Dear Great Book Guru, With the Sea Cliff Baseball/Softball season about to begin - I’m throwing out the opening pitch - I cannot contain my excitement! However, while I’m a great fan of the game, I do like to have a good book with me at all times. Do you have something to recommend for me when things slow down on the field? Ardent Book and Baseball Fan.................................. Dear Ardent Book and Baseball Fan, Emma Straub, one of my favorite authors and owner of my absolute favorite bookstore “Books Are Magic” in Brooklyn, has just come out with a new book: AMERICAN FANTASY. Set on a cruise ship hosting three thousand fans of a 1990’s fictional band, BoyTalk, this three-hundred-page novel introduces us to the world of aging boy band fandom from the perspectives of Sarah, the cruise ship manager, Keith, the fifty year-old member of the band, and Annie, one of the band’s multitude of fans. Annie is on the cruise reluctantly – her sister Katherine, a diehard fan, had convinced her to come along. Things were going badly for Annie - she was recently divorced, her daughter had moved out, and she had just learned her job of two decades had been given to a young intern influencer. When her sister breaks her leg and is unable to go on the cruise, Annie tries desperately to get out of the trip to no avail. Very soon into the four-day voyage, her spirits lift, she relives the exuberance of her teen years, and a shipboard romance develops. This is a fun read that contains some profound insights into what it means to revisit one’s past and revive earlier passions - highly recommended!