Dear Great Book Guru,  I think Fall is my favorite time of year and autumn in Sea Cliff is especially wonderful. From September through December, the calendar is filled with fun happenings  and now I've heard there is a new event on the Sea Cliff scene: The Chill Out, masterminded by multitalented  Kathleen DiResta and exuberant  Village Trustee Ed Lieberman.  Set for Friday, November 8,  beginning at the Village Green, the Chill Out will feature music from many of our local bands, special happenings from our  retail shops, and great meals at all our fine restaurants .  Of course, I will want something to read and talk about during the evening.  Any ideas?    #1 Chill Out  Fan

Dear Chill Out Fan, I love your enthusiasm and indeed  I have just the book for you: THE GOLDFINCH by Donna Tartt.  When the book opens, we meet Theo, a thirteen year-old bright scholarship boy living a comfortable Manhattan existence with his single mom, the beautiful Audrey. Before the first chapter ends, Theo's life is changed forever. As he and Audrey run into the Metropolitan Museum of Art  to escape the rain, a terrorist bomb explodes; Audrey and many others are killed. As Theo awakens,  a mysterious benefactor whispers a strange message and urges  him to rescue "The Goldfinch" a small 17th century painting lying amidst the bomb's debris and destruction. From this point, Theo's  life begins to resemble the plot of a Dickensian novel: Great Expectations, Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, The Old Curiosity Shop, and a little J.D. Salinger's Cather in the Rye thrown in. Despite its enormous length-nearly 800 pages- the reader craves for more of this fine book. Highly recommended!