Dear Great Book Guru, Sea Cliff is  beautiful every month of the year but especially in  April.  The baseball fields are ready for opening day on the 22^nd with the parade set to lead off at 9am.  The parks are magnificent, the gardens are blooming and yes… I am in search of a good book to read while I enjoy all this beauty.  Any suggestions!  Loving April in Sea Cliff

Dear Loving April in Sea Cliff, I just finished a wonderful, albeit troubling, first novel, TRESPASSES by Louise Kennedy.  Set in Northern Ireland just outside of Belfast in the 1970’s, the book is told from the viewpoint of Cushla, a twenty-four-year-old who teaches at a primary school during the day and helps out at her family’s pub at night. It is a terrible time in Ireland’s history- known as “The Troubles’” when Protestant and Irish forces brutally fought, and civilians were frequently the target. While she and her family try to avoid trouble, trouble finds Cushla in the person of Michael Agnew. Agnew is a sophisticated fifty-year-old married Protestant lawyer who defends Catholic men unjustly accused of insurrection. The two fall in love and soon Cushla’s life is filled with intrigue and danger as she must decide where her loyalties lie.  This is a book filled with moral dilemmas and readers will find themselves uncertain as to what is right or wrong.  Highly recommended!

Dear Great Book Guru,  Last night I was at a party and many of the guests were talking about a recently published book by a Sea Cliff resident.  It sounded fascinating- covering local history, the world of sports… and the healing powers of poetry!  I can’t wait to read it.  Are you familiar with this book?  Amazed and Eager

Dear Amazed and Eager,  Hank Bjorklund’s latest work HEAD HITS I REMEMBER is indeed a fascinating look at so many aspects of a world  we think we know.  Former New York Jet, Bjorklund writes about his early childhood sports adventures followed by his time here at North Shore High School as he catapulted to fame. His years at Princeton and his marriage to fellow student Victoria are all chronicled here in beautiful detail. We also learn of the toll that head hits and concussions take on the brains of young athletes and on Bjorklund himself.  The latter part of the book includes selections of his poetry and prose which grew out of coping with the pain and life-altering conditions - brought on by a sport that brought much but at a terrible price. Throughout, we bear witness to a remarkable man who has endured and chooses to share his experiences for the betterment of many. An immensely rewarding book and highly recommended! 

PS Bjorklund will be discussing and reading from HEAD HITS I REMEMBER at the Sea Cliff Library on Saturday, April 29 from 2 to 3:30 pm. 

 

Dear Great Book Guru, I was at the annual Barbara Pym conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts on St Patrick’s Day weekend. While there was much talk of Pym, some the attendees spoke of an Irish writer who had just written a new book set in rural Ireland that was highly acclaimed.  Are you familiar with this book?    Lover of All Things Pym and Irish

Dear Lover of All Things Pym and Irish,  Donal Ryan’s latest novel THE QUEEN OF DIRT ISLAND is a wonderful book to read as March comes to an end - the month of the Irish!  It is the tale of three women and three generations living in a small rural village in Tipperary. Mary, the grandmother, is a spinner of fantastical yarns. Eileen is her bookmaker daughter-in-law and the widowed mother of Saoirse (meaning freedom in Irish).  Most of the novel is told from the perspective of Saoirse who we meet as a newborn and follow throughout her life to adulthood.  The travails of all three are met with bravery and laughter while the men in their lives seem only to add to their daily trials. Within each short chapter, there lie tales of betrayal and cruelty, but also tales of great love and  redemption.  When mother and daughter are confronted with the truth of Dirt Island, we see the enormous strength each possesses.  A truly remarkable book and highly recommended! 

 

Dear Great Book Guru, Next Wednesday, March 15 at 8pm the Sea Cliff Civic Association will host its annual Meet the Candidates forum at St. Luke’s Parish / Community Center.  While it is an uncontested election, the forum gives residents an opportunity to hear candidates’ governmental philosophies and question them about ongoing Village issues. Before the event I’ll have time for a good book - perhaps a fast-moving mystery?  Fan of Village Politics

Dear Fan of Village Politics, I just finished a great book I’m sure you too will enjoy: I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU by Rebecca Makkai.  Mystery, psychological thriller, character study - this novel is all of these and more!  The narrator, Bodie Kane, is an academic at UCLA and, on a whim, agrees to teach a mini course on podcasting at Granby, the New Hampshire boarding school she attended.  Bodie is drawn back by her interest in a murder that took place there thirty years ago, when she was a senior. A young athletic trainer, Omar Evans, was found guilty of the crime and is serving a lengthy prison sentence.  Bodie suspects he has been falsely accused and works with her students to exonerate him using podcast techniques. Throughout, she addresses a person from her past who she feels is the likely murderer. Makkai intertwines real time stories of sexism, racism, bullying, and false confessions as we move back and forth starting in the 1990’s up until the present. Her accumulated facts are horrifying on many levels with the reader wondering if justice can ever prevail. This is a book whose powerful message will resonate with the reader for a very long time – highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru,  Next week I’m planning on going to the Mardi Gras Pancake Dinner at St. Luke’s. Sea Cliff has so many great events like this  throughout the year, so I was intrigued when a  friend mentioned a book about a community where events go very much awry.  Any thoughts?  Lover of a Good Story

 Dear Lover of a Good Story,  THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett is a wonderfully compelling read about a small  village  outside of London where things are not as they seem. The Fairway Players is a local theater group about to put on  Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” – a play in which a family is bound together by a dark secret.   In the opening pages of this novel, we learn that a murder has occurred on the night of the final rehearsal and there are fifteen possible suspects - all members of the troupe. The lead attorney on the case instructs his two young assistants to examine all the material he has gathered (emails, texts, recorded phone calls) and decide who is the murderer. We are introduced to each of the suspects through this correspondence - leading to a plethora of information but we are never sure if what we are presented is accurate. In effect we have fifteen unreliable narrators. There is a mingling of humor and horror as the story unfolds with a shocking albeit very satisfying conclusion. Highly recommended!

 

 Dear Great Book Guru,  Now that February has arrived,  we are well into the new year and I have already broken my #1 resolution- read  at least two books a month. Do you have a short, compelling read for me to get me back on track? Desperate Reader

Dear Desperate Reader, I have a truly wonderful, 128 page book for you - FOSTER  by Claire Keegan. The story is set in rural Ireland in 1981.  A young child – eight years old - is brought to live indefinitely with distant relatives while her overworked pregnant mother and hapless father try to get their lives together.  She and her many siblings - while not abused - are certainly neglected. So, when she arrives at the Kinsellas’ farm, she feels like she has entered Paradise.  The couple dote on her with new clothes, warm baths, and delicious meals.  She observes the Kinsellas’ loving, equal relationship, their orderly home and many friends. There is a sadness about the couple that she senses. but as time goes on that too seems to lift as the three of them form a close family unit.  Throughout there is a sense of foreboding – can this idyllic existence last?  This is a beautifully written story that captures the joys and sorrows of reinvention.  Highly recommended!

 

Dear Great Book Guru, My friends and I are looking for some good books to read over the next few months- preferably novels that will help us learn something about the world beyond our borders.  February seems like a good month to start on this project - any thoughts?  Eager to Learn

Dear Eager to Learn, I recently read a book  that I found both moving and enlightening: AMERICAN DIRT  by Jeanine Cummins. The narrator Lydia Perez owns a small bookstore in Acapulco, Mexico. She is married to Sebastian - a journalist - and they have a young son, Luca. Her life takes on a level of danger when she discovers that this new friend is a notorious and violent drug cartel leader.  Moments later we are witness to a horrific massacre at a birthday party Lydia is hosting - the only survivors are Lydia and her son. Sixteen family members are killed including her husband, and it is clear she and Luca are in mortal danger.  Thus begins her terror-filled journey north to the United States. Along the way we meet an array of characters – some extraordinarily kind, some craven and evil - all colorfully described.  Each new encounter is filled with dread as we wonder will she be able to survive and hopefully prosper.  The plight of the migrant is portrayed in excruciating detail, and we are confronted with the thought throughout: “there but for fortune go you or I.” Highly recommended!