Tag: book reviews

Why you should attend FFAPL book reviews

Tuesday, July 28th, the Stories and Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night

I’m going to tell you why you should attend FFAPL book reviews and author talks. For one thing, you might learn some obscure facts.

On July 21, Dan Wilcox, peace activist & noted local poet, reviewed Shadow Ticket, a detective novel by Thomas Pynchon.  He mentioned that, in the fictional tale, there may have been some factual events. Sure enough, the Bridge Table Murder case actually happened. “Myrtle Adkins Bennett…, a Kansas City housewife,” was charged with “the murder of her husband John G. Bennett over a game of contract bridge in September 1929.” She was acquitted in March 1931.

Dan also mentioned several other Pynchon novels.  When the novelist won the National Book Award for Gravity’s Rainbow, it was Professor Irwin Corey, the eccentric comedian, who accepted the award.

Upcoming

The events take place Tuesdays at 2 pm at the Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, in the large auditorium. Limited parking is available in the rear of the building.

July 28 | Book Review | The Left Hand of Darkness, a sci-fi classic by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Reviewer:  David Brickman, photographer & FFAPL treasurer.

August 4 | Book Review | Tiny Gardens Everywhere: The Past, Present, and Future of the Self-Provisioning City by Kate Brown, science historian at MIT.  Reviewer:  Richard King, retired attorney.

August 11 | Book Review | The Hours of Henry VIII: A Renaissance Masterpiece by Jean Poyet by R. S. Wieck, W. M. Voelkle & K. Michelle Hearne. Reviewer: K. Michelle Hearne Arthur, Ph.D., former museum curator and director & current high school history teacher.

August 18 | Book Review | Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman.  Reviewer:  Mary A. Rosch, former APL Trustee, current FFAPL board member, proud Albany native who is active in several local organizations and loves connection, learning, and building community.

August 25 | Book Review | The Last Extinction:  The Real Science behind the Death of the Dinosaurs by Gerta Keller.  Reviewer:  Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician & amateur classicist.

1000 Madison Avenue, the former Pine Hills library

 Moth-style  stories
On Tuesday, July 28th, the Stories and Spoken Word Poetry Open Mic Night will take place. This month, it will be at a temporary location: the Madison Pour House at 1110 Madison Ave – just one block west of the Madison Theatre. The Madison Theatre is currently closed for renovations.
Please note: the meeting will be on the second floor at the Madison Pour House, accessible only via the staircase. 
As usual, they welcome both Spoken Word Poetry and Stories (Moth-style personal stories are encouraged – and folk tales are welcome too). No notes if humanly possible!
  • $5 at the 2nd floor door; cash, Venmo, and Zelle accepted – All proceeds go to the local business for allowing us to use their space!
  • Doors open at 6:30 (sign up to take the mic) 
  • Show begins at 7:00 pm, ends at 8:15 pm
Ultimately, the event will return to the Madison Theatre once renovations are complete! 

FFAPL book reviews for late June/July 2026

July 7 reviewer is MOI

The Circuitry We ShareHere are the Albany Public Library book reviews for late June/July on Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium at the 161 Washington Avenue branch, sponsored by the Friends and Foundation of the Albany Public Library.  

June 23 | Book Reviews | Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy by Katherine Stewart and The Shadow Gospel: How Anti-liberal Demonology Possessed U. S. Religion, Media, and Politics by Whitney Phillips and Mark Brockway.  Reviewer:  Frank Robinson, JD, philosopher, author, & blogger. Frank plugged his review, happening today. 

June 30 | Author Talk | Molly Dunn discusses & reads from her psychological thriller, The Circuitry We Share.

The Circuitry We Share is a disorienting psychological thriller exploring the magnetic pull between people wired to feel deeply and those who only mirror emotion. It will resonate with anyone who has fallen in love, only to realize the person they trusted was a perfect stranger.
The Pattersons

July 7 | Book Review | African-Americans in the Wyoming Valley, 1778-1990, by Emerson I. Moss.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center. I picked this book because I have an ancestor, and indeed, a whole family to whom I am related, mentioned substantially in this book.   

July 14 | Book Review | The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan.  Reviewer:  Hailey Hamias, FFAPL board member & community development professional..

July 21| Book Review | Shadow Ticket, a detective novel by Thomas Pynchon.  Reviewer:  Dan Wilcox, peace activist & noted local poet.

July 28 | Book Review | The Left Hand of Darkness, a sci-fi classic by Ursula K. Le Guin.  Reviewer:  David Brickman, photographer & FFAPL treasurer.

Three Trustees for the APL Board to be chosen May 19

I will be reviewing Mona’s Eyes by Thomas Schlesser April 14

ITEM, from here: Albany voters will select three trustees for the APL Board of Trustees in the Tuesday, May 19, election. Two positions carry full five-year terms, while the third (partial) term is for one year.

Albany residents interested in running for a seat on the board need to complete and submit nominating petitions. The petitions, eligibility information, and instructions are posted on the Library Budget page, and paper copies are available at all seven APL branches.

Trustee nominating petitions, with at least 65 signatures of qualified voters, are due to the Clerk of the City School District of Albany (1 Academy Park) by 5 pm on Wednesday, April 29. Trustee candidate names are announced after the school district validates the submitted nominating petitions.

The library’s trustee election and budget vote share a ballot with the city school district vote, which also takes place on May 19. Note that the locations may differ from the primary and general election sites.

The library is hosting a second Trustee Candidate Information Session (the first was on March 12):

At the information session, current trustees will be on hand to answer questions about how to get on the ballot, tips for a successful campaign, and what it’s like to serve as a library trustee.

You can also view an informational presentation online.

APL Budget Vote

“Albany city residents will also vote on the library’s 2026-2027 operating budget tax levy… The budget plan was approved by the library’s Board of Trustees at its March 10 meeting.

“The proposed 2026-2027 operating tax levy of $9,661,856 would result in an increase of $42.58 for the owner of a home assessed at $250,000. The spending plan represents a 17% increase in the annual total operating budget tax levy.

“’Our main goal is securing adequate funding for the library and everything that it provides to our community,’ said Board President Sarah Macinski. ‘This increase addresses the impact of some expenses that have spiked in recent years, like health benefits and utilities, while ensuring we have enough reserve funds to maintain branch facilities and be grant-eligible for future renovations.'”

Honestly, I believe part of the cause of the larger-than-usual request this year was that, during more than one year in the 2010s, the trustees chose not to ask for an increase. This meant the previous year’s budget was automatically passed even as expenses went up. 

Diverse viewpoints

ITEM: From the Times Union (likely behind a paywall)

NY Regents to vote on library rules, including support for ‘diverse viewpoints.’

“All public libraries need to set specific policies on how new materials are selected and how people can object, the state librarian told the Board of Regents Monday [3/9]…

“State librarian Lauren Moore emphasized that each library Board of Trustees can write its own policies. But they must support the concept of selecting ‘diverse viewpoints,’ she said.

“Library directors should take care to buy materials on viewpoints they themselves disagree with, rather than only choosing materials with ideas they support, she added.

“They must also set rules for public use of meeting rooms, which must also be available to groups from a diverse set of viewpoints, she said.”

The Regents did indeed pass the new rules. (Thanks to TU reporter Kathleen Moore for helping me find this.) Most larger libraries likely have such policies in place, but it may be an issue at smaller ones.

Indeed, Albany Public Library does have both a ​Materials Selection Policy​ and a​ Material Reconsideration Request Form​. The reconsideration request form includes an option to object to a library program.

Book reviews and author talks (including me!)

Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, Tuesdays at 2 pm in the large auditorium

April 7 | Author Interview | David Sylvestor, local writer & instructor, will be asked about his 2024 Erie Canal crime novel, Hung Be the Heavens with Scarlet, by poet Therese L. Broderick, MFA.
April 14 | Book Review | Mona’s Eyes, a novel by the French art historian Thomas Schlesser.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, business librarian retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.
April 21 | Book Review | The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics by Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, & Mark Olshaker.  Reviewer:  Bryon Backenson, Director, Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, NYS Dept. of Health.
April 28 | Author Talk | David Ricci, from the Berkshires, discusses & reads from his book of photographs, Hunter Gatherer: Salvaged Stories of American Culture, with text by Cheryl Finley.

Events calendar for December 2025 (mostly)

Nov 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green.  Reviewer:  Roger Green (moi)

The events calendar for December 2025, and a bit before, includes me! All book reviews/author talks at Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, at 2 pm, EXCEPT the holiday concert on December 16, which will be at 12:30 pm.  

November 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis:  The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, business librarian, retired from the NY Small Business Development Center.  (Not related to John.)

December 2 | Book Review | The Four Agreements:  A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz.  Reviewer:  Ezra Scott, Jr., MA, MBE, is a native of Niagara Falls, NY, a public servant, an educator, & the proud father of Khari C. Scott & Exra P. Scott III.

December 9 |Author Talk | Roselee Blooston, author of four other books, both memoir & stories, discusses & reads from her book of personal essays, Including the Periphery.

December 16 | Holiday Concert with the Albany High School Choir, directed by Brendan Hoffman.  THIS PROGRAM WILL START AT 12:30 PM, unlike our other programs.
 
December 23 | Book Review | The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth by Ben Rawlence.  Reviewer:  Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician & amateur classicist. 

 

December 30 | Book Review |  Nadja by André Breton.  Reviewer:  Dan Wilcox, peace activist & noted local poet.

Art at APL Opening Reception
Friday, December 5, 2025, 6:00 pm–7:30 pm

Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library, 517 Western Avenue

Countenance: The Contemporary Portrait, December 5- May 9, 2025

Nuveen Barwari, Judith Braun, Maggie Halloran, John Hampshire, Phil Knoll, Mark McCarty, Philip J. Palmieri, Winosha Steele, Felicia van Bork, Oliver Wasow

More info HERE.

Sunday, December 14

Join us for an afternoon of music and history in support of the Underground Railroad Education Center. Arias in the Afternoon: Lifting Every Voice

Join MC Rex Smith for the beauty of Handel’s Messiah with a performance by Daniel Pascoe Aguilar alongside the Smithsonian’s Voices and Votes exhibit, as we confront our complex history and continue the fight for education and truth.

December 14, 2025
1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
New York State Museum
4th Floor Terrace

AND 

Ballad of the Brown King – Margaret Bonds

Seven Carols for Christmas – Alice Parker

December 14, 2025

2:30 Art display
3 p.m. Concert (see poster above)
First Presbyterian Church at the corner of State and Willett in Albany, NY

The library asks, in three parts

Managing Chronic Illness

African American Freedom JourneyI have three library asks today for you folks in the Capital District of New York State.

Please join us for a meeting to discuss the future of the Tuesday Book Talks that have been taking place at noon at the Washington Avenue branch for many years. The conversation, taking place on MONDAY, MARCH 13 AT 5 PM at the WASHINGTON AVE AUDITORIUM will address questions about the venue, the time of day, and how to promote the events better. More details can be found here.

We’re looking for speakers for May and June. Those events WILL take place at the usual time noted above. We want authors to talk about their books, or speakers who wish to review other people’s books.  Contact me at this post or by Facebook or email.

Upcoming talks

Feel free to promote these events on your social media.

March 7 | Author Talk | Frank S. Robinson, JD, discusses and reads from his book, The American Crisis: Chronicling and Confronting the Trump Shitstorm.

March 14 | Book Review | Milkweed Smithereens by Bernadette Mayer.  Reviewer:  Bob Sharkey, poet & member of the board, Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

March 21 | Book Review | Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum by Edward T. O’Donnell.  Reviewer:  Joseph Krausman, poet & long-time member of the Friends of APL.

March 28 | Book Review | African American Freedom Journey in New York and Related Sites, 1823-1870: Freedom Knows No Color by Harry Bradshaw Matthews.  Reviewer:  Roger Green, MLS, retired librarian, NY Small Business Development Center, & board member, FFAPL.

April 4 | Book Review | A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Maya Angelou.  Reviewer:  Donald “The Soul Man” Hyman, teacher, actor, singer, writer, TV host/producer, & veteran.

April 11 | A tribute to the late poet Charles Simic, who published over 60 books, won the Pulitzer Prize, & was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, by Gene Damm of FFAPL.

April 18 | Author Talk | Patricia A. Fennell, MSW, LCSW-R, scientist & clinician, discusses her book, Managing Chronic Illness Using the Four-Phase Treatment Approach: A Mental Health Professional’s Guide to Helping Chronically Ill People.

April 25 | Book Review | Number One Is Walking:  My Life in the Movies and Other Diversions, a graphic autobiography by Steve Martin & Cartoonist Harry Bliss.  Reviewer:  John Rowen, former president, Friends of APL.

Yes, that’s me in the March 28 slot. And yes, it’s the same presentation I gave at my church earlier this month.

While I’d like you to attend all of the talks, I will specifically plug my friend Patricia on April 18. And my buddy Donald on April 4 is always entertaining

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