Last week at State Road Restaurant Geraldine Brooks gave a sneak preview reading of her novel The Secret Chord, to be published in October.

Marshall Highet's love of writing and reading came early. Both of her grandmothers were writers. Her paternal grandmother was Helen MacInnes, the popular Scottish writer of espionage books, who died when Ms. Highet was only eight.

When I read recently in the New York Times about the possibility of Scotland exiting the United Kingdom, I was confused. I had no idea Great Britain had nationality problems.

The early manuscript was written more than 30 years ago when the West Tisbury author was living on a houseboat in Washington, D.C. Now Murder at C-Dock marks the launch of a new murder mystery series.

Last Saturday at the Vineyard Haven library, Alan Burt talked about working with the homeless population of Cape Cod for the past 20 years. On Dec. 13, he will spend the night sleeping outdoors with other advocates, in solidarity with the homeless, something he’s done for many years.

Windswept, a new novel by Kate Hancock, opens with the story of Josiah Cook, a farmer on Chappaquiddick who in the late 18th century witnesses pirates burying treasure on the beach.