Reading the City
April 14 to 20
Welcome back to Reading the City, a weekly newsletter of bookish events in and around NYC.
This week we have book launches from Sarah Manguso, Denne Michele Norris, Lynne Tillman, Emily Everett, Blake Gopnik, and Austin Kelley. It’s also the second installment of McNally Jackson’s Publishing 101, Symphony Space has a couple great events, and there’s a reading party on the Q train! For the next two weeks, it’s also the NYPL's World Literature & Arts Festival, with more events than I can list here, so check that out, too.
As ever, send over your events and please share the love with your bookish friends!
Monday, April 14
Agnes Callard: Open Socrates
BPL Presents partners with the Authors Guild Foundation to co-present Agnes Callard, an iconoclastic philosopher who revives Socrates for our time, showing how we can answer—and, in the first place, ask—life’s most important questions. Agnes will discuss Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life in conversation with The Atlantic’s Elizabeth Bruenig.
Free, with registration; 7-8.30pm; Central Library 10 Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
Thalia Book Club: The Great Gatsby at 100
At the Thalia Book Club, readers and writers meet for intimate conversations about compelling new books and favorite classics. This time, celebrate 100 years of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s literary masterpiece with authors and admirers, including Jennifer Egan, Mira Jacob, Min Jin Lee, Wesley Morris, and Ernesto Quiñonez. There will be a reading from the novel by actor Dylan Baker (The Good Wife).
From $19; 7pm; Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Manhattan
Blake Gopnik: The Mavericks Museum
Leading art critic Blake Gopnik celebrates the launch of the The Mavericks Museum—a fascinating biography of the philanthropist Albert Barnes, whose pioneering collection of modern art was meant to transform America’s soul—in conversation with painter and curator Alexi Worth.
$5, redeemable in-store; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
Ashlee Piper: No New Things
discusses her newest book, No New Things—a witty, no-nonsense 30-day guide to regaining control over your time, consumerist impulses, and financial and mental wellness—in conversation with Katie Horwitch, founder of WANT (Women Against Negative Talk).
$5, redeemable in store; 6.30-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
Tuesday, April 15
Austin Kelley: The Fact Checker
Former New Yorker fact checker Austin Kelley celebrates the launch of The Fact Checker—his debut novel, inspired by life, in which he “gently lampoons high-minded magazines and the fragile men who work at them” (NY Times)—in conversation with The New Yorker’s Ben McGrath.
$5, redeemable in-store; 7-9pm; Powerhouse Arena, 28 Adams Street, Brooklyn
Diane Mehta: Happier Far
(Tiny Extravaganzas) reads from her new book, Happier Far: Essays—a funny and engrossing tour of the absurdities and dilemmas of becoming a writer—followed by a conversation with Minna Proctor (Landslide: True Stories).
Free; 7-9pm; Community Bookstore, 143 7th Avenue, Brooklyn
Brooklyn Books, and Booze
Spotlighting authors from different genres, with host author and journalist , this month welcomes Radha Vatsal (with the Kitty Weeks mystery novels), Christina Li (of children’s books Clues to the Universe), Anna Rasche (with historical fantasy The Stone Witch of Florence), and Gregory A. Wilson (of the epic fantasy The Third Sign).
Free; 7-9pm; Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room, 86 34th Street, Brooklyn
Wednesday, April 16
Debut Novel 101
For all you aspiring novelists—I would go to this but I’m frightened I’ll learn something I wish I’d known before! McNally Jackson's Publishing 101 series, aimed at demystifying the publishing process, welcomes Laura McGrath (Middlemen: Literary Agents and the Making of American Literature), Randy Winston, the Creative Director of Fiction at The Black List, and (Dirtbag, Massachusetts) to discuss all things debut novel, from building your byline and securing a publisher to promoting your book and breaking out. Hosted by .
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Questions Without Answers
Novelist Sarah Manguso (Liars) and New Yorker illustrator come together to talk about their new book, Questions Without Answers—a collection of more than 100 of the best questions asked by kids, crowd-sourced on social media, and ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime, demonstrating the wisdom of little people in all their wondrous glory. Celebrate the launch with drinks and mingling, and a Q&A hosted by writer .
Free, RSVP required; 7-10pm; The Urbane Arts Club, 1016 Beverley Road, Brooklyn
The Drift: What Was Twitter?
will convene journalists Willy Staley, , , and for a discussion moderated by , and hosted by NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.
Free, registration required; 6-8pm; NYU, 20 Cooper Square, Manhattan
Gabe Henry: Enough is Enuf
Gabe Henry presents Enough is Enuf: Our Failed Attempts to Make English Eezier to Spell—a brief and humorous 500-year history of the Simplified Spelling Movement from advocates like Ben Franklin, C. S. Lewis, and Mark Twain to texts and Twitter—with a reading, signing, and spelling bee.
Free, with RSVP; 8-10pm; littlefield, 635 Sackett Street Brooklyn
Creative Writing Lecture with Rita Bullwinkel
Columbia University’s Creative Writing Lecture Series invites Rita Bullwinkel, the author of Headshot and Belly Up, and the editor of McSweeney's Quarterly, to give an original talk on craft.
Free, guest registration required for non-students; 7.30-9pm; Dodge Hall, Columbia University, 601 West 125th Street, New York
Denne Michele Norris: When the Harvest Comes
Electric Literature editor-in-chief Denne Michele Norris celebrates the launch of When the Harvest Comes—in this heart-wrenching debut novel, a young Black gay man reckoning with the death of his father must confront his painful past, and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex—in conversation with Joseph Osmundson (Virology) and screenwriter Tommy Pico.
$5; 7-8pm; Strand Book Store, 828 Broadway 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room, Manhattan
Thursday, April 17
Lynne Tillman: Thrilled to Death
Lynne Tillman (Mothercare) presents Thrilled to Death—a collection of selected stories across the career of a most audacious writer—in conversation with Whitney Mallett, the founding editor of The Whitney Review of New Writing.
$5 redeemable in-store, RSVP required; 7pm; McNally Jackson Seaport, 4 Fulton St, Manhattan
Pete’s Reading Series
With (See Friendship), Jane Pek (The Verifiers), Anton Solomonik (Realistic Fiction) and Jeanne Thornton (A/S/L), hosted by Temim Fruchter (City of Laughter) and , cofounding member of Writing Co-Lab.
Free; 7.30pm; Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St, Brooklyn
Reclaim Your Joy: a Reading Party
Reading Rhythms is hosting a reading party featuring Dr. Judith Joseph discussing her new book, High Functioning: Overcome Your Hidden Depression and Reclaim Your Joy. Bring any book you like, prepare to meet readers and authors, and be part of this one-off reading party.
$40, including copy of the book; 7-9pm; Somethin' Else, 445 Albee Square W, Brooklyn
Emily Everett: All That Life Can Afford
Emily Everett discusses her debut novel, All That Life Can Afford—a coming-of-age tale about a young American woman, “an amalgam of all the most interesting Austenian protagonists” who finds hereself navigating class, lies, and love amid London’s jet-set elite—in coversation with Vanessa Chan (The Storm We Made).
$5, redeemable in store; 6.30-8pm; P&T Knitwear, 180 Orchard Street, Manhattan
20th anniversary of Design Matters
A celebration of the 20th anniversary of Design Matters, the groundbreaking podcast that has redefined conversations around design, creativity, and culture. Host and wife will take center stage, leading two interviews that will be the heart of the evening, with writer and advocate (Between Two Kingdoms) and Dr. Chelsea Clinton. There will also be a dynamic mix of special appearances, including from: Timothy Goodman; magicain David Kwong; Jad Abumrad (Radiolab); Elissa Altman; Isaac Fitzgerald (Dirtbag, Massachusetts); Ashley C. Ford (Somebody's Daughter); DeeDee Gordon; Esther Perel; Sarah Polley (Women Talking); essayist Maria Popova (The Marginalian); On Being host Krista Tippett; former National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming); and more!
From $19; 7pm; Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, Manhattan
Saturday, April 19
Subway Reading Party (World Book Day)
To celebrate World Book Day 2025, Reading Rhythms is taking over a New York subway car for a pop-up reading party! Ride the Q train from top to bottom, ending at Coney Island. Bring a book and meet the group at the 96th Street Q station.
$10, including subway fare; 10am-12pm; 96th Street Q station, Manhattan
Sunday, April 20
Lampblack Reading Series
Featuring poets Terrance Hayes (American Sonnets for My Past And Future Assassin), Nabila Lovelace (Sons of Achilles), Nadia Alexis (Beyond the Watershed), and Oluwaseun Olayiwola.
Free; 4-6pm; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), 10 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn
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!