Dear Great Book Guru, This is the Columbus Day weekend coming up and I have a  wedding to go to in Brooklyn …my dear friends Claire and Rich are getting married. While I am waiting for the festivities to begin, I would love a good book to read.  Any suggestions?   Very Excited Wedding Guest

Dear Very Excited Wedding Guest, I just finished an interesting novel by Ann Leary : THE CHILDREN.  It is set in northern Connecticut at a wealthy lakeside resort community.  Whit Whitman had inherited a rambling mansion on the lake and with his death, his second wife continues to live there harmoniously with an assortment of children and stepchildren.  That is until…one of the children brings home a glamorous, accomplished fiancée with a mysterious back story. Soon longtime resentments surface and this strange paradise begins to collapse. The story is told from the unreliable perspective of Charlotte Maynard, a twenty-nine year-old who finds it difficult to leave her late, charismatic stepfather’s home. Gradually we learn of the many material and psychological burdens each of the children bears.  In addition, there is an odd but fascinating subplot involving a “mommy blog” that is cyber attacked.  This is a fast moving, entertaining read- perfect for a wedding weekend.  Our best wishes to the bride and groom!