Join our weekly children's storytime! Free & open to the public.

Welcome to the Astoria Bookshop YA Book Club! We'll be reading books published for readers ages 12 and up. The book club is open to everyone.
 
On September 23rd at 1 pm, we will be discussing To All The Boys I've Loved Before, by Jenny Han. 

Grab To All The Boys I've Loved Before for 10% off in store all month!

Questions about this group? Email Gabby at gabby@astoriabookshop.com.

I Remember. Memory feeds our writing in a multitude of ways. At its best, a writer’s memory enriches what the reader experiences on the page. When it fails, however, words lose their essence. How aware are you of memory’s power over our connection with other people? Through a mixture of discussion and writing exercises, we will explore the ways in which memory affects our lives and our writing.   

$10 suggested contribution. BYO Pen & Paper!

Instructor Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons is an award-winning essayist, playwright, and teaches creative writing at York College and Fairleigh Dickinson University. She also produces No, YOU Tell It! (www.noyoutellit.com) - a reading series that "switches-up" the storytelling. Each NYTI storyteller writes a true-life tale and then flips scripts with a partner to present each other's story. Contact her at noyoutellit@gmail.com.

Join us on Monday, September 24th at 7pm with Dr. Crystal M. Fleming and Dr. Leah Perry as they discuss How To Be Less Stupid about Race, a unique and irreverent take on everything that’s wrong with our “national conversation about race”—and what to do about it.

How to Be Less Stupid About Race is your essential guide to breaking through the half-truths and ridiculous misconceptions that have thoroughly corrupted the way race is represented in the classroom, pop culture, media, and politics. Centuries after our nation was founded on genocide, settler colonialism, and slavery, many Americans are kinda-sorta-maybe waking up to the reality that our racial politics are (still) garbage. But in the midst of this reckoning, widespread denial and misunderstandings about race persist, even as white supremacy and racial injustice are more visible than ever before.

Combining no-holds-barred social critique, humorous personal anecdotes, and analysis of the latest interdisciplinary scholarship on systemic racism, sociologist Crystal M. Fleming provides a fresh, accessible, and irreverent take on everything that’s wrong with our “national conversation about race.” Drawing upon critical race theory, as well as her own experiences as a queer black millennial college professor and researcher, Fleming unveils how systemic racism exposes us all to racial ignorance—and provides a roadmap for transforming our knowledge into concrete social change.

Searing, sobering, and urgently needed, How to Be Less Stupid About Race is a truth bomb and call to action for everyone who wants to challenge white supremacy and intersectional oppression.

Dr. Crystal M. Fleming,PhD, is a writer and sociologist who researches racism in the United States and abroad. She earned degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard University and is associate professor of sociology and Africana studies at Stony Brook University. Fleming writes about race, sexuality, and politics for publications including The Root, Black Agenda Report, Vox, and Everyday Feminism, and she has tens of thousands of followers on social media. She is the author of Resurrecting Slavery: Racial Legacies and White Supremacy in France.
 

Dr. Leah Perry is Associate Professor of Literature, Communication, and Cultural Studies at SUNY-Empire State College and a Fulbright Fellow. She received her doctorate from George Mason University’s Cultural Studies program, a Master’s of Arts from New York University in Humanities and Social Thought, a second Master’s of Arts and Religion from Yale Divinity School, and a Bachelor’s in English from Manhattanville College. Dr. Perry’s research and teaching interests encompass gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, migration, and media and popular culture. She is the author of The Cultural Politics of U.S. Immigration: Gender, Race, and Media (New York University Press, 2016). Her work can also be seen in journals such as Cultural Studies and Lateral, and in the book collections Cultural Studies and the ‘Juridical Turn’: Culture, Law, and Legitimacy in the Era of Neoliberal Capitalism (Routledge, 2016) and American Shame: Stigma and the Body Politic (University of Indiana Press, 2016). Her new book project examines the nexus of immigration, indigeneity and settler colonialism, and media.

 

Join our weekly children's storytime! Free & open to the public.

Our focus is on an intersectional exploration of women's rights and status worldwide.

The next selection is The Door by Magda Szabo, which we will discuss on Saturday, September 29th at 1pm. The book is available for purchase at the Bookshop at 10% off all month long.

Questions about this group? Email Jen at AstoriaFeministBookGroup@gmail.com.

On October 4th, our Thursday Morning Children’s storytime is going to be lead by illustrator Kim Smith, creator of the first-ever Buffy The Vampire Slayer picture book! The cult classic TV show is now a charming picture book for the youngest fans in the Buffyverse.

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer has enjoyed an unprecedented longevity in popular culture. Twenty- one years after its premiere, the series is alive and well in fan-created podcasts, as action figures, and at comic cons, and the title character has become a true icon, beloved by fans for being smart, resourceful, and tough. Now Buffy, Xander, and Willow are ready to meet a whole new generation of slayers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, a brand-new story in the Pop Classics series illustrated by Kim Smith. 

 

In this new picture-book story brought to life with cute and colorful illustrations, young readers see what the world's strongest vampire slayer was like back when she was a kid! Join not-so-brave little Buffy, Willow, and Xander as they investigate strange sounds coming from the closet, seek advice from their school librarian Giles, and encounter everyone's favorite Buffyverse monsters. Charmingly illustrated by Pop Classics artist Kim Smith, this sweet, silly, and not-so-scary book borrows Joss Whedon's beloved characters to tell an endearing bedtime story.

 

Full of jokes, Easter eggs, and new takes on characters and creatures from the beloved show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a fun and funny read for both longtime fans and young readers meeting the “Scoobies” for the first time. 

 

Kim Smith is the illustrator of Home Alone, X-Files: Earth Children Are Weird, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Back to the Future. She graduated from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Her clients include Kids Can Press, Simon and Schuster, Owlkids Books, Inhabit Media, and Capstone Publishing. She lives in Alberta, Canada. 

Join us on Friday, October 5th for an evening with writer Pornsak Pichetshote & artist Aaron Campbell for a conversation on their graphic novel, Infidel - A haunted house story for the 21st century. 

Rife with political undertones, INFIDEL can best be described as Get Out meets Insidious and explores Islamophobia through a haunting and chilling story about one American Muslim woman and her multi-ethnic neighbors who move into a building haunted by creatures that feed on xenophobia. 

“Like nothing I’ve read before… Infidel is a creepy descent into the haunted human mind. Highly recommended.” —Steve Niles, 30 Days of Night

“Fans of last year’s break-out hit Get Out will certainly enjoy this contemporary exploration of the politics of relationships, gender, and religion, with a healthy dose of nightmare material.” —The Horror News Network

 

Pornsak Pichetshote
Pornsak Pichetshote was a Thai-American rising star editor at DC’s Vertigo imprint where he worked on such comics perennials as Sandman and Swamp Thing. His books have been nominated for dozens of Eisner awards – be it the award-winning Daytripper, the New York Times bestseller The Unwritten, or critical darlings like Sweet Tooth and Unknown Soldier.  He left Vertigo to become an executive in DC Entertainment’s media team, where he started an oversaw DC TV’s department.  INFIDEL marks his first major comics work as writer. 


Aaron Campbell
Aaron Campbell has been working as a comics artist for a decade.  In that time, he’s illustrated the adventures of some of the world’s most iconic characters, including The Shadow, Green Hornet, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Batman, and Harley Quinn, in the process working with such revered writers as Garth Ennis, Matt Wagner, James Robinson, and Andy Diggle.  Infidel marks his first creator-owned book.
 

Join us on Friday, October 12th at 7:00 with Susan Harlan as she discusses her new book Decorating a Room of One’s Own - wickedly funny “interviews” with fictional literary characters about their homes and dwellings using the language of contemporary interior design reportage.

 

What would Little Women be without the charms of the March family’s cozy New England home? Or Wuthering Heights without the ghost-infested Wuthering Heights? Getting lost in the setting of a good book can be half the pleasure of reading, and Decorating a Room of One’s Own brings literary backdrops to the foreground in this wryly affectionate satire of interior design reporting. English professor and humorist Susan Harlan spoofs decorating culture by reimagining its subject as famous fictional homes and “interviews” the residents who reveal their true tastes: Lady Macbeth’s favorite room in the castle, or the design inspiration behind Jay Gatsby’s McMansion of unfulfilled dreams. Featuring 30 entries of notable dwellings, sidebars such as “Setting Up an Ideal Governess’s Room,” and four-color spot illustrations throughout, Decorating a Room of One’s Own is the ideal book for readers who appreciate fine literature and a good end table.

 

As someone who pauses during a novel’s steamy love scene to picture the gauzy bedding the author fleetingly mentions, I adored diving into Susan Harlan’s quirky and hilarious take on famous literary homes. So. Much. Fun.

— Sherry Petersik, Young House Love

 

With her insight as an English professor and an appreciation for great decor (plus the right amount of humor), Harlan has crafted the perfect read for literary fiends and design junkies alike.

— Laura Schocker, Apartment Therapy

 

 

Susan Harlan is an associate professor of English literature at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and a writer whose work has appeared in the Guardian US, the Toast, Roads & Kingdoms, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Literary Hub, Jezebel, Curbed, the Hairpin, the Establishment, the Common, and the Awl. 
 

Maris Kreizman an avid reader who makes time to watch TV in between books. She's the creator of Slaughterhouse 90210, a blog and book that celebrates the intersection of literature and pop culture. I'm a writer and critic whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the LA Times, Vanity Fair, BuzzFeed, The Cut, Vulture, Esquire, GQ, OUT Magazine, and more. She was previously the editorial director of digital content at B&N.com, and a publishing outreach lead at Kickstarter. As a former book editor (Free Press/S&S) and editorial director of Book of the Month, she very much enjoys critiquing my own writing. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, her dog, and her books.

Join us on Saturday, October 13th at 1 pm when Amanda Moeckel celebrates the launch of her stunning new children’s book, Khalida and the Most Beautiful Song! An inspiring story of creative pursuit for determined children.

 

When a song whispers in Khalida's ear late one night, she is determined to catch it. But the next day, no matter how hard she tries, bad timing and a busy schedule get in the way of her creative pursuit. Khalida longs for time to sit at the piano and make her own music and refuses to give up on her quest. When she finally succeeds, we discover the power of a captivating melody. Readers will relate to Khalida's overscheduling frustrations as well as her joy as inspiration becomes art. Lush watercolor art showcases how one girl's determined pursuit of an idea rewards us all with the enduring magic of a beautiful song.

 

Amanda Moeckel lives in NYC and is an art teacher for kids and adults. She has her MFA in Illustration as Visual Essay from the School of Visual Arts (SVA). She is a 2017 winner of the Highlights Foundation residency scholarship. She’s also an animal activist and paints pet portraits.

Join us on Wednesday, October 17th at 7pm with author and journalist Karla Starr for Can You Learn to Be Lucky?: Why Some People Seem to Win More Often Than Others. 

 

Fifteen years ago, journalist Karla Starr almost died in a car accident. State Farm called the series of events leading to her skull fracture an Act of God. Depending on who you ask, timing, human error, or luck were to blame. Starr’s freak accident was the impetus to her quest to find meaning behind life’s hidden patterns, better known as “luck." In Can You Learn to Be Lucky, Starr combines scientific research with fascinating true stories to show us how we can improve outcomes that appear to be random or out of our control.

 

 Interviewing everyone from admissions officers in New York to Hollywood casting directors, and researching everything from network science to neuroscience, Starr found surprising patterns within life’s randomness. By lifting the veil and understanding how unlucky, uncontrollable events can make us act in self-defeating ways without even realizing it, we can course-correct and learn how to be lucky.

 

It is human nature to want a sense of certainty about uncertainty. Can You Learn to be Lucky? will show you how to improve your fortune in any situation that involves a competitive scenario—business, career, sports, recruiting, hiring, love—forming a roadmap to success.

 

"Luck seems elusive, a force well out of our control. But in this fun and persuasive book, Karla Starr explains how the choices we make that shape our fate — and offers smart, science-based advice for making luck break our way."

 —Daniel H. Pink, author of When and Drive

 

Karla's charming wisdom offers lessons for improving nearly every aspect of life. If you can’t find a leprechaun, buy this book!"

—Chris Guillebeau, author of Side Hustle

 

About the author: Karla Starr has written for O, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, the Guardian, and the Los Angeles Times, and appeared on CBS Sunday Morning as an expert on luck. The recipient of a Best Science/Health award from the Society of Professional Journalists, she lives in New York and spends an inordinate amount of time lifting heavy things. This is her first book. 

Newtown Literary hosts prose night, a reading of some of Queens' best emerging prose writers.

The next General Interest Book Club Meeting will be held on Sunday, October 21st at 1 pm.

We'll be discussing Dead Girls by Alice Bolin, available in store 10% off up until the date of the discussion.

Questions about this group? Email Zora at zora@astoriabookshop.com.