Staff Picks

  • Staff Pick: The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake

    June 9, 2022Staff Pick: The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake
    I’m so excited to review this book that will undoubtedly be one of my top 5 favorite books of the year. When we start our story, Violet Larkin is being sent to live with her uncle in his dilapidated Victorian home in the seaside town of Lyric, Maine. The town is named after a sunken ...
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  • Book Review: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

    June 2, 2022Book Review: Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
    Lily Hu is known as a “good Chinese girl” in her San Francisco Chinatown community– studious, helpful, loyal. But as 1954 and her senior year sweep past, she discovers new feelings for her old classmate Kath, feelings that are considered unacceptable in her community. Together Lily and Kath discover new love and a new world ...
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  • Book Review: The Unwilling by John Hart

    May 26, 2022Book Review: The Unwilling by John Hart
    Set in the Vietnam Era, this book tells the story of the far-reaching effects of that war on the parents and three sons of a French family. A master storyteller, Hart manages to rip every emotion from the reader. Be warned; this story includes some pretty grisly depictions of the “hobbies” of a mass-murderer that ...
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  • Book Review: Box 88 by Charles Cumming

    May 19, 2022Book Review: Box 88 by Charles Cumming
    This is the first book in a new spy novel series. The action moves between British intelligence officer Lachan Kite’s youth and his current place in Box 88, a joint espionage group between MI6 and the CIA which is run in complete secrecy. A fast, interesting read. Kirkus reviews says it is “the gold standard in ...
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  • Book Review: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

    May 12, 2022Book Review: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
    This comedy sci-fi is one of my favorite books. I thoroughly enjoy the offbeat and absurd story of human Arthur Dent’s unexpected adventure through space. He’s guided by his friend, Ford Prefect, who is on Earth to learn about the planet because Ford is writing The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Along the way Arthur ...
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  • Book Review: A Girl Called Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay by Krystyna Poray Goddue

    May 5, 2022Book Review: A Girl Called Vincent: The Life of Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay by Krystyna Poray Goddue
    This biography came to me highly recommended by Miss Katy, the Head of Children’s Services.  I loved reading about the poet’s life and work, and more about the specifics of her ties to Maine. Like Miss Katy, I also feel compelled to recommend the title to others. Because it’s a children’s book, it’s a relatively quick ...
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  • What PFL Staff are Reading this Week

    April 28, 2022What PFL Staff are Reading this Week
    A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey Emotional Healing: How to Put Yourself Back Together Again by Dr. Harry Barry Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins “A really terrific audio book, and for some reason I was surprised at how good the story is.” Empty Mansions: ...
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  • Book Review: The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner

    April 21, 2022Book Review: The Lobster Kings by Alexi Zentner
    The Kings family, lobstermen on Loosewood island for over three hundred years, are blessed with the bounty of the sea but cursed with the death of the firstborn son of every generation. Cordelia, eldest child and first female Kings to own her own lobster boat, must contend with this mythical heritage, the aging of her ...
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  • Book Review: Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith

    April 14, 2022Book Review: Blood Dazzler by Patricia Smith
    In gorgeous, gripping language that intensifies as this collection progresses, Smith tracks, minute-by-minute, the progress of Hurricane Katrina as it grows from a tropical depression to a Category 5 storm. Smith describes the physical and emotional devastation of New Orleans, particularly in Black communities. Each poem in this collection feels raw and immediate, and Smith’s ...
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  • Book Review: The Poets of Maine

    April 7, 2022Book Review: The Poets of Maine
    The Poets of Maine is an 1888 “who’s who” of poems by Maine authors. Each listing includes a brief biography of the poet and several short poems. The volume is particularly interesting in that it highlights quite a few female poets, including Mary J. Cummings, born in Bowdoinham in 1838. Mary J. Cummings’ poems Summer-Time ...
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News & Updates

  • March 23, 2023
    Poetry Walk

    April 1-30

    Library Park

    Take a walk in Library Pa…