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Now announcing our 2022
Somerville Reads choice!
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Tuesday Mooney
Talks to Ghosts,
by Kate Racculia!
For our 11th annual Somerville Reads, we've selected Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts, written by local author Kate Racculia. In TMTtG, our main character, Tuesday, is present at the death of eccentric billionaire Vincent Pryce. His will turns out to contain a series of clues in a treasure hunt through Boston and Somerville, for those who are able to crack the code.
What is Somerville Reads?
Every year, the Somerville Public Library selects a book to purchase several copies of, read with our book clubs, and coordinate a series of programming around. Somerville Reads promotes literacy and community engagement by encouraging Somerville residents to read and discuss the same book. Somerville Reads will officially kick off later this September, and run through October.
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How Can I Get Involved With Somerville Reads?
Physical copies of Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts are available at all three branches, for anyone to check out. Ebooks and audiobooks can be found through Libby/Overdrive and Hoopla.
Readalikes for Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts have been selected by our children's librarians, so younger residents of Somerville can participate too. Chapter Chatter Book Club will read The Parker Inheritance for their October meeting.
Several of our book clubs will discuss the book in upcoming meetings; including the Mystery Book Group, Between the Covers Romance Group, Books & Brews, and the East Branch Book Club!
Upcoming Tuesday Mooney Programming
- A City-wide scavenger hunt starting at the end of September
- Death Cafes at all three library locations
- An Edgar Allan Poe themed Grown Up Story Time at Aeronaut Brewery
- A teen-centered divination fair with astrology, tarot, and tea leaves
- Children's room scavenger hunts
- And a costume party after hours in the library!
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SPL Social Media Riddles
If you follow the SPL's social media accounts, you may have seen us post a series of riddles this past week.
The answer to those riddles were, in order, Edgar Allan Poe, Moon, Costume, Scavenger Hunt, and Tuesday.
These riddles were meant to point you to our Somerville Reads choice and some of our planned programming around the book. Thank you all for playing along!
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This September, we're making two significant changes to our open hours!
The Central Library will be reopening on Sundays beginning on September 11th.
Each of our branch libraries will be opening for another night of the week.
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The East Branch will be open on Mondays, beginning September 12th, in addition to the regular Thursdays.
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The West Branch will be open on Wednesdays, beginning September 14th, in addition to the regular Mondays.
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Thursday, September 8 at 6:15pm in the Central Library Auditorium | |
Join us to kick off Welcoming Week 2022 with a film celebrating
communities coming together in the search for a better life for
themselves and the people they love.
Please note that this is a sing-along! Attendees are encouraged to
sing and dance along with this vibrant, and upbeat musical -- written
by Lin Manuel Miranda.
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Mondays, September 12 - November 7 at 10:30am in the
Central Library Auditorium
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Matt and his guitar will have kids laughing, dancing, and singing along!
Great foot-stomping, hand-clapping music that is entertaining to
children as well as their adults!
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Monday, September 12 at 12pm at the Somerville Media Center | |
In this two hour workshop, students will learn how to navigate their smartphones. Instructors will teach you simple applications that will make
your life easier, introduce just a handful of the thousands of useful apps out there for you, and will build your confidence with the basics of using a smartphone so you can continue to get more and more from your technology.
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Tuesday, September 13 at 3:30pm at the East Branch | This all levels class begins with a complete warm-up that blends modern technique with Afro-Haitian styles of dance. Dancers will learn movements and rhythms of Haiti including but not limited to Yanvalou, Ibo, Kongo, Nago, and Petwo. This accessible dance class incorporates movements that are intricate and technical - yet loose and expressive at the same time. | |
Friday, September 16 at 2pm outside of the Central Library | Join us out in front of the Central Library for an afternoon of chalk art to celebrate what makes you feel welcome. Local artists and community members of all ages are encouraged to pick a block of space on our sidewalks, the pathways around the playground, and up to the Library's front doors to draw pictures or write messages that share what makes you feel welcome in your community, or send a message of welcome to someone else. | |
Wednesday, September 28 at 7pm in the West Branch Community Room | Andres Sevtsuk, author of "Street Commerce: Creating Vibrant Urban Sidewalks," joins the West Branch of the SPL to talk about urban street planning, and how cities like Somerville are shaped by the ways our commerce establishments and city streets/sidewalks intersect. A local author, Sevstuk's research even touches on neighborhoods of Somerville like Davis Square. | |
Thursday, September 29 at 7pm at the East Branch | |
Death Cafes are a group-directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes, with the objective of increasing awareness of death
and helping people make the most of their (finite) lives.
The SPL will be hosting the East Branch Death Cafe with Alan Bingham,
a retired hospice and palliative care executive who has spent many hours
with terminal patients and their families.
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The History of Somerville Reads! | |
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Curious about what we chose for past years of Somerville Reads? Here are all of our previous selections!
Looking for recommendations? Check out our
What Should I Read Next? reading recommendation service!
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Four strangers meet to investigate a series of oddities in Hill House, searching for evidence of hauntings and the paranormal.
10th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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Exit West by Mohsin Hamid | |
Lovers Nadia and Saeed leave behind the violence of their homeland when they step into an unusual and dangerous door rumoured to take them away - though they may pay the price for their choice.
9th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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When Cece starts at a new school, she's afraid that having a Phonic Ear will set her apart from her classmates.
8th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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The Witches by Stacy Schiff | |
This study of the driving forces and panic behind the Salem Witch Trials is an exceptional and prosaic account of the time.
7th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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After astronaut Mark Watney is left behind on a Mars mission, he must find a way to survive, and NASA and his crew must find a way to bring him home.
6th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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In the winter of 1919, the streets of Boston would suddenly spill over with 2.3 million gallons of molasses.
5th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro | |
Shapiro's novel offers a sharp and intense mystery that follows the heist of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with a struggling artist who is asked to forge one of the stolen Degas paintings.
4th Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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Farm City by Novella Carpenter | |
This memoir is Carpenter's story of developing her own urban farm in her next-door lot in downtown Oakland, and how she grew her farm in such an unexpected location.
3rd Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri | |
The Namesake is the story of Gogol Ganguli, a first generation Indian son named after a Russian writer, and the complexity of the immigrant experience between parents and children.
2nd Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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This series of interconnected stories of Vietnam soldiers both during the war and when they've returned home to America, is based on O'Brien's own experiences as a Vietnam veteran.
1st Annual Somerville Reads Choice
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