Brad, Bulbs, and Starre. What do they have in common?

They're all on the Events Calendar here at the Library during September. We promised you that we'd continue to present fabulous programs even as we prepare to move to the new building, and we're keeping our word!

Bestselling author Brad Meltzer will be here on Sunday, September 21st at 5:30 p.m. (Very cool!)

Starre Vartan, the Eco Chick will be here on Wednesday, September 17th at 7 p.m. (Very green!)

Master Gardener Sue Kelley presents "Fall is for Planting—Perennials and Bulbs" on September 16th at 7pm.  (Very green thumb!)

Master Gardener Sue Kelley presents "Fall is for Planting—Perennials and Bulbs" at the Darien Library on September 16th at 7pm.

After taking an Adult Education class in Basic Gardening at Darien High School, Sue became involved with the UConn Master Gardening Program. She graduated as a Certified Master Gardener in 2002 and is currently working towards her Advanced Certification. Sue currently works at Reynolds' Farms Nursery in Norwalk, where she has enjoyed working and learning for the past 10 years.


Photo taken by Flickr user Muffet.

By the evidence of the size of our collective carbon footprint(s), Starre Vartan, author or The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green, may be arriving just in time. Proving that we don't have to sacrifice style, fun, or fashion to lead an eco-friendly life, we get the opportunity to follow in her very cool, very chic, and very green (and fabulous) footsteps. Starre will be here on Wednesday, September 17th at 7 p.m. to talk about her new book which hits shelves later this month. A book signing will follow the presentation and books will be available for purchase. We'll also have refreshments.

Eco Chick has been featured on national broadcast networks, the Wall Street Journal, Shape magazine, Glamour, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Grist, Treehugger.com, and numerous green blogs. She's apparently all over the place and all over the map, but she's also our neighbor. This native Australian lives (fabulously) right next door in Norwalk and we can't wait to meet her. Join us!

 Brad Meltzer is coming to Darien (and that's no lie)!

In his newest book, The Book of Lies, bestselling author Brad Meltzer poses this question: What does Cain, the world’s first villain, and Superman, the world’s first superhero have in common?

The book comes out on September 2nd and we'll barely have a chance to recover from reading this thriller before Meltzer arrives here at Darien Library to talk about the book! Here's the scoop: Sunday, September 21st, beginning PROMPTLY at 5:30 p.m., Brad Meltzer will be our featured speaker. Following the presentation, there will be a book signing (books will be available for purchase) and a reception. I know! It's big news! Okay, I'll wait while you go mark your calendar...

Meltzer is also the author of  The First Counsel, The Millionaires, The Zero Game, The Tenth Justice, and most recently, The Book of Fate), he is legendary for his expertise in comics (he the writer of Justice League, and the author of the top-grossing graphic novel, Identity Crisis). 

Journalist Lily Koppel found buried treasure right outside her front door in a NYC dumpster. The treasure was in the form of a little red book; the five-year diary of a young girl -- Florence Wolfson. The years? 1929-1934. The place? Manhattan's Upper West Side. Wow. This is not the NYC I know! And I wanted to know more.

Luckily, Lily did a great job with this story. She tracked down Florence, who now lives in Connecticut (and Florida), and is in her 90s. Florence's still-sharp memory fills in the blanks of the short daily entries in the diary which, despite the crumbling pages, sparkle with intelligence, culture, curiosity, sophistication, and intimacy. What's resulted is a fascinating memoir -- The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal.

The diary is quite revealing and we can find out even more when Lily comes to the Library on Thursday, October 2nd at 7 p.m. to talk about the book and this adventure! There will be a book signing following the presentation. Books will be available for purchase and refreshments will be served. Please join us!

Eighteen of the 39 Groovy Gardeners who helped tend our library garden this summer gathered on August 21 to enjoy the fruits of their labors.  The lively and enthusiastic group enjoyed pizza accompanied by salad which included squash, cucumbers, pear tomatoes, peppers, and nasturtium blossoms nurtured by them.  In addition, we had eggplant dip, dill dip, basil dressing and iced mint tea made from vegetables and herbs we grew.  One young gardener wished we could have grown a pizza plant!  We topped off the meal with ice cream and cookies, and sang "Happy Birthday" to one attendee who chose to eat vegetables with us on her special day.

The weather is cooling and the back-to-school ads are running- it must be time to start planning for Fall and (yikes!) Winter. Before you get out your snowshoes or plan that apple-picking excursion, here's what's coming to the Darien Library:

On October 19th, the Library's Annual Meeting will start at 5pm. The featured speaker will be popular local author Philip Van Munching.

Many of you have been asking about our upcoming move. Here's the plan: the current building will close on November 26th at 6pm. The New Darien Library will have its grand opening on January 10th, 2009.

Our fall author visits will be as spectacular as the foliage

 photo by Flickr user Nicholas_T

Wednesday, September 17th at 7 p.m, Starre Vartan will be here to talk about her book The Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to Be Fabulously Green.

Sunday, September 21st, beginning at 5:30 p.m, Brad Meltzer will be talking about his books, including his newest, Book of Lies.

Thursday, October 2nd at 7 p.m Lily Koppel will be talking about her book  The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal.

Jordon Pecile returns for the Fall Book Discussion Series beginning September 14. The theme is "Of Thee I Sing: Novels About the Changing Face of America."
September 14 will be Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
October 5 will be America America by Ethan Cainin
October 26 will be The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III
November 16 will be Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

Last, but never least, the Foreign Film Series will begin on Friday, October 10, and continue every Friday at 7:30 through to our last Friday in the building -- November 21. (Schedule to be announced.)
 

At 7 p.m. next Wednesday, August 13th, Hillary Jordan, the author of Mudbound will be the special guest speaker at our Adult Summer Reading Grand Finale. We know how wildly popular the book is (there are 42 holds on the book right now!), so we also know that you're as eager as we are to learn more about "Mudbound"...and Hillary. Well, as luck and timing would have it, Janet and I had the chance to talk for a bit with Hillary earlier today, and you can listen to the conversation
right here.

Hillary Jordan