“Make up a story… For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul." -Toni Morrison

Shop With Your Pod: Don’t want to wait in line outside? Want more control over who you’re sharing indoor space with? Want to make sure you get your holiday shopping done easily and early? Shop with your pod! Reserve Porter Square Books from 6PM-7PM on Saturday, September 19 and Saturday September 26, after the store has closed to the general public for the day, for a group of 5-10 people. If these two Shop with Your Pod events are successful, we’ll add more all through the month of October.

Free Local Delivery for Orders of $50 or More: For qualifying zip codes in Cambridge & Somerville, local delivery will be free for orders of $50 or more.

Curbside Pick Up: Daily, 3PM-7PM

Virtual: Carol Hay with Tiziana Dearing, Think Like a Feminist

Porter Square Books is pleased to bring you a virtual talk with Carol Hay, author of the new book Think Like a Feminist, in conversation with Tiziana Dearing! Think Like a Feminist is an audacious and accessible guide to feminist philosophy—its origins, its key ideas, and its latest directions. This event takes place on Crowdcast, and is free and open to all.

Think Like a Feminist is an irreverent yet rigorous primer that unpacks over two hundred years of feminist thought. In a time when the word feminism triggers all sorts of responses, many of them conflicting and misinformed, Professor Carol Hay provides this balanced, clarifying, and inspiring examination of what it truly means to be a feminist today. She takes the reader from conceptual questions of sex, gender, intersectionality, and oppression to the practicalities of talking to children, navigating consent, and fighting for adequate space on public transit, without deviating from her clear, accessible, conversational tone. Think Like a Feminist is equally a feminist starter kit and an advanced refresher course, connecting longstanding controversies to today’s headlines.

Ian Fleming’s first novel, Casino Royale (1953) was a huge hit, but not the first to be filmed.  That was Doctor No, published in 1956.  The film (1962) was the first to star Sean Connery as James Bond.   The movie was a massive box-office hit and thus began the run of Bond films.  The next book to be adapted was From Russia with Love 1957) in 1963 again with Connery as star. In 1964 Goldfinger (1959) appeared with a haunting best selling hit song sung by Dame Shirley Bassey. Interesting trivia:  the first actor to ever play Bond was American Barry Nelson in a 1954 TV anthology series called Climax!

Sean Connery continued his run as Bond in 1965’s Thunderball (1961) with a screenplay by writer Jack Whittingham and again in You Only Live Twice (1967) adapted from the novel (1964) by Roald Dahl.  Interesting trivia: Frank Sinatra was asked to sing the theme song, but declined and instead his daughter Nancy did the honors.  On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1963) brought Australian George Lazenby to the role of Bond in 1969.  His co-star was the incandescent Dame Diana Rigg (RIP). The film, written by Richard Maibaum, received mixed reviews and Lazenby never returned to the role. In 1971 Connery made Diamonds are Forever (1956); John Barry wrote his sixth score for this film and Shirley Bassey once again sang the theme song. 

Author Tom Mankiewicz adapted Live and Let Die (1954) for the 1973 film of the same name.  Roger Moore took over the role of James Bond.  Paul McCartney wrote the theme song nominated for an Oscar.  Next in the series of films was The Man with the Golden Gun (1965) produced in 1974 with screenplay by Richard Maibaum and Tom Mankiewicz.  Roger Moore again starred and the film received mixed reviews.  The tenth film in the series was The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) in 1977.  Interesting trivia:  Catherine Deneuve wanted to play the female lead, but the producers claimed her fee was too high.  Fleming’s 1955 novel Moonraker was released as a film in 1979 with a screenplay by Christopher Wood.  For Your Eyes Only (1960) was produced in 1981 with Moore again portraying Bond.  From Fleming’s short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights(1966) became the films Octopussy in 1983 and The Living Daylights in 1987 with Timothy Dalton playing Bond.  The 14^th Bond film was A View to a Kill in 1985, which was based on a 1960 short story, From a View to a Kill. Moore played Bond. In License to Kill Dalton returned in 1989; this hybrid film was derived from a short story The Hildebrand Rarity.

Many of the later Bond films were not based on Fleming novels or short stories, but on original screenplays utilizing many of the same characters and these include: 1995’s GoldenEye with Pierce Brosnan taking the role of Bond and Tomorrow Never Dies released in 1997.  That year Albert Broccoli’s daughter Barbara took over producing reins after the death of her father.  Pierce Brosnan continued as Bond in The World is Not Enough in 1999 and again in Die Another Day.  Quantum of Solace (2008), Skyfall (2012) and Spetcre (2015) all starred Daniel Craig as Bond. However, the first movie to star Craig was Casino Royale in 2006 this time faithfully based on the 1953 novel of the same name.  Casino Royale was first made in 1967 as a comedy loosely based on the novel.  David Niven was featured as Sir James Bond 007.

Scheduled to be released in November 2020 No Time to Die (2020) is the 25^th installment of the Eon produced films.  There’s talk of having a Black actor play Bond, or turn James Bond into a female spy.  Whatever transpires it’s certain Ian Fleming would be most “shaken, not stirred” by the success of his fictional self.

So, obviously, because I wrote about how great the bookstore writing group had been for my productivity and for my mental health our meeting last Thursday was a bit of a slog. It was a dark, rainy day, I had done a lot of office work beforehand, I was (I'm still) struggling with sleeping well, and, sometimes you just don't have it. So even though I was working with characters I love on a project I'm really excited about, the pen across the page started to slow way down. But the music was still playing so I had to keep going, so I wrote this: "[They] witnessed one of the strangest spectacles either had or would ever see."

By posing myself that specific challenge I was able to get another paragraph out that got me through to the end of the half hour and gave me a place to start for the next meeting. (Which is this Thursday if you'd like to virtually join us.) Sometimes these challenging, strange, and surprising questions or challenges are exactly what we need to unlock whatever is we're trying to do. If you're working in fiction, try having one character say to another, "You can't believe what happened to me, yesterday," so you can then write that unbelievable story. Or "This reminds me of a bonkers thing that happened when I was a kid." Or "My grandfather told me this crazy story."

This tangent might be the start of its own distinct piece, or might give you the exact details you need to figure out something else about the project, or just might be fun to write for a bit, which is also valuable. Every page you write counts, even the pages no one else ever sees

Our bookseller bundles have expanded again! For the kiddos Stacey will send you three middle grade (ages 8-12) paperbacks. They'll be quirky or heartwarming or maybe creepy or maybe esoteric or maybe all of the above! But whatever they are they'll be great books. Kate will send you 3 paperbacks from all over the store. Type a word or phrase in the order comments and Kate will pick out three paperbacks for you. Kate reads widely, but you may especially like her picks if you enjoy slightly-off-kilter fiction, works in translation, poetry, and little books about big landscapes.

And don't forget to subscribe to our Events Newsletter for the full line up of events coming up, and to our Kids Newsletter for all the latest on events, new books, reviews, and more for young and young-at-heart readers.