Events

Elyssa East, author of Dogtown: Death and Enchantment in a
New England Ghost Town Elyssa will
read from and discuss her book, a richly braided first-person narrative that
delves into Dogtown, an isolated colonial ruin and woodland in storied
seaside Gloucester, MA, that has long exerted a powerful influence over
artists, writers and nature lovers. But Dogtown's history is also woven
with tales of witches, supernatural sightings, pirates, former slaves,
drifters and the scar of a brutal murder that took place there in 1984.
In alternating chapters, East interlaces the story of this grisly murder
with the strange, dark history of this wilderness ghost town and explores
the possibility that certain landscapes wield their own unique power.
Book launch party! Patrick Ryan of Granta will interview Elyssa during the event. Facebook RSVP here.

Dave will read from and discuss his new book, "House of Cards: Love, Faith and Other Social Expressions", an original and hilarious memoir by the ex-greeting card writer that chronicles how, in the belly of the “social expression” industry, he learned to love, thrive, and finally feel comfortable in his own skin.

Dave also does a regular video blog, Greeting Card Emergency – he will tackle some holiday-themed greeting card emergencies for us at the event. Have a sticky situation that you need a special card for? Submit your holiday greeting card needs prior to the event by emailing them to kelly@wordbrooklyn.com Dave will create the perfect card for you. He'll also take some emergency greeting card requests from the audience at the event.

Check out some of Dave's greeting card emergencies on his website.

Facebook RSVP here.

Some of our favorite authors will hang out with us at the store, helping with gift-wrapping, recommending their favorite titles and personalizing signed copies of their books for your gift-giving needs! Get a head start on holiday shopping – join us for this festive two-day open house. Refreshments will be served.

Author scheduled to appear:

1-3 pm:
Amy Braunschweiger (Taxi Confidential: Life, Death and 3 a.m. Revelations in NYC Cabs)
A.J. Jacobs (The Guinea Pig Diaries)
Rebecca Stead (When You Reach Me)

3-5 pm:
Jami Attenberg (The Kept Man)
Charles Bock (Beautiful Children)
Peter Brown (The Curious Garden)
Sarah Manguso (The Two Kinds of Decay)

Facebook RSVP here.

Some of our favorite authors will hang out with us at the store,
helping with gift-wrapping, recommending their favorite titles and
personalizing signed copies of their books for your gift-giving needs!
Get a head start on holiday shopping – join us for this festive two-day
open house. Refreshments will be served.

Author scheduled to appear:

1-3 pm:
Jedediah Berry (The Manual of Detection)
Emily St. John Mandel (Last Night in Montreal)
Adrienne Maria Vrettos (Skin)

3-5 pm:
Lev Grossman (The Magicians)
Maura Madden (Crafternoon)
Michelle Knudsen (Dragon of Trelian and Library Lion)

Facebook RSVP here.

The Happy Book Holiday Crafting Night with Meg Leder and Rachel Kempster, authors of The Happy Book: What Makes You Happy?

Meg and Rachel will talk about things that make them happy and then lead a holiday decoration crafting project. Participants will get to use all their favorite childhood craft supplies (crayons, pipe cleaners, glitter!) to decorate cardstock ornaments that remind them of their favorite festive things.

All this, and we'll have cake too, courtesy of Jessica Reed, the baking diva from Pictures of Cake!

Facebook RSVP here

Join us for a screening and Q&A with the actress and filmmaker about Green Porno, the wonderfully odd and humorous short films she created (as seen on the Sundance Channel) that have now been released on DVD for the first time, along with a book, Green Porno, that offers a visually arresting and scientifically accurate look at the sex lives of marine animals and insects. Isabella wrote, directed and stars in this series of shorts about the lovemaking habits of various species, featuring herself in colorful, vibrant costumes. Coco 66 will provide truffle popcorn during the screening of several Green Porno shorts, which will be followed by a Q&A and booksigning. 

PLEASE NOTE: we are no longer taking orders for Rossellini tickets online or over the phone. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door for $30. 

In Design-It-Yourself Clothes, former Urban Outfitters designer Cal Patch brings her youthful aesthetic to a how-to book. In five key projects (each with four variations)–a perfect-fitting dress, T-shirt, button-down shirt, A-line skirt, and pants–Patch shares the art of patternmaking.

For our festive holiday-themed event, Patch will do a demo on how to take proper measurements -- the first step in creating personalized gifts that fit perfectly! She will also bring along samples of the clothing in the book for discussion.

Facebook RSVP here.

This talk will focus on the generation of memoir, using the author's recent book, The Adderall Diaries, as a jumping off point for discussing the process of figuring out your story and editing it into something someone would want to read. Admission is the price of the book ($23) and includes a copy.

This is Stephen Elliott's first memoir but his seventh book, all of them written from personal experience. We'll use this book as a jumping off point for more general ideas on writing memoir and some of the problems the memoir writer may encounter. In the talk we'll discuss dealing with family members and friends who may not want to be written about and we'll also go through some writing tips for accessing memories and experiences.

This event costs $23 which includes a copy of the book and 1 ticket to the event. To reserve your spot, purchase your book/ticket combo here.

The editors of the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning are back with its much-anticipated sequel, It All Changed in an Instant.
With contributions from acclaimed authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Frank McCourt, Wally Lamb, Isabel Allende, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, and James Frey, and celebrities like Sarah Silverman, Suze Orman, Marlee Matlin, Neil Patrick Harris, Ann Coulter, and Chelsea Handler, It All Changed in an Instant presents a thousand more glimpses of humanity, six words at a time. In the vein of the popular Post Secret books, It All Changed in an Instant, in the words of Vanity Fair, “will thrill minimalists and inspire maximalists.”

Join us for a launch event with Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser and contributors to the book. We will also be hosting our own six-word memoir contest - come up with a six-word memoir related to the topic of writing and you might win a prize! Send your entries to kelly@wordbrooklyn.com

Facebook RSVP here

Join us for an evening with Julie Powell, who will read from and discuss her new book. Facebook RSVP for the event here.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Julie Powell thought cooking her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking was the craziest thing she'd ever do--until she embarked on the voyage recounted in her new memoir, CLEAVING.

Her
marriage challenged by an insane, irresistible love affair, Julie
decides to leave town and immerse herself in a new obsession: butchery.
She finds her way to Fleischer's, a butcher shop where she buries
herself in the details of food. She learns how to break down a side of
beef and French a rack of ribs--tough, physical work that only
sometimes distracts her from thoughts of afternoon trysts.

The camaraderie at Fleischer's leads Julie to search out fellow butchers around the world--from South America to Europe to Africa. At the end of her odyssey, she has learned a new art and perhaps even mastered her unruly heart.

Bloggers, performers and writers Sara Barron, Doree Shafrir and Claire Zulkey read from their humorous books.

Sara Barron is the author of PEOPLE ARE UNAPPEALING: TRUE STORIES OF OUR COLLECTIVE CAPACITY TO IRRITATE AND ANNOY

Doree Shafrir is the author of LOVE, MOM: POIGNANT, GOOFY, BRILLIANT MESSAGES FROM HOME

Claire Zulkey is the author of AN OFF YEAR

Join us for a night of readings and laughs! Facebook RSVP here.

We're obsessed with this fast-paced anagram game - it's like Scrabble without the board (or those pesky points). Join us for some Saturday afternoon Bananagrams WORD play (and some banana-themed edibles). Free fun for all ages! Facebook RSVP here.

The author of HOW TO MAKE BOOKS and MAGIC BOOKS & PAPER TOYS will lead us in a demo of some of the craft projects included in her latest book, for brides-to-be and friend of brides (for showers and gifts, etc.)

Facebook RSVP here.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The one-stop guide to making a celebration that's all about you with ubiquitous, affordable, recyclable paper! Letterpress artist, designer, and once-bride Esther K. Smith inspires you with one-of-a-kind invitations, albums, guest books, and more.

Planning an elaborate event? A simple, sophisticated soiree? Or something wild and wonderful? Customize your wedding with fresh paper ideas from the author of the classic How to Make Books and the ingenious Magic Books & Paper Toys.

Learn to make your own exciting, affordable mementos, invitation wraps, pop-up maps, save-the-date postcards, and party décor—projects with maximum impact that require only simple tools and basic skills. New to paper crafts? Start with lined envelopes. Ready for a challenge?

Learn to stitch special bindings for your guest book and photo album. There is even a project for the groom-to-be. Just grab the good scissors, choose your paper, and begin! Smith's inventive techniques and no-nonsense wit will inspire you to make your own paper-perfect wedding.

Learn more about Esther here: http://www.purgatorypiepress.com/howto.html

We're hosting a mixer at The Diamond Bar to celebrate our Between the Covers literary matchmaking board. All book lovers are invited to mingle -- drink specials and raffle prizes throughout the night.DJ RUSSCOMM (who
loves Bret Easton Ellis and went on two dates as a result of our matchmaking
board) will spin 80's tunes beginning at 8 pm. Facebook RSVP here.

Join a group of book-loving runners on a laidback tour of Greenpoint on foot. Every week is a slightly different run, but it'll always be 2-3 miles at about a 10-minute mile pace. Come when you can; no pre-registration required and no fee. Any questions? Email stephanie (at) wordbrooklyn (dot) com.

A reading and roundtable discussion featuring the author of The Manual
of Detection, his sister, his brother, and his other brother. Join us for the celebration of the paperback release of the novel The Manual of Detection. Facebook RSVP here.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In an unnamed city always slick with rain, where men still wear
fedoras, Charles Unwin wishes only to escape his good fortune. A humble
but content clerk in the large, bureaucratic Agency,

Unwin is inexplicably promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. Thus begins The Manual Of Detection, Jedediah Berry's "remarkably auspicious debut" (Booklist) which is, at once, a satisfying mystery and a boundary pushing literary feat.

What little Charles Unwin knows about solving mysteries comes from
the reports he has filed for the illustrious detective Travis Sivart,
who has suddenly gone missing. Aided by an able, if sleepy, new
assistant and a copy of the singular Manual of Detection, Unwin sets out to find Sivart, assuming that with the detective back at his job, Unwin can go back to his old
job. As he closes in on Sivart, dark forces draw close to him; he is
framed for murder and his umbrella, which he always carries with him,
seems no match for the gun-toting goons that chase him. As he dodges
these threats, mind-bending questions proliferate: Why does the mummy
at the Municipal Museum have modern-day dental work? Where have all the
city's alarm clocks gone? Why is Unwin's copy of the Manual missing
Chapter 18? And will it ever stop raining?

Unwin soon realizes that the greatest of Sivart's cases—including
"The Three Deaths of Colonel Baker" and "The Man who Stole November 12th"—were,
in fact, never solved correctly. He tackles puzzles that have eluded
even the legendary Sivart by entering dreams—his own and other
people's—where he finds all those missing alarm clocks and a criminal
mastermind bent on total control of a slumbering city.

In this striking debut, Jedediah Berry delivers precise prose,
imaginative storytelling, and airtight plotting, pulling the reader
into his fascinating and fantastic world from page one.

 Join us for Jami's first Brooklyn event for her latest novel, The Melting Season. Facebook RSVP here.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

A tender, provocative story about the power
of friendship, the thrill of self-discovery, and the strength it takes
to escape the past.

Catherine Madison is headed West
with a suitcase full of cash that isn't hers. She's just left the only
home she's ever known, a small town in Nebraska, after the only man she
had ever known, her husband, Thomas, deserted her. She's also left
behind her deepest, most shameful secrets-among them a dysfunctional
family she's never quite been able to escape and a marriage whose most
intimate moments have plagued her with self-doubt. On the road, she was
going to become a new person. Or so she thought.

But running
away from the past isn't as easy as she had hoped. When Catherine
reaches Las Vegas, she forms surprising new friendships that compel her
to reveal what she had sworn she'd keep hidden, and teach her what
human connection really means. Armed with this new knowledge, she is
finally emboldened to uncover the truth about her family, come to
understand what destroyed her marriage, and prevent her troubled sister
from repeating her mistakes.

Deeply compassionate and unflinchingly bold, The Melting Season
is the story of an indelible character's journey from isolation to
belonging, as well as an honest look at the things we feel we deserve
from our lives- and how far we will go to find them.