Wilton Library is in a state of euphoria since learning that State of Wonder author Ann Patchett will be visiting Wednesday, May 30 at 7 p.m. for Wilton Reads!, the community-wide reading program. The best-selling author of Bel Canto, Truth & Beauty and The Patron Saint of Liars returns to the library to discuss her latest tale which is set in the cutthroat world of corporate pharmaceutical companies and the savage and beautiful world of the Amazon jungle. Ms. Patchett was enthusiastically received in 2009 when she spoke at the library for the Wilton Reads! selection, Run.
Wilton Reads! is an on-going town-wide reading program in which the members of the community come together to read, reflect, and discuss books on various topics. According to Wilton Library’s executive director Kathy Leeds, “Wilton Reads! has, for several years, given us an opportunity through fine literature to sharpen our view of ourselves and the world around us. State of Wonder takes us beyond our town, our region, our comfort zone. Its pages are filled with fascinating characters, an exotic milieu, and ethical/moral issues that should concern us all.” A starred review from Publishers Weekly notes, “Patchett is a master storyteller who has an entertaining habit of dropping ordinary people into extraordinary and exotic circumstances to see what they’re made of. [An] expansive page-turner…Patchett’s fluid prose dissolves in the suspense of this out-there adventure…that readers will hate to see end.” Ms. Patchett received Wilton Library’s Grodin Family Fine Writers Award when she spoke to the more than 400 people for the 2009 Wilton Reads! gathering.
Leading up to the author’s visit, the library offers a Beyond Words benefit auction item (March 30) involving the author; a book giveaway of 100 free books thanks to the generosity of the Grodin Family Fine Writers Fund, and two book discussions. The private meeting with the author will take place before her talk at the library’s Wilton Reads! program in May which includes first edition autographed books. The free book giveaway begins on Wednesday, April 4 at 10 a.m. and lasts until the books are distributed. On Tuesday, May 15, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., book group leader Susan Boyar hosts a discussion of State of Wonder and on Thursday, May 17, from 10:30 to noon, Dr. Joanna Ecke leads a morning book discussion session.
Find out what's happening in Wiltonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In addition to the giveaway, the library has purchased extra copies of the book for patrons to borrow, and have large print and CD versions as well. These can be reserved online or by phone and can be held at the circulation desk or at the drive-up window on Godfrey Place. Wilton Magazine is the media sponsor for the Wilton Reads! event.
Registration for any of the programs listed above, information and directions to Wilton Library can be found by visiting, www.wiltonlibrary.org/wiltonreads or by calling 203-762-3950, ext. 213. Wilton Library is located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in the heart of Wilton Center.
