15 Book Talks to Attend in February
Mingle with your favorite authors and novelists at the city’s various book signings and meet-and-greets this February.
1. Elif Batuman and Gary Shteyngart each introduce their new releases: The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them, and Little Failure, a memoir by Shteyngart. When & Where: Monday, Feb. 3, 8:15 p.m. at the 92nd Street Y
2. What is it about George Eliot’s Middlemarch? Author and New Yorker writer Rebecca Mead describes how her favorite book affected her life in her new title My Life in Middlemarch. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m. at Greenlight Bookstore
3. The Office star B.J. Novak debuts a collection of hilarious stories based on his live performances in One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m. at Symphony Space
Catch B.J. Novak again later in the week on Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. when he stops by Barnes & Noble – Union Square to read from One More Thing and offer book signings.
4. Meet award-winning author E.L. Doctorow as he introduces his latest book Andrew’s Brain, a novel that takes a look into the mind of a man who has been the inadvertent agent of disaster. When & Where: Thursday, Feb. 6, 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble – Union Square
E.L. Doctorow will also be at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts in Queens on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. to promote Andrew’s Brain.
5. Part of a Children’s Reading Series by 92nd Street Y, author Louis Sachar who wrote the book-turned movie Holes offers a sneak-peek of his forthcoming novel. When & Where: Saturday, Feb. 8 at 12:30 p.m. at Weill Art Gallery
6. Journalist and author Eddie Shapiro interviewed 20 great women of musical theater for his new book Nothing Like a Dame. He sits down with Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 12 p.m. at 92nd Street Y
7. Join three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Alice McDermott for an evening of stories. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Alice McDermott also stops by the Glucksman Ireland House NYU on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. to read from her newest novel Someone.
8. Learn about cities and the importance of urban design with author Alexandros Washburn of The Nature of Urban Design: A New York Perspective on Urban Resilience. When & Where: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6:30 p.m. at the Skyscraper Museum
9. Attend an evening of stars with Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub and Broadway actor Santino Fontana who speak with Tom Santopietro and Christopher Hart about Act One, an upcoming play based on playwright Moss Hart’s autobiography. When & Where: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble – Upper West Side
10. BBC contributor and author Sarah Churchwell tells a fascinating tale of the Fitzgeralds with an unfolding murder investigation in Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby. Book signing to follow. When & Where: Thursday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble – Upper East Side
11. Meet New Yorker essayist Adam Gopnik who is adapting The Little Prince for the National Ballet of Canada. When & Where: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 6:30 p.m. at the Morgan Library & Museum
12. Talk food, art and history with Andre F. Smith, poet and cultural critic Wayne Koestenbaum and Mary Ann Caws, an art historian, as they discuss The Modern Art Cookbook. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6 p.m. at the New York Public Library
13. Enjoy an evening of conversation with Brooklynites Pat Kiernan of NY1 and Jake Dobkin, author of Ask a Native New Yorker. Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Historical Society
14. Hoda Kotb speaks with Jonathan M. Tisch about her memoir Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, perseverance, purpose and passion. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7:15 p.m. at 92nd Street Y
15. Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Schultz tells the story of a young man who confronts his mother’s tragic history while translating her diaries in The Wherewithall: A Novel in Verse. When & Where: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 7 p.m. at the Museum of Jewish Heritage