Jacob Kimbarow
Reading: The Story of My Life
I had the pleasure of visiting The Friends Of The Boca Raton Public Library bookstore for the first time this past weekend. As I...
top of page
Celebrating over 30 years of fundraising for the Boca Raton Public Library!
FRIENDS OF THE BOCA RATON PUBLIC LIBRARY, INC.,, In
Non-profit volunteer 501(c)(3) organization
(EIN #59-2004980)
Search
Ilena Alvarez
- Mar 4, 2022
- 5 min
The Gentle Soul: Maeve Binchy
I have always been fascinated by Maeve (pronounced mayve) Binchy. As an early reader, I came across a book titled “Circle of Friends.” I...
77 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Mar 2, 2022
- 2 min
The Docent Life
Docent (defined): an individual with an academic appointment for the institutions they serve. Our Speaker Series is up and running and...
154 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Feb 18, 2022
- 2 min
Murder, But Make it Cozy
Hi, everyone! I believe life is all about perspective. Since I teach, there are subjects that force me to remind my students that life is...
49 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Feb 11, 2022
- 1 min
The Cool Cat: James Baldwin
I don't think anyone can look cooler than James Baldwin looks in this picture. And as charismatic and classic as he looks on the outside,...
58 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Feb 7, 2022
- 3 min
Valentine's Day: A Survival Guide
Valentine's Day is a day loved or dreaded 'round the world and the reasons for these strong, antagonistic feelings are obvious. This post...
29 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Jan 31, 2022
- 2 min
The Cain and Abel Murder Weapon
Here is the stated description of Cain’s Jawbone, by Edward Powys Mathers: Six murders. One hundred pages. Millions of possible...
97 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Jan 7, 2022
- 2 min
Happy New Year, Everyone!
The end of 2021. Did everyone have a good celebration? Were you like me who had a busy day, took a nice, long nap, and woke up just a few...
70 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Nov 19, 2021
- 3 min
The Great Purge
Hello! I hope this blog post finds everyone in a good place. During the pandemic, it felt like it was go-go-go and I haven't had a chance...
120 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Nov 11, 2021
- 2 min
Veterans Day (f/k/a Armistice Day)
Veterans Day originated from the cessation of hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
81 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Oct 29, 2021
- 2 min
Florida: Not for the Faint-Hearted
Florida -- what an odd, yet magnificent state. When they say, "be a tourist in your hometown," well, this is certainly the kind of place...
104 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Oct 17, 2021
- 2 min
October "Spooky?" Reading Recommendations: Books by Caitlin Doughty
I am not a usually morbid person. However, I do practice in trusts and estates in my day job and therefore, death, is often on the...
45 views
ilena2
- Oct 1, 2021
- 3 min
Chanel Cleeton's First Historical Book on Cuba: Next Year in Havana (a review)
This amazing book contains all my thoughts and feelings I've harbored about Cuba my entire life. And I want to personally thank Chanel...
58 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Sep 23, 2021
- 3 min
When Nonfiction Informs Fiction: A Romance Novelist Gets Conned out of $17M
In the 1906 edition of The King's English, H.W. Fowler declared: "A thing is unique, or not unique; there are no degrees of uniqueness;...
121 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Sep 18, 2021
- 2 min
Books on Wheels
Traveling bookstores/bookmobiles are not a new thing. But they seem to be a labor of love and not common. The rarity is not a statistical...
73 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Sep 13, 2021
- 3 min
Friends of the Boca Public Library, Part III of the Series
We have arrived at the 3rd part of this series where I zone in on our Friends of the Boca Public Library. In light of the Friends'...
79 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Aug 13, 2021
- 2 min
the 'Friends' group
Susan Cushman has written a book that highlights the Friends of the Library. It is a compilation of short stories, set in a small town,...
116 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Aug 6, 2021
- 3 min
Curious about the Friends of the Library origin story?
Our bookstore, from time to time, has carried both of these titles: The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes and The Book Woman of Troublesome...
46 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Aug 6, 2021
- 1 min
Staff Picks for August: Writers and Lovers by Lily King (a review)
Writers and Lovers secured my membership into the Lily King fan club. The titular character Casey is grappling with her mother's death...
28 views
Ilena Alvarez
- Jul 7, 2021
- 1 min
Do you want to build a series collection?
You can start this summer! Do you want to build a series to add to your bookshelves? What better way than to buy books at a book sale...
88 views
bottom of page