Sisters in Crime mystery writers share secrets

Mystery writer Kate Flora learned a lesson growing up in a small town in Maine: Everyone has secrets. And secrets are hard to keep.

"Everyone who lives in a small town knows everything about everybody," Flora said during a panel discussion at Jones Library in Amherst last week called "Writing New England Mysteries, Long and Short."

Book Bag

Here in Red Hook

By Andy Vernon-Jones

Apartment 7 Press

Former Amherst resident Andy Vernon-Jones, who graduated from Amherst Regional High School in 2000, spent most of the past five years living in the district of Red Hook in Brooklyn, N.Y. while he was working as a counselor at an alternative high school. In an effort to get a better sense of the pulse of his adopted neighborhood, he began strolling the streets and taking photographs, learning the stories of many of the people he met.

Valley readings

The following author appearances, readings and book events are planned for the coming week in the Valley:

AMHERST COLLEGE: Story writer Daniyal Mueenuddin reads from his work today, 8 p.m., Stirn Auditorium at the college.

Rachel Simmons discusses her book "Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls" Thursday, 7 p.m., Stirn Auditorium, Amherst College.

Elizabeth Taylor: An accidental feminist?

Elizabeth Taylor was many things: a talented actress whose first star turn came at age 12 in "National Velvet"; an international celebrity whose eight husbands included her "Cleopatra" co-star Richard Burton twice; an AIDS activist long before it became fashionable; a recovering addict, diet book author and friend of Michael Jackson; and a voluptuous, violet-eyed, raven-hair

Katherine Boo's heart-rending tale of life in Mumbai slums

Katherine Boo's "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" (Random House), should come with a warning - reading it may be hazardous to your rosy view that global capitalism will set the world's billions free from poverty.

Boo spent years documenting daily life in a Mumbai slum in order to get beyond the stereotypes depicted in books and movies.

Best-sellers

Hardcover fiction

1. "Death Comes to Pemberley" P.D. James, Knopf

2. "The Sense of an Ending" Julian Barnes, Knopf

3. "State of Wonder" Ann Patchett, Harper

4. "The Art of Fielding" Chad Harbach, Little Brown

5. "Believing the Lie" Elizabeth George, Dutton

Brooklyn man wins Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award

CLAREMONT, Calif. (AP) - A Brooklyn, N.Y., man has been named the winner of the annual $100,000 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, one of the largest monetary poetry prizes in the U.S., Claremont Graduate University announced Wednesday.

Timothy Donnelly received the award for his book "The Cloud Corporation."