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The Snow Man
by Wallace Stevens

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of... Read Post

This year we have compiled our top 10 fiction checkouts for adults, young adults (teens), and children's books.

Gail Honeyman took the number one adult fiction spot this year with Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.  Paulette Jiles was a close second with News of the World.  In third place, The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve. Somerville adult readers also showed a penchant for a good mystery in 2017.

Not surprisingly, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale from our YA... Read Post

In This Book, Craftsmanship Is a Matter of Life or Death

In the underground city of Caverna, the setting of Frances Hardinge’s novel A Face Like Glass, a sip of wine can rewrite memories, a bite of cheese can spark visions, and certain perfumes make the wearer literally irresistible.  Its citizens’ facial expressions, too, are carefully and expensively crafted and taught by experts, and the ability to display the perfect Face for any occasion is more than just a mark of status: it’s... Read Post

Recently the MBTA filed a Notice of Project Change for the Green Line Extension. You can find the document here. The original closing date for the comment period was Nov. 28, 2017. The comment period has been been extended to 5:00 pm on December 12.

Comments must be addressed to:

The Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
MEPA Office
Attn: Erin Flaherty, MEPA Analyst.... Read Post

Yesterday the current occupant of the White House pardoned two turkeys. The annual ceremony during Thanksgiving week in which the President spares a turkey's life is one of the more bizarre moments in our national life. It's unclear why the act is even called a "pardon," since the definition of the word is "a release from punishment for an infraction of the law," and no one ever says what these turkeys are guilty of other than being  ridiculous-looking.

The first president to spare a... Read Post

This past weekend we set our clocks back one hour as we do every year. Ideally when we get up in the morning it will be a little lighter, and, not so ideally, after we work we'll all be stumbling home in the dark.  But why do we do this? Supposedly Benjmain Franklin first proposed daylight saving time (DST) as a way to save candles, but he also suggested waking the public by firing cannons at sunrise, so it's difficult to say how serious he was. The idea in its modern systematized form was... Read Post