Staff Picks: Two Novels by Maggie O'Farrell, opens in a new tab

Hamnet, opens in a new tab
by Maggie O'Farrell

Based in 15th century England, Hamnet is "a short, piercing, deeply moving novel about the death of Shakespeare's 11 year old son Hamnet—a name interchangeable with Hamlet in 15th century Britain—and the years leading up to the production of his great play. A young Latin tutor—penniless, bullied by a violent father—falls in love with an extraordinary, eccentric young woman—a wild creature who walks her family's estate with a falcon on her shoulder and is known throughout the countryside for her unusual gifts as a healer.

Veterans Day: Books, Military Databases, and Services Available through Your Library, opens in a new tab

Veterans provide an immense service to our country, so on November 11 each year, we celebrate their service and sacrifices. Created in 1919 by President Woodrow Wilson, Veterans Day (originally called Armistice Day) celebrated the anniversary of the end of WWI. In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower changed the name of the holiday and made it a celebration of all living veterans.