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By Alex Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Attentive crowds enjoyed the librarian’s literary insight, along with cups of hot cider.
Six Westwood librarians and fellow book lovers gathered last Thursday night for the public library’s bi-monthly Book Buzz event. A panel style book review, Book Buzz saw the librarians taking turns giving their reviews and recommendations of three books each, eighteen in total.
With the holidays approaching, this Book Buzz was framed not just as a thorough rundown of recommended reading, but also as a gift guide for the readers in the audience members’ lives.
“For those men in your life who you often have trouble buying gifts for, this is a really good one to pick,” Helen Rezendes said of “Montana 1948,” a historical novel by Larry Wilson that documents the lives and struggles of a small Montana town as a post-war America reexamines its identity.
The books discussed at the Buzz covered all topics and genres: fictional thrillers, true crime, romance novels, historical fiction and biographies, memoirs, even a contemporary retelling of a classical Greek epic.
Keeping with the thematic season, cinnamon sugar covered donuts and hot apple cider were served aplenty.
Aside from a select few, all books covered are available to check out from the library.
Following are all the books covered and recommended with high praise from the librarians:
Susan White discusses ‘Leadership: Turbulent Times,’ by Doris Kearns Goodwin, an examination of the lives and leadership of four American presidents
“The Wife” – Alafair Burke; “Next year in Havana” – Chanel Cleeton; “The White Darkness” – David Grann; “Joy For Beginners” – Erica Bauermeister; “Montana 1948” – Larry Wilson; “Final Girls” – Riley Sager; “All You Can Ever Know” – Nicole Chung; “The Good Neighbor” – Maxwell King; “Leave Me” – Gayle Forman; “Leadership: In Turbulent Times” – Doris Kearns Goodwin; “Me Talk Pretty One Day” – David Sedaris; “The Third Twin” – Ken Follett; “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” – Michelle McNamara; “IQ” – Joe Ide; “The Woman in the Castle” – Jessica Shattuck; “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” – Mark Sullivan; “Just Mercy” – Bryan Stevenson; “The Song of Achilles” – Madeline Miller.
Members of the community can start their 2019 reading on the right foot with the next Book Buzz in January. If you can’t make it in person, tune into the Public Library’s website for a live stream of the event.
