Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York. Show all posts

9.13.2010

Where you can meet Michele Norris and Robert Reich and plant trees for your new books?

In one word: Strand.

Located in
828 Broadway (at 12th St.), this New York's independent landmark bookstore is not only one of most famous bookstores in the world, but also a partner of Eco-Libris. Strand are taking part in our bookstore program and customers at the store can plant a tree for every book they buy there and receive our sticker at the counter!

And they also have a great list of events for the upcoming month, where you can meet some of the authors of the most interesting new books, such as Michele Norris of NPR, author of
The Grace of Silence: A Memoir and Prof. Robert E. Reich, secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton and author of the new book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future.

Here's information on more events at Strand this month:


Monday, September 13
7:00pm


Fantasy and reality collide as the book's principal characters-two lovers-meet, part and reunite, time and again, at different stages in life and in landscapes both familiar and exotic.

Frederic Tuten, who has received a Guggenheim fellowship and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Distinguished Writing, is the author of Tintin in the New World and The Green Hour, among other fiction.

Tuesday, September 14
7:00pm


James Ellroy returns to the Strand to discuss his new book, The Hilliker Curse-a predator's confession, a treatise on guilt and on the power of malediction, and above all, a cri de coeur. Ellroy unsparingly describes his shattered childhood, his delinquent teens, his writing life, his love affairs and marriages, his nervous breakdown and the beginning of a relationship with an extraordinary woman who may just be the long-sought Her.

Ellroy is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. Trilogy, which includes American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood's A Rover and the L.A. Quartet novels, The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz.

Thursday, September 16
3:30pm

STRAND FAMILY HOUR EVENT
For children of all ages and their caregivers...
Jennifer Berne and illustrator Keith Bendis will read from their new book Calvin Can't Fly; The Story of a Bookworm Birdie.

Jennifer, a long-time contributor to Nick Jr. Magazine and award-winning author, and Keith, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Fortune and Time, as well as in nine books, will tell the story of Calvin, one unusual starling! While his siblings and cousins learn to fly, this rare bird lets his imagination soar while reading about pirates, dinosaurs and other fascinating things.
Family Hour Events occur every Thursday at 3:30PM in our 2nd Floor Children's Department. When we are not hosting an author, Strand Staff read from their favorite book and lead the children in a craft based on that day's reading. Email Christina if you would like to join the Family Hour Events email list.

Tuesday, September 21
7:00pm


Michele Norris, named "Journalist of the Year" by the National Association of Black Journalists for her coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign, will discuss her memoir, The Grace of Silence. The Grace of Silence asks the difficult question, "how well do you know the people who raised you?" and answers it in a powerful, honest and deeply moving way that will serve as a model for us all to take up the question with our families, communities and country.

Michele Norris has served as a correspondent for ABC News, and has reported for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times on education, poverty and numerous other social issues. She is a frequent guest on NBC's Meet the Press and The Chris Matthews Show. Her voice is heard by millions every weekday as co-host of NPR's All Things Considered.

Wednesday, September 22
7:00pm

Joshua Ferris The Unnamed

The Unnamed is a dazzling novel about a marriage and a family and the unseen forces of nature and desire that seem to threaten them both. It is the heartbreaking story of a life taken for granted and what happens when that life is abruptly and irrevocably taken away.

Ferris' first novel, Then We Came to the End, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was a National Book Award finalist.

Thursday, September 23
7:00pm


In Aftershock, celebrated economic policy maker and political theorist Robert B. Reich argues that the reason the nation's economy foundered in 2008 is structural: it lies in the increasing concentration of income and wealth at the top--and a middle class that had to go deeply into debt to maintain a decent standard of living.

Robert B. Reich is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton, and was an economic advisor to President Obama.

Tuesday, September 28
7:00pm


Proofiness is defined as the art of using nonsensical mathematical arguments--Cheerios increases your risk of being hit by a bus?!--to convince us of the veracity of things we know in our hearts to be false. In his new book, Seife argues that bad math is undermining our democracy (not to mention our notion of common sense).

Charles Seife, author of Sun in the Bottle and Zero, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for first non-fiction book, is an associate professor of journalism at New York University.

Wednesday, September 29
7:00pm


Historian and cultural critic Thaddeus Russell argues that the freedoms we cherish today were won not by "good Americans" but by the people who lived outside "respectable" society.

Written in the spirit of Howard Zinn's revisionist classic, A People's History of the United States, the new, alternative history revealed in A Renegade History of the United States, shows that drunkards, laggards, prostitutes and immigrants were the real heroes of the American Revolution. Russell upends all the standard assumptions about the United States, from its very beginning to the present day.

Thursday, September 30
7:00pm


Max's Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll is a lasting chronicle of the famed venue where Andy Warhol held court at the infamous round table in the backroom; where Willem de Kooning, John Chamberlain or Chuck Close could be found arguing about art; where Burroughs and Ginsberg discussed literature and where the Velvet Underground was the house band. Edited by Steven Kasher, with photographs by Bob Gruen, Anton Perich, Billy Name and more and contributions by Lou Reed, Lenny Kaye, Danny Fields and Steven Watson, the book captures the exuberance and decadence of one of the coolest pop cultural institutions of all time.

The Strand will host author Steven Kasher, writer Steven Watson and featured photographers Anton Perich and Danny Fields.
Oct 6: Vanessa Davis MAKE ME A WOMAN
Oct 7: Gloria Feldt NO EXCUSES
Oct 13: Lisa Birnbach TRUE PREP
Oct 14: R. Sikoryak, Neil Swaab & Keith Carter CREATING COMICS!
Oct 19: Al Jaffee & Mary-Lou Weisman AL JAFFEE'S MAD LIFE
Oct 21: Charles Burns X-ED OUT
Oct 26: Rachel Cohn & David Levithan DASH & LILY'S BOOK OF DARES
Oct 28: Rick Meyerowitz DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD

Visit Strand's Event Calendar for the complete schedule of events.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

8.02.2010

Doom and gloom for independent bookstores? Not in New York!

Last Thursday we were all doom and gloom about Independent stores and called them to prepare a war plan. Well, it looks like there's at least one place where the sun shines over independent bookstores. It's called New York.

Yes, in the Big Apple, one of the meccas of independent bookstores, things seem to work much better for indie bookstores according to New York Magazine. In a special feature about New York City indie bookstores, entitled "Indie Bookstores Rising" New York Magazine is presenting what they call "an indie-bookstore renaissance," with new bookstores like Fort Greene’s Greenlight Bookstore (see photo above), Williamsburg’s Book Thug Nation, Dyker Heights’s Boulevard Books, and Mast on the Lower East Side, among others

What makes NY different from all other places? New York Magazine explains:

"Contributing to the resurgence is the local-is-better ethos, which has bled over from the culinary and fashion worlds, causing readers to crave a more human-scale shopping experience. And the specter of a world without indie bookshops has inspired a new, perhaps quixotic generation of entrepreneurs to jump in. The new booksellers bring a modern approach to the business: In place of the dusty riots of yore are more curated, well-lit shops that emphasize personal service and community—book clubs, readings, charity projects, and even the occasional lit-geek basketball league."

So what we see here is a blend of readers with local preference and stores that provides unique added value to their customers. Combine these elements with strong communities and a large market of readers and you've got a success story called New York.

Can it work in other cities as well? I wish I could say Yes for sure, but it seems to me that the Big Apple is a unique place and in other places indie bookstores will have to work very hard to create such an indie-bookstore renaissance.

Here are some of the interesting pieces you can find on this interesting feature:

Book-o-nomics: Maybe the most interesting part, as it reveals how much money a bookshop makes. In this case it's Greenlight Bookstore that shows how it turns an average monthly profit of $11,706.27. Kudos to Greenlight Bookstore for their radical transparency!

Cover to Cover - The new (and renewed) guard of independent bookstores in the city.

Where the Pros Go - New York authors’ favorite indies. Colum McCann, for example, can't pick just one: “If I had to choose from Housing Works, the Corner Bookstore, Crawford Doyle, Three Lives, 192 Books, or the Strand, I’d pick them all. I’d smash them together and give all the books a chance to flirt in a new neighborhood.”

Bound for Your Bedstand - Booksellers recommend their most eagerly anticipated titles. For example, David Franklin of Strand Book Store (our partner!) Pick is: Salman Rushdie, Luka and the Fire of Life (Nov. 16). “All of Rushdie’s work has an aspect of fantasy—this one goes a little further.”

Got Any Buddhist Police Procedurals? - In a city of enthusiasts, there’s a bookshop for every taste.

Seller’s Market - What used bookstores (and eBay customers) will fork over for three previously loved titles.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: Promoting   sustainable reading!

6.11.2010

What's the connection between 18 miles of books, Julie and Julia, Robert Pattinson and Eco-Libris?

In one word: Strand.

Yes, we just wanted to remind you that if you happen to be in New York and you look for a good bookstore, then
Strand Bookstore is your place.

Located in
828 Broadway (at 12th St.), this New York's independent landmark bookstore is not only one of most famous bookstores in the world (Did you know that Nora Ephron shot a scene from the movie Julie and Julia at the Strand, or that Robert Pattinson plays Strand employee Tyler Hawkins in the new movie, Remember Me?), but also a partner of Eco-Libris.

Strand are taking part in our bookstore program and customers at the store can plant a tree for every book they buy there and receive our sticker at the counter! And just to make sure you won't forget about the option to green up the book/s you just bought, you'll find next to the counters this reminder:

So if you're in New York, don't forget to visit Strand. With their tremendous selection of more than 2.5 million used, new and rare books, I can assure you a great experience!

Strand's address: 828 Broadway (at 12th St.) New York, NY 10003

Website: http://www.strandbooks.com (and don't miss their impressive list of events).

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris


Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

5.08.2010

Good news of the weekend: No more White Pages in New York!


Last Tuesday I had a 'pleasant' surprise on my doorsteps (see photo above): a new thick copy of the local white pages, which I really didn't want and I'll never use. If printing the yellow pages is a wasteful and anachronistic practice, what can you say about the white pages? even my 95-old grandfather doesn't use them anymore!

Therefore, I was very happy to read today in the New York Times that Verizon is looking "to end the annual delivery of millions of White Pages to all of its customers in New York." Mazal Tov as we say in Hebrew!

And the savings? According to the article "the company estimates that it would save nearly 5,000 tons of paper by ending the automatic distribution of the books."

Verizon is quoting a 2008 Gallup survey saying that "only about one of every nine households uses the hard-copy listings anymore," but somehow I find it difficult to believe that we're talking about more than 10% usage. It looks to me that it's more somewhere around 1%-2% and the example brought in the article (320-unit building in New York when not even one copy was requested) demonstrates it.

I was surprised to hear that the phone companies are required by law to deliver these guides. Hence Verizon and other phone companies need to ask the regulators for a waiver. Is there any chance to see a change in this anachronistic legislation? I sure hope so.

Last but not least, this is of course a win-win move that will benefit not only the environment but also the bottom line of the publisher, SuperMedia.

Kudos to Verizon for doing the right thing. I hope you'll continue and move forward in other states as well, and don't forget Delaware. I really hope this is the last time I'll find such pleasant surprises on my doorsteps!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!