Book ‘em, Danno!

One of the most-anticipated events in Sharon’s social calendar will take place Friday night, 4:45-7:30PM when Hotchkiss Library holds its 26th annual book signing under a tent on the library lawn.

“We have a very impressive lineup of 27 authors,” said Holly Nelson who plans events for the library. “The books this year are somewhat evenly divided between fiction and non-fiction, with about a third being devoted to children.”

Among those children’s books are “terrific collections of classics and children’s books for kids just beginning to be charmed by reading,” said Nelson. “Sharing the magic of books is just so wonderful.”

She mentioned Catskill Creatures by Nancy Furstinger (illustrated by Bob Ebdon). “It’s the kind of book you just want to take out and read,” she said.

Another children’s book being offered was written by a Sharon native, Christopher Heacox, whose book, The Chudderdudders, emphasizes the need to take responsibility.

Nelson said not all the emphasis is on the very young however. “There are a lot of interesting non-fiction books—from Bunny Williams, who will be here with her newest book, Life in the Garden, and Lynn Slater, who tells us How to Be Old. She has become a style icon for the over-70 set. She calls herself an ‘accidental icon’ and she has all kinds of cool advice.

“We also have a couple of cool books on contemporary issues. The Death of Truth by Michiko Kakutani discusses how truth has become an endangered species in contemporary America with emphasis on social media. Then there is a book by Peter Goodman, How the World Ran out of Everything, that looks at the supply chain—which doesn’t sound exciting but is fascinating—and Cliff Stone’s Court at War, the inside story of how Franklin Delano Roosevelt altered the most powerful legal institution in the country during World War II.

Author Francine Prose provides a memoir, 1974, about another pivotal moment in the nation’s history, this one about the close relationship she developed with activist Anthony Russo, one of the men who leaked the Pentagon Papers and Michael Korda takes a look at the First World War through the intertwined lives of the soldier poets. Muse of Fire explores the war through the lens of soldier poets.

In a lighter vein, Kevin Baker contributes The New York Game which tells the origin story of baseball and how it affected New York City. “He is a really entertaining writer,” said Nelson.

And those who like cookbooks might be intrigued by a biography of Judith Jones, The Editor, by Sara B. Franklin. “Jones is given credit for creating the modern cookbook,” Nelson said. “She shaped how we use cookbooks today.”

Sharon’s own Peter Steiner returns with the latest installment of his critically acclaimed detective series, this time with The New Detective, a prequel that tells the origin story of German detective Willi Geismeier when he is drawn into an investigation that pits him against the growing fascist threat.

“Failing some kind of emergency, all the authors will be on tap for the event,” said Nelson. “The whole event has this really nice vibe and gives everyone a time to chat and compare books. You can get up close and chat with the authors. We start at 4:45PM with early admission and it is over by 7:30PM when there are seven dinners in private homes with some of the authors.”

Some of those events are in smaller homes and are sold out but tickets remain for the dinners in larger venues.

Nelson said this will be the first book signing held at the library since 2019, when a major renovation of the library began. The library is located at 10 Upper Main Street in Sharon.

Early admission tickets are $75 from 4:45 to 5:30 PM with general admission at $50 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. From 6:30 to 7:30 PM admission is “pay what you can.” Dinners are $250.