Coming Soon: Peter Abrahams aka Spencer Quinn!

Local Author Talk & Book Signing

The Falmouth Public Library and Eight Cousins are excited to welcome Cape resident Peter Abrahams, also known as Spencer Quinn, author of the popular Chet and Bernie mysteries for a reading, talk, and book signing for his newest book Mrs. Plansky’s RevengeThis event will take place at the Falmouth Public Library on Tuesday, August 22nd at 6:30pm in the Hermann room.   

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge is the first novel in a new series since the meteoric launch of Chet and Bernie–introducing the irresistible and unforgettable Mrs. Plansky, in a story perfect for book clubs and commercial fiction readers.

“I absolutely adored this book. Really fun but with a few teeth, as well. Mrs. Plansky is a terrific character. The story ticks along like a good watch.” –Stephen King

“Mrs. Plansky is a wonderfully memorable heroine, full of wit and equally plausible as an ace tennis player and a motorcycle-driving detective with Romanian gangsters hot on her tail. Readers will be eager to see what Mrs. Plansky gets up to next.”  Publishers Weekly

Peter Abrahams is the Edgar-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. He lives on the Cape with his wife Diana and dog Pearl.

Come and join us for this exciting author event that is free to the public.  Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge will be available for purchase and signing from Eight Cousins after the author talk and reading.  Registration to attend is required.  Please register by clicking here or visit/call the reference desk at 508-457-2555 x7.

Falmouth Reads Book Discussions

Join our Traveling Book Discussion Group to talk about Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel, our 2023 Falmouth Reads title.

Come to the library-based discussion most convenient for you!

Want an extended deep-dive into Station Eleven? We’re planning a four-class series on the book as part of our October Joy of Learning – stay tuned!

Did you love Station Eleven? Join the Fiction Book Club on November 21st to read Emily St. John’s latest novel Sea of Tranquility! Register.

Falmouth Reads Art Project!

All’s Well That Ends Well

In A Pickle

Heart Of Gold

Too Much Of A Good Thing

Break The Ice

Love Is Blind

The World Is My Oyster

There are countless phrases that we use today that originated with William Shakespeare.

With a nod to this year’s book pick “Station Eleven,” which draws some of its inspiration from Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” The Falmouth Reads Together Committee invites artists and dabblers of all ages and abilities to interpret their favorite Shakespeare phrase or idiom into a work of two-dimensional art for an exhibit this summer at the library.

Artworks should be suitable for hanging and will be displayed in the library’s Art Walk for the month of August. 

Submissions should be brought to the library by the end of the day on July 15 and will be available for pick up after August 31.

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Station Eleven, drop by the Main Library or request a copy through the online catalog! Watch this space for announcements or more events and activities about Station Eleven.

Great Decisions 2023

Great DecisionsAmerica’s largest civic discussion program on world affairs, is coming back to the Falmouth Public Library.  On Wednesday nights starting on May 31st and ending on September 6th, we will meet bi-weekly to discuss one of eight critical foreign policy challenges facing Americans in a non-partisan, open environment.  Prior to each session, participants will read the relevant chapter in the Great Decisions Briefing Book and watch the corresponding Master Class on DVD, which are available for checkout to participants at the reference desk.  Participants are encouraged to attend all eight sessions but you may choose to attend only certain topics.  Registration is required for each session and will be limited to 20 participants.  This program is sponsored by the Library Support Fund.

Energy Geopolitics …… Register Here
Wednesday, May 31st from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
How will changes in the energy industries impact relations between countries?  Access to oil and gas has long held an influence over the politics of individual nations and their relations with others. But as more countries move toward sustainable energy, and supply chain shortages affect the availability of oil and gas, how will this change the way in which the United States interacts with the outside world? By Carolyn Kissane
 
War Crimes …… Register Here
Wednesday, June 14th from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
What is a war crime? How does this definition apply to recent events in Ukraine?  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in widespread charges of war crimes and calls for justice. But what exactly are war crimes? Opinions of what constitutes a war crime have evolved, as have ways to identify and punish the perpetrators. How will the war crimes committed in Ukraine be dealt with? By Francine Hirsch
 
China and the U.S. …… Register Here
Wednesday, June 28th from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
How will the United States respond to China’s growing global presence?  For the past ten years, the United States and China have been locked in a competition for who has the greatest global influence. One major point of contention is the status of Taiwanese sovereignty, which has become even more relevant recently with the possibility that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may prompt China to take similar action regarding Taiwan. How will the United States engage a China which is increasingly seeking to expand its sphere of influence? By David Lampton
 
Economic Warfare …… Register Here
Wednesday, July 12th from 7:30pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
What comprises economic warfare? How have these measures been used recently against Russia?  Waging economic warfare consists of a variety of measures from implementing sanctions to fomenting labor strikes. Such tools are utilized by states to hinder their enemies, and in the case of the United States have been used as far back as the early 19th century. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, economic warfare has been the main means for the west to challenge Russia. How effective will these sanctions be at convincing Russia to cease its war? By Jonathan Chanis
 
Politics in Latin America …… Register Here
Wednesday, July 26th from 7pm -8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
What does the emergence of various left-wing governments mean for countries in Latin America? Electoral results in Latin America over the past four years have led many observers of the regional/political scene to discern a left-wing surge in the hemisphere, reminiscent of the so-called “Pink Tide” that swept the area some 20 years ago. But how much do these politicians actually have in common? What implication does their ascendency have for the region? By Jorge Castañeda
 
Global Famine …… Register Here
Wednesday, August 9th from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
What causes famine? How can it be prevented in the future?  Fears of global food shortages have followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has disrupted grain shipments from the major grain producer. But what about countries and regions that were suffering before this impending shortage? How is famine defined, and how is it different from simple food shortages? What if any remedies are there? By Daniel Maxwell
 
Iran at a Crossroads …… Register Here
Wednesday, August 23rd from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
What is the future for relations between Iran and the U.S.?  By the fall of 2022, Iran was in a state of turmoil due to widespread protests against government-enforced wearing of the hijab, a failing economy, an ineffective new president, and the looming succession of the country’s leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. Abroad, renewal of the Iran nuclear deal seemed doubtful and tensions remain high between Iran, Israel, and Arab states. Many Iranians have lost hope of a better future, and the country seems at a crossroads. How should the United States deal with it? By Lawrence Potter
 
Climate Migration …… Register Here
Wednesday, September 6th from 7pm-8:30pm in the Hermann meeting room
How is climate change impacting human migration?  As climate change accelerates and drought and rising sea levels become more common, millions of people in affected regions must uproot themselves and seek safety elsewhere. Who are these affected individuals, and how might the United States aid them, and be affected by the migration? By Karen Jacobsen

Virtual Mystery Book Group S/S 2023: Murder in Italy

We are happy to announce that the Virtual Mystery Book Club will be spending our spring-summer sessions (May, June, and July) discussing murders in Italy this year! The VMBG meets 9 times a year, exclusively by Zoom, to discuss mystery novels or stories. Each group of three months focuses on a specific theme. Read on to learn about the titles for the coming months and register to join us for one or all of the sessions.

Death at La Fenice, by Donna Leon, on Wednesday May 10, 4:30-5:30pm. Register. Books in CLAMS.

Donna Leon (1942- ) is an American who lived and taught in Italy from 1981-2015, mostly based in Venice. (She has now retired to Switzerland). Death at La Fenice (1992) is the first in a long series of novels featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti.

Description: Beautiful and serene Venice is a city almost devoid of crime. But that is little comfort to Maestro Helmut Wellauer, a world-renowned conductor whose intermission refreshment comes one night with a little something extra in it–cyanide. For Guido Brunetti, vice-commissario of police and genius detective, finding a suspect isn’t a problem; narrowing the large and unconventional group of enemies down to one is. As the suave and pithy Brunetti pieces together clues, a shocking picture of depravity and revenge emerges, leaving him torn between what is and what should be right–and questioning what the law can do, and what needs to be done.

The Shape of Water, by Andrea Camilleri, on Wednesday June 14, 4:30-5:430pm. Register. Books in CLAMS.

Andrea Camilleri (1925-2019) was born in Sicily and originally pursued a career as a writer before finding success as a director, first of plays, then of television shows for the Italian channel RAI. Only late in life did he return to writing and find success with his dark detective novels. The Shape of Water (1994) introduces Inspector Salvo Montalbano and the imaginary Sicilian town of Vigàta.

Description: Silvio Lupanello, a big-shot in Vigàta, is found dead in his car with his pants around his knees. The car happens to be parked in a part of town used by prostitutes and drug dealers, and as the news of his death spreads, the rumors begin. Enter Inspector Salvo Montalbano, Vigàta’s most respected detective. With his characteristic mix of humor, cynicism, compassion, and love of good food, Montalbano battles against the powerful and corrupt who are determined to block his path to the real killer. 

The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin, Wednesday July 12, 4:30-5:30pm. Register. Books in CLAMS.

Jason Goodwin (1964 – ) is a British writer who was educated in Byzantine history, and once walked from Poland to Istanbul and then wrote a book about it. His has written five historical mysteries set in the Ottoman period, of which The Bellini Card (2010) is the third. His first book featuring investigator Yashim won an Edgar Award.

Description: Istanbul, 1840: the new sultan, Abdülmecid, has heard a rumor that Bellini’s vanished masterpiece, a portrait of Mehmet the Conqueror, may have resurfaced in Venice. Yashim is promptly asked to investigate, but – aware that the sultan’s advisers are against a repurchase of the painting – decides to deploy his disempowered Polish ambassador friend, Palewski, to visit Venice in his stead. Palewski arrives in disguise in down-and-out Venice, where a killer is at large as dealers, faded aristocrats, and other unknown factions seek to uncover the whereabouts of the missing Bellini. In the end, only Yashim can uncover the truth behind the manifold mysteries.

New Narrative Nonfiction Book Club Picks!

Spring – Summer 2023 Book Picks

Check out the Falmouth Public Library’s new Narrative Nonfiction Book Club picks for the Spring and Summer ’23 session!  Come pick up a copy and join us to share your thoughts as we read across the genres of nonfiction, from history to adventure, memoir/biography, and beyond with books that read like a novel.

We meet on the 1st Thursday of every month from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The group will meet in the Hermann meeting room and for those who wish to join us from home, you can join us via Zoom.  Registration is required and the Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

To register, click on the date you wish to attend and fill out the registration form. If you have any questions, please contact the Adult Services department at 508-457-2555 x 7, info@falmouthpubliclibrary.org or text 833-209-9922.

April 6, 2023:
The Race Underground: Boston, New York, and the Incredible Rivalry that Built America’s First Subway by Doug Most.

“When the great blizzard of 1888 crippled the entire northeast … Two brothers from one of the nation’s great families – Henry Melville Whitney of Boston and William Collins Whitney of New York – pursued the dream of his city digging America’s first subway, and the great race was on.  The competition between Boston and New York played our in an era not unlike our own, one of economic upheaval, life-changing innovations, class warfare, bitter political tensions, and the question of America’s place in the world.”

 

May 4, 2023:
Maybe You Should Talk To Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

“One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice.  The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down.  Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands.  With starling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.”

 

June 1, 2023:
River of the Gods: Genius, Courage, and Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard

“In the 19th century, there was a frenzy of interest in ancient Egypt.  At the same time, European powers sent off waves of explorations intended to map the unknown corners of the globe.  Set against the backdrop of the race to exploit Africa by the colonial powers, a story of courage and adventure brings to life the rivalry between two enemies – a decorated soldier and a young aristocrat/Army officer – as they set out to find the mysterious headwaters of the Nile River.”

 

July 6, 2023:
Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis

Agent Josephine, uncovers this little-know history of the famous singer’s life.  During the war years, as a member of the French Nurse paratroopers — a cover for her spying work — Baker participated in numerous clandestine activities and emerged as a formidable spy.  Drawing on a plethora of new historical material and rigorous research, Lewis upends the conventional story of Josephine Baker, explaining why she fully deserves her unique place in the French Pantheon.”

 

August 3, 2023:
18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics by Bruce Goldfarb

“Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity.  Best known for creating the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, Lee developed a system that used the Nutshells dioramas to train law enforcement officers to investigate violent crimes, and her methods are still used today.”

 

September 7, 2023:
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong 

“The Earth teems with sights and textures, sounds and vibrations, smells and tastes, electric and magnetic fields.  But every animal is enclosed within its own unique sensory bubble, perceiving but a tiny sliver of an immense world.  In An Immense World, Ed Yong coaxes us beyond the confines of our own senses, allowing us to perceive the skeins of scent, waves of electromagnetism, and pulses of pressure that surround us.”

Virtual Mystery Book Group Winter 2023: Classics

The Virtual Mystery Book Group is taking a hiatus for December but it’s already time to start reading the books for our winter theme. To start off 2023, we’ll delve into some classics of the genre. In January, we’ll read three short stories from the early days of mysteries, by the pioneering authors Arthur Conan Doyle, Maurice Leblanc, and G.K. Chesterton. In February, we’ll learn about bell-ringing in Kent, England as well as solving two distinct crimes when we read The Nine Tailors by Dorothy Sayers. In March, we’ll explore the historical mystery of Richard III with hospitalized Alan Grant as we read Josephine Tey’s The Daughter of Time.

Join us to read and discuss one of the books below, or all three!

Register to receive the Zoom link and discussion questions before each session. We have print copies of each title waiting at the Reference Desk about a month before each meeting, or you are welcome to find your own copy – digital or even audio! – in CLAMS using the links below.

Wednesday January 11, 2023, 4:30pm: Three Short Stories. Register.

All of these stories are out of copyright and thus available online, directly linked above. They are also collected in various anthologies; please let us know if we can help you find a print copy!

Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) wrote the first Sherlock Homes novel in 1886, and is given almost single credit for the wild popularity of crime fiction which persists to this day. In addition to writing fiction he was a physician and spiritualist and wrote widely on a variety of topics. Leblanc (1864-1941), Doyle’s contemporary, began his career as a journalist and novelist but found true success writing the adventures of the thief, Arsene Lupin, who was his main character. Chesterton (1874-1936) also wrote widely, but is best known for his Christian apologetics, so it is fitting that his detective is a Roman Catholic priest.

Descriptions: Is there any need to describe Sherlock Holmes? “A Scandal in Bohemia” was the first short story featuring Holmes, and one of the author’s favorites. It also includes his most notable female character, Irene Adler. “The Arrest of Arsene Lupin” introduces the ‘gentleman thief’ whose exploits, while illegal, are perhaps not of entirely dubious morality. “The Hammer of God” is classic Chesterton, with a cryptic Father Brown turning the mystery upon its head and quietly walking away after determining the true story.

 

Wednesday February 8, 2023, 4:30pm: The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers. Register.

Available in CLAMS.

Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957) was ranked with Christie (and Margery Allingham and Ngaio Marsh) as top mystery authors of the Golden Age, although she also had a career as an essayist and published an English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. The Nine Tailors (1934) is the ninth of her novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, a British aristocrat who solves crimes as a hobby.

Description: The nine tellerstrokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll out the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Wimsey to investigate the good and evil that lurks in every person. Steeped in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat fen-country of East Anglia, this is a tale of suspense, character, and mood by an author critics and readers rate as one of the great masters of the mystery novel.

 

Wednesday March 8, 2023, 4:30pm: The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey. Register.

Available in CLAMS.

Josephine Tey was the pseudonym of the Scottish author Elizabeth MacKintosh (1896-1952), who wrote plays as well as eight mystery novels. Six of them featured police detective Alan Grant, but The Daughter of Time (1951) is unusual in that the detective is flat on his back in a hospital bed, the crime took place five hundred years earlier, and the sources are historical documents.

Description: In The Daughter of Time, Tey focuses on the legend of Richard III, the evil hunchback of British history accused of murdering his young nephews. While at a London hospital recuperating from a fall, Inspector Alan Grant becomes fascinated by a portrait of King Richard. A student of human faces, Grant cannot believe that the man in the picture would kill his own nephews. With an American researcher’s help, Grant delves into his country’s history to discover just what kind of man Richard Plantagenet was and who really killed the little princes.

 

Lethal Tides with Catherine Musemeche

Join us on Wednesday, November 9th at 6:30pm in the Hermann meeting room as we welcome author Catherine Musemeche.  She will be speaking about her latest book Lethal Tides: Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II.  To register for this author talk and book signing, click here

“Weaving together science, biography, and military history, Lethal Tides is a powerful, revelatory history essential to our understanding of oceanography and naval strategy, and – more importantly – chronicles the gripping story of an unsung woman who was pivotal to the U.S.’s success against Japan in WWII.”  

Catherine Musemeche is a graduate of the University of Texas McGovern Medical School in Houston, Texas and the University of Texas School of Law.  She has been a pediatric surgeon for more than three decades.  Catherine’s first book, Small, was longlisted for the E.O. Wilson/Pen American Literary Science Award and was awarded the Texas Writer’s League Discovery Prize for Nonfiction in 2015.  Her second book, Hurt, was named one of the top ten EMS books of the decade.  She has also contributed to Smithsonian Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times’ “Motherlode” blog, KevinMD.com, Creative Nonfiction magazine and EMS World.

This event is free to the public and copies of her book will be available from Eight Cousins for purchase at the event.

Author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series!

We are excited to welcome Peter Abrahams, also known as Spencer Quinn, Falmouth resident and author of the popular Chet and Bernie mysteries, on Wednesday, August 17th at 6:30 pm, for a reading, talk and book signing at the Falmouth Public Library! Eight Cousins Books will be selling books at the event. Registration required-please do so by clicking here!

Bark to the Future continues the bestselling series that Stephen King calls “without a doubt the most original mystery series currently available.”

When Chet the dog and his human partner, PI Bernie Little, are approached by a down-and-out older man with a cardboard sign at an exit ramp, Bernie is shocked to discover the man is a former teammate from his high school baseball team. Chet and Bernie take Rocket out for a good meal, and later, Bernie investigates Rocket’s past, trying to figure out what exactly went wrong.

Then, Rocket goes suspiciously missing…and Chet and Bernie are plunged into a dangerous case where the past isn’t dead and the future could be fatal.

Peter Abrahams is the Edgar-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chet and Bernie mystery series, as well as the #1 New York Times bestselling Bowser and Birdie series for middle-grade readers. He lives on the Cape with his wife Diana and dog Pearl.

 

 

Below the Edge of Darkness Book Discussion with Allan Adams: A WHOI & FPL Community Read Event!

Join us on Wednesday, May 25th from 7pm-8pm via Zoom to discuss the 2022 WHOI & FPL Community Read, Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea by Dr. Edith Widder, in a group setting!  We will have a special guest, Allan Adams, joining us.  Allan is an Adjunct Oceanographer at WHOI in the Applies Ocean Physics and Engineering Department. 

This event is free to the public and registration is required.  Register online by clicking here or by calling the library at 508-457-2555 x7.  

Below the Edge of Darkness: A Memoir of Exploring Light and Life in the Deep Sea  takes readers deep into our planet’s oceans as Widder pursues her questions about one of the most important and widely used forms of communication in nature.  In the process, she reveals hidden worlds and a dazzling menagerie of behaviors and animals, from microbes to leviathans, many never before seen or, like the legendary giant squid, never before filmed in their deep-sea lairs.  Alongside Widder, we experience life-and-death equipment malfunctions and witness breakthroughs in technology and understanding, all set against a growing awareness of the deteriorating health of our largest and least understood ecosystem.   

Come pick up a copy today at the library!  Below the Edge of Darkness is also available for purchase at Eight Cousins and the WHOI Bookstore!  The 2022 WHOI & FPL Community Read is part of Dispatches from an Ocean Planet: A Celebration of Film and Literature presented by the Yawkey Foundation and WHOI.