Dear Great Book Guru,  This is an amazing few days  here in Sea Cliff- first, on Saturday, the Village-Wide Garage Sale sponsored by the Sea Cliff Civic Association; then on Sunday,  Springfest, a creation of Kathleen DiResta and Trustee Ed Lieberman, in which local organizations, artists, and musicians gather together to celebrate the spirit of Sea Cliff. Later in the day everyone will meet at Clifton Park to hear the eighty piece Northwinds Band perform from 5 to 6pm.  Phil Como, the organizer of the event, suggests everyone bring blankets, chairs, and a picnic dinner.  When will I find time to read? Do you have something relatively short but definitely worthwhile?  Enjoying June in Sea Cliff

Dear Enjoying June…, A great, great weekend awaits us, indeed!  I just finished a wonderful book that I would like to share: REGENERATION by Pat Barker.  This novel is set in an English convalescent home for officers damaged in combat during World War I.  It is peopled by historical figures such as Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owens, and W.H.R.Rivers ( who pioneered the treatment of post traumatic shock) plus fictional characters who represent various classes of English society. Those of you who enjoy “Downton Abbey” may find this a disturbing but revealing sidebar to the series. And as we approach the 100^th anniversary of the Great War- as it was called,  this novel reminds us of how truly little we have learned. Highly recommended!

Reminder: Who will be this year’s recipients of the prestigious White Caps awarded by the Sea Cliff Civic Association to those who have shown extraordinary community spirit?  Come to the Metro Bistro on Tuesday, June 10 at 8pm to find out….

Another book I enjoyed  and might appeal to some of my readers: FROM POMPEII by Ingrid Rowland. Rowland traces the history of the ill-fated city of Pompeii. Renoir, Mozart, Freud, Dickens, and Mark Twain among countless others,  found inspiration in this Roman city, where in 79 CE,  time did stop.