Thursday, May 15, 7:00 PM
Poetry Reading
Three Guyer Barn Poets
Robert Gardiner is a retired minister. He has one book, and several
articles which have won national prizes. Robert has just published his
first volume of comic verse, Funny Stuff: A Cheerful Poetic Romp Through the Puddles & Muddles of This Goofy Planet.
Roger Kessel is a retired attorney and business executive. Active in
cultural arts communities on the Cape. Member of the Board of Directors
Cape Cod Writers’ Center. His poetry has appeared in the Aurorean and Blueline.
Robin Smith-Johnson is on the staff of the Cape Cod Times and is an
Adjunct Professor of English at Cape Cod Community College. Published
in literary journals; recently won third prize in Cape Women Writing
Contest. Member of Falmouth Poets.
 Saturday, May 17, 2:00 PM
Author Event
Elise Forbes Tripp
Surviving Iraq: Soldier's Stories
Please join us in welcoming Elise Tripp who will give a talk about her new book, Surviving Iraq.
Also featured will be additional speakers who have served in Iraq. The
Iraq war is being fought by an all-volunteer army recruited from
working-class America, and it is these men and women who are the stars
of Tripp's powerfully moving book. Surviving Iraq: Soldiers' Stories is
the result of a close collaboration between the author and thirty
veterans who tell their stories of the invasion, occupation, and
ongoing insurgency in Iraq. Almost half a million soldiers have served in the four years
of this war, but each story is a unique version of what it is like to
serve in war, and to survive it. Such narratives should be at the
center of the national dialogue on the war.
Ken
Burns wrote, “This fascinating collection of testimonies underscores
the universality of all war...what emerges is a shocking, moving, and
utterly heroic portrait of young men and women in impossible
situations.”
Elise Forbes Tripp is a graduate of Harvard, and has
a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies. A former international relations counselor for UN affairs at
the World Bank, she is an adjunct professor of American history at
Holyoke Community College in Massachusetts. Tripp and guest veterans
will share stories from Surviving Iraq. Complimentary refreshments will be served.
 Tuesdays, May 6, 13, 20, 27, 6:00 PM
Knitting Circle
Beginners
and more advanced knitters are all welcome at this friendly and
informal gathering of knitters. Start making progress on your ongoing
projects! Established by the owners of Sage Fine Gifts & Yarn. Encouragement, ideas, tips, and conversation!
Tuesdays, May 6, 13, 20, 27, 7:00 PM
Backgammon Club
Come meet & greet other backgammon players at this informal club. Backgammon
is fast, deep, challenging, and great fun. Don't know how to play? Want
to learn? Now's the time. All levels of experience welcome.
Complimentary coffee is served.
Wednesdays, May 7, 21, 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Calligraphy Club
This
is a combination workshop and club. This will not be a formal class, as
we consider ourselves merely enthusiasts! All levels of calligraphers
are welcome. Bring your own projects or join our exploration of
different fonts. The club meets every other Wednesday. Calligraphy is a
relaxing art and a skill anyone can learn. Even if you've never held a
calligraphy pen, you will be surprised at how quickly you are able to
learn the craft.
 Thursdays, May 8, 15, 22, 29, 6:00 - 7:00 PM
The Wright Way To Success
Workshop leader: Kevin Wright
Becoming a better you by learning the secrets of success!
Call
the Inkwell at 508-540-0039 or reserve a space in person at the
bookstore. Kevin Wright has conducted motivational seminars for the
sales team at the Cape Cod Times. Through his powerful 12 week course,
you will learn to focus your innate talents and maximize your
potential. Attend all 12 classes or pick and choose what appeals most
to you. New attendees are welcome throughout the series of workshops.
A complete syllabus is available at the bookstore. Below is a list of the first 6 workshops.
WEEK 1: 100% ACCOUNTABILITY - Completed
WEEK 2: MIND, BODY, HEART & SPIRIT - Completed
WEEK 3: POWER & FOCUS - May 8th - Completed
WEEK 4: BELIEVE & ACHIEVE -May 15th
WEEK 5: KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE - May 22nd
WEEK 6: TAKING ACTION - May 29th
$10 per class, or $100 if you sign up for all 12 classes.
Staff Picks
 The House at Riverton
By Kate Morton
Atria, $24.95
Recommended by Michelle
“This
rich and wonderful debut novel set in England during World War I offers
a compelling glimpse into the tragic secrets of an aristocratic British
family as their way of life becomes obsolete. The past is never truly
behind us, as 98 year old Grace discovers when a filmmaker comes asking
questions about the alleged suicide of a poet that happened 70 years
ago. When Grace was a teen, she entered into service of the Hartford
family at Riverton House, and witnessed the death of the poet, R.S.
Hunter. After long years of silence, Grace must confront the truth of
the loves and lives lost through chance and choice. The House at Riverton
is not only a gripping novel - it is also a thoughtful meditation on
the devastation of war, the end of an era, family loyalty, aging,
memory, and love.”
 The Book of Joe
By Jonathan Tropper
Bantam, $10.00
Recommended by Steve
“The Book of Joe is
a compelling read. You will laugh and cry as Joe Goffman confronts his
past and present. Thirty years after Joe writes a fictional novel, he
begrudgingly returns to his hometown in Connecticut. It is there that
Joe attempts to rekindle romance with his high school sweetheart, and
shed the black sheep image from his family. Themes in The Book of Joe
deal with the complexities of family relationships and lost love. Find
out why the entire town of Bush Falls is mad at Joe, and resorts to
throwing books and milkshakes at him. Fans of Tom Perrotta, Nick Hornby
and Jennifer Weiner will jump on the Tropper Wagon. I too am now a
follower. Heads up all local book clubs - this is an excellent
selection!”
 Thousand Cranes
By Yasunari Kawabata
Vintage, $12.95
Recommended by Charlotte
“Winner
of the Pulitzer Prize, Kawabata has written a short but enlightening
novel about the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Kikuji shows his
indifference to this ancient custom as offered by Chikako, one of his
late father’s mistresses. Chikako is a master of tea who attempts to
manipulate Kikuji and others to realize her plans for his future and
marriage. The masterful, subtle novel offers a fascinating glimpse into
another culture, and is a must read for anyone planning a visit to
Japan.”
 Knockemstiff
By Donald Ray Pollack,
Doubleday, $22.95
Recommended by Kathleen
“Is
there a dark side to your personality that can be explored through
literature? Here is the book for you. Donald Ray Pollack has written an
unabashed, meaty, raging series of connected short stories that include
hermits and abuse – and this is his debut! Meet the folks from
Knockemstiff (the actual name of Mr. Pollack’s hometown), and you will
never forget their gritty nature. Not for the faint of heart… this
book’s tone is blunt and the characters coarse. Worth your time, if you
dare.”
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 Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History
By Theodore C. Sorensen
Harper, $27.95
Recommended by Steve
“Theodore
Sorensen was counselor and confidant to the late John F. Kennedy, the
first member of his staff and one of the last surviving members, making
Counselor a must read memoir. Sorensen reveals intimate details of his
eleven years with JFK and tells what it was like to give hope to a
nation while contributing to JFK’s policies during the tumultuous 60’s.
In Counselor, Sorensen remains the gentleman. Although
privy to conversations of a private nature, he remains loyal to the
leader whose untimely death has left an ache in this country’s heart.
With so much material on JFK, we might think we have heard it all.
Surprisingly, we have not. Counselor includes new information: from
Sorensen’s role with Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the
peace corps, the moon race, and a parody of the inaugural speech.
Recently I joined a writing group and I particularly enjoyed reading
Sorensen’s chapter on his speech writing techniques. People in
Washington are still eager to be the next Sorensen, and after reading
this memoir you will truly understand why.”
 The Legend of Colton H. Bryant
By Alexandra Fuller
Penguin Group, $23.95
Recommended by Kathleen
“Writing
about what she knows gives Alexandra Fuller the ability to develop an
unparalleled truthfulness and depth to both her scenes and subjects.
The unusual format (short chapters with a hint of playwright) makes the
story even more riveting. Reading this book means slipping from chapter
to chapter as seamlessly as it is written. I have never been to Wyoming
or visited an oil rig, but I can see them both in my mind’s eye with
crystal clarity. Her subjects are people you wish you’d meet, but never
seem to find, not unrealistic, just painfully tied to a harsh landscape
with the hardscrabble incumbent wisdom. Purposely skipping the chapter
index, I was shocked and thrilled at the end, which I intentionally
delayed, to find out that this larger-than-life cowboy walked this
earth. So few authors hit again with a third book, but Ms. Fuller
surely did. We can only look forward to her next masterpiece.”
 The Post-American World
By Fareed Zakaria
W.W. Norton, $25.95
"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the
rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work
on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his
bestselling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with
equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer
dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm
cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"—the growth of countries like
China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our
time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings,
biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are
all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is
producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially
international problems. How should the United States understand and
thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it
mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions
with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.
 Careless in Red
By Elizabeth George
HarperCollins, $27.95
In her most eagerly anticipated novel yet, Elizabeth
George brings back Scotland Yard's Thomas Lynley to investigate a
ruthless crime. After the senseless murder of
his wife, Detective Superintendent Thomas Lynley retreated to Cornwall,
where he has spent six solitary weeks hiking the bleak and rugged
coastline. But no matter how far he walks, no matter how exhausting his
days, the painful memories of Helen's death do not diminish. On the forty-third day of his walk, at the base of a cliff, Lynley
discovers the body of a young man who appears to have fallen to his
death. The closest town, better known for its tourists and its surfing
than its intrigue, seems an unlikely place for murder. However, it soon
becomes apparent that a clever killer is indeed at work, and this time
Lynley is not a detective but a witness and possibly a suspect.
 Unaccustomed Earth
By Jhumpa Lahiri
Knopf, $25.00
From the internationally best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a superbly crafted new work of fiction: eight stories, longer and more emotionally complex than any she has yet written, that take us from Cambridge and Seattle to India and Thailand as they enter the lives of sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons, friends and lovers.
In the stunning title story, Ruma, a young mother in a new city, is visited by her father, who carefully tends the earth of her garden, where he and his grandson form a special bond. But he's harboring a secret from his daughter, a love affair he's keeping all to himself. In "A Choice of Accommodations," a husband's attempt to turn an old friend's wedding into a romantic getaway weekend with his wife takes a dark, revealing turn as the party lasts deep into the night. In "Only Goodness," a sister eager to give her younger brother the perfect childhood she never had is overwhelmed by guilt, anguish, and anger when his alcoholism threatens her family. And in "Hema and Kaushik," a trio of linked stories, a luminous, intensely compelling elegy of life, death, love, and fate, we follow the lives of a girl and boy who, one winter, share a house in Massachusetts. They travel from innocence to experience on separate, sometimes painful paths, until destiny brings them together again years later in Rome.
Unaccustomed Earth is rich with Jhumpa Lahiri's signature gifts: exquisite prose, emotional wisdom, and subtle renderings of the most intricate workings of the heart and mind. It is a masterful, dazzling work of a writer at the peak of her powers.
 
Wit's End
By Karen Joy Fowler
Putnam Publishing Group, $24.95
"In a change of pace from her best-selling The Jane Austen Book Club, Fowler has written a mystery that's barely a mystery but is every bit an absorbing and funny novel. Rima, a woman who has mastered the art of losing (including her mother, brother, and father) arrives in Santa Cruz, CA, to stay with her godmother, the famous and reclusive mystery writer Addison Early, whose book titles and plots provide chuckles throughout. Rima wants to learn the truth of the nature of the relationship between Addison and Rima's father, Bim, who might have been complicit in an old murder, as implied in one of Addison's novels. Yet the greater mystery turns out to be Addison, who seeks to protect her privacy and her works from her increasingly intrusive fans. One of the most refreshing things about Fowler's witty novel is its currency. At one point, Addison remarks that today's novels are unreliable guides to daily life since no one in them watches television. Indeed, Fowler's own characters write blogs, read message boards, watch YouTube, and consult (and even edit) Wikipedia. This insightful and engaging book is recommended." - Library Journal
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