Tag Archive for: Books

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4th Street Stop ‘N’ Swap with GrowNYC

Stop 'N' Swap logo in bright blue, yellow, and pink lettering

GrowNYC is taking over 4th Street for a Stop ‘N’ Swap!

Bring clean, reusable, portable items such as clothing, housewares, games, books, & toys that you no longer need, and take home something new-to-you, free! You don’t have to bring something to take something.

Please do NOT bring: furniture, large items, tube televisions, expired or open food, unsealed personal care products, medicine, dirty or ripped clothing, fabric scraps, incomplete toys and games, non-working electronics, magazines, or sharp objects.

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A Conversation with Matt Stoller, author of “Goliath”, and Zephyr Teachout

Author Matt Stoller and Zephyr Teachout hosted a great a conversation centered on Stoller’s debut book Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy, from Simon & Schuster Publishers.  Thanks to act.tv, you can listen here!

Goliath examines how concentrated financial power and consumerism transformed American politics, resulting in the emergence of populism and authoritarianism, the fall of the Democratic Party—while also providing the steps needed to create a new democracy. You can read more about the book on the Simon & Schuster website here.

About Matt Stoller:

Stoller is a Fellow at the Open Markets Institute. Previously, he was a Senior Policy Advisor and Budget Analyst to the Senate Budget Committee. He also worked in the US House of Representatives on financial services policy, including Dodd-Frank, the Federal Reserve, and the foreclosure crisis. He has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, Vice, and Salon. He lives in Washington, DC.

About Zephyr Teachout:

Teachout is an Associate Law Professor and has taught at Fordham Law School since 2009. She grew up in Vermont and received her BA from Yale in English and then graduated summa cum laude from Duke Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She also received an MA in Political Science from Duke. She clerked for Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. She was a death penalty defense lawyer at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation in North Carolina, and co-founded a non-profit dedicated to providing trial experience to new law school graduates. She is known for her pioneering work in internet organizing, and was the first national Director of the Sunlight Foundation. She has written dozens of law review articles and essays and two books. Her book, “Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United” was published by Harvard University Press in 2014.
She ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination of the Governor of New York in 2014, and for Congress’s 19th Congressional District in 2016.

The author’s portrait is by Sophia Lin, the book cover image is property of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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A Spring Reading with Julie Winter & Rachel Koenig – Postponed Until Fall 2020

Join us for a special event with authors Julie Winter and Rachel Koenig to celebrate their new books!

Hear excerpts from Winter’s novel of linked stories Dancing Home, a story about love in NYC; and Koenig’s highly anticipated novel in progress The Ravens’ Bridge, which explores the mysteries of Prague.

This event is hosted by the Ministry of Maat.

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Reading & Rugelach with local author Fran Hawthorne

Award-winning author and Brooklynite Fran Hawthorne brings her debut novel The Heirs to the Old Stone House, along with free multi-cultural refreshments.
The Heirs tells the story of how a New Jersey soccer mom — the daughter of a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor — becomes obsessed with the Polish-Catholic family of her 9-year-old son’s soccer teammate.
Rosanne Korenberg, co-executive producer of the Oscar-winning film I, Tonya, calls The Heirs “a compelling read.”
The $5 admission to “Reading & Rugelach” includes an array of Jewish, Polish, and all-American snacks provided by Erica’s Rugelach & Baking Co. and other local bakers, and helps support the historic Old Stone House. Tickets available here.
Books will be available for purchase, which the author will happily sign.
For everyone’s protection, attendance will be limited to 30, and the Old Stone House is requesting that all attendees wear masks and show proof of Covid-19 vaccination at the door.
Until now, Hawthorne spent years as a journalist and nonfiction author focusing on business ethics, consumer activism, health care, and finance -– on staff at BusinessWeek, Fortune, Crain’s New York Business, and the Bergen (NJ) Record, and as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday, and many other publications.
But she’s always been writing novels in her spare time. The Heirs was inspired by a classmate of her son’s at PS 321 in Park Slope, along with her own father’s and grandparents’ escape from Poland less than two years before the Nazi invasion.
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“George vs. George” Read Along

Join our Director of Education Maggie Weber for a special read along on Zoom this Thursday!

We’ll be reading “George vs. George: The American Revolution as Seen from Both Sides” by Rosalyn Schanzer.
This book is best suited for kids ages 9-12 but everyone is welcome to listen in. This book contains references to wartime violence.

We look forward to seeing you all on Zoom!
Zoom Meeting ID: 836 9527 9623
Password: 079192

Order a copy for your home library from our neighbors at Community Bookstore or Greenlight Bookstore.

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Shaping the Hills and Dales: Green-Wood, Long Before the Cemetery

Join our colleagues at Green-Wood Cemetery for this discussion of NYC history.

Long before there was Green-Wood, there was a glacier—a massive ice sheet that pushed southward, forging the Cemetery’s characteristic terrain. Join Eric W. Sanderson, senior conservation ecologist for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo and author of “Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City”, for a conversation about Green-Wood’s geological past. Hosted by Green-Wood’s historian, Jeff Richman, you’ll learn how Green-Wood’s hills and ponds were formed and the history of their use by Lenape Native Americans.

Sign up here.
On the day of the program, participants will receive a Zoom link and access code from Green-Wood.

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“What Comes from the Garden” Book-making Workshop with Diane Exavier

Inspired by the Old Stone House gardens, this meditative art/writing workshop invites participants to spend some time in the green spaces surrounding the Old Stone House while reflecting on life in Brooklyn at large.

Join artist Diane Exavier for a self-guided walk/bookmaking workshop. Participants will meet at the entrance of the Old Stone House where they will be offered a blank sheet of paper that they will transform into a small garden journal through an instant bookmaking exercise. Generative writing and sketch prompts, as well as reflective questions will guide participants through the gardens at their own individual pace. The event will end with a gathering of imaginings for Brooklyns future(s).

This event will be held outdoors (weather and COVID-19 guidelines permitting) with plenty of space for social distancing. Face coverings will be required. If conditions do not permit an in-person event it will be moved to a virtual workshop.

Please RSVP here.

This event is part of our Brooklyn Utopias: 2020 exhibition which features Diane’s work Each Body Remains a Miracle.

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Book Launch: “Glamourous Life” by Michele Madigan Somerville

OSH and Rain Mountain Press present poet Michele Madigan Somerville in conversation with novelist Jill Eisenstadt for the virtual launch of GLAMOUROUS LIFE, Somerville’s new collection of poetry, a searing meditation on motherhood, the sacred and the profane.

Live on Zoom, Wednesday, September 30th at 7 pm. Signed books will be available for purchase.

Please register here.

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“Frederick Law Olmsted: At Home on Staten Island” at Alice Austen House

Our Staten Island sister site the Alice Austen House Museum is hosting a virtual presentation + Q&A with author Justin Martin about his book Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted. 

Olmsted was a journalist, abolitionist, and pioneering landscape architect. In his speech, Martin will show how Olmsted’s Staten Island interlude (1848-1855) was crucial to his assorted endeavors including his masterpiece, Central Park.

Register for free here.

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Michael Hearst & His Band present: Unusual Creatures, Extraordinary People, Curious Constructions, & Unconventional Vehicles.

Michael Hearst and his band present Unusual Creatures, Extraordinary People, Curious Constructions, and Unconventional Vehicles.

The performance draws from Michael Hearst’s highly-successful series of books, albums, and PBS series. It is an unusually-geeky musical presentation of some of the most bizarre animals that roam the planet, odd and daring characters, strange structures, and vehicles as loopy as ostrich-drawn wagons.

Featuring Allyssa Lamb: accordion/vocals, Dylan Thurston: drums, Taylor Bergren-Chrisman: bass, Ben Holmes: trumpet, and Michael Hearst: guitar, claviola, theremin, vocals.

 

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