Perkins Summer Reading Program: Tails and Tales

 All New England Talking Book Library patrons ages 18 and below are invited to participate in the Perkins Summer Reading Program: Tails and Tales

The Perkins Library is excited to announce the 2021 summer reading program, Tails and Tales, which will focus on animals. The summer of fun, reading, and prizes will start June 14 and the excitement will continue until August 31.

All New England patrons ages 18 and below are invited to participate. Perkins has sent out the  registration form through the mail. To sign up now, you can call Perkins at (617) 972-7242, email SummerReading@Perkins.org, or visit the summer reading signup form here. 

Perkins will also be hosting virtual events throughout the summer:

Friday, June 18 at 3 PM: Wild about Horses with animal educator Joy Marzolf

Learn about some of the different types of horses, from the small Icelandic horse to a large Cheval Canadien, and what makes each of them special! Find out how they communicate with each other and with us, how they are trained, whether they all move the same way, and how they sense the world around them. This is a great chance to discover more about these amazing animals, ask questions, and get up close and personal with some special equine guests.

Wednesday, July 7 at 11 AM: Creepy Crawlies with animal educator Joy Marzolf

How do you hiss without using your mouth, or eat using a built-in straw? Join us  find out the answers to these questions and more as we learn about some of the strange creatures from our wild and wacky world of animals. Plus, don’t miss a visit with some live creepy critters at the end!

Wednesday, August 4 at 1:30 PM: The Nose Knows: Learn about Nosework with librarian Chelsea Wood

Did you know that dogs can have up to fifty times the number of scent receptors as humans and devote about forty times more of their brains to processing smells? This makes them the perfect partner for nosework, an activity where dog and human teams go searching for items based on scent. Learn more fun facts and all about this fascinating hobby alongside librarian Chelsea Wood and her canine companion Zoe.

Tuesday, August 10 at 2 PM: Sled Dogs with Iditarod dog musher Karen Land (and Noggin!)

Three-time Iditarod musher Karen Land will virtually visit with library patrons to talk all about her adventures in the exciting sport of sled dog racing! Make sure to sign up for this session so you can check out her gear; hear all about her experiences participating in this thrilling race; and meet her Alaskan husky, Noggin.

Monday, August 16 at 2:30 PM: Guide to Guide Dogs with library staffers Tanja Milojevic and Elizabeth White

If you've ever thought about what it's like to work with a guide dog, wondered what guide dog training involves, or wanted to hear some great guide dog stories, join Braille specialists Tanja and Beth to hear all about this, and more!

Friday, August 20 at 3 PM: Virtual pet show

Have your pet strut its stuff and hear about the amazing animals in the Perkins Library community at our virtual pet show!

To register for any of these amazing animal events, click here.

Once you've signed up, you can keep track of reading times, activities, and challenges by visiting the summer reading tracking webpage, by emailing SummerReading@Perkins.org, or by calling (617) 972-7242.

Summer Reading Recommendations

 All books listed are in audio format.

To order a copy of these books, please call the Library at 603-271-3429

 DB 96907    The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes

1937. Alice Van Cleve is still trying to adjust to married life and living in Kentucky after being raised in England. When offered the chance to join a group of women to deliver Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library, she jumps at it. But they face dangers. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019

DB 97258    Still is the Key by Ryan Holiday

All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers, avoid distraction, and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness - to be steady while the world spins around you. The author shows why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead. Commercial audiobook.  2019

DB 100908    The Meaning of Mariah Carey by Mariah Carey

Beautifully written and astonishingly witty, Mariah Carey's story comes to life through a very honest and revealing telling of her childhood. She describes how race played a major role in her life, and how her career took flight under the watchful veil of her controlling husband. 2020

DB 90202    The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter by Margareta Magnusson

Magnusson gives her advice on the decluttering process in Sweden known as dostadning or death cleaning. Her experience is based on the loss of her parents, husband and helping friends with the process of decluttering after a loved one has passed. It's the process of preparing your home by cleansing it of unnecessary items that can overwhelm family and friends after one passes. The last thing family members need is a lot of stuff to have to go through all while planning for after life events and services.

DB 80928    When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning

The author describes the Victory Book Campaign during World War II, which provided American soldiers with selected literature of note in the face of Nazi censorship and destruction of books. Discusses the impact the program had on the titles chosen and on the publishing industry.

DB 100906    The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Nora thinks that she has made all the wrong decisions in her life and decides to end it, but life is not done with her. After Nora's suicide attempt, she ends up in the midnight library where every possible life she could have lived is an option. The Midnight Library explores all the possible choices and outcomes that could have been different, and forces us to take a look at what really makes up a happy life. In the end, it might not be the things we thought.

Celebrating Asian Authors

 To order a copy of these books, please call the Library at 603-271-3429.

All books listed are audio format.

DB 66192     Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri.  Eight short stories by Pulitzer Prize-winning author explore the nature of family and love. In the title story, a mother in Seattle nervously hosts her widowed father, who helps tend her garden but hides a secret. Bestseller. 2008.

 DB 98817    Minor Feelings : An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong. A collection of essays in which the author reflects on her experiences living as an Asian American in the early twenty-first century. Traces the author’s relationship with language, shame, depression, poetry, family, and female friendship. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

 DB 94833    All You Can Ever Know : A Memoir by Nicole Chung. The Korean author reflects on the story of her adoption by a white family, the sacrifices her biological family made, the prejudice she faced growing up, and her curiosity about her origins. Recounts her search for her biological family while starting a family of her own. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

 DB 91449    Damselfly : A Novel by Chandra Prasad. When the Drake Rosemont Academy fencing team’s Tokyo-bound plane crashes on a jungle-choked island, the teens hope for rescue but will need to use all their ingenuity to survive the deadly jungle. Violence and strong language. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2018.

DB 87914    The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane : A Novel by Lisa See. Li-yan lives in a mountainside village where she and her family pick tea. As she grows up, she begins to rebel--eventually having a daughter out of wedlock. Her daughter, Haley, is adopted and grows up in California, wondering about her birth mother. Some explicit descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2017.

 DB 87267    How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee. Yongju is from a privileged North Korean family, Jangmi lives on the streets of North Korea, and Chinese-American teen Danny has run away from home. The trio find their fates intertwined in a small Chinese village across the border from North Korea. Some descriptions of sex. 2016.

 DB 82946    The Making of Asian America : A History by Erika Lee. Historian, and the granddaughter of Chinese immigrants, explores the history of Asian immigration to the United States. Discusses ethnic strongholds such as Chinatown in San Francisco and Japantown in Seattle, social organizations formed to ease transition, and laws created to prevent full integration into American society. 2015.

 DB 101814    East : 120 Vegan and Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Beijing by Meera Sodha. Collection of recipes focused on vegetarian and vegan dishes that draw on South, East, and South East Asian food traditions. Recipes are categorized into snacks and small things, salads, noodles, curries, rice, tofu, flour and eggs, legumes, sides, condiments, sweet, and helpful things. 2019.

 DB 99032    The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal. The Shergill sisters--buttoned-up principal Rajni, struggling actress Jezmeen, and duty-bound Shirina--travel to India to honor their mother’s deathbed wishes. Each face momentous decisions in their lives, and they take the time to reflect on their next steps. Family secrets are also revealed. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

 DB 98416    Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu. Every day, actor Willis Wu heads to the Chinatown restaurant where they are perpetually filming a police procedural TV show. He feels like he plays a bit role even in his own life, but dreams of one day having a chance at something more. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2020.

 DB 97669    The New Silk Roads : The Present and Future of the World by Peter Frankopan. British historian examines contemporary affairs of the early-twenty-first century, particularly the late-2010s, in the context of the Silk Roads of history. Topics discussed include the infrastructure of China, trade deals among republics of Central Asia, and apparent harmony between Russia and Turkey. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.

 DB 97149    Permanent Record by Mary H. K. Choi. Pablo Neruda Rind is working in an upscale health food store in New York City when celebrity Leanna Smart rushes in and turns his life upside down. Strong language and descriptions of sex. Commercial audiobook. For senior high and older readers. 2019.

 DB 93585    The Souls of Yellow Folk : Essays by Wesley Yang. A collection of essays written over the course of a decade dealing with race, sex, and cultural trends. Subjects include the Virginia Tech shooter, the intersection of Asian values and the American Dream, "tiger mother" parenting, and Internet dating. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2018.