On Thursday, April 25, 2013, author David Benioff was our featured speaker. He wrote, "City of Thieves," our One Book One Community read for this year.

For more information, please visit the event page.

Michael Hainey, author of 'After Visiting Friends'

Tuesday, May 7, 3-4:30 p.m

Calling All Book Group Members…join us at Book Group Expo in the Darien Library Community Room. One lucky attendee will even go home with an iPad mini!

Explore the newest books, earmarked as good Book Group selections, with Jen Dayton, Collection Development Coordinator. Representatives from Harper Collins and Penguin Books will also be in attendance. Jen will present some “under the radar” books now available through the Library’s ‘Books in a Bag’ program and the publishers’ reps will cover new and forthcoming titles of interest to book groups.

Michael Hainey, author of After Visiting Friends will keynote the event. His memoir is a moving account of one man’s attempt to uncover his family’s long-buried secrets.

Our Book Group Staff will demonstrate how to navigate our Book Groups web page, where you can reserve titles, post current reads, and find book discussion guides. Meet the Library Book Group Team: Marianne, Asha, and Pat over refreshments. Network, share thoughts on book selections, and exchange tips on how to lead a successful book group discussion. And if you missed winning the recent Powerball, have heart, you may win one of the Expo door prizes!

Save the date. We look forward to seeing you!

image courtesy flickr user decaf

Tuesday, May 7 at 7 p.m.

Nowadays, there are seemingly limitless options for storage devices and containers. Which ones are really worth your money and which ones will just end up adding to the clutter? Which ones do the professionals use? Find out what the organizers of FOCUS recommend as they teach you how to shop successfully for organizational tools without putting a huge dent in your wallet.

Presented by Matt Baier of Matt Baier Organizing, LLC, Jen Burke of JKB Organizing, Cara Brook of S.O.S. LLC and Susan Lovallo, CPA, CPO of Clutter Solutions.

Also check out our "Get Organized" LibGuide.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

On Tuesday, May 21, 2013, author David Kennedy, who wrote Five Days visited Darien Library.

For more information, please visit the event listing page.

We will screen A LATE QUARTET in our Community Room April 5

Friday, April 5 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – A Late Quartet (2012) Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christopher Walken, and Catherine Keener; Rated R; 107 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

On the eve of a world renowned string quartet’s 25th anniversary season, their beloved cellist, Peter Mitchell, is diagnosed with the early symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. When Peter announces he wishes to make the upcoming season his last, his three colleagues find themselves at a crossroad. Competing egos and uncontrollable passions threaten to derail years of friendship and collaboration.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Hitchcock (2013) Starring Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, and Scarlet Johansson; Rated PG-13; 98 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

This film lays bare the captivating and complex love story between Alfred Hitchcock and his steadfast wife and filmmaking collaborator, Alma Reville. It does so through the sly, shadowy lens of their most daring filmmaking adventure: the making of the spine-tingling 1960 thriller, Psycho, which would become the director’s most controversial and legendary film.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, April 19 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Playing for Keeps (2012) Starring Gerard Butler and Jessica Biel; Rated PG-13; 105 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

This romantic comedy follows a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star who returns home to put his life back together. Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team. But his attempts to finally become an adult are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive soccer moms who pursue him at every turn.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

Friday, April 26 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – The Impossible (2012) Starring Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts; Rated PG-13; 114 minutes; Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

Maria, Henry and their three sons begin their winter vacation in Thailand, looking forward to a few days in tropical paradise. But on the morning of December 26th, as the family relaxes around the pool after their Christmas festivities the night before, a terrifying roar rises up from the center of the earth. As Maria freezes in fear, a huge wall of black water races across the hotel grounds toward her. This film is the unforgettable account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer.

All films are free and open to the public.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Photo courtesy of Flickr user JustDerek

Darien Library and The Middlesex Genealogical Society Present

Blogging your Genealogy

Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 2 p.m.

Combining the power of technology and the primary sources from historical documents, Phil Hayes developed his own family history website using WordPress, a blogging platform that is both free and easy to use . His site has inspired many people to develop an interest in family history and has connected Phil to several undiscovered relatives and their family stories. Since 2010 Phil has been teaching amateur and professional genealogists how to document their family’s history on the internet using a blog. Phil will discuss specific strategies to get the most from your blogging efforts.

Phil Hayes is the CEO of Sirius Innovations, LLC. He is a member of numerous historical and genealogy societies, including the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Lynne Byrne photography

April 22nd through May 28th

Artist's Reception Friday, May 17th at 6:00 p.m.

Lynne Byrne’s unique photographic imagery offers a glimpse of the everyday miracles seen in our natural environment. The photographer uses natural light, and close up photography to explore the intricate textures, surfaces, reflections and variations in color that often go unnoticed until we take a longer, closer, more deliberate look at the world around us.

We will screen SAFE HAVEN Friday, May 17.

Friday, May 17 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. – Safe Haven (2012) Starring Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough; Rated PG-13; 120 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

When a mysterious young woman arrives in a small North Carolina town, her reluctance to join the tight knit community raises questions about her past. Slowly, she begins putting down roots, and gains the courage to start a relationship with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children. But dark secrets intrude on her new life with such terror that she is forced to rediscover the meaning of sacrifice and rely on the power of love in this deeply moving romantic thriller.

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in May.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

Douglas Kennedy

Tuesday, May 21 at 7 p.m.

Douglas Kennedy, author of Five Days, will be our featured speaker.

Forty-two-year-old Laura spends her days looking at other people’s potential calamities. She works in the radiography unit of a small hospital on the Maine coast, scanning and x-raying frightened patients. In a job where finding nothing is always the best result, she is well versed in the random unfairness of life, a revelation that has started to affect her personally. Her husband Dan has become a stranger since losing his job eighteen months ago and she feels the distance is only growing between them. Her son, a promising artist, is in college, and her vivacious seventeen-yearold daughter is set to leave home within the year. Laura begins to wonder if her impending empty nest will only deepen the disconnected state of her marriage.

So when the opportunity arises for her to spend the weekend at a radiography conference in Boston, Laura jumps at the chance. She’ll be on her own for 72 hours for the first time since her children were born—and she revels in her temporary escape.

Praise for Five Days

“With Five Days, Douglas Kennedy has crafted a brilliant meditation on regret, fidelity, family, and second chances that will have you breathlessly turning pages to find out what happened in the past and what will happen next. At once heartbreaking and hopeful, it is a powerful new work of fiction by an internationally acclaimed writer at the height of his powers.” —Will Schwalbe, author of The End of Your Life Book Club

About the Author

Douglas Kennedy is the author of ten previous novels, including the international bestseller The Moment. His work has been translated into twenty-two languages, and in 2007 he received the French decoration of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Books will be available for purchase at this event. Refreshments will be served.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).

We will screen HYDE PARK ON HUDSON May 24.

Friday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. – Hyde Park on Hudson (2012) Starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney, and Olivia Colman; Rated R; 94 minutes. Closed captioned for the hearing impaired.

In June 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor host the King and Queen of England for a weekend at the Roosevelt home at Hyde Park on Hudson, in upstate New York – the first-ever visit of a reigning English monarch to America. With Britain facing imminent war with Germany, the Royals are desperately looking to FDR for support. But international affairs must be juggled with the complexities of FDR’s domestic establishment, as wife, mother, and mistresses all conspire to make the royal weekend an unforgettable one.

"Murray's spot-on portrayal of a man juggling myriad pressures and demands, from petty to momentous, marks one of the film's greatest strengths." -- Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

For more information, please watch the film's trailer. Check out the rest of our Friday Night Features in May.

Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs available on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen's).