Dear Great Book Guru, I am looking forward to hearing one of my favorite groups The Outliers at Sunset Serenade Thursday, August 17.  But before I head over to Memorial Park, I would like to have a good book in hand to read- something current, fast moving but not a mystery.  Any suggestions? All Out for the Outliers

Dear All Out for the Outliers,  This weekend I read a newly released book that has gotten a lot of favorable reviews: MRS. FLETCHER  by Tom Perrotta. Eve Fletcher is a single mother whose hapless son Brendan is headed off to college as the novel opens.  Brendan’s crude and cruel farewell to his longtime girlfriend disturbs Eve but she soon has to deal with her own very mixed emotions , her new freedom, and an overwhelming sense of loneliness- a classic case of the “empty nest” syndrome.  The rest of the book is told from varying perspectives: Eve’s transgender college professor, Brendan’s new classmates, her colleagues from the Senior Center where she works, and finally the many friends she makes in her attempt to reinvent herself.  While often hilariously humorous, the story has a sad undercurrent as we watch   both the adolescent son and middle-aged mother struggle to find meaning in their lives. Recommended!