Over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and more than a million copies sold. The essential universe, from our most celebrated and beloved astrophysicist. What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There’s no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson. But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day. While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe. Please email the library at tiltonlibrary@cwmars.org to get the Zoom link a few days before the event.  

NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. NEA Big Read: Pocumtuck Valley is sponsored by the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association. This series is funded in part by the Friends of Tilton Library. NEA Big Read: Pocumtuck Valley in partnership with Libraries in the Woods sponsors this discussion of Station Eleven as part of a two month long series of discussions and related programs at 20+ local libraries. Click here for a full listing: https://deerfield-ma.org/nea-big-read-pocumtuck-valley/ EMAIL TILTONLIBRARY@CWMARS.ORG FOR ZOOM LINK TO THIS BOOK DISCUSSION. Emily St. John Mandel’s 2014 novel is set in a dystopian post-pandemic world. Now that we’re experiencing an actual pandemic, the NEA Big Read of this fictional story provides an opportunity for local communities to discuss our real pandemic experience, as well as the role the arts play in our lives (a central theme in Station Eleven). A National Book Award Finalist A PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist Kirsten Raymonde will never forget the night Arthur Leander, the famous Hollywood actor, had a heart attack on stage during a production of King Lear. That was the night when a devastating flu pandemic arrived in the city, and within weeks, civilization as we know it came to an end. Twenty years later, Kirsten moves between the settlements of the altered world with a small troupe of actors and musicians. They call themselves The Traveling Symphony, and they have dedicated themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. But when they arrive in St. Deborah by the Water, they encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the tiny band’s existence. And as the story takes off, moving back and forth in time, and vividly depicting life before and after the pandemic, the strange twist of fate that connects them all will be revealed.