Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Read Beyond the Beaten Path: Summer Reading for Adults 2022


Join the Read Beyond the Beaten Path Adult Summer Reading Challenge for a chance to win a $30 gift card to a local restaurant or a handmade, high quality National Park mug. All you have to do is log at least 3 books or 3 activities to be entered into the drawings. For our grand prize, log at least 10 books for two chances to win a MoMA book lamp!

Spend your days on the beach with one of these popular novels from our Beach Reads booklist.
 
Try one of our Bundles if you'd like a librarian to select books, magazines or DVDs for you. For information on adult classes and programs, visit mywpl.org

Enjoy these book reviews submitted by your fellow patrons through our WooReads challenge.


A great read on financing and teaching money skills to kids. Not boring like most financial books. ~ Bianca L. 



Interesting, fictional account of Union troops in Civil War that were manned by freed and runaway slaves. ~ Karen L.

It's an interesting read. Liza Rodman was barely 10 years old when she met Tony Costa, and much of her experience with him was positive. I was left wondering if she still had positive feelings towards him. While the book explained his devilish side, I felt her characterization of him was more sympathetic/empathetic/tender. ~ Mary T.

Enthralling read. I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in the series. ~ Sandra B.

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Together We Read: The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

 



From July 13-27, library users can participate in the Big Library Read featuring The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake. This eBook club connects readers with the same book at the same time without any waitlists or holds. Download the discussion guide to start a conversation with other readers. You can also visit the discussion board to share your thoughts.

The Girl is His Shadow is an unforgettable historical fiction novel about one woman who believed in scientific medicine before the world believed in her. Raised by the eccentric surgeon Dr. Horace Croft after losing her parents to a deadly pandemic, the orphan Nora Beady knows little about conventional life. While other young women were raised to busy themselves with needlework and watercolors, Nora was trained to perfect her suturing and anatomical illustrations of dissections.

Women face dire consequences if caught practicing medicine, but in Croft’s private clinic Nora is his most trusted—and secret—assistant. That is until the new surgical resident Dr. Daniel Gibson arrives. Dr. Gibson has no idea that Horace’s bright and quiet young ward is a surgeon more qualified than even himself. In order to protect Dr. Croft and his practice from scandal and collapse Nora must learn to play a new and uncomfortable role—that of a proper young lady.

 
-Click here to borrow The Girl in His ShadowTo read this book on a handheld device, download the Overdrive app or Libby app.

-Read a letter from Audrey Blake

-Join the hosts of the Professional Book Nerds podcast for an interview with Audrey Blake on July 26th at 2 pm EST. Register here
 
-Share your thoughts on social media by using #biglibraryread to be entered to win a Big Library Read giveaway bag. See official rules here

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Read Beyond the Beaten Path: Summer Reading for Adults 2022


Join the Read Beyond the Beaten Path Adult Summer Reading Challenge for a chance to win a $30 gift card to a local restaurant or a handmade National Park mug. All you have to do is log at least 3 books or 3 activities to be entered into the drawings. For our grand prize, log at least 10 books for two chances to win a MoMA book lamp!

July is National Ice Cream Month! Browse this booklist titles to learn more about this perfect summer treat and how to make your own!

Try one of our Bundles if you'd like a librarian to select books, magazines or DVDs for you. For information on adult classes and programs, visit mywpl.org

Enjoy these book reviews submitted by your fellow patrons through our WooReads challenge.


The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

Absolutely fantastic and heartbreaking book! Couldn’t put this impeccably researched 500 page book down. ~ Amelia F. 

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

A graphic novel aimed at young adults but for everyone about growing up trans while learning as they go. I have trans friends and am a supporter of the community but have never talked to anyone about the day to day struggles pre transition. This had a level of depth that led to a visceral understanding of the experience. Should be required reading. ~ Jen M. 


A little bit of romance, a little bit of politics, a little bit of religion, a lot of adventure. In The Siege of Isfahan, we find the apothecary happily living in Persia with his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, a friend is in trouble; the Afghans are at the gates; more romance, more adventure...if possible, this book is even better than its predecessor. If you like a bit of history with your swashbuckling, this is your book. Don't let the small print dissuade you: it's a quick read! ~ Nicole A. 


This book was so informative and connected everything together in a seamless way.             ~ Tyesha P. 

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

New Releases: August Edition

Check out these highly anticipated August releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month! 

Fiction

Carlotta Mercedes has been misunderstood her entire life. When she was pulled into a robbery gone wrong, she still went by the name she'd grown up with in Brooklyn. But not long after her conviction, she took the name Carlotta and began to live as a woman. In her fifth appearance before the parole board, Carlotta is at last granted conditional freedom and returns to a much-changed city. Over a whirlwind Fourth of July weekend, she struggles to reconcile with the son she left behind, to reunite with a family reluctant to accept her, and to avoid any minor parole infraction that might get her consigned back to lockup. 



Graduating into the long maw of an American recession, Sneha moves to Milwaukee for an entry-level corporate job.  She soon develops a burning crush on Marina, a beguiling  dancer who always seems just out of reach. But before long, trouble arrives. Jobs are lost, secrets are revealed. Sneha struggles to be truly close and open with anybody, even as her friendships deepen, even as she throws herself headlong into a dizzying romance with Marina. It’s then that her friend Tig begins to draw up a radical solution to their problems, hoping to save them all.


At thirty-five, Mika Suzuki’s life is a mess. Her last relationship ended in flames. Her roommate-slash-best friend might be a hoarder. She’s a perpetual disappointment to her traditional Japanese parents. And, most recently, she’s been fired from her latest dead-end job. Mika is at her lowest point when she receives a phone call from Penny—the daughter she placed for adoption sixteen years ago. Mika must face the truth—about herself, her family, and her past—and answer the question, just who is Mika in real life?





Nonfiction


Written in intimate, gleefully TMI prose, Knocking Myself Up is the irreverent account of Tea’s route to parenthood—with a group of ride-or-die friends, a generous drag queen, and a whole lot of can-do pluck. Along the way she falls in love with a wholesome genderqueer a decade her junior, attempts biohacking herself a baby with black market fertility meds (and magicking herself an offspring with witch-enchanted honey), learns her eggs are busted, and enters the Fertility Industrial Complex in order to carry her younger lover’s baby.



When Casey Parks came out as a lesbian in college back in 2002, she assumed her life in the South was over. Her  mother shunned her, and her pastor asked God to kill her. But then Parks's grandmother, a stern conservative who grew up picking cotton, pulled her aside and revealed a startling secret. "I grew up across the street from a woman who lived as a man," and then implored Casey to find out what happened to him. Diary of a Misfit is the story of Parks's life-changing journey to unravel the mystery of Roy Hudgins, a small-town country singer, all the while confronting ghosts of her own.


Chef Keith Corbin got his start cooking crack at age thirteen, becoming so skilled that he was flown across the country to cook for drug operations in other cities. After his criminal enterprises caught up with him, though, Corbin spent years in California’s most notorious maximum security prisons. After his release, Corbin got a job managing the kitchen at LocoL, an ambitious fast food restaurant spearheaded by celebrity chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson. As he battles private demons while achieving public success, Corbin traces the origins of his vision for “California soul food."

Friday, July 1, 2022

NEW! Virtual Author Talk Series with Best Selling Authors

 


Worcester Public Library now offers a new virtual author talk series connecting our patrons with best selling, contemporary authors. This exciting new series will cover a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres including historical fiction, contemporary fiction, romance, OwnVoices, poetry, business, personal growth, social justice, history, art, culture and more. Each talk will include Q&A sessions. Patrons can look forward to multiple talks each month.

Patrons can view and register for upcoming events here. All talks will be recorded and can be viewed here

Get the books by visiting our booklist and placing your hold today.

Visit our Adult Classes and Programs page for more programming.