In the midst of Hanukkah, children’s author Sarah Marwil Lamstein polishes up timeless motifs about the mysterious ways of God in Letter on the Wind: A Chanukah Tale, her dexterous retelling of a folktale from the Middle East.

She will share the book on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7:30 p.m. upstairs at the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Main street in Vineyard Haven.

Gazette contributing photographer and Chilmark resident Peter Simon has published a new book, The Reggae Scrapbook. It’s an 11 X 12 coffee table book with more than 300 photos, an authoritative text by co-author Roger Steffans, and much splashy reggaemobilia such as stickers, ticket stubs, posters and album covers, some of which are detachable.

Celebrate Jewish Book Month with the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center at 130 Centre street in Vineyard Haven, with a special reading on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 2 p.m. by author and seasonal resident Professor Edward Kaplan. He will speak about his new book, Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America 1940-1972.

Refreshments will follow, as well as the center’s book fair, with books for all ages.

Children’s Book Writing

People interested in writing books for children will meet Monday, Nov. 12, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the home of Carol Carrick in West Tisbury. This monthly meeting is for serious writers only. Members will read manuscripts and discuss them. They will also share news and advice from the children’s book world. For details and directions call Carol Carrick at 508- 696-6277, or Marilyn Hollinshead at 508-693-5803.

Many people are familiar with the whaling history of Nantucket and New Bedford. Fewer, however, know the rich and fascinating history of the Martha’s Vineyard fleet and its mariners. Never as big as its more famous whaling rivals, it nevertheless played a role in America’s nautical history as a port. But more importantly, the Vineyard produced great whaling captains and mates. Some of them, such as George Fred Tilton, were among the most famous sea ícaptains ever.

Before Tuesday’s book launch at the Bunch of Grapes, the audience was issued an unusual instruction for such an event. They were asked not to seek to get their copies of the book The Coldest Winter, signed by the man launching it, Ward Just.

The reason was obvious, but sad. Mr. Just did not write the book. His good friend David Halberstam did, but he died in a car accident in April this year.

Buddhism is on the rise in Brazil, and West Tisbury journalist Perry Garfinkel has some ideas on why.

He’s the author of the 2006 national bestseller Buddha or Bust: In Search of Truth, Meaning, Happiness, and the Man Who Found Them All. When the Portuguese edition of the book was released in June, Mr. Garfinkel traveled to Brazil, where the national census shows the percentage of Roman Catholics there has dropped from about 90 to 70 per cent since 1980.

Elizabeth Germain will teach a super foods cooking class at the FARM Institute at Katama Farm in Edgartown on Sunday, Oct. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The class will begin in the FARM’s friendship garden, rain or shine, where participants will pick vegetables and herbs for lunch and some to preserve. The focus will be foods dramatically better for health and longevity and basic cooking techniques. You’ll learn how to clean, store and prepare powerhouse foods like kale, cabbage, parsley, leeks, pumpkin seeds and millet — a gluten-free whole grain.

Court TV debuted> a show last year called Murder By the Book. They invited five crime novelists to choose a true crime case that fascinated them, and present it in the series — full of interviews with witnesses and detectives and prosecutors. Linda Fairstein, pictured above, was selected for the second series.

Mystery Reprint

Thomas Dresser is pleased to announce that his recent book, Mystery on the Vineyard, will be reprinted by the History Press. The initial run of Mystery on the Vineyard, which debuted in April of this year, has sold out; hence the reprint. More information is available at a new Web site Mr. Dresser recently launched, thomasdresser.com. E-mail comments or questions to tom@tomdresser.com.