Dear Great Book Guru, I am in search of a compelling, amusing, challenging read for the cold winter week ahead. PS I love spy thrillers! Weary Winter Reader Dear Weary Winter Reader, I too love a good spy thriller and I just finished a great one: CLOWN TOWN by Mick Herron. Herron has written a series of novels starring the Slow Horses - a group of misfits - members of MI5 (British equivalent in some ways of our FBI) who for medical or psychological reasons have been put on leave. The name comes from their headquarters, Slough House, but more so for their flawed performances. The story opens in Oxford, England where River Cartwright - grandson of David Cartwright who had been the esteemed head of MI5 - is waiting for medical clearance to return to active duty in the organization. River decides to research his grandfather’s library of books recently bequeathed on his death to his alma mater. To River’s puzzlement, one of the books is missing - a book that covered the perilous Troubles - the period in which Irish freedom fighters were terrorizing England. The disgraced and demoted spies – the Slow Horses - are brought in secretly by MI5 to unravel the mysteries of long ago that now threaten to upend a hard-earned peace. Jackson Lamb, leader of the Slow Hoses team and a dissolute genius, would rather his people - his “clowns” - not become involved but is himself intrigued by the politics and possible security lapses of the past. A cast of colorful characters, numerous humorous plot twists, and a clever surprise ending make for a great read and highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, I just came back from Sea Cliff’s Polar Bear Plunge - what fun! While at the beach, some people were talking about a mystery their book club had chosen. It was set on Long Island but had an Irish twist. It sounded great - any thoughts? Polar Bear Plunger.......... Dear Polar Bear Plunger, THE IRISH GOODBYE by Heather Aimee O’Neill is a wonderful book to start the new year. Set on the North Fork of Long Island - perhaps Greenport - the novel opens in 1990 where we meet three sisters: Maggie, Caitlin, and Alice Ryan and their brother Topher. A terrible boating accident has just occurred, and a young friend, Daniel Larkin, is dead. To the girls’ confusion and horror, Topher is taken away by the local police. The next chapter fast forwards to 2015. The sisters are back at the family home for the holidays, each with an intriguing, albeit troubling life story. Their mother who had been raised in an Irish orphanage is viewed by all as strict and very judgmental. Each sister harbors secrets she desperately wants to hide from her mother. Into this turmoil the question of Topher and the boating accident arises, and we realize each of the sisters knows much more than has been revealed. The term “Irish goodbye” has come to mean slipping away from a party to avoid long farewells and in this story there has been a ghostly departure that still haunts the Ryan family after twenty-five years. A compelling read and highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, One of my New Year’s Eve resolutions for 2026 is to read more prize-winning books – perhaps one a week. Can you start me off? Determined Book Lover........... Dear Determined Book Lover, The 2025 Booker Prize winner is a great place to start: FLESH by David Szalay. We meet our hero Istvan as a fifteen year old living with his mother in a shabby Hungarian apartment complex. Their lives are difficult emotionally and financially, and Istvan is eager to move on. When he is hired by another tenant- an older woman- to run errands, things become easier but a chance encounter with her husband results in the husband’s death- was it an accident or was it…murder? Throughout, the novel poses these quandaries – does our hero know more, do more, feel more than his monologue suggests. Istvan response to every question, every situation is “OK” (one reviewer counted 340 OK’s in a 351-page book ). There is a strong Dickensian feel as Istvan faces obstacle after obstacle –juvenile prison, a stint in Iraq , a perhaps heroic moment on the battlefield, rescue by a wealthy patron…. A large part of the book chronicles his fortuitous encounters with influential men and women who see in him qualities he doesn’t recognize in himself and use him to their advantage. As he meets up with these vividly drawn characters, you want to cry out- “no, no- don’t believe them” but our hero goes forward blithely unaware. In the end, we see Everyman in Istvan – stumbling through an OK life. Highly recommended

Dear Great Book Guru, Do you have a list of your favorite books of 2025? I’d love to see if any of my favorites overlap with any of yours. Great Book Lover........... Dear Great Book Lover, I hope we agree on at least some. It was a good year, so it was hard to settle on ten favorites, but here they are in no particular order except for my number one choice: GODS OF NEW YORK. GODS OF NEW YORK – Jonathan Mahler WHAT WE CAN KNOW - Ian McEwan WILD DARK SHORE - Charlotte McConaghy HOLLOW SPACES - Victor Suthammanont NIMBUS - Robert P. Baird THE DOORMAN - Chris Pavone ACTS OF FORGIVENESS - Maura Cheeks THREE DAYS IN JUNE - Anne Tyler JAMES - Percival Everett SHELL GAMES - Bonnie Kistler

Dear Great Book Guru, What a weekend we have had here in Sea Cliff - the Scrooge Stroll, Roots of Gratitude Concert, the Wassail Walk, the Tree and Menorah Lighting, finished off with a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus! Now I think it’s time to relax and settle down with a good book. Any recommendations? In the Holiday Spirit Dear In the Holiday Spirit, I just read a compelling, albeit disturbing, novel - A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF by Megha Majumdar. Set slightly in the future in the Indian city of Kolkata, the story is told from the perspectives of Ma - a middle-class government administrator - and Boomba - a young worker from an impoverished family. These two are both guardians and thieves. In the beginning of the novel, we learn Ma has been stealing food and money from the agency she has headed, and Boomba has witnessed this. He himself has broken into Ma’s home and stolen money and valuables from her. In both cases they have been doing so to aid/guard their families. Ma has been planning furiously to emigrate to the United States with her elderly father and toddler daughter to join her husband who is teaching at a prestigious university. Inadvertently, Boomba has stolen and discarded the family’s passports and visas, ruining Ma’s plans. Both Ma and Boomba become desperate as they see their families’ plights grow more and more bleak in a country bordering on collapse as environmental forces worsen. Throughout we witness these two struggle in their roles as both thief and guardian, and our sympathies shift from one to the other. Beautifully written,this book has a haunting presence-highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, Now that the Thanksgiving festivities are over and the December whirlwind of celebrations is about to begin, please, please recommend a book that will challenge my mind but also will also be on everyone’s “must read” list. Eager Reader......... Dear Eager Reader, I just finished George Packer’s debut novel THE EMERGENCY. Packer is a prolific writer of nonfiction - THE UNWINDING, OUR MAN, THE ASSASSINS’ GATE, and many more, so this book is a definite departure. Set possibly in the future in an undisclosed nation, the Emergency is a revolution of sorts told from the perspectives of three people: Hugo Rustin - a highly respected surgeon, Annabelle - his wife, and Selva - his daughter. Theirs is a comfortable, well-ordered life until the morning everything changes. Law and order disappear, and the norms of society are upended. There have been three classes: Burghers (the elite urbanites), the Yeoman (rural farmers), and the Strangers (nomadic outliers). With the coming of the Emergency, the Burghers find themselves society’s outcasts, while the Strangers are welcomed with great enthusiasm by the young revolutionaries. “Together” becomes the new governing force that all are expected to embrace. Rustin finds himself at odds at work and at home as his wife and daughter align themselves with the new movement. While many of these new ideas seem plausible and welcome remedies to society’s injustices, others appear destined to destroy this unnamed nation. Throughout, we sense Packer is using the “emergency” to warn us of catastrophic upheavals that might await us. A thought-provoking book indeed… and highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, With the holidays approaching, I will be feasting with friends and family - always great fun! I am particularly excited because we have heard one of our friends is coming out with his first novel. Do you know anything about it? Fan of the Holidays...... Dear Fan of the Holidays, yes – long-time Sea Cliff resident Charles Hansmann has written his debut novel SKYLIGHTING. It should be available just after Thanksgiving. The story opens in Ireland at Shannon airport. Our first-person narrator Nick and his wife Erin are joyfully embarking on a journey headed towards Dublin when moments into the story, the car crashes and Erin is dead. The remainder of the novel becomes a Homeric odyssey as Nick travels from place to place - continent to continent - in an attempt to assuage his grief and guilt. Along the way he meets an assortment of characters - each offering him some insight into existence. A teenage girl is his first encounter, and her troubled tale sends him searching further. Along the way he meets a myriad of characters – some troubling, some nurturing, always described in exquisite detail. As he travels from one city to another, we sense an underlying mystery that is about to be revealed, but like Odysseus, our hero finds the quest reward enough. Highly recommended !