Recent Purchases

New books and other materials for all ages.

 

How to request:

• Clamsnet.org

• Call: 508-487-7094

• Email: pplstreetside@gmail.com

• Visit our Circulation Desk in the Library

 
 

March 2023
Book Highlights

Spring is on its way! We are all about the new, the fresh, and the intriguing. Here are a number of new books that reflect that fresh spring attitude!

 
 

Awe
by Dacher Keltner

From a renowned professor of psychology who studies human emotions, here is an introduction to one of the most important and elusive emotions humans can have, along with examples of what inspires awe: the “everyday, wild and mystical encounters with nature, music, visual art, literature, religion, the birth of children, and the death of loved ones (Psychology Today).”

 
 

The Creative Vegetable Gardener
by Kelly Smith Trimble.

Once we were told not to play with our food, but not anymore! Re-envision your vegetable garden as a creative, playful space and even a sanctuary for you, as well as a source of fresh, homegrown food. Mix flowers with vegetables. Plant in beds of all sizes and shapes. Have fun! Master gardener Kelly Smith Trimble encourages readers to widen their focus, and imagine a vegetable garden that reflects their own unique aesthetic.

 
 
 

Daughters of Nantucket
by Julie Gerstenblatt.

Set during the great Nantucket fire of 1846, this dramatic novel “celebrates the courage and tenacity of women (Booklist),” including a free Black woman and the real-life astronomer Maria Mitchell.

 
 

Enchantment
by Katherine May.

I loved Katherine May’s book Wintering, about the power of rest and retreat in hard times. Here she writes just as eloquently about coming back to the joys of the natural world -- post-pandemic, in this age of technology/anxiety. Just what we need this spring!

 
 

Hang the Moon
by Jeanette Walls.

A new novel from the author of the brilliant, bestselling memoir, Glass Castle, and the “true-life novel,” Half-Broke Horses. In Hang the Moon, Sally is a sharp-witted and resourceful child raised by her charismatic father early in the 20th century. Trouble ensues, and Sally has to make her way in the world alone, in a compelling story with a stunning plot twist.

 
 

Real Self-Care
by Poojah Lakshmin.

“Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included.” This is not your usual self-help guide, but a serious look at what it means to prioritize one’s physical and emotional well-being in the face of a system that devalues you. The author points out that “self-care” was originally a survival strategy created by radical Black women such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks.

 
 

Saving Time
by Jenny Odell.

This has nothing to do with the March mandate to “spring forward,” although it points out how completely artificial most of our ideas about clock time are. Turns out the industrial era of clock time was created for profit, not for people -- to improve productivity and make capitalists wealthier. How can we break out of this time prison that has evolved to be ever more precise and self-imposed? Odell has some answers and some fascinating speculations.

 

Have you signed up for our 2023 Reading Challenge? Join the adventure at any time by emailing ncinnater@clamsnet.org and signing up on our Reading Challenge Facebook Group for ongoing discussions.