Wilton Library hosts authors all month long in June

As the song goes, “June is bustin’ out all over,” and Wilton Library is “bustin’ out” seven authors introducing everything from beach reads to bestsellers.  Beginning with New York Times bestselling author Paula McLain on June 1, genres and topics include historical fiction, non-fiction, family dynamics, lost and found love stories, as well as championing two debut storytellers. 

Here is the line-up of the authors coming to the library in June:

Paula McLain is the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun.  Circling the Sun was chosen as the Wilton Reads 2016 selection which the author will discuss on Wednesday, June 1, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., also the day of its paperback release.  It is a historical novel based on the true-life story of Beryl Markham, a beautiful and strong-willed woman and her years in Kenya in the 1920s. She became the youngest licensed horse trainer and an aviator who flew solo from east to west across the Atlantic. McLain will be presented with the Grodin Family Fine Writers Award before her talk.

Author and journalist George Taber brings an interesting discussion of his book, Judgment of Paris, to the library on Saturday, June 4, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.  This year marks the 40th anniversary of the wine event that upended the wine world which he recounts in his book. Having been in Paris in 1976 for the wine tasting that saw a relatively unknown California upstart win in a blind taste test against French wines, Taber plans to share the history of the event and then “reenact” the occasion at his talk letting participants blind-taste French and California wines. After a 40-year journalism career, Taber turned to writing books. In 2005 he came out with Judgment of Paris and in 2014 Chasing Gold: The Incredible Story of How the Nazis Stole Europe’s Bullion.

Terry McMillan, a bestselling author of Waiting to Exhale and When Stella Got Her Groove Back, brings a new story to Wilton Library audiences with I Almost Forgot About Youon Tuesday, June 7, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. It is the inspiring story of a woman who shakes things up in her life to find greater meaning. McMillan fell in love with books as a teenager while working at the local library. She studied journalism at UC Berkeley and screenwriting at Columbia before making her fiction debut with Mama, which won both the Doubleday New Voices in Fiction Award and the American Book Award. She lives in California.

William Leuchtenburg, one of the great presidential historians of the century, comes to Wilton Library on Thursday, June 9, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to discuss his most recent book, The American President: From Teddy Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.  The book is an enthralling account of American presidential actions from the assassination of William McKinley in 1901 to Bill Clinton's last night in office in January 2001.  Leuchtenburg is the William Rand Kenan, Jr. Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Over the course of six decades, he taught at Columbia University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and, as a visiting professor, at Harvard, Cornell, Duke, William and Mary and other American universities, as well as at Oxford where he held the Harmsworth chair. The program is co-sponsored by the Wilton Historical Society and the library.

First-time novelist Christine Reilly visits the library on Tuesday, June 14, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with her debut entry, Sunday's on the Phone to Monday. It is an arresting family love story about the eccentric yet tightknit Simone family, coping with tragedy during ’90s New York, struggling to reconnect with each other and heal. The author has received a star rating from Kirkus Review and has received high praise from many others. Christine currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College and the Gotham Writers Workshop.

Drawing on her own family history, author Joy Callaway has written a vividly descriptive, captivating debut novel which she brings to the library audience on Thursday, June 16, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.  The Fifth Avenue Artists Society is Edith Wharton meets Little Women -- a gripping story following Virginia Loftin, the boldest of four artistic sisters living in genteel poverty in the Bronx in 1891. The novel is rich with historical details from the elaborate hats Ginny’s sister designs for Manhattan’s elite to the famous literary figures she meets at the salon, Callaway paints a vivid portrait of New York’s glitzy Gilded Age. The author lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her family.

Mary Simses, the author of the bestselling debut The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop And Café, returns to Wilton Library with her highly anticipated novel, The Rules Of Love & Grammar on Tuesday, June 28, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. A wordsmith by trade, Grace Hammond can’t let even the most innocent grammar mistakes slip by. After a series of missteps, Grace returns to her parents’ home where she must decide what truly matters, and whether it just might be time for her to set aside the rule book, open her heart, and take a chance on the unknown. Each chapter starts off with a grammar rule that is applied cleverly to the plot.

The author talks are free of charge; registration is recommended. Books will be available for purchase and signing with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Wilton Library. With the exception of Judgment of Paris, book purchases are made possible courtesy of Elm Street Books of New Canaan. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center. For information, program registration and directions, visit www.wiltonlibrary.org or call 203-762-6334.

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Submitted by Wilton, CT

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