May 2024 - Symphony of Secrets

“A twisty, mesmerizing mystery— Brendan Slocumb’s writing is like music itself, dancing elegantly from the page.” —Danya Kukafka, bestselling author of Notes on an Execution

SYMPHONY OF SECRETS

A novel by Brendan Slocumb (2023)

Discussion -  May 15, 1pm

Note from Sarah: It is my opinion that the less you know, the better this book will read. Most of the blurbs, reviews and even the accolades reveal too much. This bit below at least gives you something without revealing too much....

In present day New York City, Bern Hendricks has just received the call of a lifetime: to authenticate the long-lost musical masterpiece of Frederick Delaney – arguably the greatest and most prolific composer since Beethoven. 

Bern thought he knew everything there is to know about the man and his music, but soon discovers that the truth behind the masterpieces – and behind Frederick Delaney himself – is far more complicated than he could ever have imagined. The story takes the reader back to 1920s Manhattan, when the struggling musician Freddy Delaney meets the enigmatic Josephine Reed...

Copies of the book are available at the library. It is also on Libby and other streaming services. 

At Gibson's or Main Street Bookends, mention our group and they will kindly offer a discount.

While you read:

• listen to some 1920s jazz - we have CDs in our collection of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Count Basie, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington and more.
  
• in between chapters, check out Brendan's podcast "How Music Can Save Your Life"

 

Resources below (some may contain spoilers!)

Learn more:

• about Brendan Slocumb:  
• His website: www.brendanslocumb.com
• A podcast interview viewsonbooks.com/17-striking-a-chord-brendan-slocumb-on-music-representation-and-unraveling-the-symphony-of-secrets/
• Listen to and watch a concert Slocumb conducted: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga1XZUMVPFU
  
• about Jazz and the 1920s jazz scene: 
• Ken Burns' documentary "Jazz" is available to borrow on Hoopla
• We have several books on the history of jazz on our shelves: head to the 781.65 section
• What Is Jazz? - from the National Museum of American History
• April is Jazz Appreciation Month!
• April 30 is International Jazz Day!  Look for my display in the library soon. :)
  

Read more:

• by Slocumb: The Violin Conspiracy
• books set in 1920s: bookgirlsguide.com/books-set-in-the-1920s/  and bookriot.com/books-set-in-the-1920s/
  
• books set in the Jazz Age 

 

April 2024 - The Spy Coast

“Expect mystery, action, and bloodshed in this exciting thriller launched straight from the peaceful shores of Maine.” — Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

THE SPY COAST

Book 1 of the Martini Club Series

A Thriller by Tess Gerritsen (2023)

Discussion -  April 17, 1pm

Former spy Maggie Bird came to the seaside village of Purity, Maine, eager to put the past behind her after a mission went tragically wrong. These days, she’s living quietly on her chicken farm, still wary of blowback from the events that forced her early retirement.

But when a body turns up in Maggie’s driveway, she knows it’s a message from former foes who haven’t forgotten her. Maggie turns to her local circle of old friends―all retirees from the CIA―to help uncover the truth about who is trying to kill her, and why. This “Martini Club” of former spies may be retired, but they still have a few useful skills that they’re eager to use again, if only to spice up their rather sedate new lives.

Copies of the book, including large print and audiobook CD, are available at the library. It is not on Libby or Hoopla. 

At Gibson's or Main Street Bookends, mention our group and they will kindly offer a discount.

Resources below (check back for more through the month)

Learn more:

• Meet the author! She is making the rounds with this, her latest, book -- in Maine (March 28) and Mass. (April). 
• Short interview with Gerritsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gF0pVMeUy0Y
• Longer interview with Gerritsen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZVl8rXYSgc
• Articles about what it's like to be a CIA operative: https://www.themuse.com/advice/work-like-a-spy-career-advice-from-a-cia-operative  or CIA analyst: https://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/working/2017/02/what_s_it_like_to_be_a_cia_analyst.html
  

Read more:

•  by Gerritsen, including her very popular Rizzoli and Isles mystery series
•  books set in Maine: https://bibliolifestyle.com/books-set-in-maine/

 

 

 

 

March 2024 - Hester

 

 

“But there's another kind of strength we've got...It comes from knowing the difference between who you are and who they think you are.”
― Laurie Lico Albanese, Hester

HESTER

by Laurie Lico Albanese (2022)

Discussion -  March 20, 1pm

For more about the book, check out the author's website.

A good, non-spoiler summary is here: www.secretvictorianist.com/2022/12/neo-victorian-voices-hester-laurie-lico.html

Copies of the book, including audiobook, are available at the library. It is also on Libby (audio and ebook) and Hoopla (audio). 

At Main Street Bookends or Gibson's, mention our group and they will kindly offer a discount.

Resources below (check back for more through the month)

Learn more:

• About the book and authors from the Author's website or an Interview with the author (may have spoilers)
• About synesthesia from this 200-year history of the phenomenon
• About (or plan a visit to) Salem, Mass.
• Salem Maritime National Historic Site
• House of the Seven Gables I toured this last October - it's well worth a tour
• Salem Witch Museum
• The memorial to the victims of the witch hunt is a must-do.
  
• About Hawthorne in Salem and Hawthorne's connections to "the witch delusion" 
• About How to embroider a flower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9t1qX-xi7s 

Read more...

• Hawthorne - his The Scarlet Letter (set in Boston) and The House of the Seven Gables (set in Salem) are both apropos here, of course.
  
• NOTE: if you don't want spoilers for The Scarlet Letter while reading Hester, I think these are the only 4 parts with spoilers: 304-305, bottom half of 313, and 317. If you avoid reading these pages, you won't spoil a later reading of SL, and you won't be lost at all in Hester (but go back to them after you read SL!).
  
• Fiction about Writers: https://www.beyondthebookends.com/fiction-books-about-writers/
  
• Fiction about witch hunts:
• Lots of recent publications here: https://offtheshelf.com/2023/09/historical-fiction-witch-books/
• Long list here: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/75416.Witch_Hunts_in_Historical_Fiction
• A Kind of Spark, by Elle McNicoll (YA novel that discusses witch hunts in Scotland)
• Needlework in Fiction: 
• https://www.artinfiction.com/blog/a-stitch-in-time-five-novels-inspired-by-embroidery  
• A Goodread's list
  
• The Scarlet Letter - Hester Prynne is an accomplished needleworker
• The Fair Maid of Perth (mentioned page 190), by Walter Scott
  
• NF and Fiction about synesthesia: https://www.thesynesthesiatree.com/2021/02/books-about-synesthesia.html
• Susan Cheever's American Bloomsbury is a "smart, dishy romp through the intersecting personal lives of a cluster of geniuses who all lived in Concord, Massachusetts, in the mid-1800s" including Hawthorne (quote is not mine, but from that link).
  

February 2024 - Memoirs of Stockholm Sven

“Briskly entertaining . . . I was reminded more than once of Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News . . . combines a distinctive northerly setting with a cast of likable eccentrics . . . Rather than any creed or belief system, it is Sven’s various friendships, intense but understated, that sustain him and give his life an order and purpose.” - Ian McGuire, New York Times Book Review 

The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven

by Nathaniel Ian Miller (2021)

Discussion -  February 21, 1pm

In 1916, Sven Ormson leaves a restless life in Stockholm to seek adventure in Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago where darkness reigns four months of the year and he might witness the splendor of the Northern Lights one night and be attacked by a polar bear the next.

For more about the book, check out its page on BookBrowse.

Copies of the book, including audiobook, are available at the library and for sale at Main Street Bookends and Gibson's. The book stores offer a discount if you tell them it's for this group. You can also buy the streaming audiobook from Libro (choose your favorite local bookstore) or other streaming outlet. It's not on Libby/Hoopla, unfortunately.

Additional Resources (check back for more through the month):

• Recommended music while you read: Antonín Dvořák (see MoSS page 36)
  
• the library owns a CD
• there's an album you can borrow on Hoopla
  
• or listen on amazon music, Spotify, or YouTube
• Author's website: Nathaniel Ian Miller.com
• Author interview with Northshire Bookstore on YouTube here.
• Author interview on NPR's Marginalia podcast here.  
• Learn about (or plan a visit to) Svalbard (aka Spitsbergen): 
• Visit Svalbard.com/ (this site is worth surfing if only for the gorgeous photos on each page)
• Svalbard Museum
• A trapper's life on Svalbard
• I love this video teaching about Polar explorers' clothing and gear then versus now.
• Save this one for after you read (has some spoilers) Book guide to MoSS

Read more...

• I highly recommend this nonfiction memoir: A Woman in the Polar Night, by Christiane Ritter (1938). It inspired Miller as the real life Sven has a small role in it. Hard to find in libraries, but I have one copy from ILL available now.
  
• Books with "setting as character": https://bookriot.com/books-with-setting-as-a-character/