March “ZOOM” Discussions with the Montauk Library

Carolyn Balducci will be moderating four ZOOM discussions in MARCH. Folks should email her at cbalducci@montauklibrary.org with the topic or book title indicated in the subject line. You will receive a ZOOM link a few days prior to the event. Copies of the books can be picked up at the library. Ebooks and audio books can be downloaded from www.live-brary.com. The Montauk Library, in cooperation with the Long Island Reads program, will provide free copies of The Vanishing Half to 12 participants.

It’s Your Money – Finding Unclaimed Funds
Speaker: Leah Solomon, spokesperson, Office of the New York State Comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli
Monday, March 8, 11am – 12pm      To register & receive a Zoom link, please send an email with MONEY in the subject line to Carolyn Balducci at cbalducci@montauklibrary.org
New York State is holding over $13 billion in assets that have been forgotten or lost. Every day the Comptroller’s Office returns $1 million to those who file a claim. Some of this could be yours! Lost or unclaimed funds are reported to the New York State Office of the State Comptroller. The source of these funds include inactive bank accounts, or items such as stock certificates, dividends, security deposits, or paychecks that were sent to former addresses. Join Leah Solomon from the New York State’s Office of the State Comptroller when she explains how to find out if you, deceased family members or a business are entitled to unclaimed funds and how to recover them. Thevirtual unclaimed funds talk includes an overview of unclaimed funds as well as search tips. Time is allotted for questions & answers.

Classics Zoom Book Group: Kidnapped (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
Thursday, March 11, 4:00 – 5:30pm     To receive a ZOOM link send an email with CLASSICS in the subject line to Carolyn Balducci at cbalducci@montauklibrary.org
Kidnapped is an adventure novel by Scottish author, Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850 – 1894). Falsely accused of abetting a murder, David Balfour, an orphan and heir to a great fortune, is sold to human traffickers heading to the Carolinas. Kidnapped raises moral issues, such as the nature of justice while resonating with contemporary concerns about slavery and political violence.

ARMCHAIR TRAVEL BOOK CLUB: The Bells of Old Tokyo (2019) by Anna Sherman
Tuesday, Mar 16, 4pm to 5:30pm      To receive a ZOOM link, send an email with TRAVEL in the subject line to Carolyn Balducci at cbalducci@montauklibrary.org
From 1632 until 1854, Japan’s rulers restricted contact with foreign countries. In hypnotic prose and sensual detail, Anna Sherman describes searching for the great bells by which the inhabitants of Edo, later called Tokyo, kept the hours in the shoguns’ city. An exploration of Tokyo becomes a meditation not just on time, but on history, memory, and impermanence. The Bells of Old Tokyo follows haunting voices through the labyrinth that is the Japanese capital.

LONG ISLAND READS: The Vanishing Half (2020) by Brit Bennett
March 24, 4:00pm – 5:30pm     To join this Discussion Group and receive a ZOOM link, please send an email with VANISHING HALF in the subject line to Carolyn Balducci at cbalducci@montauklibrary.org
The Vanishing Half, a new novel by Brit Bennett, examines sisterhood, personal identity, starting fresh, and what it means to be Black (and white) in America. Bennett is known for creating taut family dramas, and,like her brilliant debut, The Mothers, this novel shows just how strong the bonds of sisters are, even at their weakest. The novel has earned numerous critical accolades and distinctions. NOTE: The Montauk Library will provide one free copy to the first 12 readers who sign up.