BOOK TIP

Harbor Lights

James Lee Burke

It’s fun to introduce newcomers to Burke’s work because his indelibly rich descriptive powers punctuate some dark and violent narratives. If those qualities seem discordant, trust me, it’s the opposite. And novice readers come away amazed, seduced and wiser. This new collection of stories — many in print for the first time — revisit themes and scenarios consistent with Burke’s fiction in a fashion associated with Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner. Burke is 87 now and his power, vision and prolific output are almost eerie in their consistency. In fact, last weekend, he won his third Edgar Best Mystery Novel award for “Flags on the Bayou.” Amazing. There’s a simmering — occasionally boiling — anger in Burke’s work, but he never loses a wistful and even hopeful tone. In these new stories, though, is also a creeping pain that perhaps reflects late-breaking wounds in his own life. I suspect writing provides great therapy and inspiration for someone who’s already great in the very real sense of the word — and as such the characters in the stunning fiction of “Harbor Lights” remain valiant despite the dwindling magic of the world.

— Rick Koster

BOOK TIP

The Morningside

Téa Obreht

I loved author Téa Obreht’s debut novel, “The Tiger's Wife,” which wove a magical spell. Her latest, “The Morningside,” is more prosaic. It’s set in a slightly dystopian future in which people have fled their homeland to become refugees in an unnamed nation. In this new country, a city, damaged by natural disasters, has been abandoned by better-off residents. A “Repopulation Program” aims to, as the name suggests, repopulate the city. In a rundown highrise, 11-year-old Silvia explores the building and wonders about its occupants, particularly Bezi Duras, who lives in the penthouse and comes out to walk her three large dogs. Is she a vila, a spirit of sorts? Silvia’s mother refuses to talk about their home country, but her aunt, the building superintendent, has no such hesitancy. The storyline seems stuck in neutral for the first two-thirds of the book before finally taking off.

– Kristina Dorsey

TRAVEL TIP

Museum Discounts

The other afternoon, walking my feisty hound Mabel through the neighborhood, we ran into our neighbors Ellen and Jim, who’d just returned from an extended trip out west — San Francisco and Phoenix. Folks of great fun and culture, they were describing some of the museums they’d enjoyed. And they shared this tidbit that I didn’t know about. As strong supporters of our own local scene, Jim and Ellen are members at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum ($100/ year level), which gave them free admission to many museums on their trip (over 1,122 museums around the country that participate in NARM — North American Reciprocal Museum). Similarly, as members of the Conn College Arboretum (and this works at any membership level), they accessed numerous gardens in the Bay Area and Arizona through the American Horticultural Society. So: local support PLUS great travel benefits — just in time for vacation season. Visit lymanallyn.org/membership and conncoll.edu-the-arboretum/membership.

— Rick Koster