Saturday, August 16, 2025
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Dear Great Book Guru, I’m sitting on my porch this evening looking out over my neighbor’s beautiful garden (really…who needs a water view) finishing up a great book you recommended a few weeks ago - Robert Baird’s THE NIMBUS, but as always, I’m looking for my next read - a psychological mystery if possible. Lover of Porches
Dear Lover
of Porches, I have the perfect book for you - Megan Abbot’s latest: EL DORADO
DRIVE. The streets in mythical El Dorado were paved with gold and the residents
of this Detroit suburb where the novel is set saw their golden lives destroyed
when the American car industry crashed in the early 2000’s. Highly paid executives, lawyers, and
engineers found their careers abruptly ended and their fortunes decimated.
Families had to adjust to the new reality, and the women of El Dorado Drive join
together to find a way out of this financial abyss…or so they think. The story
focuses on the Bishop sisters - Pam, Debra, and Harper – and their involvement
with the Wheel - a play on the collapsing auto industry. But the Wheel is
basically a pyramid scheme. The sisters and their friends pledge $5000 each
with a “gift” to be bestowed on a lucky woman each week. Of course, this works
only as new members can be found. Starting out as women supporting women during
hard times, the plan quickly deteriorates into a “Lord of the Flies” scenario. As
we learn the stories of these desperate women, our sympathy grows even though
we know there are no streets of gold in their futures - highly recommended!
Sunday, August 3, 2025
Dear Great
Book Guru, I was at Matt’s Deli (formerly Arata’s) having a delicious breakfast
with friends when the discussion turned to books. We were swapping recent
favorites when someone mentioned a new book about twins, time travel, and
multiple endings - sort of like the Choose Your Own Adventure novel
series. Have you heard of it? Lover of
Matt’s Deli
Dear Lover
of Matt’s Deli, I am a huge fan of Matt’s too! THE CATCH by Yrsa Daley-Ward is
an interesting mix of all the elements you mention and more. The story opens in
the present with Clara, a celebrity author, recounting the huge success of her
latest novel, EVIDENCE. The next chapter introduces us to her twin sister,
Dempsey, who is struggling as a data entry clerk living in a shabby London
apartment. We learn the women were orphaned as infants when their mother
drowned herself in the Thames River thirty years ago. Adopted into two very
different families – Clara to a wealthy, upper class couple and Dempsey to a
mean-spirited difficult city councilor - the women have been estranged for many
years. On the day of their thirtieth
birthday, Clara sees a woman she insists is their mother shoplifting a Rolex
watch. Even more bizarrely, the woman looks about thirty years old. Clara
rushes to share this information with Dempsey who is skeptical at best. Soon the woman, named Serena, has insinuated
herself into their lives and things become more and more sinister. Along the
way, we meet a myriad of colorful characters from the past and present as the
sisters struggle to find out who Serena is and what happened thirty years ago. A puzzling but compelling read… recommended.
Saturday, July 26, 2025
Dear Great Book Guru, Friday’s Beach Music at Sea Cliff Beach is such a treat - great music, delicious food at Jay and Tanya Potter’s Cliffside CafĂ©, and beautiful views of the Sound! While looking out at the many boats anchored there, I thought about a book that a friend recommended about yachts and their owners. Have you heard of it? Sea Cliff Beach Fan
Dear Sea
Cliff Beach Fan, THE HAVES AND THE HAVE-YACHTS by Evan Osnos is a fascinating book
about the ultra rich. There are many,
many very wealthy people but then there are those whose wealth is so much that
they own super yachts, and Osnos tells the tales of these ultra-wealthy in a
series of ten essays. He leads off with a fascinating take on famous musicians
who are hired to perform for small events - yes even children’s birthday
parties - for exorbitant fees. Sting, Andrea Bocelli, Jon Bovi, Eric Clapton,
Mariah Carey are a few he mentions. Later he profiles Facebook’s Mark
Zuckerberg and his lavish lifestyle. The Greenwich Rebellion
chapter traces the transformation of Greenwich, Connecticut from home to
storied old money families to the extraordinarily wealthy and political
powerful. Trust Issues introduces us to a young woman who becomes the
trusted financial advisor to the Getty heirs and then turns on them spilling
family secrets that reveal their incredible wealth and machinations. The most
disturbing essay was about a Hollywood actor/con artist who manipulated friends
and family out of $500 million dollars.
The lifestyle of the people Osnos describes is astonishing - almost
beyond belief - but not quite… highly recommended!
Friday, July 25, 2025
Dear Great
Book Guru, My friends and I love StoryTime at Sea Cliff Beach. Every Wednesday throughout the summer at
10:30 we meet up for a story, songs, and a bubble parade under the lovely blue
canvases. Last week, one of the parents mentioned a new book made up of the
voices of twenty-one residents of a small village in County Limerick. It sounds
interesting – thoughts? Storytime Fan
Dear
Storytime Fan, Donal Ryan’s HEART BE AT PEACE tells the story of a village
coming back from disastrous economic turmoil. But old grudges and new problems
beset the community. Twenty-one residents -all interconnected - tell their
stories in short, lyrical chapters. Bobby is a middle-aged man with a loving
wife and a booming business but is beset with terrible rage. Milly is a young
girl torn by love for her grandmother and a very dangerous young man. Pokey is
a young man running a bogus school that provides illegal visas. Lily is a witch
by training and makes her living selling potions to needy neighbors. Dylan is a young boy who was kidnapped for
two days and troubled for years after.
Sean is torturing a lifelong friend with compromising photos. Jim is a
retired policeman who says: “Madness comes circling around - every ten years -
as sure as the sun rises.” Each of the
residents tells his/her story and we come to see the value of village life and
– yes - its vexations. Some stories are more nuanced but all show a deep
understanding of difficult situations - the most difficult being an insidious
drug ring. Both young and old are impacted and the eventual resolution is
disturbing but inevitable. Recommended!
Sunday, July 13, 2025
Dear Great
Book Guru, I had so much fun this week at Sea Cliff’s very own Dining Alfresco!
On a select few Wednesdays in July and August, Sea Cliff Avenue is closed from
Main to Summit and Village restaurants take to the street. The spirit is great,
with families and friends gathering outdoors to share delicious meals and sweet
camaraderie. Someone that night mentioned a short novel with a young narrator
and set in a dystopian future. It sounded interesting - thoughts? Alfresco Dining Fan
Dear
Alfresco Dining Fan, VERA, OR FAITH by Gary Shteyngart is a fascinating tale of
a family finding its way in the United States of 2030. The narrator is Vera
Bradford-Shmulkin, the ten-year-old Korean Russian stepchild of a Mayflower
descendant. Throughout the novel, Vera is feverishly at work trying to keep her
family intact. Her father is the publisher of a political magazine he is trying
to sell to a Rhodesian billionaire; her stepmother is leading a movement to
prevent passage of an amendment limiting voting rights; her young brother seems
to have first place in her parents’ hearts…and – yes - her birth mother is
missing. Meanwhile, Vera is dealing with the childhood angst of learning how to
fit into a system that does not esteem her intellectual prowess and is
suspicious of her “otherness.” While
often an unreliable narrator, Vera is an extraordinarily sensitive and empathic
character and when she finally resolves the mystery surrounding her early
childhood, she and the reader are greatly relieved. A very moving yet
frightening tale of what the future might hold - highly recommended!
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Dear Great Book Guru, After a week of celebrating our country’s 249th birthday, my thoughts turned to our neighbors across the sea, and I would love to read some historical fiction set perhaps in Ireland. Any recommendations? Fan of Historical Fiction
Dear Fan of
Historical Fiction, I recently read THESE DAYS by Lucy Caldwell – a novel set
in Belfast, Northern Ireland. When we
think of World War II and bombings, one does not think of Belfast but in April
and May of 1941, the city was almost destroyed in three separate air raids
known as the Belfast Blitz. The story describes four days spread over these two
months and the impact these raids had on the lives of one family - the Bells.
Phillip Bell is a local doctor who tends to the victims and is confronted daily
with searing images of pain and destruction. Florence Bell - his wife - deals
anew with memories of her first love who was killed in World War I. Their
daughter Audrey is involved with wedding plans but questions the fragility of
her relationship amidst this background of despair and destruction. Emma - the other
daughter - works as a volunteer at a First Aid Post, believing that she can
make a difference while Paul – the youngest child - deals with the forces that
shape his life at home and school. Told
from the perspectives of the family members and other Belfast denizens, the
novel is brutal in its depictions of the terror and panic that the German air
raids bring on a city already beset with poverty, unemployment, and food
shortages – all of which continued long after the war had ended. A harrowing read but highly recommended!
Sunday, June 29, 2025
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!
Saturday, June 28, 2025
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!
Tuesday, June 10, 2025
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!
Saturday, May 17, 2025
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!
Saturday, May 3, 2025
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 100th
anniversary with this imaginative take on its themes of wealth, power, and
greed. Highly recommended!
Saturday, April 26, 2025
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!
Monday, April 14, 2025
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!
Friday, March 21, 2025
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!
Sunday, March 16, 2025
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!
Saturday, March 8, 2025
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!
Sunday, March 2, 2025
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!
Monday, February 17, 2025
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!
Sunday, January 19, 2025
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!
Saturday, January 11, 2025
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!
Saturday, January 4, 2025
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!
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
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!