Special “Meet the Author” Events Also Planned
by Tom Holehan
Public Relations & Programming at the Stratford Library
The Stratford Library has announced its selections for the Winter/Spring 2021 series of “Books Over Coffee”, a monthly book discussion program that has been a popular staple at the library for over 30 years. The library continues to offer this lively forum even during unusual times by utilizing the Zoom platform. “Books Over Coffee”, is free and open to the public, and offered on monthly Wednesday afternoons from 12-1 pm hosted on Zoom by Stratford Library staffer Linda LiDestri.
Opening the new series on Wednesday, January 27 will be “One Day – The Extraordinary Story Of An Ordinary 24 Hours in America” by Gene Weingarten. On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day–chosen completely at random–turned out to be Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. ONE DAY asks and answers the question of whether there is even such a thing as “ordinary” when we are talking about how we all lurch and stumble our way through the daily,
daunting challenge of being human.
Other book selections for 2021 will be James McBride’s “Deacon King Kong” on February 24 (special for “Black History Month”), “Florence Adler Swims Forever” by Rachel Beanland (March 31, “Women’s History Month”), “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell (April 28), “The Survivors” by Jane Harper (May 26) and “Boyfriend Material” by Alexis Hall (June 30, “Pride Month”). Both “Deacon King Kong” and “Hamnet” were recently selected by The New York Times as two of the best books of 2020.
In addition, special “Meet-the-Author” events are being planned with writers Paul Backalenick (“Carrie’s Secret”) and Roberta Seret (“Transylvania Trilogy”). Copies of all books are currently available for loan at the library’s Circulation Desk. The titles are also available for loan on Kindle and Nook eReaders. Participants are invited to register for the January “Books Over Coffee” session online at: https://stratfordlibrary.libcal.com/event/7082850.
For further information, visit the Stratford Library at 2203 Main Street in Stratford, Connecticut or call its Public Relations and Programming Office at: 203.385.4162. Timely information is also available on the library’s website at: www.stratfordlibrary.org.
