Introducing Book Beat, Wake Up With Westfair’s look at local literary life 

We begin Book Beat, Wake Up With Westfair’s newest, occasional feature, with three Westchester book events that will plunge readers into nostalgic and contemporary New York City: 

The Osborn senior living complex in Rye launches its WellSpring Series 7:30 p.m. Oct. 19, with Fiona Davis reading from her new novel “The Spectacular,” about a young dancer who defies convention and her family’s expectations in the 1950s when she joins the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. 

“Our WellSpring program offers an integrated approach to well-being that inspires everyone in our community to enjoy life to the fullest,” said The Osborn’s President and CEO Matthew G. Anderson. “This includes enriching literary and cultural experiences, such as the Fiona Davis evening, which we invite everyone to share.” 

Davis – an actress who fell in love with writing while getting her master’s degree at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism – is The New York Times best-selling author of seven historical novels set in iconic New York City buildings.  

Her free reading will be held at The Osborn Auditorium, 101 Theall Road. Other events include the Purchase Dance Company on Nov. 18 and Christina Baker Kline – author of “The Exiles,” about female English convicts in early 19th-century Australia – on Dec. 5. 

For reservations, email RSVP@theosborn.org or call 914-925-8218. 

At 7 p.m. Oct. 23, Jennifer Manocherian – a Scarsdale resident who is a former publicist, family therapist, divorce mediator, theater producer, musical book writer, screenwriter and now novelist – will read from her debut novel, “Alpha Bette,” about a 95-year-old widow on the day of her mysterious dinner party for a number of guests – including a medium. The library is at 54 Olmsted Road. For more, visit Jennifermanocherian.net. 

At 6:30 p.m. Oct. 26, join Fiona Davis again, Susie Orman Schnall – whose latest novel plumbing female relationships is “We Came Here to Shine,” set at the 1939 New York World’s Fair – and the other Thursday Authors at The Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in Manhattan as they dish about books and the writing life. Register here.