is required to participate. If you need assistance with this or with registering, please contact the Reference departnment at 508-457-2555 x 7.

Review: Transformers Vs. G.I. Joe, Vol. 1-6 by Tom Scioli

Posted on by Sue

One line review: If Jack Kirby and David Lynch teamed up to make a 1980s afternoon cartoon, it would look a lot like this.

Writer/artist Tom Scioli has been a darling of the underground comics scene for years. He’s won multiple awards and huzzahs from his peers, and was personally sought-out by pop star Gerard Way when Way launched his own line of comics with DC in 2016.

The reason for this is that Scioli’s comics have a very unique tone to them. There is a playful austerity to them, a po-faced silliness. He blends the dynamic art of 1960s Marvel superhero comics with an almost Cormac McCarthy approach to scripting. The mix is both heady and a headtrip. And kinda goofy.

With the comic book series, ‘Transformers vs. G.I. Joe’, Sciloi was given free reign to do whatever he wanted with two of Hasbro’s best-selling toy lines. He could change their backstories, rewrite their futures, and kill off as many characters as he saw fit. Nothing was off-limits. No one was worried about how it would effect toy sales. The result is one of the most imaginative and unpredictable comics I’ve ever read. At times, it feels like a ‘men on a mission’ movie. At other times it feels like Lovecraftian mythology. Then there are the times it just feels like you’re watching some scarily-smart kid smash their toys together on the floor of their bedroom.

Some stand-out moments include issue 0, a brief intro to many of the leads and a pretty good litmus test as to whether or not you’ve going to want to stick around, and the majorly meta issue 7, wherein the evil Doctor Mindbender makes Scarlett, “a crossbow-toting southern belle with a history in martial arts”, believe her entire existence is a lie and that she and everything else are actually — gasp! — toys.

I read this series 3 years ago, and imagery and ideas from it still pop into my head every week or so. That’s gotta be a good thing, right?

(reviewed by Josh)

All six volumes of this series are currently available to read — FOR FREE! — via the Hoopla app, if you’re a Falmouth Public Library, West Falmouth and Woods Hole cardholder! Click here.

For information on how to get a Hoopla account, click here!

Digital Collections@Falmouth Public Library

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

Have you visited the Digital Collections@Falmouth Public Library?

We just created a new webpage that organizes all of the Library’s locally significant digital content onto a new webpage for easier access. Take a look!

In addition to the very popular digital versions of the Falmouth Enterprise, the Annual Town Reports, and the Falmouth Public School Yearbooks, the Library has also added a few unique collections described below.

Postcards from Falmouth, a Library project with the express goal to capture, collect, and digitally preserve and share the evolving history of Falmouth. Share your stories of Falmouth “back in the day” by clicking on the historical postcards.

Read the Ships Logs of Falmouth whalers. In fact, the Library is in the process of transcribing the logs. Contact us if you’re interested in helping out.

Follow along as we upload images of the Library’s art collection, which includes the work of many local artists.

And don’t forget to check out our community created content, too:

The Upper Cape Camera Club Summer Exhibit

Falmouth at Home, a collection of photographs that document our days staying close to home during the pandemic. Send us your photos!

An Australian Celebration with Didgeridoo Down Under!

Posted on by Sue

The Falmouth Public Library is pleased to host 3 online Zoom events on Tuesday, July 28^th! Events will be available on our YouTube for all to view for the next week!

3 pm- Didgeridoo Down Under (variety show for all ages!)

Didgeridoo Down Under is an energetic fusion of Australian music, culture, puppetry, comedy, character building, storytelling and audience participation. The didgeridoo has been played by Aboriginal Australians for at least 1,500 years, and is known for its otherworldly sound. But DDU is more than music. It’s interactive, educational, motivational and super fun for all ages!

4 pm Aussie Funk Jam (workshop for tweens and teens)

Aussie Funk Jam is a one-of-a-kind musical experience. In this hands-on workshop, participants learn how to play the didgeridoo — including vocalizing, creating simple rhythms and more — with homemade beginner instruments. The Funk Jam is cool, funky and unique … ideal for teens and tweens, but OK for ages 8 and up (even adults). Interested participants will either need to have a couple paper towel tubes available and tape, or pick up some from at the Main Library. Watch social media for more details.

6:30 pm Music & More from the Land Down Under (concert for adults)Music & More from the Land Down Under takes the audience on a musical journey to Australia and beyond, as the performer plays an assortment of didgeridoos and percussion instruments … mixed with colorful stories and humor. Our performers play a modern style, mixing fast-paced rhythms with relaxing soundscapes and organic sound effects. This program is best for adults, but is OK for kids with parental accompaniment.

These events are free. Participation by Zoom, must register (separately for each). Downloading the Zoom application previous to the start of the event is required to participate. To register, please go to falmouthpubliclibrary.org/events. If you need assistance, please contact the children’s department at 508-457-2555 x 6.

Upper Cape Camera Club Summer Exhibit 2020 at FPL

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

In May of 2013, the Falmouth Public Library installed a railing for displaying art in the Adult Collections Room. The first exhibit was the work of the Upper Cape Camera Club. The Library has hosted the UCCC every July ever since. Not wanting to miss the fabulous work of this group we are presenting the 2020 Exhibit in our digital collections.

The Upper Cape Camera Club is a group of photographers whose mission is to provide an opportunity to develop skills, learn new skills, and share their images in a friendly supportive environment. From beginners to professionals, they welcome all who are interested in photography. To learn more about the group, visit their website here.

Fireworks Without the Fireworks!

Posted on by Library User

We know that everyone (except dogs and cats) is very disappointed that the annual fireworks will not be happening this year. So we wanted to offer you another option for your 4th of July party! Did you know that we have a BBC Sound Effects Library on CD? We have certainly noticed a recent uptick in use, so we know some of you must be working on podcasts at home, and using the BBC Sound Effects Library for special moments! The complete collection includes 60 CDs packed full of sounds. You can find the second set, with a full list of sound effects here.

Here are some of the subjects this collection covers: transport, weather, ships & boats, livestock, crowds, cats, emergency, babies, cars, and water. And, as I have mentioned, fireworks, which is volume 18 and is called BANG! This CD includes a chrysanthemum fountain (fizz), a retrojet fountain (fizz crackle), crackerjack fountain (crackle), mine of serpents (fizz pop), roman candle (fizz pop pop pop), thunderflash (bang), rocket, screamer, Chinese fire cracker with indistinct speech, ground mine (thump bang) with indistinct speech, Catherine wheel with indistinct speech, and Firework Night, atmosphere in suburban England. Now, these fireworks are not nearly as glorious as what we normally hear on a Falmouth 4th of July, but they might just add a little sparkle to your barbecue!

Speaking of Falmouth’s 4th of July, you might also be interested in knowing that the Falmouth Fireworks Committee has created a mask in honor of the 2020 Fireworks. You can find more information at falmouthfireworks.org. We concur with what they have written: “The year 2020 will long be remembered for its unprecedented challenges and for how we as Falmouth citizens came together during this time. We look forward to the day when we will once again welcome everyone back to the fireworks at Falmouth Heights – a day on which we will celebrate not only the Fourth of July, but the spirt of Falmouth and the resilience of our community.”

Sister Novelists: Emily and Anne Bronte

Posted on by Sue

After listening to Jill on the Point with Mindy Todd discussing Books about Sisters (03/27/20) and jotting down their recommendations of books about sisters, I thought about books by sisters. Although sisters usually share a similar background and familial history, they can become quite different individuals. The Bronte sisters shared an insular and somewhat dark and violent family life. Much of this is echoed in Wuthering Heights and the Tenant of Wildfell Hall- the former I read when snowed in and the latter while sheltering in place. However, in my casual, non-academic reading of these novels, I found two very different heroines with equally different fates. Perhaps, the differences between Cathy Earnshaw and Helen Graham speaks of that of the sisters, Emily and Anne?

(by staff member Rebekah)

Are You a ‘Gateway Reader’?

Posted on by Sue

My high school’s D.A.R.E. program (a well-meaning, misguided, state-funded attempt to keep kids off drugs) used to use the term ‘gateway drug’ to describe any drug that appeared harmless (cigarettes, pot, leaning in too close to one’s magic markers), but inevitably led to other, more dangerous narcotics (crack, crystal meth, permanent markers). In recent years, I’ve begun to rework the ‘gateway’ moniker to fit the needs of my own vice of choice — books.

Gateway Books are books that are so darned good that they make you want to read any and all the other books name-dropped within.

One of the first gateway books I remember coming across was S.E. Hinton’s ‘The Outsiders’. Not only did I pick up some random Robert Frost in hopes of finding ‘Stay Silver’ and ‘Stay Bronze’ (his lesser works), I also rented the videotape of ‘Gone With The Wind’ (the book looked too long and too boring to my fourteen year old self — and still does!). A decade or so later while reading all of the Elmore Leonard novels, I had an ongoing ‘secondary syllabus’ made up of all the crime fiction paperbacks Leonard had his characters reading.

The ultimate Gateway Book for me, though, has been Mike Davis’ ‘City of Quartz’. Davis, a Los Angeles historian with a photographic memory and a gift for finding the threads that bind seemingly disparate subjects together, had me watching film noir classics like ‘Detour’ and ‘The Big Sleep’, gobbling up the South Central-centered pulp fiction of Chester Himes, the dark, satiric, science fiction of Aldous Huxley, and becoming a salivating fan boy at the altar of Joan Didion’s 1960s suicidal California travel lit. I’m not exaggerating — I literally spent an entire year exploring the books, movies and music mentioned in ‘City of Quartz’. If that ain’t the obsessive-compulsive behavior of an addict, I don’t know what is. [we have since ordered ‘City of Quartz’ for the library, and hope to have it soon!]

How about you? Do you have any ‘Gateway Books’ that sent you tumbling deeper and deeper down the reading rabbit hole? If so, please share them in the comments!

This blog written by Josh M.

Link to eBooks in Overdrive where available, here!

The Outsiders

Elmore Leonard (some available in Overdrive, via CLAMS or other MA library networks!)

Robert Frost-bio, and links to some of his poems, here.

Aldous Huxley, ‘Brave New World’ ebooks here.

POSTCARDS FROM FALMOUTH: The East End Meeting House

Posted on by K.C. DeWall

POSTCARDS FROM FALMOUTH: The East End Meeting House

The East End Meeting House was the topic for the first Postcards from Falmouth oral history recording at FCTV. Troy Clarkson interviewed Rabbi Elias Lieberman, who shared a wonderful history of the Meeting House. For instance, did you know that the East Congregational Religious Society, owners of the Meeting House, gave it to the Falmouth Jewish Congregation in 1982? According to the Director of the American Jewish Archives, the gift was “the first time (in history) that Christians have given Jews a building for congregation.” In fact, Rabbi Lieberman also mentioned that the Church of the Messiah carried on the friendly gesture by helping bring the Torah to Falmouth, which came all the way from London, as it was there that sacred Scrolls and other ceremonial objects and vestments that were captured during the Holocaust period were repaired and then distributed throughout many parts of the world.

What a nice way for the Falmouth community to make history!

The oral histories are part of a two-year local history/community engagement grant based upon the Library’s historical postcard collection. The recordings are on-going and will be available for viewing next year. Contact us for more information.

We’ll keep you posted!

Romance Novels on The Point

Posted on by Library User

What a delightful treat it was this morning to have Petra Mayer join us on The Point with Mindy Todd on WCAI! Petra Mayer is an editor (and the resident nerd) at NPR Books, focusing on fiction, and particularly genre fiction. Our topic was romance novels, and I learned lots about romance novels both from Petra and from all the reading I did prior to the book show. If you are a romance reader and want to add a book to our list, just leave us a comment with your suggestion. Miss the show? You can listen anytime online! Want to know more about reading romance ebooks online? Just head over to CLAMS and learn all about the Libby App! (Or stop by the reference desk.)

Mindy’s Pick

The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss

Petra’s Picks

The Duchess War by Courtney Milan
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
The Band Sinister and Any Old Diamonds by KJ Charles (available via the Commonwealth Catalog, but we’ll try to add some paper copies as well)
Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
Listen to the Moon by Rose Lerner
Act Like It by Lucy Parker
An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole (or any of her historicals)

Not Enough Time For:
Joanna Bourne’s Spymaster series – you can read them in chronological order by story or by pub date but the best one is The Black Hawk.

Jill’s Picks

Encyclopedia of Romance Fiction, edited by Kristin Ramsdell
Everything I Know About Love I Learned From Romance Novels by Sarah Wendell (Not available as a paper book in CLAMS, but head to the Commonwealth Catalog and you can check out an e-book version!)
A Duke By Default by Alyssa Cole
Duchess By Night by Eloisa James
How to Read a Dress: a guide to changing fashion from the 16th to the 20th century by Lydia Edwards
With My Body by Nikki Gemmell
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart
The 100 Best Romance Novels by Jennifer Lawler

And one fascinating book, which I did not have time to mention this morning is The American Duchess Guide to 18th Century Dressmaking: how to hand sew Georgian gowns and wear them with style by Lauren Stowell and Abby Cox. The book is dedicated to “all the nameless dressmakers and milliners throughout history.” What is the book about? The authors explain: “Within these pages we will take you on a dressmaking journey through the Georgian era, helping you to learn about, create and dress in four types of gowns and their accessories.” If you sew one of these gowns, you’ll have to stop by and show Mindy!

Listener Picks

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

Category: Miscellany