Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
This week we have book launches from Karen Russell, David Sheff, Jamie Hood, Colum McCann, and Sophie Kemp. Also, an exploration of the fiction of marital decay at 92Y, a great lineup of authors sharing their personal obsessions for Lisa Ko’s paperback launch, and Beena Kamlani visits the Coffee House Club at the always charming Salmagundi.
I fly to LA on Thursday for AWP, feeling wildly overwhelmed by the amount of events packed into 3 days. I’ve continued to update this AWP off-site guide here for anyone suffering the same.
As ever, send events I should have on my radar, and please share the love with your bookish friends.
Monday, March 24
The Divorce Plot: Fiction of Marital Decay
A panel of writers, including Ada Calhoun (Crush), Weike Wang (Rental House), Alissa Bennett of Dead is Better zine, Susan Minot (Monkeys), and book critic Alexandra Jacobs, whose recently published, widely celebrated novels, explore the lives of women who endeavor to feel what is great and beautiful, and refuse to accept convention, come together to discuss their work alongside readings from the novels that inspired these modern masterpieces, including Ursula Parrott’s newly rediscovered Ex-Wife, as they consider the novels that have reshaped our understanding of love, power, and marriage.
From $30; 7.30pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
Emma Pattee: Tilt
Climate journalist and fiction writer Emma Pattee celebrates the launch of Tilt—set over the course of one day, a heart-racing debut about a woman facing the unimaginable, determined to find safety—with Julia Phillips (Bear).
$10, redeemable in-store; 7-8pm; Books Are Magic Montague, 122 Montague Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Conversation with Mosab Abu Toha
As part of its public programming, the New School hosts author Mosab Abu Toha for a reading and discussion of his latest work Forest of Noise—a collection moving between glimpses of life in relative peacetime and absurdist poems about surviving in a barely livable occupation—in conversation with the New School’s Chair of Nonfiction Camonghne Felix (Dyscalculia: A Love Story of Epic Miscalculation).
Free, registration required; 6-7pm; The New School, Wollman Hall, 66 West 11th Street, Manhattam
Saratoga Schaefer: Serial Killer Support Group
Saratoga Schaefer (substack:
) celebrates the launch of their debut novel Serial Killer Support Group—after her sister is murdered, a woman infiltrates a support group for serial killers in this biting queer feminist thriller—in conversation with Jenny Adams (A Deadly Endeavor).Free; 8pm; Book Club Bar, 197 East 3rd Street, Manhattan
David Sheff: Yoko
David Sheff (Beautiful Boy) presents Yoko—a harrowing, moving, propulsive, and vastly entertaining biography of a woman whose story has never been accurately told—in conversation with Simon & Schuster’s Eamon Dolan.
$5, redeemable in-store; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
Tuesday, March 25
Karen Russell: The Antidote
Pulitzer finalist and author of Swamplandia! Karen Russell discusses The Antidote—a gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town—with The New Yorker’s Rivka Galchen.
$10; 7-8pm; First Unitarian Congregational Society, Brooklyn, 119 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn, and livestreamed free
Jamie Hood: Trauma Plot
(how to be a good girl) celebrates the launch of Trauma Plot—a scalding work of personal and literary criticism; a send-up of our culture's pious disdain for “trauma porn;” a dirge for the broken promises of #MeToo; and a paean to finding life after death—in conversation with Rayne Fisher-Quann (Complex Female Character, forthcoming).
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Hannah Selinger: Cellar Rat
Lifestyle writer launches Cellar Rat—a jaw-dropping tell-all about her experience working in NYC’s fine dining scene, featuring interactions with Bobby Flay, David Chang, Christina Tosi, and more—in conversation with iconoclastic sommelier André Hueston Mack, founder of Maison Noir Wines and Rye & Sons.
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Obsessions! A Memory Piece Paperback Launch
To celebrate the paperback release of Lisa Ko’s most recent novel, Memory Piece, P&T Knitwear is hosting a night of author presentations on topics they’re obsessed with, from recent internet wormholes to novel ‘research.' Lisa will be joined by Jennifer Baker (Forgive Me Not); Temim Fruchter (City of Laughter); Benedict Nguyễn (Hot Girls with Balls); and Nina Sharma (The Way You Make Me Feel: Love in Black and Brown). Each of these writers will share presentations on their favorite obsessions.
$5, redeemable in store; 6.30-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
Yoko Tawada: Suggested in the Stars
Yoko Tawada makes a rare New York appearance, on the heels of the English publication of her novel Paul Celan and the Trans-Tibetan Angel, translated by Susan Bernofsky, and the second installment in her beloved Scattered trilogy, Suggested in the Stars, translated by Margaret Mitsutani. She will be in conversation with Monique Truong (The Sweetest Fruits). Co-presented by PEN America and Japan Society. (She will also be speaking at Columbia’s Lenfest Center on March 27.)
Free; 6-8pm; Rizzoli, 1133 Broadway, Manhattan
Wednesday, March 26
Beena Kamlani in conversation with Julian Tepper
Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer and longtime Viking editor Beena Kamlani visits the Coffee House Club to discuss her debut novel, The English Problem—about a young Indian man tapped to help his country’s fight for freedom, but his heart engages him in a different war—in conversation with author and Coffee House Club Executive Director Julian Tepper (Cooler Heads). Dinner available after the talk.
$5; 6.30-7.30pm; Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan
Colum McCann: Twist
Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin) presents his propulsive new novel Twist—in a story of a journalist and an engineer whose fates are entangled with the repair of the underwater cables that carry the world’s information, McCann confronts the most elemental questions of life, love, absence, belonging and the perils of our severed connections—in conversation with Phil Klay (Redeployment).
Free; 7.30-9.30pm; St. Joseph’s University, 245 Clinton Avenue, Brooklyn
Hisham Matar: My Friends
Hisham Matar presents My Friends—a “masterly” (The New York Times), “riveting” (The Atlantic) novel of friendship, family, and the unthinkable realities of exile, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Return, now out in paperback.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Nell Zink: Sister Europe
Nell Zink (Avalon) launches her newest novel Sister Europe—following the upper echelons of Berlin society, a grand literary celebration, and the after-party that upends the night and carries a group of guests deeper into the city, Sister Europe is a vividly colored tapestry of a milieu at odds with itself—with Jessi Stevens (Ghost Pains).
Free; 7.30pm; Greenlight bookstore, 686 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Thursday, March 27
Sophie Kemp: Paradise Logic
Sophie Kemp celebrates the launch of Paradise Logic—a hilarious, surreal, and devastating journey into the mind of Reality Kahn, a young woman on a quest to be the greatest girlfriend of all time—with special guests Rayne Fisher-Quann, Megan Nolan (Ordinary Human Failings), and Tony Tulathimutte (Rejection).
From $35; 7-8pm; Public Records, Sound Room, 233 Butler Street Brooklyn
Jinwoo Chong: I Leave It Up to You
(Flux) discusses his new novel I Leave It Up to You—a highly entertaining and poignant story about second chances and self-discovery, that asks: What if you could return to the point of a fateful choice, wiser than before, and find the courage to forge a new path?—with Grant Ginder (Let’s Not Do That Again).
Free, with registration; 6-7.30pm; Brooklyn Heights Library, 286 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn
A Celebration of Jane Austen
Join a group of celebrated writers and critics—including Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan, bestselling novelist Kevin Kwan, Helen Fielding, acclaimed memoirist Vivian Gornick, and The New Yorker’s Alexandra Schwartz, and actors Emily Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola—for a reading and conversation about Jane Austen, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of her birth.
From $35; 7.30pm; 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave, Manhattan
Joni Murphy: Barbara
Presented by Astra House, Joni Murphy (Double Teenage) celebrates the launch of Barbara—like Nolan’s Oppenheimer by way of Lucia Berlin, a radiant novel tracking the lifecycle of a silver screen starlet rising against the backdrop of the Atomic Age—in conversation with Claire Donato (Kind Mirrors, Ugly Ghosts),
Free; 7pm; Topos Too, 59-22 Myrtle Ave, Ridgewood, Queens
Limousine Reading Series
Featuring Andrew Lipsten (Something Rotten), , José Sanchez, Jes Tom, and Felicia Reich, hosted by Heather Akumiah (Bad Witches) and Leah Abrams.
$5; 7pm; Berry Park, 4 Berry Street, Brooklyn
The Cusp Reading Series
With writer Josh Krigman of
, Rebecca Spiegel (Without Her), Jordan Hamel, and Naava Guaraca of .Free; 7pm; Word of Mouth, 942 Bergen St, Brooklyn
Friday, March 28
Poetry In Motion with Regi Angelou
Poetry in Motion welcomes multidisciplinary artist Regi Angelou for an evening of spoken word in a cozy and welcoming atmosphere of Adanne Bookshop.
$15; 7-9pm; Adanne Bookshop, 115 Ralph Avenue Ground Floor brooklyn
American Teenager & the Movement for Trans Lives
Advocates for Trans Equality (A4TE) hosts journalist and author Nico Lang at Hive Mind Books to discuss their groundbreaking book, American Teenager: How Trans Kids Are Surviving Hate and Finding Joy in a Turbulent Era, telling the real-life stories of eight transgender, nonbinary, and genderfluid teens and their families in their own words. Lang will be joined by A4TE Executive Director Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen to talk about the current state of the movement for trans rights in America, facilitated by activist and author Adam Eli (The New Queer Conscience).
Free, with RSVP; 7-9pm; Hive Mind Books, 219 Irving Avenue, Brooklyn
Chef's Dinner Series Presents... Coastal Launch Party
Friends of RtC, Chefs Dinner Series hosts the launch of Coastal: 130 Recipes from a California Road Trip—a celebration of California cooking with more than 300 photos that capture the beauty, magic, and bounty of the Pacific Coast—with creators chef Scott Clark, photographer Cheyenne Ellis, and guest author and poet Betsy Andrews. The ticket price includes a 4-course tasting menu professionally paired with wines, and accompanying conversation.
$195; 6-9pm; 132 Mulberry Street, Suite 502, Manhattan
Saturday, March 29
Omar El Akkad: One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This
Journalist and novelist Omar El Akkad discusses One Day, Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This—part memoir, part analysis, and a powerful reckoning with what it means to live in a West that betrays its fundamental values—with poet Marwa Helal (Invasive Species).
Free; 4-6pm; Revolution Books New York, 437 Malcolm X Boulevard Harlem, Manhattan
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!