BPL Blog
Posted by JGranatino on Tue, Oct 03
This memoir – a collection of letters written over a period of thirty years - vividly chronicles the life of Colombian artist Emma Reyes (1919-2003). Growing up in abject poverty and illiteracy in Bogotá, abandoned by her mother, and brought to live in a convent orphanage, she improbably rose from life of cruel deprivation to become a visual artist, mingling with distinguished artists and intellectuals from South America and the Continent. Emma’s dogged will to survive and her incredible...
Posted by JGranatino on Tue, Oct 03
In this book, author Mary Otto reveals what could be described as an “oral health crisis” in our county, a crisis with far-reaching and often surprising health ramifications and serious social consequences. Millions of Americans lack dental care, resulting in chronic pain, periodontal disease, infection, and possible tooth loss. Increasingly, the mouth is viewed as an ecosystem; links are suspected between poor dental hygiene/periodontal disease and diabetes, inflammatory diseases such as...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Sep 25
If you enjoy creating detailed abstract images such as Zentangle drawings, you may also enjoy designing mandalas. These symmetrical circular designs, visually representing integration and wholeness, can be found in many traditional cultures – Hindu, Buddhist, and Native American/Aboriginal – and can also be seen in Christian rose windows or labyrinths such as the famous one in Chartres Cathedral. Classically used as a tool for meditation and healing, mandalas can generate a centered, relaxed...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Sep 25
Watching Gal Gadot’s performance in the recent Wonder Woman film, you may have recalled a childhood attraction to talented, strong, and empowered female heroes. Maggs’ book offers brief biographies of little-known real life “wonder women,” who made stunning contributions in the fields of science and medicine, invention, exploration –and even espionage! Learn about the intrepid Annie Smith Peck (1850-1935), who was born and also taught in Providence, fought gender bias to obtain her...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Sep 21
Hilderbrand's latest summer offering, The Identicals, is once again set in Nantucket (as well as Martha's Vineyard) and centers around identical twin sisters, Harper and Tabitha Frost. With their parents's divorce, the 17-year-old girls are being torn apart and forced to pick a parent to live with and do so by the game, rock, paper, scissors. So off to Martha's Vineyard goes Harper happily to live with her laid-back dad while Tabitha resentfully goes to live with her mother in Nantucket. Both...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Sep 21
Iris and Will are a seemingly very happily married couple who are trying to start a family. After Will leaves on a business trip, Iris, a school counselor, learns that a plane has crashed and she is asked to speak with the students about this tragedy. It isn't long before she is notified that Will was on the plane leaving Iris gobsmacked as she was told by Will that he was heading to a different destination. Iris finds herself consumed with learning the truth about Will, and her twin brother,...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Sep 21
Maddy is the perfect mother and perfect wife living the perfect life. Fabiaschi's I Liked My Life is the story of Maddy, mother to 17-year-old Eve and husband to Brady, who is seemingly living the good life in a posh Boston neighborhood until she commits suicide. Now Brady and Eve are left to pick up the pieces and make sense of this tragedy. What would make a woman, who on the surface has everything, do something like that? Eve and Brady can't move on until they take a good look at Maddy's...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Sep 21
A gang of thieves pull off a heist at Princeton University where they manage to steal several original F.Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts insured at twenty five million dollars. Although they were savvy enough to use a smoke screen to throw off the police, it isn't long before a couple of the career criminals are caught. Panicking that the authorities are closing in, the manuscripts are then sold for a song. In the meantime, the FBI and an independent firm hired by the insurance company are...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Sep 18
If you are drawn to unusual travel destinations – very, very far off the beaten track -- you will find many intriguing side trips in this collection. In it you will find utopian communities, abandoned cities, haunted spaces, demon forests, and necropolises, abandoned cities, islands, and tunnels, and architectural oddities of all kinds, and even a flaming, sulfurous pit known as the “Door of Hell.” This beautifully-designed book contains many maps and atmospheric black-and-white photos.
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Sep 18
Aware that there are “a lot of things that conspire to keep women, in particular, from the outdoors,” McConnell has written an approachable and sometimes amusing guide addressing practical questions that an aspiring outdoorswoman might hesitate to ask. She covers the where to go (from urban green spaces, campgrounds and parks to wild lands such as reserves and refuges), what to do, and what to bring (essential clothing, tents, food, and gear), as well as tips on weather, navigation, and...
