Adult Summer Reading Club Livens Up Library

Sunscreen isn't the only must-have in your beach bag this summer.  Toss in a good book!

To help you weed through so many selections out there, Syosset Library launched its first ever Adult Summer Reading Club. Not unlike the children's reading club, readers who sign up win raffle prizes in weekly drawings and a ticket to the wrap-up party in August.

The summer club kickoff began Wednesday and runs until Aug. 14.

So far, 30 residents (18 and older) joined, pledging to read books of their choice or selections from a shared "Title Swap" list. Once they jot down just one title read, they're invited to hear Jennifer Egan read from A Visit From the Goon Squad on Aug. 18.

You can sign up anytime.

"That's all you have to do, and it includes audio books, too," said Susan Santa, readers' services librarian. "We developed the program to get people excited about books."

The excitement was all about weddings at the kickoff: What happens when you get invited to an ex-boyfriend's wedding? Or how to plan one while landing that big case at a law firm—in two fun novels from author Brenda Janowitz.

It was a family affair, as Janowitz read excerpts from Scot on the Rocks and illuminated her character Brooke's journey through the second novel, Jack With a Twist.  Her parents, Sherry and Bernard Janowitz, who bore absolutely no resemblance to the fictional 'rents (she swears), were beaming in the crowd.

"I basically utilized many of my family members' names as various characters in the novels," Janowitz added. "Like my nephew Noah," who was crawling around and adorably hid under the table while she spoke, "was a partner in a big-time law firm."

People seemed to enjoy her candid discussion about the writing process, finding an agent as good as hers and teaching on website MediaBistro.com.

"I enjoyed Brenda's very enthusiastic and animated reading of her novel," said Mary Korpi, a Syosset resident who gathered with other patrons in the second floor readers' corner.  "I'll be sure to grab a copy."

Janowitz joked about doing the reading in French since both novels have been translated into the romantic language and Scot is also available in Malaysian. But said she wouldn't even try to fake her way through a Scottish accent, as much of the book has tidbits of all things Scottish.

Janowitz, originally from Long Island's Five Towns, said she "always wanted to be a writer and wrote plays and had friends perform them." But started out as a lawyer first.

She is a bit like her character Brooke: a smart, savvy, hotshot Manhattan lawyer, living in the Big Apple.

Now in her 30s, married and living in Muttontown, Janowitz writes in between caring for her 10-month old son.

"Motherhood definitely changes your writing," she said. "For the first novel, I was much more a type-A lawyer with an outline approach." But now, Janowitz says being a mom is about letting go, and she finds herself allowing the characters to naturally evolve more.

"My third novel is a totally different tone and is about mothers and daughters and grandmothers," she added

It's always hard to find a good book, and librarian Santa has noticed an increase in partrons over the past year. 

"Syosset is a very smart, hip community," said Santa. "We have a new influx of readers availing themselves of the library specifically saying they aren't buying books as much anymore." 

But they're certainly reading. 

Check out the Adult Reading Club at www.syossetlibrary.org. Learn more about Janowitz at www.brendajanowitz.com.