Month: October 2021

Aphrodite, goddess of love, and Ares, god of war, are on trial before her husband, Hephaestus, for being lovers. But Aphrodite accuses him of not knowing the meaning of love between gods, and illustrates with two stories of true love between mortals. Both stories involve soldiers of the Great war, WWI, and the heroic women with whom they fall in love. Julie Berry has weaved fact and fiction in this wonderful novel about love triumphing over all evils, especially war. I love reading historical novels for the lessons they impart about events we may know little about, and this one is stellar. Be prepared with a box of tissues, however — it’s a first class tear jerker.

Misty Copeland’s new book, Black Ballerinas, is released Tuesday November 2nd. The Strand bookstore is sponsoring an hour-long talk with the author. Copeland is the first African American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. Following her successful autobiography, Life in Motion, Misty writes about growing up with her mother and five siblings in a motel never believing her dream of dancing would come true. Be sure to check out Misty’s new book to hear more from this inspiring dancer.

The latest thriller by Lisa Jewell is definitely an enthralling read. A woman’s daughter and her boyfriend attend a party one evening and then simply vanish. Kim is beside herself with fear over what happened to Tallulah, her daughter and her boyfriend, Zach. A year has gone by when she meets Sophie, a writer living locally, who becomes intrigued with the case and lends a hand. The novel is told in flashbacks, varying perspectives between Kim, Tallulah and Sophie. I really enjoy Ms. Jewell’s writing, I highly recommend her latest novel.

An article appears in The New Yorker this week by Paul McCartney. The Beatle (the cute one) writes about the back story to ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and how happenstance had a lot to do with The Beatles meeting and becoming a band. As a fan of The Beatles I was interested in reading it. I didn’t have the issue and didn’t want to wait. But then, MAGIC! I went online to the library web site and in less than a minute had a copy of the latest issue of The New Yorker and was reading about how Paul and John first met in Paul’s own words. Make sure to visit the library web site and check out the long list of magazines available from Overdrive. As the colder months settle in and you may be reluctant to leave your warm home, remember that there is a LOT of free digital content available from the library. And if you’re a Beatles fan, visit The Jacob Burns theater in Westchester November 10th for a Beatles lecture. Although The Beatles broke up decades ago there is still new releases and news to check out.