Dear Great Book Guru, I was at the first Sunset Serenade of the summer last week - it was great! Larry Martone & Friends entertained a crowd of almost two hundred fans of all ages. During the night, I overheard some concertgoers mentioning a book they had read for their book club -a novel set in California and sprinkled with lots of references to music from the ‘80s. It sounded interesting - thoughts?  Sunset Serenade Fan

Dear Sunset Serenade Fan - I too love those concerts - every Thursday from 6 to 8pm you will find my friends and me cheering on our local musicians at Clifton Park. THE IMAGINED LIFE by Andrew Porter is the novel mentioned.  Steve Mills is a fifty-year-old who leaves his wife and young son to travel along the coast of California in an attempt to find out what happened to his father who disappeared in 1984 when Steve was twelve.  His wife cautions him that he might not be happy with what he discovers. The novel shifts back and forth between his life before and after his father’s disappearance.  He had been a brilliant, charismatic professor of literature whose life and career came to a devastating halt when he was denied tenure.  His increasingly erratic behavior doubtlessly contributed to this outcome, but in-fighting, jealous colleagues, and campus politics were also in play.  During his odyssey, Steve gets to talk to his father’s friends and enemies, and a story emerges of a very complicated man - a man Steve desperately misses. Throughout, he imagines what his life would have been like if his father had not disappeared.  A book suffused with music and memories of the time….  Recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru, I was at the Sea Cliff Beautification Garden Tour last week - it was fabulous! The organizers did their usual great job and the gardens were amazing. While on the tour, someone mentioned a debut novel that sounded very interesting - mysterious phenomena with comedic and religious implications. Thoughts?  Garden Goer

Dear Garden Goer, THE NIMBUS by Robert P. Baird is an intellectually challenging read and great fun at the same time. Adrian Bennett, a theology professor at a school modeled loosely on the University of Chicago School of Divinity, is startled to discover his two-year-old son Luca is glowing - a soft, pulsating, pink, blue, neon-like light that comes and goes unpredictably and becomes known as the nimbus.  Some can see this glow but others, including the boy’s mother Renata, cannot. Paul Harkins, a doctoral student in the department, is the first to notice the glow and finds himself becoming more and more enmeshed in the lives of the family.  Warren Kayita, an aging theology school dropout who now works as a librarian at the university is being pursued by a dangerous mobster because of ever growing debt but sees a way out of his predicament - the debt will be forgiven if he can arrange a meeting with the toddler.  Parenting, marriage roles, academic politics, religious beliefs are examined – many times with great humor but eventually all clash in a dramatic but satisfying conclusion, and we are left to consider: what is belief and what is the desire to believe?  Highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, I had such fun last week at the Sea Cliff Village-wide Garage Sale.  The Friends of the Library had a great selection of books, and I bought a few by my favorite author Chris Pavone. Someone mentioned at the sale that he has a new novel. Is it true…and - if so - I’m very excited!  Garage Sale Groupie

Dear Garage Sale Groupie, Yes - good news…THE DOORMAN, Chris Pavone’s latest novel, just came out and it is a spectacular read.  Set in New York City in the Bohemia - purported to be the world’s most famous apartment building (think the Dakota) - the story focuses on four characters: the building’s doorman, Chicky Diaz, and three of its residents.  Chicky is a former U.S.Marine, recently widowed. Julian Sonnenberg is an art dealer with a checkered past and a very bad medical diagnosis. Emily Longsworth is the wife of Whit, a billionaire whose wealth has loathsome origins. She is desperately unhappy but an onerous pre-nup agreement keeps her married to Whit. Other residents include dog-loving, human-hating Ethel Frum and Gucker Goff, bubble-wrap billionaire, and a myriad of colorful supporting characters. Chicky dutifully greets all by name, never shares his problems, walks their dogs, protects their children and remains basically invisible until trouble arises! Trouble in the form of racial riots besieging the city. And the residents of the Bohemia are not immune to its violence. Only Chicky can protect them, they feel, but can he?  An absorbing tale of class divide, domestic drama, and racial unrest… highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru, Last night my friends and I were at a cast party at our favorite restaurant, La Famiglia in Glen Cove, when someone mentioned a book she had just read that was set mostly in Bayville and had lots of references to North Shore towns and landmarks. I’ m very interested – are you familiar with it?  Fan of the North Shore

Dear Fan of the North Shore, JOHNNY CARELESS by Kevin Wade is a fascinating read.  Jeep Mullane grew up in the small town of Bayville and has returned as head of police after a stellar career in the New York City Police Department. His father had been a local policeman also, so Jeep knew the difficulties of living and working in the same community especially one where class and money disparities are widespread.  His best friend from childhood, Johnny Chambliss, was from a wealthy family and he appeared to live a charmed life with a charismatic personality, beautiful wife, and unlimited resources.  When his body washes ashore on the opening pages, Jeep is determined to solve the mystery of his life and death.  As he learns more and more about the people and places that featured in Johnny’s life, Jeep is troubled by the “carelessness” of his friend.  Reminiscent at times of The Great Gatsby, this novel presents us with a cast of characters that seem intent on living lives not of quiet desperation, but of wanton disregard for those not of their class. While there are many humorous moments, the underlying story is disturbing, but very compelling.  Highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, My friends and I had such fun at the Great Gatsby Trivia contest that was the Library’s part of Celebrate Sea Cliff Day. The weather was beautiful, and we were set up outside the Library on Village Green. While we were waiting to begin, one of the library patrons passing by mentioned a mystery based on the Great Gatsby.  I’m intrigued!   Gatsby Obsessive

Dear Gatsby Obsessive, THE GATSBY GAMBIT by Claire Anderson-Wheeler is a wonderful way to experience THE GREAT GATSBY in a totally different way. First, it is a mystery in the manner of Agatha Christie, and the characters from the original novel appear with all their same virtues and vices. The setting too is the same - 1920’s Gold Coast Long Island. The storyline however changes dramatically as we are immediately introduced to a new character – Gatsby’s sister Greta. Six years younger, she is her brother’s ward and is thrilled to be joining him now after graduation.  On the LIRR train ride to Great Neck, she thinks excitedly about all that awaits her, but when she arrives at her brother’s opulent mansion, she is dismayed to find Daisy and Tom living there with Gatsby. Shortly after her arrival, Tom is found dead on Gatsby’s yacht, and it becomes her mission to prove her brother’s innocence. Throughout, we experience the lush, decadent lifestyle of the Gatsby characters from the perspective of this clever young girl.  The fun arises from meeting characters we are very familiar with but in a different plot line with a very different outcome. Having read THE GREAT GATSBY several times as many of you have, it was a treat to celebrate the novel’s 100^th anniversary with this imaginative take on its themes of wealth, power, and greed. Highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, I am looking forward to Celebrate Sea Cliff Day this coming Saturday.  I’ m particularly excited about Great Gatsby Trivia on the Village Green. But I really need a short but compelling read to recommend to my book club.  Any suggestions?  Sea Cliff Day Celebrant

Dear Sea Cliff Day Celebrant, I just finished a fascinating novel - AUDITION by Katie Kitamura. The story opens with a middle-aged actress standing outside a New York City restaurant deciding if she should go in to meet Xavier, a young student. She almost turns away, but no… she joins him and a strange but beautiful story unfolds.  Is he her son (impossible she explains) and is that Toma her husband who she sees across the room and why is he here?  There is a definite sense of mystery and foreboding. With the next chapter a whole new story begins.  In this version she and Toma are home with Xavier who is now their son. While we quickly realize she is an unreliable narrator, we are now forced to deal with two totally different narratives.  Is she acting in two distinct plays and who is her audience? The roles that parents and children play in different stages are described in exquisite detail, but when Hana, a fourth character, joins the family, roles shift once again. Throughout, we are confronted with the reality that “all the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.” A novel that will perplex and delight – highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru, Last week my family and I gathered for our annual Spring celebration here in Sea Cliff, and everyone was talking about a new book by a favorite Irish author. It’s about the sea and sounded a bit like The Heart of Darkness. Have you read it? Smitten by the Sea

 Dear Smitten by the Sea, Colum McCann’s TWIST, his newest book, is indeed about the sea but so much more. As many of McCann’s books do, this latest is a story of connections: the enormous undersea cables that connect us to the cyberworld and each other. The book’s narrator is Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist whose latest assignment is to write about the hidden world of undersea cables that carry all the world’s data and what happens when these cables break.  He waits for notice of a break and, when it happens, finds himself aboard a ship bound for West Africa and commandeered by John Conway, an inscrutable genius with a mysterious history.  Many of the crew also have back stories that connect with the underground sea world – a world more unfathomable than outer space.  Throughout, Fennell refers back to Zanele, the beautiful partner of Conway, and the twists that link her to the mission.  The realization that so much of human connection relies on fragile cables miles below the earth at the bottom of the sea is both startling and horrifying.  A beautifully written book with echoes of The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, The Odyssey and - yes of course - The Heart of Darkness… highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru, One of my favorites places in the world is Venice and I have visited it many, many times over the years. Alas, this year I’m not able to make the journey.  Do you have books that might help me experience Venice while in Sea Cliff?                                        Lover of All Thing Venetian

Dear Lover of All Things Venetian, I too am a huge fan of Venice and often tell my friends that Sea Cliff and Venice are so very much alike. I do admit they usually look puzzled at this comparison!  But I have a perfect solution to your malaise – Donna Leon’s newest literary mystery: A REFINER’S FIRE. This is the thirty-third book in her Commissario Brunetti series. Brunetti is a seasoned lawyer, police commissioner, and Roman scholar. His wife, a Henry James expert, teaches at the university.   This book opens in early spring 2024 and Venice is dealing with the problem of “baby gangs” - young boys all under fourteen - thus too young to be prosecuted.  They stage wild meetups just to appear on social media. When these rival gangs are picked up by the police, parents are called to retrieve them. One of the boys is left and a kindly policewoman walks him home.  This good deed opens up an amazing tale of deceit, corruption and violence going back to 2002 with its aftermath coloring the lives of high-powered government officials and low level mobsters. Throughout this, we see the unique beauty of Venice’s plazas, churches, canals, and byzantine streets.  As always, the crime is secondary to the story - and the story is always Venice - highly recommended! 

 

 Dear Great Book Guru, I am so excited…. the Barbara Pym Society of Sea Cliff will be attending the North American Pym Society’s annual conference in Cambridge Massachusetts next week.  We are putting on a dramatized reading of one of Pym’s novels.  I hope to meet up with Pym fans from around the world. Passionate Pym Player

Dear Passionate Pym Player, What fun awaits you and your friends!  Barbara Pym’s A FEW GREEN LEAVES is the last of the novels written by Pym - completed a few months before her death in 1980.  Set in the 1970’s in  a small village outside of London, the story centers on the changes that society has experienced since Pym’s first novel in 1935, SOME TAME GAZELLE.  The Church’s role has been replaced by the medical offices where prescriptions for the villagers have taken the place of blessings.  Emma Howick has recently moved from London and finds herself studying the villagers through her practiced anthropologist’s eye. The characters include a rather ineffectual widowed clergyman Tom, his sister Daphne who yearns to leave for life on  a Greek island, the local doctor who hands out those prescriptions to the ill and not so ill, a former lover of Emma’s Graham Pettifer who settles in to finish a novel, a former clergyman turned food critic, and numerous other eccentrics  who play  varying roles in the life of the village.  Throughout the often-hilarious encounters, there is a sense of melancholy as one sees the inevitable changes that time has brought to this once vibrant village.  Dan DiPietro’s adaptation, to be performed at the conference, captures this and the cast he has assembled bring it to life. Highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, We were in Brooklyn recently and visited a great new book store Liz’s Book Bar, in Carroll Gardens.  Some of the customers were talking about a new book written by the owner of the store.  They were very enthusiastic, but I didn’t hear the title of the book.  Any idea? Brooklyn Bookstore Fan

Dear Brooklyn Bookstore Fan, I have been to Liz’s Book Bar too ( Liz is the owner’s grandmother) and read  Maura Cheeks’s debut novel ACTS OF FORGIVENESS.  Set in the near future, the nation is just about to pass the Forgiveness Act - a federal reparations bill by which Black families would be able to claim up to $175,000 if they could prove their ancestors were enslaved. Willie Revel is sure she can gather the necessary documentation but quickly finds there are many obstacles in her way.  The money would be a terrific boon to her and her young daughter as she struggles to save the family construction business from bankruptcy.  Her parents and siblings are not as eager as she is to delve into the past.  Her mother is adopted and uneasy about what might be discovered about her past. Her father is wary of government involvement and is fearful his past business deals could complicate the process. Meanwhile Willie’s young daughter – a scholarship student at an elite private school - dreads the attention her mother’s quest might bring.  The more Willie researches the past, the more she realizes how complicated both history and family can be.  A compelling read and highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, I am a great fan of Sea Cliff author Michael Sears and his novels with their colorful New York City and Long Island  backdrops. I’m hoping he has a new one in the works …. or possibly out already?    Mystery Maven

Dear Mystery Maven, You are in luck… LOVE THE STRANGER, Michael Sears’ latest book is out, and it is another spectacular take on life in New York City, especially the neighborhoods of Queens - from Hollis to Howard Beach to Astoria - “the most ethnically diverse urban area” in the world. Sears tells the story from the perspective of Ted Molloy, an attorney working to right the wrongs of a society that is brutal and opportunistic. He had been a partner in a high-end Manhattan law firm but his battle with real estate mogul Ronald Reisner brought that to an end. Reisner is known for his neighborhood destroying developments and his latest is a towering giant in Corona that would uproot a huge swath of immigrant families.  Stop the Spike is Molloy and his girl friend Kenzie’s attempt to save the neighborhood.  Aided by a collection of colorful employees and friends, the two encounter massive corruption on many levels. The plight of recent immigrants who are being victimized by unscrupulous attorneys is an intriguing subplot. Mohammed, a Yemini cab driver, Lester - Ted’s felon-turned-partner, the Collins Guards - an armed quasi military security force, all add to the richness of the story.  While there is no absence of mystery and violence, it is the character development and political messaging that make this novel stand out. Highly recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, I am so excited - my favorite author Anne Tyler’s latest book has just  been released, and I can’t wait to read it - just the thing for a cold, blustery Sea Cliff day! Have you read it yet – can’ t wait to hear your thoughts.  An Anne Tyler Fan

Dear Anne Tyler Fan, I too love Anne Tyler and THREE DAYS IN JUNE - her twenty-fifth novel - has my overwhelming approval. The narrator of the story is Gail Baines and from the start we have reason to question her reliability. Like so many of Tyler’s characters, Gail is quirky or as her supervisor says: “she lacks people skills.”  We meet Gail on the day before her daughter’s wedding. She has just been either fired or resigned from her job (depending upon whom you ask) as an administrator at a private school. She arrives home to find, much to her dismay, her ex-husband Max settling in with a rescue cat he has brought along  for the wedding - despite the groom’s deathly allergy to cats. At the rehearsal dinner that night her daughter tells her parents a secret she has just found out that might cause her to cancel the wedding. For the next two days Gail reminisces about the past and questions decisions she herself has made. While there is much humor throughout, Tyler shows such great compassion and understanding for Gail, the reader comes to feel a profound appreciation for her and all her eccentricities.  Highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru, a group of friends gathered last week to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King with a reading of his “I Have a Dream” speech.  At this event there was much discussion of a fictionalized version of a recent political campaign. Are you familiar with this novel and, if so, would you recommend it?  Eager Reader

Dear Eager Reader, Vinson Cunningham has written an amazing novel mirroring the historic 2008 campaign of Barack Obama: GREAT EXPECTATIONS. The story begins in 2007 and David Hammond is a twenty-two year old Black man adrift in New York City. He has been recruited as a fundraiser for “the Senator” - later referred to as “the Candidate” - who is indistinguishable from Barack Obama. David is the narrator throughout and we are introduced to a myriad of characters that each play a role in this historic campaign. The mundane chores and the glitzy galas are all exquisitely described as we watch David question his own motivation and those around him. Interspersed are flashbacks to his childhood and the impact of teachers, ministers, and family on his present moral code.  We share in his exaltation when the election results come in, but we also feel the letdown he experiences when the race is over and the work of governing begins. The book is largely autobiographical with some names changed and others not.  Cunningham did indeed begin his career as a worker in the Obama campaign, so this novel is a coming of age tale of yes… great expectations met and unmet.  Highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, I was at the Silent Book Club at the Campground in Sea Cliff recently and the person sitting near me went on and on about the book she was reading, She said it was a combination of the TV series “White Lotus” and the play “Bad Seed”. I was intrigued but forgot to get the title. Any idea?  Eager Reader

Dear Eager Reader, I just finished HAVOC by Christopher Bollen and it certainly had a “White Lotus” feel coupled with lots of psychological drama. Set in Luxor, Egypt, at the Royal Karnick Palace Hotel, the story is narrated by Maggie Burkhardt, an American octogenarian (think a malevolent Agatha Christie) who is set on solving the many problems of her fellow hotel guests. Having made friends with other long-term guests and staff, she is sure this new hotel will be her permanent home. While it has become a bit shabby, it definitely has vestiges of its luxurious past. When a troubled young woman and her eight-year-old son check in, Maggie immediately plots to “improve” their lives.  We soon realize there is much we don’t know about Maggie, and she is a very unreliable narrator. As her efforts create one disaster after another, we come to sympathize with everyone she attempts to help. Richly developed characters and an exquisite description of Luxor make this a highly recommended choice!

Dear Great Book Guru, I just came from my family holiday reunion in Point Lookout and one of the cousins was very insistent we all read a new book based on a novel by Mark Twain.  Do you know about and- if so - would you recommend it?  Book Lover 2025

Dear Book Lover 2025, JAMES  by Percival Everett is an amazing book and has won many awards. Based on Twain’s ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN, this novel is told from the perspective of Jim, the enslaved companion of Huckleberry Finn.  James - as he refers to himself - is a cultured, well-read, highly articulate man who accompanies Finn on his journey down the Mississippi River - not as a buffoon sidekick, but as a wise mentor.  Throughout the book, he switches back and forth in language and demeanor as he desperately tries to escape the life of a slave while also trying to reunite with his wife and child. The tension mounts as his true identity is almost discovered many times and violence encircles many of his fellow travelers. His adventures mirror Twain’s Jim but show a side to these adventures which is both enlightening and horrifying.  James runs all his public speech through a “slave filter” making himself appear foolish and gullible. When he is forced to join a minstrel show and don black face, we come full circle to the absurdity of racism. As he moves back and forth between the worlds of the oppressed and the oppressor, we are struck with the natural dignity of this man. Highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru,  Well as we begin 2025, I have made some resolutions and increasing my reading is right up there - perhaps #1.  Do you have something quick moving- attention-grabbing to get me started?    Enthusiastic 2025 Reader

Dear Enthusiastic,  I have just the book for you: SHELL GAMES  by Bonnie Kistler.  I heard her interviewed on NPR a few months ago and I was fascinated with the premise.  A psychological thriller , the novel opens in 2023 with the marriage of high school sweethearts who have been separated for fifty years and fate supposedly has brought them together. Kate is a fabulously wealthy real estate developer with deep Florida political connections. Charlie is a mysterious but charismatic war hero.  On their wedding night Charlie allegedly makes a confession: he was the infamous Tylenol murderer of the 1980’s.  When Kate recoils in horror and calls the police, Charlie denies the confession and suggests Kate is suffering from dementia.  Kate’s daughter Julie refuses to believe either of them  and  soon questions her own marriage and friendships and the role they may play in this bizarre tale.   The mind manipulation and “gaslighting” throughout leave the reader questioning every piece of evidence presented.  Underlying the mystery is the fact that the actual Tylenol murderer in which multiple people were killed as a result of bottle tampering  was never found.  An unforgettable tale and a great beginning for your 2025 reading journey - highly recommended!