A curated collection

The coastal farming town of Westport serves as a pastoral sleepy getaway in warmer months, but it grows even more quiet in winter.

A few years ago during a cold-time lull, Elizabeth Lane, book buyer for Partners Village Store, a local bookshop, café, and gift store, found herself staring at the beautiful hardcovers languishing on the shelf and wondering how to get more good books into readers’ hands in the off-season.

Her answer was to found Quarterlane Books, a subscription-box service that delivers a curated selection of titles four times a year at the start of each season. Lane handpicks the books, and the boxes are carefully packed and artfully packaged. She said that two of her recent selections included “Weathering’’ by Lucy Wood, “a quiet, atmospheric, lovely ghost story,’’ and “Leaving Lucy Pear,’’ a tale about an abandoned baby and about motherhood by Anna Solomon, who grew up in Gloucester.

The boxes also contain a few small surprises. This winter’s literary package features a lavender candle, a custom print by artist Samantha Hahn, and a calendar diary.

For those who aren’t interested in a subscription, Lane also offers one-off specialty boxes including an epicurean themed one and a collaboration with Juniper Books, which repackages the four Neapolitan novels of Elena Ferrante with specially designed jackets.

Subscription-box services have increased in recent years, and many focus on personal-care products. Lane views books that way. “I wanted to spotlight reading as an act of amazing self care,’’ she said.

Totally Turkle

A visit to Nantucket (and an over-indulgence in lobster there) inspired the late author and illustrator Brinton Turkle to create a series of children’s books featuring Obadiah, a shy, young Quaker boy who lives in the 19th century and has island adventures. Besides those tales, Turkle wrote or illustrated many other books. (Our own favorite of Turkle’s is the frightening, wonderful “Do Not Open’’ about an unflappable Miss Moody and her cat beachcombing after a storm and finding a genie-filled bottle left on the sand.) Turkle’s stories and illustrations are the subject of a new exhibit opening on Dec. 13 at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst. “A Friend Among Us: The Art of Brinton Turkle’’ highlights the Caldecott honoree’s charming, transportive work.

Librarian honored

Over 1,100 people across the country were nominated for this year’s I Love My Librarian Award, and Andrea Bernard of Charlemont was named a winner. The $5,000 prize honors Bernard’s commitment to Tyler Memorial Library and its users: As library director she purchased much-needed public-access computers, established a summer opportunity for kids to participate in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math programs, and even organized flower-arranging classes and ukulele lessons.

Coming Out

“The Pavilion of Former Wives’’by Jonathan Baumbach (Dzanc)

“Culture as Weapon: The Art of Influence in Everyday Life’’ by Nato Thompson (Melville House)

“A Word for Love’’ by Emily Robbins (Riverhead)

Pick of the Week

Autumn Siders at the Country Bookseller in Wolfeboro, N.H., recommends “Hag-Seed’’ by Margaret Atwood (Hogarth): “What could be better than . . . [o]ne of The Bard’s stories with Margaret Atwood’s touch. Felix is staging a unique “Tempest.’’ When it all falls apart, he ends up living in exile [and spends] twelve years planning revenge until the perfect opportunity arrives at a theatre course in a nearby prison. The story may have been told before, but Atwood adds new surprises and superb writing.’’

Nina MacLaughlin is the author of “Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter’’ and can be reached at nmaclaughlin@gmail.com.