81. Reading the City
June 2 to 8
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
This week we have the National Book Foundation’s 2025 5 Under 35 ceremony; the U.S. launch of Robert Macfarlane’s latest book, as well as launches from Janelle Brown, Susan Choi, Hala Alyan; and a Thalia Book Club event for Etgar Keret’s Autocorrect. There is so much going on this week that I really struggled to cut this down to size so I included an “Also of Note” section at the end.
And, in a personal shout out, I was a guest on the So Many Damn Books podcast! If you’re not familiar with the show, as a writer I’ve found it an amazing resource, and host Christopher Hermelin has interviewed so many of the writers I most admire in the 10+ years it’s been running, so it was a thrill to take a seat in his home studio. Listen here!
As ever, send feedback, say hi! And please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, June 2
Samantha Mann: Dyke Delusions
Samantha Mann (Putting Out: Essays on Otherness) launches Dyke Delusions: Essays & Observations—a mix of personal history and pop culture, body politics, motherhood, and feminine sexuality, told with her signature humor and pitch-perfect observations—in conversation with (Women). (If you can’t make it, catch Samantha and Chloé Tuesday night at Taylor & Co. Books, along with Mia Arias Tsang; or at the Dykes on Tour Variety Show at Hive Mind Books on Thursday).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Anelise Chen: Clam Down: A Metamorphosis
Anelise Chen (So Many Olympic Exertions) launches Clam Down—in this wondrously unusual memoir and transformation fable, a woman retreats into her shell in the aftermath of her divorce, and must choose between the pleasures and the perils of a closed-up life—in conversation with Lisa Hsiao Chen (Activities of Daily Living). (Anelise is also appearing at The Asian American Writers’ Workshop on Thursday for a joint launch with André Dao for his novel Anam.)
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Miss Manhattan Non-Fiction Reading
With (Love, Rita), (Drawing Blood), and Lynn Sally (Neo-Burlesque: Striptease as Transformation).
Free; 7pm; Niagara, 112 Avenue A, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 3
The New York Novel in the New Gilded Age
(The Doorman), Jenny Jackson (Pineapple Street), and (Entitlement), who have all brought the New York City novel into the 21st century, come together for a sharp and urgent conversation about the new literature of wealth and class.
$35; 8pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
Susan Choi: Flashlight
Susan Choi (Trust Exercise) celebrates the highly anticipated release of her new book, Flashlight, tracing the disappearance of Serk, a Korean-born man raised in Japan, through the perspectives and memories of his disaster-struck family. Susan is joined by (All This Could Be Different).
$10; 7-8.15pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, and livestreamed
Thalia Book Club: Etgar Keret, Autocorrect
(Suddenly, a Knock on the Door) discusses his latest short story collection, Autocorrect, with This American Life’s Ira Glass. Known for his dark humor, surrealism, and sharp insights into the human condition, Etgar takes us on a journey through a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Michael Imperioli (of The Sopranos and The White Lotus) will perform one of the short stories from the collection.
From $19; 7pm; Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Manhattan
Wednesday, June 4
2025 5 Under 35 Ceremony
Hosted by former honoree Justin Torres, the National Book Foundation’s 2025 5 Under 35 honorees, Stacie Shannon Denetsosie (The Missing Morningstar and Other Stories), Megan Howell (Softie), Maggie Millner (Couplets: A Love Story), Alexander Sammartino (Last Acts), and Jemimah Wei (The Original Daughter), will read from their debut works of fiction, and will be introduced on stage by their selectors, five literary luminaries previously honored by the National Book Foundation: Mona Susan Power, Deesha Philyaw, C Pam Zhang, George Saunders, and Morgan Talty.
$12; doors 6.15pm, 7-10pm; littlefield, 635 Sackett Street, Brooklyn
Robert Macfarlane: Is A River Alive?
The official U.S. launch of Is a River Alive?—a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law—with Robert Macfarlane (The Wild Places) in conversation with Pioneer Works director of publishing, Joshua Jelly-Schapiro.
$17.91; 7pm; Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
Hala Alyan: I’ll Tell You When I’m Home
celebrates the release of her new memoir I’ll Tell You When I’m Home—a rich and deeply personal debut memoir by award-winning Palestinian American poet and novelist, whose experience of motherhood via surrogacy forces her to reckon with her own past, and the legacy of her family’s exile and displacement, all in the name of a new future—in conversation with Leslie Jamison (Splinters).
$5; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, Manhattan
Taylor Jenkins Reid: Atmosphere
Taylor Jenkins Reid (Daisy Jones & The Six) discusses her latest work, Atmosphere, an epic novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s space shuttle program and the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits. In conversation with Cosmopolitan's Tamara Fuentes.
From $40, including book; 7pm; Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Manhattan
Thursday, June 5
Janelle Brown: What Kind of Paradise
Celebrate the release of What Kind of Paradise—a teenage girl breaks free from her father's world of isolation in this exhilarating novel of family, identity, and the power we have to shape our own destinies—with author (Watch Me Disappear) in conversation with Angie Kim (Happiness Falls). All tickets come with a flight of three wines that pair thematically with the book.
From $35; 6pm; Bibliotheque, 54 Mercer Street, Manhattan
Bi, Bi, Bi: Three Bisexual Writers on New York, Queerness, and Love
Kick off Pride Month with bi-owned bookstore Lofty Pigeon Books for a special panel discussion featuring bisexual authors (Heart Less), Sue Landers (What to Carry Into the Future), and (Animal Instinct).
Free; 6.30-8pm; Lofty Pigeon Books, 743 Church Avenue Brooklyn
Child's Play: Archiving Children and Their Worlds
Part of McNally Jackson’s ongoing Preservation of Record festival, join filmmaker and playwright Annie Baker, memoirist Leslie Jamison, and historian Hannah Zeavin for an evening on approaches to revisiting childhood, from fabulation to the iPhone, in celebration of the launch of Zeavin's latest book, Mother Media: Hot and Cool Parenting in the 20th Century.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 6.30pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Friday, June 6
First Novel Friday
The Center for Fiction’s celebration of the best debut novels on the first Friday of every month, this month features novels exploring the many forms of family—including those we’re born into and those we choose. Featuring (There Are Reasons for This), (The Catch), and Eli Zuzovsky (Mazeltov). Kick off the evening with a happy hour at the bar in the Members Lounge, with readings and a Q&A from 7pm in the auditorium. (Well-Read Black Girl) is the evening’s moderator.
From $5; 6-8pm; The Center for Fiction, 15 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, and livestreamed
Saturday, June 7
Kate McKean presents Write Through It, featuring Emily Gould
Literary agent, author, and creator of the newsletter “
” celebrates the forthcoming publication of her debut book, Write Through It—a no-nonsense, must-read guide for any writer looking to understand the full spectrum of the writing life—in conversation with Emily Gould, author, cofounder of Emily Books, and features writer at New York Magazine.$5, redeemable in store; 4-5pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
Also of note…
I couldn’t fit everything so here’s a quick fire round of more great stuff: 27th Poetry Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge with Poet’s House (June 2); Challenger: An Evening with Adam Higginbotham at the National Arts Club (June 3) Gay Research Outtakes: An Other Olympians Event with Michael Waters (June 3); Angela Garbes’ paperback launch of Essential Labor with Jia Tolentino (June 4); Paula Bomer’s Manhattan Launch of Stalker at Book Club Bar (June 5); the WordShed Reading Series (June 8) and Heat Lightning’s sunset poetry reading (June 8).
NB. Please check all details before attending, the fact checker went awol.
I’m a Brooklyn-based journalist and author. My debut novel Amphibian is out now from Ig, as well as Virago in the UK, and forthcoming from dtv in Germany. My first book, No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin’s Press, 2018) followed my childhood as the daughter of an international pot smuggler and federal fugitive. I’m here and here on Instagram. Get in touch with any bookish events you’d like me to include!
You are the best at this ❤️ thanks for including our Lofty Pigeon event!