February 29, 2016

Local author Cammie McGovern at the Jones tomorrow


Maybe you know her because of her novels for grown-ups? 
Maybe you know her because of her YA books?
Now you can get to know her as a middle-grade author.


Cammie McGovern, author of Just My Luck, will be at the Jones Library 
tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 for a reading and book signing. 

Come join us.


People are awesome.


The IT guy at your favorite boarding school has started a blog. And you'll really enjoy reading it.

Really.


February 28, 2016

Children's Music Series at the Jones

Fun things to do Saturday mornings.
And? It's all free. Free. Free.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

February 27, 2016

Dresses in literature


The Oscars are tomorrow night. In case you want a little fashion razzle-dazzle before the actual event, here are 12 of the most iconic gowns in literature. Enjoy!


February 26, 2016

You go, girl.


Another example of a really cool girl
Share it with one you know.



February 25, 2016

When you're ready...

...to write the next Great American Novel, we recommend you acquire one of these babies.


(The typewriter. Not the middle-aged man.)


February 22, 2016

Welcome to the World of Library Bars


Hooch and Hemingway. Liquor and Lahiri. Cocktails and Cocteau. Moonshine and Morrison. We could go on and on but we're getting thirsty...

Welcome to the world of library bars.



February 15, 2016

February 10, 2016

On the Same Page 2016

(click on image to enlarge)

This year everyone in Amherst is reading Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, a book which has started a national conversation about the deep flaws in our society's current treatment of aging and dying people. Come be a part of that conversation.

Oh. This resonates.


February 9, 2016

By chance, do you read actual books?


Good news, you physical book-reader, you! Reading long sentences without links is a true benefit to your brain. And we've got proof! So head over to your nearest Amherst library branch and fill up your bookbag to your heart's content.



February 8, 2016

Snow day! Woo hoo!


PSST! Guys! The Jones Library and its branches will be closing at 3 pm today, Monday, February 8. (This gives the public some access to the library and allows for staff to get home before the conditions get too bad.) Hurry and go get your books this afternoon so you can snuggle up in front of a crackling fire once the flakes start falling.

Amherst College LitFest 2016


Who wouldn't want to hear from amazing authors, the fiction editor of the New Yorker, and the director of the National Book Foundation? 


From Thursday, March 3, to Saturday, March 5, Amherst will welcome internationally renowned authors Michael Chabon, Lauren Groff ’01, Angela Flournoy, Mark Bowden and Stacy Schiff to campus as part of Amherst College LitFest 2016, an inaugural three-day literary festival celebrating fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, spoken-word performance and conversation.

February 5, 2016

How do we embed books with racism?


but you'll be thinking about it long after that...


(P.S. There's also a cool local connection!)



February 4, 2016

Maya Angelou's Harlem home



In keeping with our other coupla posts, here's another amazing writer's home for sale. The custom stained-glass doors, the fireplace in the kitchen, and a LIBRARY!? We're swooning over here...


February 1, 2016

Writing workshop


(Click on image to enlarge.)

*** Friends Book Review of the Month ***


by Dinaw Mengest


This very moving and exquisitely written debut novel portrays the characters and setting with clarity and depth. Sepha Stehanos, an immigrant from Ethiopia, is living in a poor neighborhood in Washington, DC, where he runs a small, unsuccessful store. His feeling of isolation, which he shares with two friends who are also African immigrants, is profound. He develops a hopeful relationship with a white woman who has moved into the neighborhood with her young, biracial daughter. Racial incidents change the neighborhood and his feelings of optimism for the future.

The book addresses many issues common in our country including racism, gentrification, and, most central, the experiences of immigration.

-- Nancy, member, Friends of the Jones Library System