Bacon Free Library

The 1980s saw thrilling highs such as the Miracle on Ice and the fall of the Berlin Wall, along with the shocking lows of the Challenger explosion and John Lennon's assassination.  And boy, was there a whole lot in between from neon fashion to flashy cars to quotable movies. How much of it can you recall?  Take off those roller skates and join us for some righteous trivia fun!   Each person/team will record their own answers, so no need…

Join us for a Zoom discussion of Timefulness: how thinking like a geologist can help save the world by Marcia Bjorerud Request book HERE NO MORE BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR THIS EVENT Join environmental enthusiast, Arthur Ensroth, in discussing current, historical and future environmental issues through books! We’re finding ways to become more engaged and participatory in the natural world, educating ourselves on the climate challenges we face and looking at the history and philosophy of how the environment has…

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. We will explore it all in this book club. Join us for a discussion of Miracle in the Andes: 72 Days on the Mountain and My Long Trek Home by Nando Parrado with Vince Rause. On Friday, October 13th, 1972 a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying the Old Christians Rugby Club and many of their supporters crashed deep in the Andes Mountains.  Sixteen people survived the crash.  In this memoir, written 30 years after…

This month, we will read and discuss a All Adults Here, by Emma Straub.   Read more about this book here. Emma Straub's unique alchemy of wisdom, humor and insight come together in a deeply satisfying story about adult siblings, aging parents, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls, the lifelong effects of birth order, and all the other things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like them to or not"-- Provided by publisher. Copies of the book are available…

Join us for a Zoom discussion of Vesper Flights: new and collected essays by Helen Macdonald Request book HERE Instantly available on Hoopla HERE Join environmental enthusiast, Arthur Ensroth, in discussing current, historical and future environmental issues through books! We’re finding ways to become more engaged and participatory in the natural world, educating ourselves on the climate challenges we face and looking at the history and philosophy of how the environment has been viewed through the ages.  The BFL is…

The 1990s -- the decade that brought us Friends, Forrest Gump, Titanic, and a special boy wizard from England.  We also experienced the drama of Princess Diana's fatal accident and O.J. Simpson's murder trial.  And how about the Y2K hysteria?  How much do you remember from the end of the last century?  Pull out your acid wash jeans, actually on second thought, please don't, those should be burned; put on some grunge wear instead and join us.  If you don't…

  Join us for a discussion of The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson. In this sweeping history of the Great Migration of African-Americans from World War I to the 1970s, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,200 people, but focuses mainly on the personal stories of three Southern African-Americans who uprooted their lives to move to other parts of America.  Copies of this book as well as audio books are…

This month, we will read and discuss Circling the Sun, by Paula McLain.   Read more about this book here. Readers will be transported "to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman--Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle ..."-- Provided by publisher. Copies of the book are available at the library. Please call the library to arrange curbside pickup. 508-653-6730. Get the ebook here.  Download the audiobook…

From the Elizabeth Park Rose Garden in West Hartford, CT to Cady's Falls Botanical Garden in Morrisville, VT, professional photographer and landscape architect Joanne Pearson will take us on a beautiful, bloom-filled journey of her favorite public and private gardens in New England.  Along the way, she will be share the fascinating history of these gardens and  some valuable tips on garden design as well as techniques for photographing flowers and  gardens.   Joanne Pearson has been a professional photographer for…

Join us for a Zoom discussion of  The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s forgotten theory of mate choice shapes the animal world—and us by Richard Prum Request book HERE Available on Overdrive HERE Join environmental enthusiast, Arthur Ensroth, in discussing current, historical and future environmental issues through books! We’re finding ways to become more engaged and participatory in the natural world, educating ourselves on the climate challenges we face and looking at the history and philosophy of how the environment…

In the 2000s we witnessed such historic firsts as the first African-American president, the first woman to win an Indy car race, and Brad Pitt's first marriage.   We were also introduced to Lady Gaga, heelys, Razr phones, Myspace, and the iPod.  Sadly, it also marked the end of Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts.  Let's reminisce a bit.  Get comfy in your Juicy Couture velvet tracksuit and pull on your Livestrong bracelet.  It is going to be off -- the --…

This month, we will read and discuss The Art of Hearing Heartbeats, by Jan-Philipp Sendker.   Read more about this book here. When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be--until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father's past, Julia decides…

  Join us for a discussion of  The Art of Learning by Joshua Waitzkin. From the author's website: A public figure since winning his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine, Waitzkin was catapulted into a media whirlwind as a teenager when his father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a major motion picture. After dominating the scholastic chess world for ten years, Waitzkin expanded his horizons, taking on the martial art Tai Chi Chuan and ultimately earning…

  Join us for a discussion of  Summer World: A Season of Bounty by Bernd Heinrich. Bernd Heinrich is an emeritus professor of biology at the University of Vermont and according to the New York Times book review, "has an uncanny ability to find something intellectually stimulating whenever he steps out the door.   While Heinrich considers insects magical for doing so much with a pinpoint-size brain, the entomologist himself is a Dumbledore of the forest — magical himself for his…

This month, as part of the Natick Community Read, we'll be discussing How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery.  In this memoir, Montgomery draws on her experience as a naturalist and adventurer to reflect on the unique personalities of 13 specific animals and the truths revealed by their grace. She explores much larger themes as well: the otherness and sameness of people and animals; the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic;…

This month, we will read and discuss Still Life,  by Louise Penny.   Read more about this book here. The residents of a tiny Canadian village called Three Pines are shocked when the body of Miss Jane Neal is found in the woods. Miss Neal, the village's retired schoolteacher and a talented amateur artist, has been a good friend to most of the townsfolk, so her loss is keenly felt. At first, her death appears to be a tragic accident--it's…

This month, as part of the Natick Community Read, we'll be discussing How to Be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals by Sy Montgomery.  In this memoir, Montgomery draws on her experience as a naturalist and adventurer to reflect on the unique personalities of 13 specific animals and the truths revealed by their grace. She explores much larger themes as well: the otherness and sameness of people and animals; the various ways we learn to love and become empathetic;…

This month, we will discuss The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper.  In this memoir, Harper, a graduate of Harvard University and the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, relates memorable stories from her work as an ER physician.  She details how  she's grown emotionally and learned from her patients as she struggled to overcome pain in her own life, growing up with an abusive father and coping with the breakup of her marriage. Copies of the book…

This month, we will read and discuss The Wife Between Us,  by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.   Read more about this book here. When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement. You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves. You will assume the first wife was a disaster and…

This month, we will read and discuss The Book of Lost Friends  by Lisa Wingate.   Read more about this book here. Louisiana, 1875: In the tumultuous aftermath of Reconstruction, three young women set off as unwilling companions on a perilous quest: each carrying private wounds and powerful secrets as they head for Texas... "-- Provided by publisher. Copies of the book are available at the library. Please call the library to arrange curbside pickup. 508-653-6730. Get the ebook here. …

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. We will explore it all in this book club. **Please note this month we are meeting on the 3rd Saturday. Join us for a discussion of One Day: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America by Gene Weingarten. According to goodreads.com "On New Year's Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day--chosen completely at random--turned out…

This month, we will read and discuss The Glass Hotel  by Emily St. John Mandel.   Read more about this book here.  With traditional Cookie Swap beforehand. The Glass Hotel is "... a captivating novel of money, beauty, white-collar crime, ghosts, and moral compromise in which a woman disappears from a container ship off the coast of Mauritania and a massive Ponzi scheme implodes in New York, dragging countless fortunes with it"-- Provided by publisher. Copies of the book are…