Books

Brattleboro is a book-reading and book-buying town. There are no less than five bookstores downtown with books available in other stores as well. There is an annual literary festival, every October. And there are more book venues scattered around the county from Putney to Newfane and on into Keene. Read the iBrattleboro Books section for the latest in local book news from readings to reviews covering new publications and old favorites.

On Reading All of The Decameron

by Lise | Books, Culture

There are a number of conundrums about Boccaccio’s Decameron – a collection of bawdy tales set in the Plague year of 1348 – that can’t be solved by reading it. How was it written? Why was it written? For whom was it written? And what has made it so enduring?

For starters, we know that it was written between 1349 and 1353 – nearly 100 years before the invention of the printing press, meaning that all 600 printed pages were originally hand-written with a quill pen. Furthermore, it contains precisely 100 “tales,” plus another dozen or so interstitial chapters that tell the overarching story of 10 young noble persons, seven women and three men, each telling a tale a night for 10 nights. It is a very long book, designed to while away the hours during oh, I don’t know, voluntary isolation as a result of a major epidemic of a potentially fatal disease…

Library Books Are Quarantined at Brooks Memorial Library!

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Dear Library Community,

If anyone has been wondering why items are still showing up on their account after returning them to the Big Blue Book Drop, here is why

Don’t worry, we no longer charge any fines. they may accrue, but we delete them as soon as the item comes back to us!

Step 1: items are returned in the Big Blue Book Drop in the Municipal Parking Lot.

Infected

by tomaidh | Books

BenjaminFulford.net is a geopolitical news and discussion website from Canadian-born reporter and investigative journalist Benjamin Fulford, now residing in Japan.

According to Fulford, his reports are based on information from a broad range of sources including the yakuza, MI6, the Freemasons, the CIA, the KGB, Mossad, the triads, the Chinese government, Japanese military intelligence, etc.

Brooks Memorial Library Curbside Service!

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

If you wondered what it is like behind the scenes here at Brooks Memorial Library, here is a sample of some items that are checked out, bagged up, dated, and ready to go!

Please make sure to tell us what day (and time if possible) you plan to come, and make sure to bring a sign to display at the door. That way we can match the name on the bag with your name to avoid mistakes, while reducing direct contact 

Big Blue Book Book Drop for Brooks Memorial Library Book Returns!

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Dear Library Community,

When bringing items back to us, please place them in the Big Blue Drop Box, immediately on the left when you enter the municipal lot (near where the police station used to be).

There is a handy parking spot reserved for your car, and you can drop them in from the driver’s side window Walkers are welcome!

Time To Read

by RDavis | Books

Some people see opportunity in a crisis. If we put in even a little bit of effort we will find many opportunities to pursue endeavors we have put off, or have never made enough of an effort to engage in, in this time of quarantine and pandemic.

On the less glamorous side, house cleaning may be at the top of the list for some. Gardening and yard work have the potential for a special kind of soulful renewal and I suspect more people are now doing outdoor projects they have been putting off for a long time.

Another opportunity is for people to read more books. In this age of online access there are some who embrace platforms such as Kindle and find that kind of access to books satisfying. I have always been someone who needs to have a physical book in hand. I don’t think I will ever change that habit because it fulfills a unique kind of need.

The Way We Live Now

by Lise | Books

Spoiler Alert: If you plan to read The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope, be aware that I’m going to spill the beans on fairly major plot elements.

I bought it for the title – and the introductory essay by David Brooks, whose description of the novel’s contemporary relevance immediately evoked Donald Trump. It being 2017, I was vulnerable to the book’s themes, and ventured to embark on this 900 page account of British society circa 1870 and the fabulously wealthy foreigner who briefly upends their world. The book is, of course, The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope. The disruptive foreigner is a Frenchman by the name of Augustus Melmotte, Esq., whose reputation and aura as the richest man in all the land soon has London society fawning at his feet.

Book Sale for Passionate Readers Jan. 25

by Not Signed In | Books

On Saturday, Jan. 25 from 11 to 2, the Words Book Project is sponsoring a giant book sale at 118 Elliot Street.  Come join us and find books that will inspire, inform, entertain and enlighten.

The proceeds from this big book sale will support the successful publication of a book about Brattleboro’s 250+ year printing and publishing history.  With grant support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and many local contributors, the Book Project has overseen the writing, design and editing of this groundbreaking work.  The book is being written by local authors, designed and edited locally. It tells the fascinating story of the people, places and businesses that caused Brattleboro to be known as a “Print Town.”

Next Stage Arts Project presents Author David Blistein on Thursday, December 5

by stobro | Books

Next Stage Arts Project, the Putney based community non-profit, presents award winning author David Blistein reading from his new book “Opium” on Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 pm at Next Stage. The book, Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World, tells the extraordinary and at times harrowing tale of how we arrived at today’s crisis.
Mr. Blistein will be joined for this special event by his collaborator and co-author Dr. John Halpern and the pair will facilitate a Q&A with the audience following the reading. Signed copies of the book will be available for sale. Admission $5 – $35 sliding scale with 100% of the ticket sales supporting Groundworks Collaborative and Next Stage Arts Project. Josh Davis, Executive Director of Groundworks Collaborative said, “In a time when there are a lot of unanswered questions around the opioid epidemic, David and John’s book asks a lot of interesting questions that are poignant and add depth to this complex and difficult topic.”

Autumn Crickets — Singing Their Way Back Home

by Lise | Books, Nature
Mr Cricket In Cup

At first, I thought our cat was bringing them in.  There seemed to be a cricket in every corner — crickets behind the bookcase, crickets in the sink, crickets behind the refrigerator, all chirping away.  As fast as we could catch them and put them back outside, more would arrive.  One cricket even had the temerity to hop back in the moment his feet hit the welcome mat on the other side of the door.  What was up with the crickets?

Let’s Read 2019!

by Not Signed In | Books

Let’s Read 2019 is a community reading initiative happening this summer and fall.  All members of the communities of Brattleboro, Dummerston, Guilford, Putney, and Vernon may participate. Let’s Read 2019 features The Benefits of Being an Octopus by local author Ann Braden.  This book is appropriate for children in 4th grade and up, as well as adults.  Several events including author talks, staged readings, and book club discussion groups will be held in September and October at local libraries, the Brattleboro Boys and Girls Club, and area schools.  

Free Author Talk at Brooks Library: Independence Corrupted

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Join us at 7 pm on Monday, May 6th,  in the Main Reading Room at Brooks Memorial Library,  as author Charles Schudson presents a FREE presentation about his new book, Independence Corrupted: How America’s Judges Make Their Decisions.

With twenty-two years in America’s courts, Judge Schudson knows the factors affecting judicial decision-making.  With scholarship and impassioned accounts of compelling cases, he brings readers behind the trial bench to see judges analyzing actual trials and sentencings – of abortion protesters, sex predators, murderers, white supremacists….

Jill Lepore: These Truths – Free Author Talk

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Join us at 7 pm on Saturday, April 27th, at Brooks Memorial Library, as Harvard professor, New Yorker staff writer, and best-selling author gives a FREE public talk about her new book, in our Main Reading Room. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Calling All Bakers!

by Not Signed In | Books

Calling All Bakers!

The Friends of Brooks Memorial Library are looking for tantalizing treats to tempt taste buds at the 2nd Annual Just Desserts Fundraising Friendraiser. Email the Friends, or stop by the library for more information 🙂

No Fines at Brooks Memorial Library!

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

This is just a reminder to anyone who might not have heard the great news:

Do you have old fines from years ago? Brooks Memorial Library will forgive them, and you can start over with a clean slate  We have changed for the better!

Moving forward, we are mostly FINE FREE.

Free Poetry Reading – William Forchion: Sacred & Sacrosanct

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Join us at Brooks Memorial Library at 7 pm on Monday, February 11th as William Forchion reads from his book Sacred & Sacrosanct: a collection of poems! Wiliam is a Director, Producer, Poet, Clown, Acrobat, Stuntman, Father, Friend, Minister, Coach, Writer, and Teacher, all in one package. His works have been called “resonant” and “insightful.” In addition to reading, he will offer insight into his #ApoemAday project, where he has been writing and sharing a poem every day for a year via Twitter.

Trump on the Couch

by tomaidh | Books

In 2005, Justin Frank, M.D., a psychiatrist , wrote a book “Bush on the Couch” in which he provided keen insights into the president’s mode of thinking-or not thinking.

Commenting on “W”, Dr. Frank noted we are “dealing with a potentially cornered man [who] could lash out, and it is possible that the best way would be to bomb Iran…. Whatever the root causes of Bush’s pathology, we have a dangerous man running things…grandiose and unchecked.”

Brooks Memorial Library Holiday Closures

by Brooks Memorial Library | Books

Dear Library Community,

All of us here at Brooks Memorial Library wish you a safe and happy holiday!

We will be CLOSING EARLY on Christmas Eve, Monday, December 24th. Our hours will only be from 10 am – 12 pm, so make sure to stock up on reading material while you can!