Dear Great Book Guru, 

Over the holidays, I heard from a lot of my friends about their favorite new books and many have mentioned one they found horrifyingly prescient. It is set close to home – on the East End of Long Island with characters that are eerily familiar. Do you know the book and - if so - would you recommend?   Books for the New Year

Dear Books for the New Year, I recently finished LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND by Rumaan Alam - a truly terrifying tale.  Amanda and Clay leave Manhattan with their two teenage children, Archie and Rose, for a two-week vacation at a luxurious rental home in a secluded spot on the far reaches of Long Island. Their cell phones have notoriously poor service so there is little concern at first when they lose contact with friends back home. However, a late-night knock on the door reveals that the world as they knew it has come to an end.  The owners, George and Ruth, have fled New York City because a sudden blackout has swept the nation.  This affluent, sophisticated Black couple are viewed with suspicion and racial stereotyping, but each couple soon comes to realize their need for each other.   Loud sonic blasts fill the air and strange illnesses develop. With TV and internet down, it is impossible to know the nature of this disaster. Comparisons to the present pandemic are of course uppermost in readers’ minds.  A book you will not be able to put down - highly recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, My friends and I have been watching and discussing lots of films over the last months and we all agree that Alfred Hitchcock’s are spellbinding.  We have decided to focus on his works on a weekly basis.  Do you have any books to suggest that will help us on our journey?                           Hooked on Hitchcock

Dear Hooked on Hitchcock, I have the perfect book for you: A YEAR OF HITCHCOCK by Jim McDeVitt and Eric San Juan.  The authors have organized this book into fifty-two chapters covering 68 works of Hitchcock.  Starting with his silent films (“The Lodger” and “The Farmer’s Wife”), they analyze his entire body of works, week by week, including some episodes of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” which appeared on TV from 1958 through 1961.  Each week follows the same format: key film facts, a synopsis, trivia, recurring themes, things to look for, awards, and a critical appraisal/ranking.  “Rear Window” and “North By Northwest” are mentioned as standouts in a career of spectacular successes, but each week offers insight into yet another of Hitchcock’s films.  Because it is chronologically organized, you can see the progression and development of common themes which the authors define in the appendix.  Like you, my friends and I are planning a weekly virtual Hitchcock discussion group starting in January and working our way through 2021… with this book in hand!

 Dear Great Book Guru, I read in today’s paper that spy novelist John Le Carre died over the weekend. While a big fan of his books and movies over the years, I don’t think I have read his latest work. Are you familiar with it and - if so - would you recommend it?  Sanguine for Spies

Dear Sanguine for Spies, I too am a fan of John Carre and just recently read his last work: AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD.  It is set in 2018 and touches on many of the moral and political issues facing both the UK and the US. The hero of the novel is Nat, a forty-seven-year-old member of the British Secret Intelligence Service - MI6.  A British citizen, he grew up in France and is the son of a Scottish aristocrat and Russian exile.  While in Cambridge, he was recruited by MI6 where he met Prue, a young lawyer. When we meet him, the couple has been married for many years and his time as a double agent throughout Eastern Europe has badly damaged their relationship. His passion – outside of work - is badminton. When he is challenged by Ed, a young player, Nat quickly accepts only to find himself enmeshed in Ed’s obsessive preoccupation with the ravages of Brexit and British decline. When he is offered a shabby assignment in London, Nat reluctantly accepts, knowing his and Britain’s best days are long over. A stunning indictment of present-day politics and highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, We just watched the Sea Cliff-Glen Head Lions Club’s video of the Menorah and Christmas Tree Lighting.  It was spectacular and really put me in the holiday mood.  I am thinking of book gift giving.  Any ideas to start with?  In a Holiday Mood

 Dear In A Holiday Mood, I just finished a book you might enjoy reading yourself before giving as a gift: MONOGAMY by Sue Miller.  We are introduced to Graham and Annie in the opening pages - they had met thirty years before at the grand opening of Graham’s bookstore near Harvard Square in Cambridge. This bookstore plays an important role throughout their marriage. In the very first pages of the book, Graham dies and the rest of the novel explores the impact his life and death have on those around him.  The story is told over many decades and from many perspectives: mostly Annie’s but also their children Sarah and Lucas, Graham’s first wife Frieda, long time friends, an aging neighbor Karen, and Graham himself.  Annie and he seem an unlikely match: he is a bon vivant - large, exuberant, intensely social while she is a photographer - small, reserved and introspective.  Many aspects of their relationship are gradually revealed and, in the end, we are left with a feeling of bittersweet sorrow over the complexity of all human interaction. Highly recommended!

 Dear Great Book Guru, Now that we are into December, I really need a good book to help with the darkness of winter - something that will keep me distracted. I do love mysteries!                         Deep in December Doldrums

 Dear Deep in December Doldrums, The book I’m recommending this week is admittedly dark, but definitely distracting: THE ABSTAINER by Ian McGuire. The story opens in Manchester, England 1867 with the hanging of three Irish loyalists - members of the Fenian Brotherhood. The abstainer of the title is James O’Connor, a police official who has recently arrived from Ireland. He is getting over the death of his wife and a serious drinking problem. Manchester is an industrial powerhouse replete with pollution, corruption, and violence. O’Connor talks of the fog, bleak homes, and a downtrodden people that contrast with the bucolic land he left behind. What is not left behind is the hatred the Irish rebels feel for English oppression. As the only Irishman on the police force, he is trusted by neither side and his attempts at peacemaking are resented by all. When Fenian sympathizer Stephen Doyle arrives from America, O’Connor is confronted with an enemy he both fears and respects. The conflict between the two men becomes unbearably tense and the reader is hard-pressed not to see issues that resonate today: divided loyalties, political corruption, and police neutrality. Highly recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, With our Thanksgiving weekend plans pretty much limited to long walks and time at home, there is lots of time for a good book.  I would love a mystery – one with an interesting locale and characters - always a number one choice of mine.  Any recommendations? Holiday Weekender

 Dear Holiday Weekender, One of my favorite mystery writers, Tana French, just came out with a new book: THE SEARCHER. As usual, French sets the story in present-day Ireland.  Cal Hooper has moved into a farmhouse that has been abandoned for over twenty years. Cal is a retired Chicago police detective who is trying to build a new life far from the tensions of his job and ex-wife Donna.  His daughter Alyssa is his only connection to his former life and theirs is a troubled relationship.  Shortly after moving in, Cal finds the quiet serenity of his rural homestead disrupted by a young child. Trey is in desperate search of a missing brother Brendan - a charismatic nineteen-year-old who left home a few weeks before.  Everyone assures Cal there is nothing mysterious about this disappearance. As so many before Brendan, he has left home  to escape the boredom of small village life. Cal soon finds there is much more about life in this village than he thought, and his detective skills prove very, very useful.  A captivating look into life in the Irish countryside replete with colorful characters - sinister and otherwise…. Recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, With the election over, I find myself less distracted by cable news and political updates so now I have lots of time to read a good book. I would like something historical and fast reading - I’m still a bit distracted.  Recommendations?  Energized Following Election

 Dear Energized Following Election, I recently reread an engrossing book, A SPY AMONG FRIENDS: KIM PHILBY AND THE GREAT BETRAYAL by Ben Macintyre. I have always been fascinated by the Cambridge Five - a group of notorious post World War II spies who all graduated from Cambridge University, and this book is an amazing account of one of the most nefarious of the Five.  Kim Philby was born shortly after the end of World War I into an eccentric, aristocratic British family. His life’s trajectory began when, after expressing to family friends an interest in government service, he was immediately offered a position in Britain’s elite spy service - MI6. Thus began his parallel existence as a double agent. While there have been many books written about Philby and his Cambridge Five cohorts, this book focuses on Philby’s betrayal of not only his country but also his friends. George Elliot was the closest of these friends - colleague, drinking partner, roommate, constant defender, and finally the person who most likely arranged his escape to Moscow. E.M. Forester, renowned British writer, has said “If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friends, I hope I should betray my country.” Philby betrayed both and his story is an amazing tale of intrigue and deception - highly recommended!