99. Reading the City
October 6 to 12
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in NYC.
It’s Banned Books Week, which is a great moment to support banned authors by buying their books at your local bookstore, checking them out of the library, or reading them for your book club. The NYPL is hosting events all week for children, teens, and adults, culminating in Saturday’s Let Freedom Read Day of Action.
Also this week, book launches from Jonathan Lethem, Marisa Meltzer, and Jenny Mustard; a Rumi-inspired sunset cruise for Poets House; and, to close out the week, the launch of new literary journal Big Score.
As ever, get in touch with events I should have on my radar (details on how to submit are here), and please share the love with your bookish friends!
Monday, October 6
BBW | Unscripted: A Night Against Censorship, Featuring George Takei
Brooklyn Public Library welcomes author, actor, and activist George Takei, the honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025, for a conversation with librarian and poet Adeeba Rana about the transformative power of books and the dangerous trend of censorship. Special guests and the public will be invited to the stage to share their own stories about books which inspired them and experiences with censorship. Registrations honored on a first come, first served basis.
Free, with registration; 7-8pm; Central Library 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
LAUNCH | Grace Byron: Herculine
Grace Byron discusses her debut novel Herculine—a horror debut following a woman who seeks refuge at an all-trans girl commune only to discover that demons haunt her fellow comrades—and she’s their next prey. In conversation with Torrey Peters (Stag Dance).
$5; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, Manhattan
Tuesday, October 7
LAUNCH | Laura Venita Green: Sister Creatures
Laura Venita Green celebrates her debut novel, Sister Creatures—“centered on a cast of women bound to their roots in unexpected ways, this is a book that interchanges the tender and the cruel, the weird and the real, with breathtaking ease,” (Jinwoo Chong)—in conversation with Kat Tang (Five-Star Stranger).
$5, redeemable in store; 6.30-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
LAUNCH | Marisa Meltzer: It Girl
Marisa Meltzer (Glossy) presents It Girl—the first comprehensive biography of Jane Birkin and her profound cultural impact—in conversation with bestselling cookbook writer Alison Roman.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
BBW | Fall Educator’s Night: Banned Books Edition
This one’s for educators only but I know a lot of you teach so might appreciate this. This bi-annual event offers educators the chance to mingle with one another and learn more about new titles and opportunities for your school. For this season’s event, taking place during Banned Books Week, you’ll hear from sales reps at publishers Scholastic and Penguin Random House about important titles that have been banned, and learn more about the ways Greenlight Bookstore can provide increased access to books for your students. Frederick Joseph, whose book The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person was banned and restricted in schools in January 2023, presents his timely YA debut This Thing of Ours, which confronts racism, classism, homophobia, and book banning. Free wine, book-related swag for your classroom, raffle prizes, and a special 20% discount on everything in the store.
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
TALK | Science vs Fiction: Gary Shteyngart
Gary Shteyngart’s latest novel, Vera, or Faith—a poignant, sharp-eyed, and bitterly funny tale of a family struggling to stay together in a country rapidly coming apart—deepens his exploration of identity, alienation, and intimacy. He joins PW Founding Director of Sciences Janna Levin for a conversation inside In Light of Innocence, a site-specific installation by artist Raúl de Nieves. The evening will include stargazing in the garden with the Amateur Astronomers Association, weather permitting, and food by Makina Cafe.
Free, with RSVP; 7pm; Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer St, Brooklyn
Wednesday, October 8
FUNDRAISER | Who’s Afraid of Fiction? A PEN America Young Patrons Event
Join PEN America for a lively evening celebrating the freedom to read and write, alongside authors whose works have been challenged or banned in the US: Susan Kuklin (Beyond Magenta), Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson (And Tango Makes Three), and Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson (The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth). Enjoy an open bar, passed hors d’oeuvres, and 10% off books while supporting PEN America’s fight against censorship.
$75 (tax-deductible); 7–9 pm; Book Club Bar, 197 E 3rd St, Manhattan
SALON | Patchwork Literary Salon
Patchwork Literary Salon, curated and hosted by Nadine Santoro, brings together authors across genres and stages in their careers. It returns after a brief hiatus with authors Katie Yee (Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar), Trae Higgs, and Sam Manzella.
Free; 7pm; SISTERS, 900 Fulton St., Brooklyn
LAUNCH | Zefyr Lisowski: Uncanny Valley Girls
Zefyr Lisowski launches Uncanny Valley Girls—a sharply personal and expansive essay collection dedicated to the strange and absurd beauty of horror films, exploring the complications of gender, the insidiousness of class ascension, and the latent violence hidden in our own uncanny reflections—in conversation with Harron Walker (Aggregated Discontent).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Thursday, October 9
LAUNCH | Jonathan Lethem: A Different Kind of Tension: New and Selected Stories
Jonathan Lethem presents A Different Kind of Tension—his first short story collection in 10 years—in conversation with Eugene Lim (Dear Cyborgs).
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
ONE-OFF | Nabokov’s Lolita at 70: Jiayang Fan, A.M. Homes, and Julia May Jonas
The 92nd Street Y invites a group of writers—Jiayang Fan, A.M. Homes, and Julia May Jonas—for a celebratory reading and conversation in honor of the 70-year anniversary of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita.
From $35; 7.30pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
SERIES | Hunter College’s Distinguished Writers Series presents Vivian Gornick
A reading and discussion with writer and critic Vivian Gornick (Fierce Attachments). The event is open to the public.
Free, RSVP encouraged; 7:30pm; Lang Recital Hall, Hunter North, 110 East 69th Street, Manhattan
SALON | Fiction New Salon: Ed Park & Torrey Peters with Darin Strauss
A reading by Ed Park (Same Bed Different Dreams) and Torrey Peters (Stag Dance), followed by a conversation/Q&A with Darin Strauss (Half a Life) and a reception.
Free, RSVP required; 7-9pm; Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House, 58 West 10th Street, Manhattan
PANEL | Small Press Spotlight: Unnamed Press
Three Fall 2025 debut authors—Laura Venita Green (Sister Creatures), Michelle Gurule (Thank You, John), and Michael Jerome Plunkett (Zone Rouge)—celebrate their first books and their experience working with Unnamed Press, in a discussion moderated by Brandon Taylor (The Late Americans).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
LAUNCH | Mo Daviau: Epic and Lovely
Mo Daviau (Every Anxious Wave) presents her novel, Epic and Lovely, “a dark and complex exploration of the vagaries of romantic and parental love” (Kirkus), in conversation with Roohi Choudhry (Outside Women).
Free’ 6:30-8pm; Lofty Pigeon Books, 743 Church Ave., Brooklyn
Friday, October 10
FUNDRAISER | Epic Voices: A Voyage on the Hudson with Rumi’s Poetry
An illuminating sunset ferry voyage down the Hudson River with readings and musical performances by musician and poet Haleh Liza Gafori of her newly published translations from the Farsi of Rumi, Water, followed by a discussion with poet nick flynn (Low) and historian Laleh Javaheri-Saatchi. Reception to follow in the Margo Viscusi Reading Room. All proceeds support Poets House.
$150; 5.45pm; Brookfield Place Ferry Terminal, Manhattan
LAUNCH | Jenny Mustard: What a Time to Be Alive
Swedish novelist Jenny Mustard (Okay Days) discusses her new novel What a Time to Be Alive—a fresh and probing look at modern urban life through the eyes of a singular young woman—in conversation with novelist, playwright and short story writer Jonas Hassen Khemiri (The Family Clause).
$5; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, Manhattan
POETRY | Couplet Reading Series 14th Anniversary
Celebrate 14 years of Leah Umansky’s reading series, Couplet, with Mary Jo Bang (A Film in Which I Play Everyone), Dr. Taylor Byas, Ph.D., (Resting Bitch Face), Dorothea Lasky (Mother), January Gill O’Neil (Glitter Road), Jason Schneiderman (Self Portrait of Icarus as a Country on Fire), and Leah Umansky (Of Tyrant).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Saturday, October 11
BOOK SWAP | Book Hoes Autumn Reading Party & Book Swap
Prolific book club organizer Zoë Mahler hosts a Book Hoes reading party and book swap in Prospect Park as a fundraiser for the club—but also a chance to meet the community and get a new book. BYOB: bring your own book, blanket and beverage.
Free, $5 donation recommended; 11am-2pm; Abraham Lincoln Statue - Prospect Park East, Brooklyn
LAUNCH | Taylor Byas: Resting Bitch Face
Taylor Byas (I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times) launches her newest collection, Resting Bitch Face—this September pick for Roxane Gay’s Audacious Book Club uses some of our most common ways of “watching” throughout history (painting, films, sculpture, and photographs) to explore how these mediums shape Black female subjectivity—with DeeSoul Carson and jason b. crawford opening.
Free; 7-9pm; Brooklyn Poets, 144 Montague Street, Brooklyn
Sunday, October 12
LAUNCH | Big Score Lit Magazine
Celebrate the launch of a new literary magazine, Big Score, from editor-in-chief J.T. Price, with drinks and readings from Cleo Xian (Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go), K.P. Taylor, and Justin Kamp, and music by Will Chang. They’ll be open again for poetry submissions in November and for prose, next March.
Free; 5-8pm; Gallery 198, 198 24th Street, Brooklyn
This post was written by a human. Please check all details before attending.
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 dtv in Germany. My first book, No Way Home: A Memoir of Life on the Run (St. Martin’s Press) followed my childhood as the daughter of an international pot smuggler and federal fugitive. I’m here and here on Instagram.
So excited to see you at PEN’s fundraiser!