Acclaimed pastry chef, author, and television personality Gesine Bullock-Prado, will return to Darien Library Wednesday evening to talk about her new cookbook, My Harvest Kitchen: 100+ Recipes to Savor the Seasons. — an announcement from Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore
Gesine (whose name is pronounced Ga-zee-na) will be in conversation with actress Samantha Smith. Step into a world of vibrant flavors, heartfelt storytelling, and seasonal delights! This innovative collection celebrates the joys of cooking with the rhythm of the seasons, blending farm-to-table philosophy with approachable recipes. With a wink and a whisk, Gesine invites readers into her delightfully imperfect world of “half-assed homesteading,” where compost may fail, but the biscuits never do.
The deadline for reserving tables at Darien Library’s Oct. 22 Novel Tea fundraiser on Oct. 22 is Friday, Aug. 29, the library announced. Tickets for individual seats will go on sale starting Wednesday, Sept.
A fascinating dive into a culinary baking staple and how it relates to Darien’s Great Island! Darien Library welcomes author, Dr. Linda Civitello, who will talk about her book, Baking Powder Wars: The Cutthroat Food Fight that Revolutionized Cooking. Smithsonian magazine named Baking Powder Wars one of the “10 Best Food Books of 2017.” What’s the Great Island connection? In the 1900s, Great Island was the summer home of industrialist William Ziegler, one of the founders of the Royal Baking Powder Company.
Allison Gilbert, who will talk about her role as co-author, and collaborator with the late Dr. Ruth Westheimer in the making of Dr. Ruth’s last book, The Joy of Connections:100 Ways to Beat Loneliness and Live a Happier and More Meaningful Life. — an announcement from Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore
Allison will be in conversation with broadcast journalist, news anchor and podcaster, Budd Mishkin. In Dr. Ruth’s final book, the well-known therapist offers an urgent guide to combating loneliness with 100 ways to increase connectivity right now, based on insights from her life story and her unparalleled career. About the Book
In 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, sounded the alarm that loneliness “represents an urgent public health concern.” This idea of loneliness, exacerbated by social media overuse, the residual effects of the pandemic, and the lack of meaningful relationships, was something that therapist Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer, with her unique perspective and expertise, wanted to help with. Long beloved for breaking stigmas around sexual problems, Dr. Ruth made it her mission to help individuals break free from the bonds of hopelessness and isolation.
Tyler Moore, the author of the new book, Tidy Up Your Life: Rethinking How to Organize, Declutter, and Make Space for What Matters Most. will discuss it this Sunday, Jan. 12 at Darien Library. — an announcement from Darien Library
Booklist wrote that the book is, “original, whimsical, and altogether practical.” Tyler will be in conversation with Stefanie Jones of The Realistic Organizer.
CNN Anchor Alisyn Camerota will visit Darien Library on Sunday, Sept. 22, to discuss her new memoir, Combat Love, a personal story of growing up on the Jersey Shore in the free-range 1980s. — an announcement from Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore
Alisyn will be in conversation with Darien’s Page Berger. Longing for stability and attachment as the foundation of her family crumbled, Camerota finds the belonging she craves courtesy of a local punk rock band named Shrapnel and their diehard fans. Combat Love chronicles her near-misses and misadventures at clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City, coupled with the sex, drugs, and punk rock of 1980s New Jersey.
Author Darrell Hartman is coming to Darien Library on Sunday, Sept. 8 to talk about his new book, Battle of Ink and Ice: a Sensational Story of News Barons, North Pole Explorers, and the Making of Modern Media. — an announcement from Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore
In the fall of 1909, a pair of bitter contests captured the world’s attention. The American explorers Robert Peary and Frederick Cook both claimed to have discovered the North Pole, sparking a vicious feud that was unprecedented in international scientific and geographic circles. At the same time, the rivalry between two powerful New York City newspapers—the storied Herald and the ascendant Times—fanned the flames of the so-called polar controversy, as each paper financially and reputationally committed itself to an opposing explorer and fought desperately to defend him.
James Beard Award–nominee Renato Poliafito will discuss his latest cookbook, Dolci! this Tuesday evening, July 16, at Darien Library. — an announcement from Darien Library, in collaboration with Barrett Bookstore
Poliafito will be in conversation with esteemed food writer Casey Elsass. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet Renato Poliafito and delve into the delicious world of Dolci! Prepare for an evening of sweet discoveries and culinary inspiration. About the Book
A joyous celebration of Italian, American, and Italian American tastes and traditions, Dolci! is a compendium of molto delizioso baked goods from both sides of the Atlantic.
Author Anastasia Mills Healy will discuss her new book, 100 Things to Do in Connecticut Before You Die, on Thursday, July 11 at Darien Library. UPDATE: The event has moved to a larger room. It will now take place in the Community Room, the library announced. — an announcement from Darien Library (with information from the author’s website)
Did you know that in Connecticut you can walk among life-size dinosaurs, drive a race car, admire stunning private gardens, and take a sightseeing cruise through a picturesque archipelago? If you’ve ever wondered “What should I do today?” Stasha Healy has got you covered.
Unexpected Beauty, a GCA Flower Show, a free event hosted by the Greenwich Garden Club this Friday and Saturday, June 14 and 15, will feature exhibits in floral design, horticulture, photography and “botanical arts,” the organizers say. — an announcement from the Greenwich Garden Club
A boutique will feature unexpectedly beautiful and unique items.
Also, you can buy raffle tickets. The raffle will feature a Craig Burrows print and a pair of Campagna “Paris” outdoor garden urns. Proceeds from the flower show will go to the Greenwich Garden Club Civic Improvement Fund. Chairwomen are Jane Dunn, Nina King and Susan Schieffelin.
U.K. resident, specialist flower grower and tulip expert, Polly Nicholson will talk about her new book, The Tulip Garden: Growing and Collecting Species on Tuesday evening, June 11, at Darien Library. — an announcement from Darien Library, Barrett Bookstore, and the Garden Club of Darien
Nicholson will take us to Blacklands, her beautiful, six-acre English country garden, where we will discover a unique collection of rare and covetable tulips — the largest private collection of historic varieties in the United Kingdom. Tulips are one of the world’s most popular flowers, with over 2,500 varieties produced in Holland each year. Combining the flower’s rich cultural history with expert tips and growing advice, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to more than 70 varieties, including cultivating species tulips, historic Dutch and English Florists’ tulips, as well as the popular annual tulips that we often see in our gardens and parks. Bringing to life varieties that date back to the 16th century, Nicholson demonstrates how these treasured bulbs and more modern varieties of this enchanting flower can be grown today.
Darien Library, along with Barrett Bookstore and Darien Power Squadron host author Eric Jay Dolin on Sunday, June 2, to discuss his new book, Left For Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World. — an announcement from Darien Library
In Left for Dead, Eric Jay Dolin tells the true story of a wild and fateful encounter between an American sealing vessel, a shipwrecked British brig, and a British warship in the Falkland archipelago during the War of 1812. Fraught with misunderstandings and mistrust, the incident left three British sailors and two Americans, including the captain of the sealer, Charles H. Barnard, abandoned in the barren, windswept, and inhospitable Falklands for a year and a half. With deft narrative skill and unequaled knowledge of the very pith of the seafaring life, Dolin describes in vivid and harrowing detail the increasingly desperate existence of the castaways during their eighteen-month ordeal—an all-too-common fate in the Great Age of Sail. A tale of intriguing complexity, with surprising twists and turns throughout—involving greed, lying, bullying, a hostile takeover, stellar leadership, ingenuity, severe privation, endurance, banishment, the great value of a dog, the birth of a baby, a perilous thousand-mile open-ocean journey in a seventeen-foot boat, an improbable rescue mission, and legal battles over a dubious and disgraceful wartime prize — Left for Dead shows individuals in wartime under great duress acting both nobly and atrociously, and offers a unique perspective on a pivotal era in American maritime history.
Alexandra Horowitz, a dog researcher and author of “The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves,” will share her knowledge and insights in a presentation at New Canaan Library on Thursday evening, May 23. — an announcement from New Canaan Library
We find our canine companions lovable and entertaining, but also intriguing. Many of us have wondered what drives them to bark, sniff, and play. What goes on in their canine minds? More About Year of the Puppy
Few of us meet our dogs at Day One.
Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore welcome author Sierra Greer on Tuesday Evening, May 21, in a discussion of her new book, Annie Bot. — an announcement from Darien Library
Come learn about this powerful and provocative novel about the relationship between a female robot and her human owner, exploring questions of intimacy, power, autonomy, and control. Annie Bot was created to be the perfect girlfriend for her human owner Doug. Designed to satisfy his emotional and physical needs, she has dinner ready for him every night, wears the pert outfits he orders for her, and adjusts her libido to suit his moods. True, she’s not the greatest at keeping Doug’s place spotless, but she’s trying to please him.
Calling all fans of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand! Darien Library and Barrett Bookstore welcome author Helen Simonson on Wednesday evening to talk about her latest book, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. — an announcement from Darien Library
A timeless comedy of manners—refreshing as a summer breeze and bracing as the British seaside—about a generation of young women facing the seismic changes brought on by war and dreaming of the boundless possibilities of their future. It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel.
A “generous donor” has offered a matching gift to Darien Book Aid if the local nonprofit can raise $5,000 in May, so the organization is asking supporters to help reach that goal. “We are more than halfway to our goal,” Peggy Twitchell, president of the organization, said in a fundraising email sent out on Thursday, the half-way point of the month. “Thank you to those of you who have already given. Your doubled gift will impact the educational outcomes of so many individuals who currently don’t have access to important resources,” Twitchell wrote. She reminded supporters that Darien Book Aid is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit “with the highest-level ‘Four-Star’ rating from Charity Navigator,” Charity Navigator is a charity assessment organization that evaluates hundreds of thousands of U.S. nonprofits.
