Books about Tiger Woods, Lyme disease and more will be discussed at free events at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison. All events require reservations: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
On Tuesday, April 3, at 7 p.m., Jeff Benedict, author with Armen Keteyian of “Tiger Woods,” will speak. Benedict is a best-selling author, contributor to Sports Illustrated and a TV and film producer. The book, based on more than 400 interviews, explores the amazing rise and fall of the golf world icon.
On Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m., Dr. Darin Ingels will discuss his book, “The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Auto-Immune Response and Beat Lyme Disease.” The naturopathic physician who himself contracted Lyme believes it is an autoimmune disease and an infection.
On Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m., novelist Caitlin Macy will talk about her new literary thriller, “Mrs.,” which involves women whose privileged – and troubled — lives converge on New York’s wealthy Upper East Side.
Macy also will discuss “Mrs.” at Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, on Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m. 860-536-3794 or banksquarebooks.com.
The Albatross Press
Michele K. Troy, a professor of English the University of Hartford and author of “Strange Bird: The Albatross Press and the Third Reich,” will give a free talk on Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m. at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown.
Albatross Press, a precursor of the Penguin publishing house in Germany, distributed books by modernist authors such as D. H. Lawrence, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. It was supported by British-Jewish interests in the early 1930s and managed to survive the Nazi regime. books@wesleyan.edu or 860-685-3939.
Lupica In Moodus
Mike Lupica, the Connecticut sportswriter and analyst and author of many sports-themed books for younger readers, will give a free talk about “Team Players,” the fourth and last in his Home Team series, about what happens when a talented player with Asperger’s Syndrome joins a girls’ softball team. He will speak Wednesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. at Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School, 73 Clark Gates Road, Moodus.
Reservations required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
Hartford Basketball
Michael Copeland and Howie Greenblatt, co-authors of “OH What A Move! Hartford Basketball Players 1954-1984,” about the years when Hartford’s high school basketball teams won many state championships and sparked athletic rivalries, will moderate a free discussion with former players Greg Davis, Randy LaVigne, Dr. John Norman and George Davis on Tuesday, April 3, at 7 p.m. at Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford.
Reservations: 860-247-0998.
Kushner At Trinity
Trinity College’s English Department will conclude its free spring 2018 Allan K. Smith Reading Series with a talk by author Rachel Kushner on Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m. in the Admissions Grand Room, on the campus at 300 Summit St., Hartford.
Kushner’s novel, “The Flamethrowers,” was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times Top Five Novel of 2013. Her new book is “The Mars Room.” For information call Christina Bolio at 860-297-2036.
Bank Square Books
Bank Square Books, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, will host a free reading by Susanne Davis on Tuesday, April 3, at 6 p.m. Her book, “The Appointed Hour,” is a collection of linked short stories set in rural Connecticut. Davis, a UConn graduate, teaches creative writing at UConn and Trinity College.
On Thursday, April 5, at 6 p.m., authors Christopher Torockio and Tim Fitts will speak. Torockio has published the novel “Floating Holidays” and two story collections. He teaches at ECSU. Fitts, the author of “The Soju Club” and short stories, teaches at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
On Saturday, April 7, at 5 p.m., a free release party will be held for Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel’s novel, “Snowy Strangeways,” set in a fictionalized version of Mystic where an ancient order of older women, called Grays, work to prevent the return of violence between native peoples and others. Tantaquidgeon Zobel was trained in Mohegan traditions by her great aunt, Medicine Woman Gladys Tantaquidgeon, and great uncle, Chief Harold Tantaquidgeon. She is the Mohegan Tribe’s Tribal Historian and Medicine Woman. 860-536-3794 or banksquarebooks.com.
Storyteller’s Cottage
A “Downton Abbey”-themed party featuring Edwardian-period or other swanky clothing, music, hors d’oeuvres and traditional cocktails will be held Saturday, April 7, at 8 p.m. at the Storyteller’s Cottage, 750 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury. The event is limited to 40 guests, who must be 21 or older. Tickets are $50.
Reservations: 860-877-6099, Info@StorytellersCottage.com or StorytellersCottage.com/book.
Shades Of Jane Austen
The free Shades of Jane Austen Series continues Saturday, April 7, at 2 p.m., at Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, with a presentation of “Fashion in Fiction: Jane Austen’s Regency Novels” by Kandie Carle.
Wearing authentic Regency attire, Carle will discuss men’s and women’s clothing of the early 1800s and read from Austen’s letters and novels, showing how she used clothing and fashion to describe character and class. 860-673-9712, ext. 225.
World-Changing Words
Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest St., Hartford, will present a free Words That Changed the World Book Club meeting on Saturday, April 7, at noon, with a discussion of the 1985 dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. In it, a totalitarian religious group has overthrown the U.S. government. The book has been adapted into a film, opera and TV series. The club discusses books that, like Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” promote positive social change. HarrietBeecherStowe.org or 860-522-9258, ext. 317.
Book Club Bookstore
Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave. South Windsor, will host a free talk on Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m. by South Windsor author Margaret H. Essebaggers Dopirak about her memoir, “Missionary Kid: Born in India, Bound for America.”
The bookstore also will present South Windsor author R. C. Goodwin in a free book launch featuring a conversation with John Valeri, former Hartford Books Examiner columnist, on Saturday, April 7, at 3:30 p.m. The talk will be ASL interpreted.
Goodwin’s thriller, “Model Child,” is about a father who commits murder, and is based on his experiences working as a psychiatrist in state correctional facilities. Goodwin also is the author of “The Stephen Hawking Death Row Fan Club.” 860-432-7411 or bookclubct.com.
Poetry By Choffel
A poetry reading by Julie Choffel, poet laureate of West Hartford, will take place Wednesday, April 4, at 4 p.m. in the Hartford Public Library Atrium, 500 Main St., Hartford.
Choffel teaches writing at UConn and Tunxis Community College, and is the author of the poetry collection “The Hello Delay.” Her talk is presented by UConn Hartford. 959-200-3838 or Kim.schwarz@uconn.edu.
Mystery Book Discussion
Carole Shmurak, of Farmington will lead a free discussion on Wednesday, April 4, at 3 p.m., for the Wallingford Mystery Group: Native American Sleuths, Part 3, at Wallingford Public Library, 200 N. Main St., Wallingford. The book to be discussed is “Thunder Bay” by William Kent Krueger. 203-265-6754.
Epic City: Calcutta
Author and journalist Kushanava Choudhury will give a free talk about his memoir, “The Epic City: The World on the Streets of Calcutta,” on Monday, April 2, at noon, at Henry R. Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave., New Haven.
Choudhury grew up in Calcutta, India, and in New Jersey. A graduate of Princeton University, he was a reporter at The Statesman in Calcutta, earned a a Ph.D. in political theory from Yale University went back to Calcutta to write a book about the city. calendar.yale.edu
“My Train To Freedom”
Ivan Backer, a Hartford community activist, was one of about 700 Jewish children in Europe rescued from the Nazis by the Kindertransport train to England. On Tuesday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m., at Tolland Public Library, 21 Tolland Green, Backer will give a free talk about his memoir, “My Train To Freedom: A Jewish Boy’s Journey from Nazi Europe to a Life of Activism.” 860-871-3620.
Poet Andy Weil
Performance poet and humorist Andy Weil, of Bloomfield, will present a free “Poetry With a Touch of Mid-Life Insanity” program on Saturday, April 7, at 2 p.m., at The Residence at Brookside Retirement Community, 117 Simsbury Road, Avon. His humorous poems range in topics from Dr. Oz to underwear. Reservations: 860-284-5000.
One Book, One Wallingford
Matthew Quick, author of the best-selling “The Silver Linings Playbook,” will discuss his latest novel, “The Reason You’re Alive,” at Mellon Arts Center, Choate Rosemary Hall, 333 Christian St., Wallingford, on Wednesday, April 4, at 7 p.m., for the One Book, One Wallingford community reading project. His talk is free, but tickets are required from Wallingford Public Library, 200 N. Main St., Wallingford. 203-265-6754.
Author Luncheon
An author luncheon to benefit college scholarships for local women will be presented by the AAUW Lower Connecticut Valley branch on April 14, at 11:30 a.m. at Saybrook Point Inn, 2 Bridge St., Old Saybrook. The cost is $50 and reservations are due by Thursday, April 5, at lowerctvalley-ct.aauw.net.
Best-selling novelists Randy Sue Meyers (“The Widow of Wall Street”) and Brunonia Barry (“The Fifth Petal”) will discuss their books and the process of writing novels.
“The Sunken Gold”
On Saturday, April 7, at 2 p.m., at New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm St., New Haven, author and historian Joseph A. Williams will give a free talk about a ship laden with gold that was sunk by German mines off Ireland during World War I, as told in his book, “The Sunken Gold: A Story of World War I Espionage and the Greatest Treasure Salvage in History.” 203-946-7430.
“Garden Tourism”
Richard Benfield, chairman of the Department of Geography at CCSU and author of “Garden Tourism,” will give a free talk on “Great Botanical Gardens of the World” on Wednesday, April 4, at 1:30 p.m. at Prosser Public Library, 1 Tunxis Ave., Bloomfield. 860-243-9721, ext. 3558.
“Happy”
Joell Jacob will give a free talk about her book, “Happy: How to Manage Depression and Anxiety Without Big Pharma,” on Tuesday, April 3, at 10:05 a.m., in Founders Hall, Tunxis Community College, 271 Scott Swamp Road, Farmington. tunxis.edu or 860-773-1407.
