Dear Reader, I would never lie to you. And when I say to you that I like to rock, I hope you understand that what I am saying is an…d, fast, played live and without a lot of fuss. This supergroup features ex-members of Sleater-Kinney, The Minders and Helium. What stands out most to me musically is Carrie Brownstein’s (of Portlandia fame) blistering riffs, the spirited drums fills of Janet Weiss and the harmony sound the four vocalists create. The stellar musicianship of this bassless, garage rock quartet often propels these excellent songs into uncharted territory. Just a coup…
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The Areas of My Expertise
The sometimes actor, television presenter/personality, unlicensed internet judge and humorist, John Hodgman, has a brilliant collection of nonsense in the universe called The Areas of My Expertise. Fear not, his writings do not simply float in the nebulous; it’s all compiled in a BOOK! In it we find delightful and ridiculous made up facts and anecdotes concerning hobos (he provides 700 hobo names), werewolves and various bizarre historical factoi…
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
A character-driven mystery set in rural Mississippi, we are slowly drawn into the stories and lives of Silas “32” Jones, a constable who twice daily has to direct traffic when…til a neighbor girl goes missing while on a first date with Larry. Now, 20 years later, another girl has gone missing and the suspicion is back on Larry. The story goes back-and-forth between the two timelines, with an increasingly complex network of connections. Check out this ‘rural noir.’…
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
The Regency classic meets Buffy the Vampire slayer in this hilarious mashup of Austen’s best-known novel with flesh-eating undead. England is in the grip of a plague of zombies and…ire slayer in this hilarious mashup of Austen’s best-known novel with flesh-eating undead. England is in the grip of a plague of zombies and the Bennet girls are keeping them at bay thanks to their arcane training in “the deadly arts.” Elizabeth is distracted from her battle against the zombies by the arrival of Mr. Darcy, who is also well known for his swordsmanship. Will she marry him? Will she get her brains eaten? Most importantly, can the rot…
Halting State
This science fiction adventure takes place in a semi-dystopian future in which our reliance on internet technologies and mobile devices has increased just enough to appear both futuristic and close at hand. The story, written from multiple perspectives and told entirely in the second person, follows a group of strangers brought together by a strange crime committed inside a computer game. The style takes some getting used to, but overall, this is…
“Mr. President!”
November 26, 2009 — “You have to stand everyday three or four hours for visitors. Nine-tenths of them want something they ought not to have. If you keep dead-still they will run down in…“You have to stand everyday three or four hours for visitors. Nine-tenths of them want something they ought not to have. If you keep dead-still they will run down in three or four minutes. If you even cough or smile they will start up all over again.” Advice to President-elect Herbert Hoober in 1929; The Memoirs of Herbert Hoover: The Cabinet and the Presidency, 1920-1933, 1952 Can you imagine how President Obama is faring?…
Calvin Coolidge July 4, 1872-January 5, 1933
January 5, 2010 — John Calvin CoolidgeJuly 4, 1872-January 5, 1933 Calvin Coolidge died in his home, “The Beeches,” in Northampton on January 5, 1933 at the age of 60 of heart disease. Coolidge…thampton at the Edwards Church on January 7 officiated by Rev. Albert Penner. The Daily Hampshire Gazette on January 7, 1933 reported that a special train from Washington, D.C. arrived to Northampton at 10 a.m. with 45 mourners including President and Mrs. Hoover, Vice-President Curtis and Chief Justice Hughes and members of Congress, Cabinet and old political and personal friends. The Washington delegation returned by train at Noon. Immediately f…
Forbes Library Awarded Disabilities Grant
October 8, 2014 — Forbes Library, the public library in downtown Northampton, has been awarded a two year grant to improve library services to people with disabilities. The project is being funded through the…are to make library programs more accessible to people who are deaf or hard-of-hearing; to improve customer service at service desks to people with disabilities; increase community awareness of library services available to people with disabilities; and to create and maintain an ongoing relationship with the disability community in Northampton. The grant project will begin this October and be completed in 2016. The library will be collaborating wi…
Deaf Sentence
British novel about a hearing impaired retired professor of linguistics. Well written, interestingly plotted, with a sort BBC/Masterpiece Theater feel to it. It is very much a character driven story that explores the former professor’s challenges with retirement, his increasing deafness, and his family concerns. The professor explores various literature about and by the deaf and attends lip reading classes where he learns all sorts of interesting…
Camping with Henry and Tom
This “book” is the audio to a play performed at L.A. Theatre Works in 2006 starring Alan Alda and was borrowed using Overdrive (see the reference desk for more information…desk for more information on how to download free books to your phone or e-reader!). The off-broadway play is a fictional account of inspired by an actual camping trip in 1921 with friends Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Warren Harding. The three men set off camping and their car breaks down and we hear their chatter as they are lost in the woods. It is filled with humor and historical facts as we hear how Ford aspires to be President and President…
Excellent Women
Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym’s best — a funny, engaging, and insightful story of post WWII English life. Like Jane Austen, Pym examines the small, seemingly mundane lives…Excellent Women is one of Barbara Pym’s best — a funny, engaging, and insightful story of post WWII English life. Like Jane Austen, Pym examines the small, seemingly mundane lives of ordinary people in an extraordinary manner….
All a Novelist Needs: Colm Tóibín on Henry James
All a Novelist Needs is beautifully written with fascinating insights into Henry James and his creative process. Anyone who likes Tóibín or James will enjoy this book….All a Novelist Needs is beautifully written with fascinating insights into Henry James and his creative process. Anyone who likes Tóibín or James will enjoy this book….
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