Have you ever read a book and felt like you just finished a really good and satisfying novel? The words were just right and the text just rolls. You can't put the book down. Well, if you're looking for a book like that, I would recommend All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood. This Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fiction book, is about an unlikely relationship between a young girl and a man set in a small town in the Midwest. Wavy, the main character, is a young child living in a... Read Post
Library Blog
April 4th 2017
I just finished watching Game of thrones, season 6, which I requested and after a surprisingly short waiting list, the whole season was waiting for me at circulation at the central (main) library! Guiltily enough, I binged watched the whole season over a period of 4 days. I just can't get enough of the mother of dragons and Jon Snow (Can you say ::geek alert::?).
But, with season 7 premiering on July 16, 2017, I had to catch up on my favorite show. So if you are into action and... Read Post
March 31st 2017
A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron
This endearing book by Bruce Cameron, is a delightful and quick read. You will quickly become absorbed as the life of a dog who is re-incarnated into several different dogs. The main protagonist, (a different breed of dog in every life) has to find his/her life's purpose, some of which include living with a young boy and his family or living as a canine police dog. The book is very cute and I would recommend it to all ages. The book is available at... Read Post
March 28th 2017
Is this rainy weather getting you down? Or maybe it's the fact that it's almost April and it's still below 50 degrees outside! Depressing. Instead, maybe try getting your bake on! Baking something sweet cannot only be therapeutic, but it can be tasty too! According to Smithsonian.com, baking can be a common cure for stress or feeling down. So head on over to the good ole' Somerville Public Library and check out our brand new baking books!
Your local librarian recommends:
... Read Post March 27th 2017
I just started volunteering as an urban agricultural ambassador at Green City Growers. The program is funded by the City of Somerville for various volunteers to learn about urban gardening, its importance in our community and what a resident's choices are in terms of urban gardening! So that means, you as a resident of Somerville can have an urban garden right in your back yard; keep chickens to produce eggs; or even bees to make honey! I am here to tell you a little more about that... Read Post
March 21st 2017
First time novelist Angie Thomas has made a big splash with her young adult novel, The Hate U Give. Released last month, the novel has already topped the New York Times's Best Seller List for Young Adult Hardcover Books, been optioned for a Hollywood film, and been acclaimed by critics and in numerous articles, such as this one in New York Magazine, this one on Fusion.net, and this one in the New York Times. It is also currently one of the most requested books in the Minuteman Library... Read Post
February 23rd 2017
Did you know that the Somerville Public Library has a travel section? Well, if you didn't know. We do. It's very popular, in fact, people come in to browse all the time! Starting in the 910 section of the library, we have shelves and shelves of Fodors, Frommers, DK Eyewitness, Rough Guides, and many more.
Looking to plan a trip to Costa Rica or Peru? We have that.
Do you want to backpack across Europe, check here first!
Would you like to swim with... Read Post
February 18th 2017
The Dallas Buyers’ Club starring Matthew McConaughy, Jared Leto and Jennifer Gardner is about a blue collar electrician, in Texas, in the 1980’s, who is infected with the HIV virus. The movie portrays the stigmas surrounding AIDS and homosexual men of the decade.
The main character, Ron Woodruff, a heterosexual man, loses his job and home due to workplace and housing discrimination. He loses all of his friends, but gains new ones, including Jared Leto’s character, Rayon, a cross-... Read Post
February 17th 2017
I just finished reading the most delightful book: the Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. The novel debuted on The New York Times' best-seller list of 2015 and has been widely popular across the country. The book is about a single woman (Rachel) whose husband has left her for another woman. After the mysterious death of Megan Hipwell, Rachel becomes obsessed with finding her murderer. This suspenseful book is comparable to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I highly recommend it. I would also... Read Post
February 7th 2017
If you're a lady and have ever felt fat, thought you were fat, been or are fat, then you should read 13 Ways of Looking at Fat Girl by Mona Awad. This sadistic comedy written in the voice of Lizzie, portrays her life in adolescence to older adulthood as an overweight person and the misery and unhappiness it can cause. Lizzie, accounts details of her relationship with her dates, boyfriends, husband, father, mother and other friends in sometimes a hilarious attitude and reveals innermost... Read Post
February 2nd 2017
In 2011, library patrons worked together to create a paper immigration "quilt" to tell the stories of the people who make up our City. Everyone was invited to make one or more squares representing their family's immigrant story, and the squares were connected to create the quilt. Since this year marks Somerville's 30th anniversary as a Sanctuary City, and since the Welcome Project and the City have planned a celebratory rally for this Saturday, it seemed like a good time to bring the quilt... Read Post
January 24th 2017
The March. It was all any of us could talk about Monday morning as we gathered around the children's room desk asking how our respective weekends were. Who took the T? Who walked? Who chauffeured? Did LA or Chicago have the second largest crowd? We talked around and over each other, while one of us searched her smartphone for facts. Library staff and patron swapping stories about a shared experience. It's the best kind of moment when you work in a public library.
From the 10 marchers... Read Post
December 22nd 2016
After just returning from Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, where it was hot and humid, this New England weather is killing me. I would love to return to a sunny vacation where the authentic food was amazing, Buddhist temples await, adventures on rivers and massages at every turn. If you’re looking to take a trip to get out of this cold and dreary weather, come take a look at Somerville library’s travel books, starting in the 914 section on the second floor of the main library, you can find a... Read Post
November 9th 2016
So we had two primary presidential candidates (and by primary, I mean two with actual chances of winning). And the candidate more people voted for lost.
So how does that work? People say this country's a democracy, right?
Well, not quite: especially when it comes to electing the president. When the Constitutional Convention met in 1787, the question of how to elect a president of the United States was considered quite a conundrum. They considered several different methods... Read Post
September 28th 2016
Yesterday the New York Times ran a two-part column discussing whether or not there is a "wrong way" to read a book. The best part was this quote from Doris Lessing:
“There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag — and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that... Read Post