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August selection: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride Reading Interests: We read mostly contemporary Fiction, with forays into non-fiction, older works and classics. Past selections include: Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. How to get the print book: Copies of the book are set aside at the O'Connell Branch. Click here for O'Connell Branch Hours How to get the e-book or digital audiobook: This month’s book is available as a digital audio and e-book through Hoopla. This book group meets in person at the O'Connell Branch. No registration is needed. Drop-ins welcome. For more information contact the branch at 617-349-4019.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Stephen Greenblatt—Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, a leading scholar of English Renaissance literature, and author of sixteen books, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winner The Swerve—to celebrate the paperback release of Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival, which released in hardcover in 2025 and received immense praise from The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal. In addition to the paperback release of Dark Renaissance, Greenblatt's first work Sir Walter Ralegh: The Renaissance Man and His Roles, originally published in 1973 and based on Greenblatt's dissertation, will be rereleased in paperback on September 1, 2026 with a new foreword from Greenblatt. Registration is required.

As the holiday season and shopping begins, potential criminals will look to perpetrate scams against shoppers and donors. The scams involve online shopping, charity, cryptocurrency investment, gift cards and social media. Online shopping schemes include fraudulent websites or ads offering goods at unrealistic discounts, items purchased through third-party marketplaces using stolen credit cards or accounts and puppy scams involving fake advertisements for pets. People should be on the lookout for fake charities soliciting donations through phone calls, emails, crowdfunding platforms, and social media. Also, copycat organizations create seemingly legitimate charities to steal funds. Gift card scams involve requests for gift card purchases for alleged emergencies, work-related functions, or as payment, or tampered cards with compromised security stickers or altered barcodes. Social media scams include posts offering fake gift cards or event tickets designed to steal personal information, or fraudsters duplicating ticket barcodes for resale.

Cambridge GIS has dozens of maps that you can download or view online

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Richard Russo—Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Somebody's Fool and The Destiny Thief—for a discussion of his new essay collection Life and Art. He will be joined in conversation by Andre Dubus III—author of Such Kindness and eight other books, including the bestsellers Townie and House of Sand and Fog. Registration is required.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Richard Russo—acclaimed author of ten novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winner Empire Falls—for a discussion of his new novel, Under the Falls. He will be joined in conversation by Tom Perrotta—New York Times bestselling author of eleven works of fiction, including Election, Little Children, Mrs. Fletcher, The Leftovers, and Ghost Town. Registration is required.

Harvard Book Store and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Bruce Schneier—internationally renowned security technologist, New York Times bestselling author of A Hacker’s Mind, and Lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School—and Nathan E. Sanders—data scientist and affiliate at the Berkman-Klein Center—for a discussion of their new book Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship. Registration is required.

Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is adding textiles and mattresses to materials banned from trash disposal. Textiles include clothes, linens, towels, shoes, and accessories, like hats, gloves, socks, underwear, belts, and handbags. Residents can schedule a free mattress and textiles pickup online, or drop-off textiles at 12 locations.

Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, the Harvard Library, Long Now Boston, and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Lisa S. Gardiner—science writer, geoscientist, educator, and author of Tales from an Uncertain World: What Other Assorted Disasters Can Teach Us about Climate Change—for a discussion of her book Reefs of Time: What Fossils Reveal about Coral Survival. Registration is required.

Harvard Book Store, the Harvard University Division of Science, the Harvard Library, and the Cambridge Public Library welcome Karen Hao—award-winning journalist and contributing writer for The Atlantic—for a discussion of her new book, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. She will be joined in conversation by Amy Nordrum—an executive editor at MIT Technology Review. Registration is required.