BookSwell

Join Us for the Common Read 2024 Keynote: The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGheeJoin Us for the Common Read 2024 Keynote: The Sum of US by Heather McGheeIn-Person, Bronco Student Center, Ursa MajorAbout The Sum of UsIn The Sum of Us, Heather McGhee dives into her specialty, the American Economy, and the mystery of why it often fails the American public. From the financial crisis to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, McGhee has found a common root problem: racism. McGhee explains that racism has costs for white people too and it is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. McGhee embarks on a deeply personal journey across the country from Mississippi to California to Maine, tallying what we lose when we buy into the zero-sum paradigm--the idea the progress for some of us must come at the expense of others. Along the way, she meets white people who confide in her about losing their homes, their dreams, and their shot at better jobs to the toxic mix Read More ...

From bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED, comes an inspiring guide to amplifying kindness and igniting a movement on both*** US Orders only....We only ship to US addresses. Join us for a virtual Live Talks Los Angeles event:Monday, February 12, 2024, 6pmAn Evening with Chris AndersonInfectious Generosity:The Ultimate Idea Worth SpreadingTICKETS:$45 General Admission ticket + signed copy of Chris Anderson's bookThe virtual version of this event airs on Febryary 12, at 6pm PT/9PM ET and is available on video-on-demand for five days.From bestselling author, media pioneer, and curator of TED, comes an inspiring guide to amplifying kindness and igniting a movement on both an individual and global scale.Chris Anderson has led TED since 2001, overseeing its transformation from an annual conference to a nonprofit with global reach, sharing TED Talks, podcasts, and TED-Ed videos freely to all.Today’s culture seems to be trending ever meaner and more divisive: INFECTIOUS GENEROSITY offers an antidote. Chris Anderson argues that by rethinking generosity in this connected era, we can shape it into a force that can spread across the world. Generosity? Really?! It seems too small a force arrayed against today’s problems. But the pandemic taught us that even a tiny virus Read More ...

In person author event with Jennifer Lang and Blair Glaser at Zibby's Bookshop, 1113 Montana Ave, Santa Monica CA, 90403!We're hosting Jennifer Lang as she discusses her book, Places We Left Behind: A Memoir-in-Miniature! Jennifer will be joined in conversation by Blair Glaser.About the book:When American-born Jennifer falls in love with French-born Philippe during the First Intifada in Israel, she understands their relationship isn't perfect. Both 23, both Jewish, they lead very different lives: she's a secular tourist, he's an observant immigrant. Despite their opposing outlooks on two fundamental issues—country and religion—they are determined to make it work. For the next 20 years, they root and uproot their growing family, each longing for a singular place to call home. In Places We Left Behind, Jennifer puts her marriage under a microscope, examining commitment and compromise, faith and family while moving between prose and poetry, playing with language and form, daring the reader to read between the lines.About the authors:Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jennifer Lang lives in Tel Aviv, where she runs israelwriterstudio. Her prize-winning essays appear in Baltimore Review, Under the Sun, Midway Journal, and elsewhere. She holds an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and Read More ...

Join us as we hang out with Kiley Reid and dive deep into her captivating novel, Come and Get It—don't miss it!From the celebrated New York Times bestselling author of Such a Fun Age comes a fresh and provocative story about a residential assistant and her messy entanglement with a professor and three unruly students.It's 2017 at the University of Arkansas. Millie Cousins, a senior resident assistant, wants to graduate, get a job, and buy a house. So when Agatha Paul, a visiting professor and writer, offers Millie an easy yet unusual opportunity, she jumps at the chance. But Millie's starry-eyed hustle becomes jeopardized by odd new friends, vengeful dorm pranks, and illicit intrigue.A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption, and reckless abandon, Come and Get It is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior--and the highly anticipated new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author Kiley Reid. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)Traci Thomas is the creator and host of The Stacks, a weekly podcast about books and the ways they shape our cultural understandings. Traci writes a monthly bookish advice column on shereads.com, is a contributor on NPR’s Here and Now, and created LAists live literary series, One for Read More ...

"Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood"Join us for an in-person and virtual* Live Talks Los Angeles event:Thursday, February 15, 2024, 8pm*Virtual event airs on February 19 at 6pm PT/9pm ETEd Zwick with Patty JenkinsHits, Flops, and Other Illusions: My Fortysomething Years in HollywoodTICKETS:$47 General Admission ticket + signed copy of Ed Zwick's book$25 General Admisison ticketAdditional books available for purchase at eventFace masks recommendedThe virtual version of this event airs on Febryary 19, at 6pm PT/9PM ET and is available on video-on-demand for five days. Tickets for the virtual event can be purchased here (includes the book)ASL interpreter provided upon request.F ree parking at the venueA heartfelt and wry career memoir from the director of Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall, About Last Night, and Glory, creator of the show thirtysomething, and executive producer of My So-Called Life, gives a dishy, behind-the-scenes look at working with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.Ed Zwick’s long career has spanned four decades of directing, producing, and writing projects that have collectively received eighteen Academy Award nominations (seven wins) and sixty-seven Emmy nominations (twenty-two wins). His filmography as director includes Glory, Legends of the Fall, Blood Read More ...

A Generative Workshop with Jose Hernandez DiazThis exciting generative poetry workshop will begin with close readings and discussions of established masters of the surreal and strange like James Tate, Marosa di Giorgio, Shivani Mehta, Will Alexander, and others--as well as engage attendees with surreal and strange prompts in an effort to write their own innovative work. The instructor will also share some of his own work responding to the prompts for guidance and inspiration. Participants should expect to draft 2-5 poems in this workshop.About the facilitatorJose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024), and The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025). He teaches generative workshops for Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshops, The Writer's Center, and elsewhere. Additionally, he serves as a Poetry Mentor in The Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program.Masks are encouraged while inside our center.One scholarship will be awarded to a QTPOC/BIPOC L.A.-residing individual who would like to join but does not have the means to do so. Please email us if interested at info@beyondbaroque.org.Workshop attendees are expected to participate in a respectful, constructive, and considerate manner. Beyond Baroque reserves the Read More ...

Join Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and Aida Zilelian, educator and storyteller from Queens, NY as she discusses her latest book.Join Glendale Library, Arts & Culture and Aida Zilelian, a first generation American-Armenian writer, educator and storyteller from Queens, NY as she discusses her latest book title All the Ways We Lied in conversation with author and poet Shahé Mankerian.Co-sponored by Abril BooksSet in Queens, New York, while a father deteriorates from terminal illness, three sisters contend with one another, their self-destructive pasts, and their indomitable mother as they face the loss of the one person holding their unstable family together.Kohar, the oldest sister, is happily married, yet grapples with fertility issues and, in turn, her own self-worth. Lucine, the middle child, is trapped in a loveless marriage and haunted by memories of her estranged father. Azad, the beloved youngest child, is burdened by an inescapable cycle of failed relationships.By turns heartfelt and heart-wrenching, All the Ways We Lied introduces a cast of tragically flawed but lovable characters on the brink of unraveling. With humor and compassion, this spellbinding tale explores the fraught and contradictory landscape of sisterhood, introducing four unforgettable women who have nothing in common, and are bound Read More ...

Celebrate new collections by ire’ne lara silva and Angelina SáenzBeyond Baroque is proud to present a dual book launch and reading by Chicana poets ire’ne lara silva and Angelina Sáenz in celebration of their new poetry collections! The fifth collection by 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate ire’ne silva, the eaters of flowers (Saddle Road Press), compiles poems exploring family and personal grief following the death of her brother. The second collection by Angelina Sáenz, Maestra (FlowerSong Press), navigates the current public school landscape through poems highlighting narratives of mentors, students, and working class parents of color.The poets will be joined by Chicana poet and scholar Jen Yáñez-Alaniz, whose research focuses on academic decolonization, and Inglewood-born-and-raised poet féi hernandez, author of Hood Criatura. Book signings will follow the readings.Doors Open: 6:30 PM Readings: 7:00 PMAbout the authorsire’ne lara silva is the 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate and the author of five poetry collections, furia, Blood Sugar Canto, CUICACALLI/House of Song, FirstPoems, and the eaters of flowers; two chapbooks, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos; and a short story collection, flesh to bone, which won the Premio Aztlán. ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writers Grant, the 2021 Texas Institute of Read More ...