Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Jennifer Egan, whose latest book is “Manhattan Beach,” will give a free talk Tuesday, June 19, at 6 p.m., at Wheeler Library, 101 Main St., North Stonington, for a program presented by the library and Bank Square Books of Mystic.
Egan won a Pulitzer for fiction for her novel, “A Visit from the Goon Squad.” The new book is a thriller about a woman who becomes the first female diver at the Brooklyn Naval Yard and seeks to solve the mystery of why her father disappeared. Egan also is an award-winning journalist.
On Wednesday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the bookstore, 53 W. Main St., Mystic, best-selling and critically acclaimed novelist Claire Messud will give a free talk about “The Burning Girl,” a story of the complexities of female friendship as women age.
On Saturday, June 23, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the bookstore, Wendy Hinman will sign copies of “Sea Trials: Around the World with Duct Tape and Bailing Wire,” the true story of a family attempting to sail around the globe and the shipwreck that nearly ended their dream.
Reservations: banksquarebooks.com or 860-536-3795.
R.J. Julia Events
On Tuesday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m., at R.J. Julia Booksellers, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison, best-selling author Marisha Pessl will give a free talk about “Neverworld Wake,” a psychological thriller about a young woman grieving the death of her brilliant boyfriend who learns that for her and her friends, time has become stuck and they must make a difficult decision in order to fix things. Pessl’s debut novel, “Special Topics in Calamity Physics,” was named one of the Ten Best Books of the Year by the New York Times Book Review.
On Wednesday, June 20, at 7 p.m., Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., an authority on ADHD and author of 20 books, including the classic book, “Driven to Distraction,” will discuss his memoir, “Because I Come from a Crazy Family,” about his psychotic father, alcoholic mother, abusive stepfather and two so-called learning disabilities that shaped his career. A portion of sales proceeds will go to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
Reservations are required: 203-245-3959 or rjjulia.com.
On Wednesday, June 20, at 7 p.m. at Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore, 413 Main St., Middletown, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian will discuss their biography, “Tiger Woods,” based on more than 400 interviews about the golf champion’s life.
Benedict is a best-selling author, special features writer for Sports Illustrated, and a TV and film producer. Keteyian, an investigative journalist, is an Emmy Award winner, TV correspondent for CBS News and contributing correspondent to “60 Minutes.”
Information: books@wesleyan.edu or 860-685-3939.
Sunken Garden Poetry
The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival continues its 26th season outdoors on the grounds of Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, with an appearance on Wednesday, June 20, by Molly Brown and Margaret Gibson.
Brown is the author of the prize-winning “The Virginia State Colony For Epileptics and Feebleminded” and is working on a collection of essays about disability, poetry, religion and the American South. Gibson’s “Broken Cup” chronicles her experience when her husband, David McKain, developed Alzheimer’s Disease.
An interview with the poets will take place at 5 p.m. Gibson will read at 6 p.m., followed by music at 6:45 p.m. by Amy Gallatin and Hot Flashes. Brown will read at 7:15 p.m. and will lead a poetry writing workshop at noon, with fees ranging from $40 to $60.
Festival tickets are $15 online or $20 at the gate. Children under 18 are free. Parking is free. Guests should bring seating and can bring picnic food or buy food and beverages there.
Tickets and information: hillstead.org and 860-677-4787.
Twain House Events
Kerry Driscoll, recently retired from the St. Joseph University English Department, will give a free talk at the book launch for her “Mark Twain Among the Indians and Other Indigenous Peoples” at The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford, on Wednesday, June 20, at 7 p.m., following a reception.
The book analyzes Twain’s attitudes about race and culture, focusing on his evolving views of the aboriginal inhabitants of North America and the Southern Hemisphere, and his deeply conflicted representations of them in fiction, newspaper sketches and speeches. Driscoll is a renowned Twain scholar and immediate past president of the Mark Twain Circle of America.
On Tuesday, June 19, at 7 p.m., Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, co-authors of thrillers featuring Aloysius Xingu Leng Pendergast, an FBI special agent, will speak. Tickets are $25. Preston has published 25 books and writes about archaeology and paleontology for The New Yorker, National Geographic and Smithsonian magazines. Child has published seven thrillers featuring Jeremy Logan, an investigator who analyzes puzzling phenomena.
Reservations: marktwainhouse.org or 860- 247-0998.
Pride Month Event
John-Manuel Andriote, author of “Stonewall Strong,” will give a free Pride Month talk on Saturday, June 23, at 1 p.m. at Book Club Bookstore & More, 869 Sullivan Ave., South Windsor.
Health journalist Andriote’s book offers inspiring stories of gay men who have moved beyond traumas and stereotypes, claiming their resilience and right to good health and working to build a community. State Rep. Jeff Currey, Deputy Majority Leader of the House Democrats, will introduce Andriote. 860-432-7411 or bookclubct.com.
Sunday Series Poetry
The Clinton Art Gallery’s 2018 Sunday Series poetry readings continue Sunday, June 17, at 2 p.m. with a reading by Connecticut poets Zelia Abbot, Carol Altieri and Kathleen McIntosh at Olcott Art Center, 20 E. Main St., Clinton, and will include an open mic. pattonybarone@aol.com or 203-627-4148.
Nicaraguan Female Poets
Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project and Hartford Public Library will present a free reading and discussion of poetry by five Nicaraguan women: Gioconda Belli, Yolanda Blanco, Marianella Corriols Molina, Mariana Yonüsg and Luz Marina Acosta, at the library, 500 Main St., Hartford, at 12:30 p.m., on Wednesday, June 20. The poems are from the Spanish/English anthology “IXOK AMAR·GO: Central American Women’s Poetry for Peace.” Attendees may bring lunch, and light refreshments will be available. 860-695-6337 or hplct.org.
Doctor Who Day
Barnes & Noble UConn Hartford Bookstore, 18 Front St., Hartford, will present a free Doctor Who Day from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 23. P.J. Fenton, author of “The City of Nis,” and Matt Herring, author of “The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion,” will appear and there will be a Whovian Guessing Game, Doctor Who Cupcakes, a cosplay costume competition and more. 860-263-2270 or Laurie.bompart@uconn.edu.
Storyteller’s Cottage
The Storyteller’s Cottage, 750 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury, will present a free Author Night with David Leff, a poet, essayist and environmentalist on Thursday, June 21, at 7 p.m. Leff will read from his poetry and his book, “Canoeing Maine’s Legendary Allagash: Thoreau, Romance and Survival of the Wild” and discuss deep travel, a form of heightened awareness.
On Saturday, June 23, at 2 p.m., the cottage will offer a free Author Talk by Allia Zobel, whose book is “Laugh out Loud: 40 Women Humorists Celebrate Then and Now . . .Before We Forget”. 860-877-6099 or StorytellersCottage.com.
Morning Book Club
Avon Free Public Library, 281 Country Club Road, Avon, will continue its free monthly Morning Book Club on Wednesday, June 20, at 10:15 a.m. with a discussion of “Homer & Langley” by E. L. Doctorow, a novel based on the true story of two eccentric brothers in 1940s New York. Copies are available at the Reference Desk. 860-673=9712, ext.4 or avonctlibrary.info.
