BPL Blog

Posted by JGranatino on Fri, Jul 21
Winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction, 2012 (now known as the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction) and the Stonewall Barbara Gittings Literature Award, 2013, The Song of Achilles is a beautifully-crafted novel based on Homer’s timeless tale of the Trojan War, The Illiad. Author Madeline Miller, a Classics graduate of Brown University, focuses upon the doomed relationship between the Greek warrior Achilles, son of Thetis, and his devoted companion and lover, Patroclus. Narrator...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Jul 20
Tomasina Daulaire has spent most of her life as assistant to legendary childrens' book author Mort Lear. She met him as a young girl watching her brother at the local playground. Morty struck up a conversation with her, asking if he could sketch Dani. Deciding this was harmless, she agreed and a few years later realized the character of Evo in Lear's new book, now a bestseller, was her brother. Running into Lear once again after college, he offered her a job and Tommy eventually moved into his...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Jul 10
Lydia Smith lives a quiet existence as a clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, full of quirky characters including the BookFrogs, the regulars who frequent odd corners of the store. The job suits her, as her father was a former librarian and Lydia and best friend Raj spent hours after school browsing the library shelves after stopping for a snack and Raj’s parents truck stop, the Gas ‘n’ Doughnuts. Everything changed after a sleepover at her friend Carol O’Toole’s house when, during a sleepover...
Posted by JGranatino on Tue, Jun 27
After you discover how to pronounce hygge (some say “hoogah,” others “hue-gah”), take the time to learn why hygge has made Denmark one of the happiest countries in the world. Hygge signifies an attitude of relaxed well-being, cozyness, and fellowship and the lifestyle that promotes it: comfort foods, candlelight, a fireplace, comfortable clothing and furnishings, good books, and harmony with nature, all enjoyed in the good company of family and friends. If you would...
Posted by BHanley on Mon, Jun 26
The Hate U Give is a powerful story told from the perspective of a sixteen-year-old African-American girl who witnesses the shooting death of her childhoodfriend by a police officer. Starr’s world changes dramatically and the reader becomes deeply involved and invested in her daily struggle to live her life after the shooting, which includes her school, family life, friendships, and boyfriend. The story touches upon and smartly incorporates many themes from identity to race, socioeconomic...
Posted by JGranatino on Thu, Jun 22
It's 1944 and the small town of Verger on the coast of Normandy has been under German occupation for years. Food and supplies for the residents are scarce, and several have been "relocated" or killed for resistance of any kind, among them Emma's father. Emma takes care of her elderly grandmother, Meme, and bakes a dozen loaves of baguettes for the Kommandant each morning. In an attempt to help her neighbors, she secretly begins to add a bit of ground straw to the rationed dough to make an...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Jun 19
In her latest book, Sharon Salzberg, a prolific writer and noted presenter on the topics of mindfulness and meditation, discusses “real love” and the practice of loving-kindness in order to cultivate “transformative strength” in everyday life. She stresses the importance of first loving ourselves in order to reach out to others, including persons whom we find difficult. The book is filled with practical advice, exercises, and meditations intended to increase attentiveness, explore one’s...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Jun 19
Eleanor Oliphant leads an ordinary, routine life and she's just fine with that. She lives frugally, works in a office, talks to Mummy every Wednesday evening and spends the weekend drinking vodka. She has no boyfriend since the last one landed her in hospital, and no friends to speak of. But she's fine. She has a plan, with Mummy's blessing, to give herself a makeover and land a handsome musician she's had her eye on. Then one day her computer decides to crash and Raymond, the IT guy, enters...
Posted by JGranatino on Mon, Jun 19
Gwendy Peterson has set a goal for herself before starting middle school - she's going to run up what was known as Suicide Stairs every day to get in shape and hopefully lose the nickname of "Goodyear" given her by Frankie Stone. At the top, she pauses to catch her breath and realizes there's a man in a black suit and bowler hat sitting quietly on a bench, watching her carefully. Although she knows she shouldn't speak to strangers there is something non-threatening and charming about him. In...
Posted by JGranatino on Sat, Jun 10
Author Michael Finkel relates the true story of Christopher Knight, an alarm installer who at the age of 20 vanished without a trace, abandoning society to become a hermit in the deep woods of his home state near Moosehead Lake, Maine. Having jettisoned his car and spent the money of his last paycheck, he turned to pilfering food, clothing, and needed supplies from the cabins in this lake region, becoming increasingly bold in his burglaries.  Astonishingly, he escaped apprehension for a full...

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