Saratoga Reads is off and running with events related to this year's book of choice, The Housekeeper and the Professor, by Yoko Ogawa. All activities are open to the public free of charge.

The Housekeeper and the Professor, set in Japan, tells the story of a once-brilliant mathematics professor and baseball fanatic who has lost all but 80 minutes of short-term memory. He is tended by a housekeeper and her young son, with whom he forges a deep relationship, though he forgets them each day. Using the poetic qualities of mathematics and baseball, the book explores the trio's unlikely friendship.

A discussion of the book and its wide-ranging themes will take place on Monday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m. at the Circus Café, 392 Broadway, Saratoga Springs, as part of the café's monthly book club sessions. For information on attending the event, call the Circus Café at 518-583-1106 or visit www.circuscafe.com.

On Sunday, Jan. 23, Saratoga Reads will collaborate with SUNY Empire State College to offer a taste of Japanese culture and a movie at the college's new office building, 113 West Ave., room 137. The activities will begin at 2 p.m. with a Japanese tea tasting, led by tea expert Kim Stote of Empire State College and by Doreen Kamen of the Fortunate Cup café.

The tasting will be followed by a showing of the movie Proof, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins, which tells the story of a brilliant but mentally disturbed mathematician and the legacy he leaves his daughter. The event will also offer short math video clips, information on the famous mathematicians, and some brain-teasing math puzzles.

We'll be announcing more events soon.