Author Archive
Reader & Book Discussion Guide
Are you running a book discussion of A Speck in the Sea at your Library or book club? Find helpful tips to enhance your reading and book club experiences with our 2023 LI Reads A Speck in the Sea Reader’s Guide.
Long Island Reads will honor John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski in person and online at an award ceremony on April 23, 2023 at Half Hollow Hills Community Library.
2023 Author Event
Authors John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski will be honored at the 2023 Long Island Reads Selection Award event for their book A Speck in the Sea: A Story of Survival and Rescue in a dual in-person and online program hosted by Half Hollow Hills Community Library on Sunday, April 23, 2023 at 2 p.m.
TWO WAYS TO ATTEND:
- Free tickets to the in-person event will be available to the public beginning Saturday, April 1, at 9:30 a.m. Click the EVENTBRITE link for more information.
- For those who prefer to attend virtually, Half Hollow Hills Community Library will also host the event as an online program. Please check back soon for registration details.
For more information, please contact your home library.
Long Island Reads is sponsored by the Nassau Library System and the Public Libraries of Suffolk County.
John Aldridge (L) and Anthony Sosinski (R)
The 2023 Pick Is In!
A Speck in the Sea: A Story of Survival and Rescue by John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski
Two veteran sailors who co-own and operate a Montauk lobster boat recount the 2013 search-and-rescue mission for co-author John Aldridge, describing how his partner, their families, the local fishing community, and the U.S. Coast Guard in three states mobilized an unprecedented and ultimately successful operation.
Why A Speck in the Sea?
~“… the book takes readers into the water with Aldridge as he shares first-person accounts of shark encounters and the mind games he played while clinging to his rubber boots to stay afloat. Sections written in the third person recount the immense battle the U.S. Coast Guard, search-and-rescue aircraft, and a slew of volunteers (including singer Jimmy Buffet) waged against time to find Aldridge before the ocean claimed him. A rich backstory—including complicated personal lives and deep family histories—adds depth to this page turner.” – PW Annex Reviews
~This title offers a variety of topics and themes which lend themselves to programming and book discussions, including commercial fishing, lobstering, marine search and rescue, trauma, and the history and future of Long Island maritime communities.
~A Speck in the Sea is available in hardcover, audio CD, ebook and downloadable audiobook formats.
~Long Island Reads will honor John and Anthony at a ceremony in April 2023, ten years after John’s rescue.
~Learn more about A Speck in the Sea and reserve your copy now:
~The Long Island Reads committee will honor John and Anthony in person at a ceremony in April 2023, ten years after John’s rescue.
~Tickets will be available beginning April 1.
Reader’s and Book Discussion Guide
Are you running a book discussion of The Living and the Lost at your Library or book club? Find helpful tips to enhance your reading and book club experiences with our 2022 LI Reads The Living and the Lost Reader’s Guide.
Long Island Reads will honor Ellen Feldman in person and online at an award ceremony on May 1, 2022 at Plainview-Old Bethpage Library.
2022 Author Event
Author Ellen Feldman will be honored at the 2022 Long Island Reads Selection Award event for her novel The Living and the Lost in a dual in-person and online program hosted by Plainview-Old Bethpage Library on Sunday, May 1 at 2 p.m.
TWO WAYS TO ATTEND:
- Free tickets to the in-person event will be available to the public beginning Friday, April 1, at 9:30 a.m. Click the EVENTBRITE link for more information.
- For those who prefer to attend virtually, Plainview-Old Bethpage Library will also host the event as an online program through the Crowdcast platform. Tickets are not required for the online event. Online attendees will receive a direct link to the event after registering. Click the CROWDCAST link to access the online event.
For more information, please contact your home library.
Long Island Reads is sponsored by the Nassau Library System and the Public Libraries of Suffolk County.
The 2022 Pick Is In!
The Living and the Lost by Ellen Feldman
After finding refuge from the Nazis in America, a brother and sister return to their native Germany in 1945, as the Allied occupation begins. Mostly set in a bombed-out, black-market-driven, postwar Berlin, The Living and the Lost brims with a spot-on timeliness in its concern about the lasting damage of a culture of hatred while delivering a riveting look at the days and months leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall, its consequences and its lasting impact on individuals.
Why The Living and the Lost?
~Ellen Feldman, an Amagansett, Long Island resident and 2009 Guggenheim fellow, has written 9 novels, including Scottsboro, The Boy Who Loved Anne Frank and Paris Never Leaves You.
~Perfect for book clubs, Feldman’s novels are “for fans of Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See and Kristin Hannah’s The Nightingale… groups are sure to find much to dissect and discuss.” (Booklist)
~The Living and the Lost is an illuminating historical drama set in a lesser-known historical period—the immediate postwar era and Berlin before the wall, delving into the complications and compromises that come with the end of war.
~This title offers a variety of topics and themes which lend themselves to programming and book discussions, including loss and grief, antisemitism, war refugees, PTSD, and military service.
~The Living and the Lost is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, large print, audio CD and downloadable audio formats.
~Learn more about The Living and the Lost and reserve your copy now:
~Long Island Reads will honor Ellen in person at an award ceremony on May 1, 2022.
2021 Long Island Reads Event
In case you missed it, here’s your chance to watch our recorded 2021 Long Island Reads event with Brit Bennett speaking about her book The Vanishing Half.
Keep the Discussion Going
The libraries around Long Island are doing programs and book discussions all month long to celebrate this year’s book The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Check out the lists below and join in on the discussion.
Event Tickets Now Available!
Tickets for this year’s Long Island Reads event are now available through Eventbrite. Join us on Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 2 pm via Crowdcast for a conversation with Brit Bennett about her New York Times Best Selling novel The Vanishing Half.
Signed/Bookplated Books are available for purchase through the Book Revue website.
2021 Author Event
Author Brit Bennett will be honored at the 2021 Long Island Reads Selection Award virtual event for her novel The Vanishing Half in an online Crowdcast program hosted by Plainview-Old Bethpage Library on Sunday, April 11 at 2 p.m. Free tickets will be available to the public beginning Monday, March 1, at 9:30 a.m. through Eventbrite.
Bennett, who is a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, is the author of The Mothers, a New York Times bestseller. The Vanishing Half is her second novel and was an instant #1 New York Times bestseller.
Please contact your home library for more information. Long Island Reads is sponsored by the Nassau Library System and the Public Libraries of Suffolk County.
Long Island Reads 
