Monday, April 26
6pm @ BPL Central Library, Abbey Room
Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles
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Results tagged “bookit”
Monday, April 19
7pm @ Harvard Book Store
Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
Monday, April 12
4pm @ Porter Square Books
Book Club will be discussing The Yacoubian Building.
We may have let the literary listings slumber through March (and February before that), but March is morphing into a lamb and leading into April with a mind invigorated by spring and concentrating on books. Or something like that. Our terrible mixed animal metaphors aside, April is set to come in with sunshine and balmy temperatures, tempting us with the promise of reading outside. In the hopes that we'll be reading outside on lawn chairs and beach blankets soon, here's a listing of literary events this month.
Michael Lewis doesn't just win Sandra Bullock Oscars; he writes books about market inefficiencies. This is especially true of Moneyball, his bestselling book about Billy Beane and the overachieving Oakland A's teams of the early 2000's. The shorthand that developed around Moneyball was that a high on base percentage (OBP) is the prerequisite to winning—that and Billy Beane was a genius while the other GMs were stupidheads. (This is why Billy Beane will be played by Brad Pitt in the upcoming feature and GMs-you've-never-heard-of will likely be played by actors of whom you've never heard.) But the reality was far more nuanced: according to Lewis, Beane recognized that OBP was undervalued by the market and exploited this inefficiency to cheaply acquire talented players. Today the so-called Moneyball teams hold that run prevention is undervalued and sign strong defensive players (see the Red Sox bringing in Mike Cameron). It's a classic story of a business recognizing something that other businesses don't, succeeding, and creating a new paradigm.
"So, what are the wonders?” you might ask upon encountering Daniyal’s Mueennuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders, a Story Prize finalist (the prize winner will be revealed tonight, in NYC). Many interpretations of the title are possible: the stories themselves, the characters in them, valuable objects. But the predominant "wonder" derived from reading the story turns out to be a stark realization of the human thread connecting the reader and the characters, all of whom stem from diverse cultural backgrounds. And not just the wonder of that connection, but the wonder of our collective ability to continually forget it.
Atul Gawande's January appearance at Harvard was sold out, so tomorrow's your chance to see him live, in person, and for free. Trinity Church brings us a free lecture and book signing by Gawande, author of The Checklist Manifesto, which explores how the simple checklist can facilitate great accomplishments.
We were pretty big fans of The Price of Loyalty, Ron Suskind's book about George W. Bush's first treasury secretary, Paul O'Neil, and the first media source to really question the run-up to the Iraq War. So we were extremely excited to see that Bush's last treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, had written a memoir. Not because we were expecting a tell-all account of the real origins of the Bear Stearns sale, TARP, TARF, and all the other acronyms that came to define the crisis, but rather because On the Brink heralded the emergence of a new and great literary genre: books by and about former Bush treasury secretaries. John W. Snow, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you!
Monday, January 25
6:00 pm, Brattle Theatre (sponsored by Harvard Book Store), $5
Joseph Stiglitz, Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy
with noted editor Cullen Murphy
7:00 pm, Harvard Book Store
The Harvard Square Book Circle discusses On the Origin of Species
7:00 pm, Porter Square Books
Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Sunday, January 17
11:00 am, Porter Square Books
PSB Book Club will be discussing Broccoli and Other Tales of Love and Food. Visit the Book Club page for more information.
1:30 pm, Boston Public Library
*George Saunders and Ha Jin
Book events were dwindling pretty sadly in December, but 2010 sees them back in full force, with everyone from Joseph Stiglitz to Raj Patel unleashing brainpower on Boston. Gear up for the new year by hitting the books... and then the bookstores... to spark some new ideas. Innovative events include a wine tasting, a mini-conference on climate change, and Joe Pernice's unique novel/soundtrack combo, so there's more than enough to entertain even the less literarily inclined.
There are no actual author events this week that we could find, but Garrison freakin' Keillor is here Monday, the Harvard Book Store's Philosophy Cafe gets together Wednesday, and a new Poe exhibit opens at the BPL on Thursday. And that's it for 2009, it seems. Congratulations, Christmas, for derailing everything! We hope you all get the books (or ebooks) you wanted this year.
Sunday, December 6
10:00 am, Harvard Book Store Warehouse (14 Park Street, Somerville)
HBS Winter Warehouse Sale, featuring an additional 15% off!
Ha Jin comes to town, the Booksmith whips up some vegan cupcakes, and Dennis Lehane celebrates Boston Noir. Plus there's a Christmas crime event at the BPL. and a big ol' sale at the Harvard Book Store warehouse (which, to be clear, is nowhere near the actual HBS). Sounds like a very bookish December to us, filled with chances to load up on goodies for family and friends.
Events are a little slow this week thanks to Turkey Day, but maybe you can power through your food coma to read Mr. Mani and participate in the Harvard Book Store book club next Monday.
Last night, Barack Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe came to the First Parish Church to preach to the Cambridge choir about the great 2008 presidential campaign (and to promote his new book, The Audacity to Win, which covers the campaign process). While the evening progressed mostly as expected (Gobama!, softball questions at the end), Plouffe did toss out some decent soundbites throughout, and perhaps said a word or two that could benefit our state's own up-and-coming senate candidates. We'll certainly be watching the WGBH democratic senatorial forum (moderated by Emily Rooney) Monday at 7pm; leading up to the election, we'll see if any of the candidates take Plouffe's campaign advice to heart (or head?).
Monday, November 16
7:00 pm, Harvard Book Store
*Cory Doctorow, Makers
7:00 pm, Brookline Booksmith
Steve Buckley, A Wicked Good Year: How the Red Sox, Patriots and Celtics Turned the Hub of the Universe into the Capital of Sports
Sunday, November 8
All day: Harvard Book Store’s annual frequent buyer sale. Customers who have signed up for a Frequent Buyer Card BEFORE November 8th will be eligible to receive 20% off all purchases of new, used and bargain books, as well as data-based Print on Demand titles and non-book items throughout the store.
November's not quite as packed with book events as October was, but some big names are still coming to town. The list includes Al Gore and David Plouffe, as well as Jonathan Safran Foer, Cory Doctorow (of BoingBoing) and John Krasinksi, who's adapted David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men for the screen. Harvard Book Store is also hosting a special sale for "frequent buyers," though you must sign up for the club before November 8 to qualify. Check the list to see what your favorite events might be this month.
Sunday, October 25
Webcast of Kate DiCamillo reading The Magician’s Elephant, Porter Square Books, 4:00 pm
Submit questions to webcast@candlewick.com.
7:00 PM, First Parish Church Meetinghouse (sponsored by Harvard Book Store), $25
*Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood
Brookline native John Hodgman is a man-about-Brooklyn whom the kids seem to like, whether he's playing the human embodiment of a computer on television or a space brain surgeon. He has written several droll books and has a certain reputation as a professional literary agent, which is why he'll be appearing at the Boston Book Festival this Saturday at the Old South Church.
The Boston Book Festival is coming up on Saturday. We already talked to an organizer; now it's time for a participant. Nicholas Negroponte is perhaps most famous for founding the MIT Media Lab and One Laptop Per Child, but he's also written his share of content. We talked to him about the role of technology and the future of books. He will be on the Digital Inclusion panel Saturday at 3pm.
The inaugural Boston Book Festival takes place in Copley Square this Saturday, October 24, with Orhan Pamuk as the keynote speaker. A launch party called "Boston Out Loud" bill be held at Trinity Church on Friday the 23rd. All Book Festival events are free, but some are ticketed, so plan accordingly.
It's the week of the Boston Book Festival, which will hit town on Saturday the 24th, bringing in big names like Orhan Pamuk and John Hogdman alongside lesser-known folks. Make sure to attend to get a new perspective on books in the 21st century. Bostonist will have interviews with Book Festival founder Deborah Porter and tech expert Nicholas Negroponte later this week. If you can't make it to the festival, at least check out one of the other literary events going on about town.
We did a wee bit of slacking with regard to getting the book events out this month, but it's cool—there are still a ton of amazing events going on. And keep an eye out for more coverage of the Boston Book Festival coming up on October 24.
Nick Hornby will be reading from his latest book—Juliet, Naked—tomorrow evening at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (reading sponsored by Brookline Booksmith). Tickets are $5. Here's an excerpt from the first chapter of the novel, which follows a troubled couple, each member differently involved with a failed singer-songwriter looking to make a comeback.
Tuesday, September 29
10:00 am, Porter Square Books
Shannon Hale, Forest Born