The Librarian Recommends

The Librarian Recommends…

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson

"I might seem like the ideal student: homework always in early, every extra credit and extracurricular I can get my hands on, the good girl and the high achiever. But I realized something just now: it's not ambition, not entirely. It's fear. Because I don't know who I am when I'm not working, when I'm not focused on or totally consumed by a task. Who am I between the projects and the assignments, when there's nothing to do? I haven't found her yet and it scares me. Maybe that's why, for my senior capstone project this year, I decided to solve a murder."

Set in the contemporary small town of Fairview, Connecticut, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder opens as high school senior Pippa Fitz-Amobi submits her senior capstone project proposal. College-bound with an excellent work ethic and grades to match, Pippa bucks her “good girl” persona when she decides to use her final project to dig into the truth behind the five-year-old murder of schoolmate Andie Bell. While everyone in town accepts that Andie was murdered by her boyfriend, Sal Singh — who subsequently committed suicide — Pippa isn’t so sure.

What follows is a pulse-pounding, page-turning, compulsively readable whodunnit in which Pippa joins forces with Sal’s brother, Ravi, in her pursuit of the truth. As the investigation consumes her, Pippa struggles to avoid losing herself — and possibly her life — as she learns that disturbing the peace comes with dire consequences, especially when someone desperately wants the truth to remain buried. Available via OverDrive and the CW MARS catalog.

Liked That? Try This! Read-alikes

If you’ve already read and enjoyed A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, consider trying the second book in the trilogy, Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson (available via OverDrive and the CW MARS catalog) or One of Us Is Lying (One of Us Is Lying #1) by Karen M. McManus (also available via OverDrive and the CW MARS catalog)

Do you have a cozy reading corner you’ve been wanting to spend more time in? Do you have a group of friends who like to select books together? Maybe a little constraint helps you choose what to read next.

If you are looking for a fun, unique reading challenge to take on in 2023, Massachusetts Center for the Book has you covered.

Here is how the challenge works:

-Sign up using this form.

-Choose a book that fits the monthly challenge.

-After you read, fill out this form with info about the book.

-That's it!

If you read at least one book, you will be invited to a year-end celebration hosted by Mass Center for the Book. If you read a book in each of the 12 months, you will be entered in a drawing to win 1 of 2 totes filled with books and Massachusetts goodies.

Use SPL's handy brochure for resources to help find an appropriate book each month and our checklist to help keep track!

Questions? View Massachusetts Center for the Book's FAQ.

The library has started a podcast, Beyond Books! The hosts, Mike and Dana, SPL's Assistant Director and Technology Specialist, respectively), provide behind-the-scenes looks at the events, news, and people at the library.

The second episode is coming soon (with an exclusive interview with our head of Circulation, Melissa Wentworth!), but you can still listen to the first episode, which features an interview with SPL's Director, Priya Rathnam, on our website (bottom right of the page), Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Anchor. FM.

Interested in a heathier lifestyle? Check out Headspace! The Headspace app includes hundreds of meditations along with exercises for sleep, focus, and movement. Shrewsbury residents are eligible to request access to Headspace on a first come, first served basis, typically between the 14th and 28th of the month for the month that follows (i.e., you should sign up between February 14th and February 28th to request a March license). Find out more on our website.

Can't wait to get started? Email our Reference department at [email protected] to see if there are any current openings for the current month!

Library Programs

Library & AARP Tax help appointments
Saturdays, March 11 & 25
Saturday, April 8

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
At the library
Appointments required

The Shrewsbury Public Library has partnered with AARP to offer tax preparation help again this season! Appointments are required; bring all tax documents from the current year (2022), your state and federal returns from last year (2021), a photo ID, and your Social Security card with you.

The sessions will be held several Saturday mornings during tax season; upcoming dates include March 11, March 25, and April 8. To make an appointment, call the library’s Reference desk at 508-841-8533.

50+ Job Seekers Networking Group 
First and third Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. (March 1 & 15)
Second and fourth Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. (March 8 & 22)
Virtual

If you are over 50, unemployed and actively looking, underemployed, seeking a new career direction, re-entering the job market after a long employment gap, or recently retired and looking for your "Encore Career", this networking group program is perfect for you. Remember, 85% of jobs are found through networking! 

Join us in a professional forum for networking with peers in a safe and comfortable environment conducive to developing new relationships and developing skills and strategies to help in your career transition. Meetings include a presentation and hands-on workshop on topics relevant to career transition, guest speakers, access to hiring managers, small group breakout rooms to network, and 1-on-1 coaching guidance. Participating on a regular basis will give job seekers the many tools and strategies needed for a successful job search.  

The group meets on Zoom from 9:30–11:30 a.m. on first and third Wednesday mornings, with repeat sessions on the same topics now offered in the evenings from 6:00–8:00 p.m. on second and fourth Wednesday evenings. Please register for only one session on each topic, as the morning and evening sessions will be identical.

This month's topics will be:

-Develop your Resume Part I (March 1st, 9:30–11:30 a.m. & March 8th, 6:00–8:00 p.m.)

-Develop your Resume Part I (March 15th, 9:30–11:30 a.m. & March 22nd, 6:00–8:00 p.m.)

This program takes place virtually on Zoom; please register to attend separately for each session: 

-Register here for morning sessions: https://tinyurl.com/3vmzdnrp

-Register here for evening sessions: https://tinyurl.com/5n6fnpdh

View the full list of topics and dates on our Facebook event page.

This group is sponsored by more than 60 Massachusetts public libraries.

Spanish Conversation Club
Tuesdays, March 21 & 28
6:00–7:00 p.m.
At the library

Are you looking for a casual space where you can practice your Spanish and learn more about the multiple cultures of those who speak that language?

Join our Spanish Conversation Club (most) Tuesdays at the Shrewsbury Public Library at 6:00 p.m. (in the Learning Lab on the second floor). No registration required. Visit our events calendar to confirm dates. 

¿Buscas un espacio informal en el que puedas practicar tu Español y aprender más de las múltiples culturas que hablan este idioma? Únete a nuestro club de conversación (la mayoría de) los martes en la biblioteca pública de Shrewsbury a las 6:00 p.m. en el laboratorio. No es necesario registrarse. Visita nuestro calendario de eventos para verificar citas.

SPL Movie Discussion Club
Tuesday, March 7th
7:00–8:00 p.m.
Virtual

Join the Shrewsbury Public Library Movie Discussion Club every first Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m. on Google Meet! Intended for film fans 18 and older.

Watch the “Movie of the Month” on your own time, then meet with us virtually to discuss. March's film is The Disaster Artist (2017, rated R). Shrewsbury residents may view the movie here on Kanopy (create an account/log in with your library card to access Kanopy); non-residents of Shrewsbury should sign up for/access Kanopy through their home library, i.e., the library in the town in which they reside, or by signing up for a Boston Public Library e-card: https://www.bpl.org/ecard. Attendees are also free to find an alternative way to watch.

Register here to receive an email 3 days prior to the discussion date with the Google Meet link.

Contact Dana Volke with any questions at 508-841-4049 or [email protected].

Supporting your LGBTQ+ Child
Thursday, March 9th
7:00–8:00 p.m.

At the library

Join us for a parenting workshop led by Lydia Proulx (they/them), Director of Youth Programs at Youth MOVE National.  As a parent or caregiver, you want to support your child as they grow up and figure themselves out. When it comes to a young person’s sexuality and gender, it’s hard to know what to do and what to say to show you care. Maybe your child has already come out as LGBTQ+, or maybe you want to be better prepared in case they do in the future. Either way, this is a great place to start!

We’ll talk about basic terms and meanings for LGBTQ+ youth, as well as answer your questions. Resources and information will be available to take home.

This program will take place in person at the library; please register to attend.

From Ireland to America
Saturday, March 11th
2:00–3:00 p.m.

At the library

Presented by beloved local musician Roger Tincknell, "From Ireland to America" is a festive music program celebrating traditional Irish music and culture. The concert includes a variety of traditional Irish and Irish-American songs and instrumentals. Lovely Irish ballads, work songs, and familiar Irish sing-alongs are interspersed with lively jigs and reels instrumentals. The audience is invited to sing, clap, dance and play spoons. Introductory Irish step dancing and spoon playing instruction included (spoons provided). "From Ireland to America" is performed on guitar, banjo, mandolin, Irish bouzouki, Irish bodhran (drum), harmonica, pennywhistle, and spoons.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Shrewsbury Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

This program will take place in person at the the library; please register to attend.

Gardening is Murder with author Neal Sanders
Tuesday, March 13th
6:30–8:00 p.m.
At the library

“Gardening Is Murder” is a “spouse’s point of view” of gardening filled with humor and insight from someone who gardens less from an abiding love of horticulture than for the love of a spouse. Good horticultural advice is dispensed, bad advice is debunked. Attendees will leave with a better appreciation of what is going on in the mind of their helpmates. The talk is adapted from presenter Neal Sanders’s widely read blog, The Principal Undergardener.

Some of the topics covered include:

-Why so much gardening advice on the internet is awful

-Why you never compute the value of your gardening labor

-Proof that wildlife doesn’t watch Walt Disney movies

-Why it requires digging three holes to plant one thing

Presented by the Shrewsbury Garden Club. Come early at 6:30 p.m. for some light refreshments!

This program will take place in person at the library; please register to attend.

An America Divided: Can We Live With One Another? with New Yorker Staff Writer, Emma Green
Tuesday, March 13th
7:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
Virtual

Join Emma Green, education and academia staff writer at The New Yorker, in this exploration of the ways that Americans are divided - politically, religiously, economically, in our communities, and even in our families. What has caused these ruptures and what are some ways for us to come back together? Pulling from the many people she has spoken to over the years, as well as her articles on the Federalist Society, the Supreme Court, and Affirmative Action, Emma will lead us in this difficult but essential discussion.

This event is a collaboration with a multitude of MA libraries; sponsored in part by the Friends of the Shrewsbury Public Library and the Friends of the Ashland Public Library.

This event will take place virtually on Zoom; please register to attend.

Computer Basics
Thursday, March 16th
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m.
At the library

Do you describe yourself as "not being good with computers"? Are you interested in getting more comfortable with them? Join us in the Learning Lab for a class on Computer Basics! Attendees will learn how to identify the basic parts of a computer, turn a computer off/on, differentiate between software and hardware, use a mouse, and the basics of using a keyboard. Laptops will be provided.

Space is limited, so registration is required.

Project Mishoon: An Underwater Archaeological Project of the Nipmuc People
Thursday, March 16th
7:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
At the library

Come learn about the efforts of the Nipmuc People to investigate and excavate three mishoonash (traditional dugout canoes) that have been discovered at the bottom of Lake Quinsigamond, between Worcester and Shrewsbury. Cheryl Stedtler of the Nipmuk Cultural Preservation, Inc., and Project Mishoon Director, will discuss the historical significance of the mishoonash to the Nipmuc as well as the science behind the process to recover and preserve them.

The Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band holds the reconnaissance permit with the MA Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources; they are the first Indigenous people to hold such a permit. 

Sponsored by the Friends of the Shrewsbury Public Library.

This program will take place in person at the library; please register to attend.

American Sign Language - 25 Signs Anyone Can Do
Saturday, March 18th
11:00 a.m.–12:15 p.m.
At the library

Join us for this workshop to learn 25 basic signs in American Sign Language (ASL). The emphasis is on building a usable sign language vocabulary and learning tips to successfully interact with persons who are Deaf. A handout with videos is provided to support attendees’ retention of the signs. An electronic copy will be sent after the start of the class, only to those who attend the class.

This workshop is 1 hour and 15 minutes with an in person ASL Instructor. Please be aware that this class is taught in the native ASL and will not have sound. In addition, classes are hands-on and activity focused.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Shrewsbury Public Library.

This program will take place in person at the library; please register to attend.

Youthful Aging, Ageless Consciousness through Meditation
Thursday, March 23rd
7:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Virtual

Join us with Matthew Raider, MD, who will present a threefold method of maintaining youthful function in advancing age. He will discuss the medical evidence regarding exercise, diet, and meditation for modifying the aging process. 

Dr. Raider is a clinical physician and coordinating director of the Geriatric Teaching Program in Family Medicine at Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut. As a physician and long-time meditator, he has a strong interest in meditation and its relationship to health and disease prevention/treatment. Dr. Raider has lectured extensively on the subject in hospitals and other venues in the U.S. and Canada and recently spoke at the United Nations. He is also a contributing author of the best-selling book, Meditation as Medication for the Soul.

This program will take place virtually on Zoom; please register to attend.

Reading Glasses
Thursday, March 23rd
7:00–8:30 p.m.
Virtual

The March meeting of Reading Glasses, our book group for adults in their 20s and 30s, will be Thursday, March 23rd on Google Meet.

We’ll be discussing The House in the Pines by Ana Reyes: “Armed with only hazy memories, a woman who long ago witnessed her friend’s sudden, mysterious death, and has since spent her life trying to forget, sets out to track down answers. What she uncovers, deep in the woods, is hardly to be believed…Utterly unique and captivating, The House in the Pines keeps you guessing about whether we can ever fully confront the past and return home” (www.penguinrandomhouse.com).

New attendees, please email [email protected] to receive a Google Meet invite closer to the date.

Shrewsbury Genealogy Club
Monday, March 27th
7:15–9:15 p.m.
Virtual

Anyone interested in genealogy (or family history) can now join the Shrewsbury Genealogy Club from the comfort of their home! The club will meet on Zoom the fourth Monday of every month starting at 7:15 p.m. 

To register, email the Genealogy Club’s clubmaster, former SPL Assistant Director George Brown, at [email protected].

Learn All about Fixit Clinics!
Tuesday, March 28th
1:00–2:00 p.m.
Virtual

Peter Mui, the founder of the Fixit Clinic and Kathi Mirza, an Environmental Analyst for MassDEP, will join us to explain the nuts and bolts of hosting or attending a Fixit Clinic in your very own community! Peter will discuss the history, the resources his organization offers to get a clinic off the ground, and the repair movement. Kathi will discuss local sources that libraries and community members can access to support Fixit Clinic programming in the Commonwealth. Meena Jain, Director of the Ashland Library, will discuss the Fixit Clinics the APL has hosted and the impact they've had.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is a collaboration between a multitude of MA Libraries.

This event will take place virtually on Zoom; please register to attend.

Black Rodeo: A History of the African American Western with author Mia Mask
Wednesday, March 29th
7:00–8:30 p.m.
Virtual

African-American Westerns have a rich cinematic history and visual culture. Professor and author Mia Mask examines the African American Western hero within the larger context of film history by considering how Black Westerns evolved and approached wide-ranging goals. 

Woody Strode’s 1950s transformation from football star to actor was the harbinger of hard-edged Western heroes later played by Jim Brown and Fred Williamson. Sidney Poitier’s Buck and the Preacher provided a narrative helmed by a groundbreaking African American director and offered unconventionally rich roles for women. Mask moves from these discussions to consider blaxploitation Westerns and an analysis of Jeff Kanew’s hard-to-find 1972 documentary about an all-Black rodeo. A first-of-its kind survey, Black Rodeo illuminates the figure of the Black cowboy while examining the intersection of African American film history and the Western.

This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Ashland Public Library and is a collaboration between a multitude of MA Libraries.

This event will take place virtually on Zoom; please register to attend. 

Decoupage Workshop
Thursday, March 30th
7:00–8:30 p.m.
At the library

Decoupage is the art of decorating objects with paper cutouts, special paint effects, and decorating elements. It can be done on various materials such as glass, candles, plastic, wood, clay pots, etc.  In this workshop, Bindiya Jain will show attendees how to use the decoupage technique to decorate a wine bottle, which can be used for gifting, home decor, or as a night lamp.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Shrewsbury Public Library.

This program will take place in person at the library; please register to attend.

Shrewsbury Readers
Thursday, April 6th
6:30–7:30 p.m.
At the library

 

Shrewsbury Readers is a group about good books and good discussions. Titles are selected from a variety of genre and copies of the book will be available at the first floor Circulation desk for group members to check out.

At the April 6th meeting, we'll be discussing People of the Book: A novel by Geraldine Brooks: "Inspired by a true story, People of the Book is at once a novel of sweeping historical grandeur and intimate emotional intensity, an ambitious, electrifying work by an acclaimed and beloved author" (https://geraldinebrooks.com/people-of-the-book/).

New members are welcome; please contact Priya Rathnam at 508-841-8537 or [email protected]