By: Elise Phillips Margulis

Beneath a Scarlet Sky, author Mark Sullivan, and Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love author Dani Shapiro will be speaking at the June 5th Green Brook Country Club’s Book Club & Lavish Brunch. It’s sold out. Call 800-838-3006 to be placed on the waiting list.

Green Brook Country Club in North Caldwell is renown for its Book Club & Lavish Brunch/Lunch events where best selling authors draw crowds from Connecticut, Long Island, Staten Island, New York City, Philadelphia and all over New Jersey. These author book review events are open to the public. Sign up for their email list at mmlc2926@aol.com and you’ll be notified of all upcoming Author/Presentation events.

Marlene Leen Cohen founded the GBCC’s Book Club in 2004. She realized that organizing a book club would be a great way to get fellow readers together to enjoy meeting their favorite best selling authors who present their books accompanied by a fabulous brunch/luncheon. The club began with fifteen women and now has hundreds of readers traveling in carpools to attend from several states. 

Cohen has an impressive and varied background. She and the dedicated Book Club team collaborate to choose fascinating books and authors for the events. The Book Club members are Susan Aidekman, Lee Brenner, Sharon Blackman, Marlene and Irwin Cohen, Dory Libes, Sally Mattikow, Helen Mintz, Valerie Riback, Sherri Rosen, Gale Saltz, Elaine Sterling, Susan Sher, Susan and Elliot Stupak, Sue and Donald Weinberger, Vicki Wildstein and Mindy Wolfson.

Cohen is an avid reader and says she’ll find herself, “waking up in the middle of the night with hunches about which books would be interesting, educational and relevant for the times.” Book suggestions are run by the dedicated book club committee team after much research. The final author/book decisions are made with the hopes of keeping up the quote from “North Jersey Woman’s” Fall 2012 Essex Edition 3-page article “BOOK IT-THE HOTTEST TICKET IN TOWN.” Eric Larson quoted to a N.J. newspaper reporter, during his Green Brook Country Club’s event, “This is an amazing BOOK MOB. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Some of the imminent authors who have participated in the GBCC Book Club & Lavish Brunches are Ehud Barak, Martin Fletcher, Erik Larson, Daniel Silva, Mitch Albom, Lisa See, Kristin Hannah, Mary Higgins Clark, Anna Quindlen, Anne-Marie O’Connor, Douglas Brunt, the Ephron sisters and more. Many of the books featured have been adapted into films. In addition to bestselling American authors, Green Brook has welcomed authors from London, Israel and Holland for book club events. Cohen said that hosting two authors at each function has turned out to be twice as entertaining for the attendees.

Cohen works in cooperation with “Here’s the Story” an independent book store that’s present at every GBCC’s author’s book event for book purchases. Cohen believes in supporting local independent businesses. “Despite many people purchasing books on Kindle now, people love meeting the authors and listening to their interesting stories. You can’t get a Kindle autographed.” Personalized signing is done by authors usually before and after the event.

Cohen and the book club committee team note at these events that people are smiling and happy. Cohen says, “It is an escape from all the crazy things going on in the world. Our attendees enjoy being welcomed into the authors’ worlds. It also encourages reading.”

Green Brook Country Club has been recently renovated and is even more beautiful. The book club events have a warm atmosphere where friends reunite and people make new friends. What more can you ask for but a pleasurable, social, educational and exciting day with gifted authors talking about their lives and their books. Authors shake hands in a friendly “Meet and Greet” and answer your questions after their presentations. Then one has the opportunity to obtain a personalized copy of their book/books for yourself or to be gifted. Of course the feast brunch/luncheons and spectacular views of the golf course add immensely to these successful, popular and memorable GBCC’s book club events.