Dear Great Book Guru,

Last week I was with my friend Kathy Calzonetti at KC Gallagher's having one of their fabulous burgers when we both spotted a very interesting book jacket. There was an iridescent bird in the forefront of a beautiful sunset. Kathy insists the book's content is as compelling as its cover. I think the title was FREEDOM. What are your thoughts? Bird and Burger Lover

Dear B and B, I have to agree with your friend- FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen- although close to 600 pages- is a fast, worthwhile read because of its cleverly topical plots and exquisite character descriptions. The story lines shift back and forth effortlessly, beginning in the 70's and continuing to 2009. Walter and Patty Beglund meet in a Midwestern college in the 70's, each with a family history of damage they want to rewrite. Their two children- earnest Jessica and manipulative Joey-, close friend Richard- a sometimes struggling, sometimes successful musician-, the lovely competent Lalith- Walter's assistant and muse-, and assorted other friends and foes make for a kaleidoscope of a people we have come to call the Baby Boomers. The lauded athlete, the conservationist, the arms dealer, the rock star, the fan groupie, the cat enthusiast, the bird watcher, the Born Again, the perennial adolescent, the good mother, the wandering spouse- no one escapes Franken's clever dissection. By the end of the novel we are left to answer the question- are any of us truly free or are we all hostages of our history- national and familial?

Dear Great Book Guru,

My friends Carol and Bob are going to Dublin for the first time and I'm jealous! Can you think of a book about Dublin that I could read and, yes, tour along with them vicariously? Armchair Traveler

Dear Armchair Traveler, The book I have in mind might be the perfect antidote for your pangs of jealousy . FAITHFUL PLACE by Tana French is set in modern day Dublin but it is the gritty, hard living, crime-ridden city that is seldom seen by tourists. Frank Mackay grew up in a housing project known as Faithful Place but left as a teenager for many reasons: abusive father, irritating mother, damaged siblings, and most of all- a broken heart. Frank had been planning a secret midnight elopement to England with his girlfriend Rosie Daly. Rosie never showed up that night but left a note indicating she had changed her mind. Neither Frank nor her family ever heard from her again. The next twenty-two years saw Frank marry, have a child, divorce, and become a highly regarded undercover Dublin police officer, but he remained tortured by what he saw as Rosie's betrayal . He never returned to Faithful Place until…. During a building demolition, Rosie's suitcase is unearthed and shortly after, her body is also found. Frank finds himself entangled with a people and a place he thought he had left forever. The author gradually intertwines past and present events until we come to the inevitable realization that terrible crimes have been committed and many are guilty. You will never think of Dublin without remembering the denizens of Faithful Place.

Dear Great Book Guru,

Last Sunday, I was at a wonderful lecture sponsored by the Sea Cliff Museum on the Rye Cliff Ferry fire of 1918. The speaker Glenn Williams made that day come brutally alive and Museum Director Sara Reres gave an enlightening introduction to Sea Cliff's love affair with the steamship. At the reception afterwards, I overheard a group of women discussing an upcoming book club selection- EVERY LAST ONE. They seemed visibly shaken by the book. Do you know this book and would you recommend it? Sea Cliff Museum Fan

Dear Museum Fan, How right you are! The Museum's Rye Cliff exhibit adds so much to our knowledge of Sea Cliff's past and present- apparently pieces of the boat still wash to shore. Interestingly, Sara Reres was one of the founders of that book club you mentioned- Bagels and Books. It's been meeting once a month for almost twenty years. Back to your question: EVERY LAST ONE by Anna Quindlen is a disturbing book on two levels. The first three quarters is an interesting portrait of middle class family life- preteen twin boys and a teenage girl, ophthalmologist father, and landscaper wife- whose concerns mirror those of so many families: prom dates, soccer cuts, sibling rivalry, drooping hydrangeas… until something happens which changes everything. I kept thinking of the quote" Nothing really matters very much and in the end nothing matters at all." If you have the emotional stamina, read this novel. If not, wait for another week's recommendation.

Dear Great Book Guru, With the approach of the ninth anniversary of 9/11, I wonder if you have a book that could help me understand how that horrific tragedy came about. After all these years, I am still confused and can't get seem to put all the players and events in place. Baffled

Dear Baffled, Last week, for my Sunday evening book group, I reread THE LOOMING TOWER by Lawrence Wright. This book came out in 2006 and won the Pulitzer Prize that year. Wright brings together in a series of 20 chapters the biographies of the leading figures in the 9/11 tragedy. The story begins in 1948 with the arrival in the United States of an Egyptian scholar Sayyid Qutub ,who soon found himself at odds with American social mores. With his return to Egypt, he fathered the movement that eventually gave birth to Al-Qaeda. Other leading figures whose early lives are documented include the pivotal Osama bin Laden , the physician/strategist Ayman al-Zawaahiri who merged his jihad organization with Al-Qaeda increasing its power ten-fold, the revolutionary Ahmed Massoud who was assassinated moments before 9/11 began, Saudi and Egyptian politicians, and numerous FBI and CIA operatives . There were especially detailed portraits of John O'Neill and Richard Clarke, a prescient National Security coordinator. O'Neill's was possibly the most painful part of the book to read. He was a larger than life FBI leader, an extraordinarily dedicated patriot, and a morally flawed character who just a few days before the attack had begun a second career as head of security for the World Trade Center. Throughout the narrative, we have warnings and insights from O'Neill that, if followed, could have prevented the 9/11 tragedy . We come to know and admire the man so it is all the more difficult to read how he is betrayed by bureaucratic blunders and pettiness. For a moment, we are given hope that he has survived the attacks, but then in an ultimate act of bravery, he goes back into the towers and perishes. The title comes from a line recited by bin Laden"…wherever you are, death will find you in the looming tower."

Dear Great Book Guru, I am feeling very sad today. My friends Deborah and Jay Fossett and their children have moved to Washington, DC. Do you have something for me to read that will help me adjust to the changes that accompany such a loss? Missing My Friends

Dear Missing, I know how you feel- the Fossetts were such wonderful friends to many of us here in Sea Cliff. We can hope the move is not permanent, but I do have something that you might enjoy reading and could help you. Whenever I need literary comfort, I always turn to the author Barbara Pym. Adapting to life's inevitable changes is the focus of many of her novels and SOME TAME GAZELLE in particular. The main characters are Harriet and Belinda Bede, two middle-aged sisters who have never married but are still eager for romance . The objects of their devotion are usually unsuspecting Anglican clerics. Throughout the novel, the Bedes' fierce love of life finds form in food, clothing, poetry, flowers, friends, and all those wonderful things that fill and enrich our daily lives. When the women are given the opportunity to leave their small village, each decides that it is far better to stay and enjoy these pleasures rather than leave. Change will come but the women know that as long as they have something to love "even some tame gazelle or some gentle dove" life is good. While I certainly do not like leaving lovely Sea Cliff ever, this weekend, my husband and I will be in Oxford, England at the annual Pym conference where Pym's characters take on lives beyond their novels in plays, papers, and academic discussions. For a Pym lover, this is close to Paradise!

Dear Great Book Guru, My friends Diane, Sadie and I have recently begun yoga classes and we are very interested in the history of this ancient discipline. Do you have any books we might read to deepen our knowledge? Aspiring Yogi

Dear Aspiring, What an interesting topic! My husband who practices and teaches yoga to a select group of friends and family just received a gift from one of his students: THE GREAT OOM-THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF YOGA IN AMERICA by Robert Love. This is a fascinating biography of a young Iowan Perry Baker, who recreates himself as the exotic mystic/entrepreneur Dr. Pierre Bernard. Born in the 1870's, Bernard as a teenager stumbles upon the writings of Eastern spiritualists and becomes obsessed with their yogic message. In a truly American- Great Gatsby fashion, he seduces the wealthy, the socially connected, the local police, and the politicians of the day, allowing him to create a multi-million dollar empire. With this support, he is able to build a huge compound in Nyack, New York that housed multiple mansions, theaters, a circus menagerie, a baseball field and a race track. Author Love moved to Nyack a few years ago and found himself living in a cottage that had been part of this amazing estate. While many of us think yoga might have come to the United States with the Beatles in the "60's, author Love traces its American roots back to the Great Oom as Bernard was called. The book gives us a glimpse into that period immediately following World War I with its material excesses and its forays into spiritual and physical enlightenment. That the Great Oom could have convinced so many of the rich and powerful- the Vandebilts, the Goodrichs, the DeVries, and so many, many more (including the legendary folk singer Pete Seeger's parents) to follow his strict prescriptions concerning health, exercise, and morality is the most fascinating aspect of this work. In the end, we are left wondering - was the Great Oom, a well meaning philanthropist, a con artist, an astute businessman, a true mystic, a brash seducer of women, a control freak, the ultimate guru, or perhaps… all these things?

Dear Great Book Guru, The streets of Sea Cliff seem quiet and empty. Where is everybody? At least the Sea Cliff Library is open so I can check out some wonderful books and catch up with my remaining fellow citizens. Do you have a favorite book to recommend this week that I can check out? Library Lover

Dear Library Lover, Yes- it puzzles me too- why would anyone leave Sea Cliff ever, but people do. I know many Sea Cliff luminaries and the Great Book Guru herself choose Martha's Vineyard because it is so much like Sea Cliff, they can feel they have never left home at all. Talking about journeys- an interesting novel my book group read recently that you might enjoy was SILK by Alessandro Baraccio. This beautiful, haunting book is really a short novella (146 pages); it is set in France and Japan beginning in the 1840's and ends in 1874. Over his lifetime, Herve Joncour makes four journeys to Japan in search of perfect silkworms for the growing French silk industry. On each of these journeys, he meets with an enigmatic young woman. They never speak or touch, but the rest of Herve's life is dominated by his obsession with her. His beautiful and devoted wife Helene appears unaware of this strange love affair and it is only after her death that Herve realizes how stunted his life had become as a result of this obsession. The minute details of daily life is chronicled here against the sprawling backdrop of nineteenth century European and Asian history. SILK entertains and educates its readers in the most subtle of ways and leaves us pondering the question: can we ever truly know another ?