Books

Meet Samson Occom (1723-1792), Mohegan, scholar, orator, Montauker, minister, synthesizer of native spirituality and Christianity, prolific author of religious tracts.

In Kathy Engel’s timely new collection, “Dear Inheritors,” the poems do not sit still, they rise to the occasion of deep conversation, particularly when the subjects are tough.

Sex and drugs, sure, but especially opera: Ricky Ian Gordon lays it bare in telling the tale of his roller-coaster life as a composer.

Call it a cult following? Thomas McGonigle is out with a new paperback edition of his metafictional “Going to Patchogue.”

Murder most fun? It may have come out while the days were still cold, but A.J. Finn’s “End of Story” is the beach read to end all beach reads.

Betsy McCully’s richly descriptive writing and photos create a compelling invitation to readers to get out and explore, and amount to a powerful call to action to preserve the endangered places of Long Island.

Two Star contributors make good — Nanci Lagarenne reads from her new novel, “Scape Ghost,” in Southampton, and Dianne Moritz lands in “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”

How did Bernie Madoff get away with it for so long? And who knew? These questions and others are what Richard Behar’s new book, “Madoff: The Final Word,” addresses.

East Hampton Library’s Authors Night will bring 100 writers to Herrick Park to sign and sell copies of their books, all in support of the library’s programs.

In her new novel of World War I Britain, Helen Simonson brings well-turned prose, well-drawn characters, a well-developed setting, and romance, romance, romance.

Alice McDermott, a top novelist, will visit Fridays at Five at the Hampton Library tomorrow with her latest, “Absolution,” about expat American women in Vietnam during the war.

One Saturday, two book talks: a tale of Dutch Nazi resistance from John Tepper Marlin at the East Hampton Library, and thoughts on all things Montauk from Bill Akin at the Montauk Library.