What We're Reading and Watching

Inquiring minds want to know - what are library staff reading and watching?   I asked my colleagues to share what they have been reading and watching recently.  Here are a few of their responses....

Dominque, Reference Department

I have been reading My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. Very good! --Dom

Jaimie, Project Archivist

Here are two books that I really love – I checked both out from the Bentley Library but soon found that I wanted to buy my own copies so I could keep them on my bookshelves forever. The first is Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog - a light sci-fi/fantasy time travel mystery novel! This was published in 1998 but the wit, plot, and tone are as relevant as ever. If you like Doctor Who, Douglas Adams, or mysteries by the likes of Dorothy Sayers, give this a shot. One of the few books I’ve read in recent memory to make me laugh out loud.  (Note: this book is not available in the library's collection, but it can be requested via Interlibrary Loan). The second, which was released last year, is Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle (also known as the singer/songwriter for the Mountain Goats). While this is *not* sci-fi/fantasy, it’s perhaps an even trippier read. The story moves back and forth between a young man who has suffered a horrible injury, and the people playing a text-based game he created. Powerful, haunting writing is about all I can say without spoiling anything. (As an added bonus, if you have even a vague interest in either of these reads you should absolutely watch BBC America’s Orphan Black – one of the best shows on television if you like action, science, futurism, feminism, mystery, or comedy. The new season starts soon but you still have time to binge-watch!)  --Jaimie

Lisa, Reference Department

Last month my book club read The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, which intertwines the stories of two women from different eras, each persevering through extremely difficult circumstances. Although I found the outcome of the story a bit predictable, I enjoyed the author's descriptive writing and it was fascinating to learn about the orphan trains of the 1900s. I also recently completed The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon and I am almost finished with Michael Koryta's Last Words.  I would describe both as psychological mystery/suspense with shades of the supernatural. Neither book blew me away, but both are entertaining and held my interest until the end. I am looking forward to reading the YA novel Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman and Bonnie Jo Campbell's collection of short stories, Mothers, Tell Your Daughters. --Lisa

Kim, Reference Department

We are listening to the Sherlock Holmes: A Baker Street Dozen by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. My 11 year old and I are listening to it in the car. We are both getting a huge kick out of it. It is the original radio program and it is performed not just read so sometimes the performer fades out and it can be hard to understand what when he is mumbling, but it is a different experience than most of the audiobooks we’ve listened to lately. We are on the last disc so it will be coming back to the library’s collection soon. We will continue our adventure with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which we can borrow and listen to through the Overdrive app on my iPhone. I also listened to Unstoppable by Bill Nye recently and enjoyed that for different reasons entirely, but would recommend it as another family-friendly and thought-provoking, although sometimes alarming, audiobook to listen to. --Kim Do you have a book or DVD recommendation?  Share it with us in the comments!  If you would like to suggest that the library purchase a title for our collection, please submit a request via the Suggest a Purchase form.