Tag Archives: Book Talk

Word Up: The Afterlives of Bestselling 18th-century Novelist Marie Jeanne Riccoboni – A Conversation Between Translators

Friday, December 5, 2025 – 4:30pm to 6:00pm
Word Up Community Bookshop / Librería Comunitaria
2113 Amsterdam Ave. & 165th St.
New York, NY 10032

REGISTER | $5 suggested donation

Marie-Jeanne Riccoboni was a bestselling 18th-Century writer—one of the first female authors who managed to finance an independent life away from her abusive husband thanks to her writing. Her novels explore the impossible choices that women in pre-Revolutionary France faced. Translators Kate Deimling and Karen Santos Da Silva will discuss Riccobboni’s protofeminism, unique style, and the challenges of rendering her prose for modern English-language readers.

This event is a $5 suggested donation ticket with 50 max attendees. Please register in advance.

In compliance with Word Up Community Safety guidelines, all attendees for this event must wear a mask inside.

Word Up Community Bookshop/Libreria Communitaria is located at 2113 Amsterdam Avenue (corner of 165th Street) in Manhattan. Subways: A, C or #1 train to 168th Street (walk south to 165th St, turn left, then walk east to Amsterdam Avenue).

Castle Village Community Room: Book Talk “Every Day Is Sunday” by Ken Belson

Ever Wonder How Football Became Our Favorite Sport?

Ken Belson, veteran New York Times reporter and CV resident, will discuss his new book “Every Day Is Sunday”, on Sunday, November 9, at 4:00 PM in the Community Room.  “Every Day Is Sunday” is an in-depth look at the business of pro football.  Specifically, Ken hones in on the fascinating roster of characters who have made the NFL the economic and cultural super power it is.  With annual revenues of $23 billion, the NFL’s revenues are comparable to those of Fortune 500 companies like Colgate-Palmolive and Goodyear Tires.

In an expansive and favorable review of “Every Day Is Sunday”, the New York Times summed it up by saying

“His unique access and firm grasp of football culture have produced “Every Day is Sunday”, a polished, entertaining account of what he aptly calls “an immensely profitable American religion.”

Mary Darcy, CV resident, WMHT and nationally syndicated radio host, will moderate.  Please join us:

When:          Sunday, November 9

Where:         CV Community Room

FREE to Castle Village residents

 

Books Will Be Available For Purchase

Bruce’s Garden Summer Readings

Julie Salamon
The Ghosts of Tenth Avenue

Noted author Julie Salamon https://juliesalamon.com/ will discuss her forthcoming book, The Ghosts of Tenth Avenue (The Penguin Press, 2026.)  Along with being an accomplished author of numerous books including including New York Times best-seller, Wendy and the Lost Boys, a biography of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein, (The Penguin Press, 2011) Julie is also chair of the Board of Directors of the  non-profit Bowery Residents Committee aka BRC.

Presently, the BRC is building the women’s shelter on Tenth Avenue and 212th street. When they learned that early maps showed their building’s site had been a cemetery for enslaved people, the board decided to include a memorial into the shelter’s design. Julie began her research.

Word Up: Robert Snyder’s WHEN THE CITY STOPPED with Led Black and Dave Crenshaw

Saturday, December 6, 2025 – 4:00pm to 5:30pm
Word Up Community Bookshop / Librería Comunitaria
2113 Amsterdam Ave. & 165th St.
New York, NY 10032

REGISTER | $5 suggested donation

Word Up welcomes Manhattan Borough Historian Robert W. Snyder to discuss When the City Stopped: Stories from New York’s Essential Workers with Uptown civic leaders Led Black and Dave Crenshaw.

“The real-life experiences of New Yorkers during the COVID-19 outbreak are at the heart of this collection of as-told-to stories. Snyder highlights the actions, big and small, that people took to help the city survive, including medical personnel who collaborated across hospitals to find health-care solutions, and bus drivers who stayed on their routes.” —The New Yorker

This event is a $5 suggested donation ticket with 30 max attendees. Please register in advance.

In compliance with Word Up Community Safety guidelines, all attendees for this event must wear a mask inside.

Word Up Community Bookshop is located at 2113 Amsterdam Ave. (& 165th St.) in Washington Heights, NYC. You can take the 1 train to 168th St and the A/C train to 163rd or 168th  St.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In When the City Stopped, Robert Snyder tells the story of COVID-19 in the words of ordinary New Yorkers, illuminating the fear and uncertainty of life in the early weeks and months, as well as the solidarity that sustained the city. New Yorkers were “alone together,” separated by the protective measures of social distancing and the fundamental inequalities of life and work in New York City. Through their personal accounts, we see that while many worked from home, others knowingly exposed themselves to the dangers of the pandemic as they drove buses, ran subways, answered 911 calls, tended to the sick, and made and delivered meals.

Snyder builds bridges of knowledge and empathy between those who bore dangerous burdens and those who lived in relative safety. The story is told through the words of health care workers, grocery clerks, transit workers, and community activists who recount their experiences in poems, first-person narratives, and interviews. When the City Stopped preserves for future generations what it was like to be in New York when it was at the center of the pandemic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert W. Snyder is Manhattan Borough Historian and professor emeritus of American Studies and Journalism at Rutgers University. His books include Crossing Broadway and Transit Talk.