Mark your calendars!
Friday, January 12 – Yoga with Marie Blair, 10am-noon
Tuesday, January 16 – Documentaries After Dark presents
“Art and Craft,” 6:30pm
Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th Century Icons, Picasso, and even Walt Disney. And while the copies could fetch impressive sums on the open market, Landis isn't in it for money. Posing as a philanthropic donor, a grieving executor of a family member's will, and most recently as a Jesuit priest, Landis has given away hundreds of works over the years to a staggering list of institutions across the United States. But after duping Matthew Leininger, a tenacious registrar who ultimately discovers the decades-long ruse and sets out to expose his philanthropic escapades to the art world, Landis must confront his own legacy and a chorus of museum professionals clamoring for him to stop. ART AND CRAFT starts out as a cat-and-mouse art caper, rooted in questions of authorship and authenticity -- but what emerges is an intimate story of obsession and the universal need for community, appreciation, and purpose. 89 minutes
Mark Landis has been called one of the most prolific art forgers in US history. His impressive body of work spans thirty years, covering a wide range of painting styles and periods that includes 15th Century Icons, Picasso, and even Walt Disney. And while the copies could fetch impressive sums on the open market, Landis isn't in it for money. Posing as a philanthropic donor, a grieving executor of a family member's will, and most recently as a Jesuit priest, Landis has given away hundreds of works over the years to a staggering list of institutions across the United States. But after duping Matthew Leininger, a tenacious registrar who ultimately discovers the decades-long ruse and sets out to expose his philanthropic escapades to the art world, Landis must confront his own legacy and a chorus of museum professionals clamoring for him to stop. ART AND CRAFT starts out as a cat-and-mouse art caper, rooted in questions of authorship and authenticity -- but what emerges is an intimate story of obsession and the universal need for community, appreciation, and purpose. 89 minutes
Beginning Thursday, January 18 – The Holocaust in Film
series presents “Remember,” 6:30pm
“Never forget” acquires a double meaning in Atom Egoyan’s revenge thriller. Guided by written instructions from a fellow vengeful survivor, elderly Auschwitz survivor Zev seeks to find and murder the Nazi commander who liquidated his family, but encroaching dementia often causes him to forget his mission. 94 minutes.
“Never forget” acquires a double meaning in Atom Egoyan’s revenge thriller. Guided by written instructions from a fellow vengeful survivor, elderly Auschwitz survivor Zev seeks to find and murder the Nazi commander who liquidated his family, but encroaching dementia often causes him to forget his mission. 94 minutes.
Additional Holocaust in Film series dates: Monday, January 22 6:30pm “Linie 41,” Thursday, January 25 6:30pm “The Last Laugh,” and Sunday, February 4 2pm “Amnon’s Journey.”
Tuesday, January 30 – GRG will reconvene in the Library’s
conference room for a discussion of YA fiction, 6:30pm
GRG met last night to for one of our biannual Salon
Discussion, where anything you’ve read goes! We talked about wine, bitcoin, the
Cold War, the 1972 presidential election, geisha culture, and more!
Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste by Bianca Bosker
Professional journalist and amateur drinker Bianca Bosker
didn’t know much about wine—until she discovered an alternate universe where
taste reigns supreme, a world of elite sommeliers who dedicate their lives to
the pursuit of flavor. Astounded by their fervor and seemingly superhuman
sensory powers, she set out to uncover what drove their obsession, and whether
she, too, could become a “cork dork.”
With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever.
With boundless curiosity, humor, and a healthy dose of skepticism, Bosker takes the reader inside underground tasting groups, exclusive New York City restaurants, California mass-market wine factories, and even a neuroscientist’s fMRI machine as she attempts to answer the most nagging question of all: what’s the big deal about wine? What she learns will change the way you drink wine—and, perhaps, the way you live—forever.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Few stories are as widely read and as universally
cherished by children and adults alike as The Little Prince. Richard
Howard's translation of the beloved classic beautifully reflects
Saint-Exupéry's unique and gifted style. Howard, an acclaimed poet and one of
the preeminent translators of our time, has excelled in bringing the English
text as close as possible to the French, in language, style, and most
important, spirit. The artwork in this edition has been restored to match in
detail and in color Saint-Exupéry's original artwork. Combining Richard
Howard's translation with restored original art, this definitive
English-language edition of The Little Prince will capture the hearts
of readers of all ages.
The Man Who Invented Christmas: How Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol Rescued His Career and Revived Our Holiday Spirits by Les Standiford
Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist.
The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.
With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.
The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all.
With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.
Mastering Bitcoin by
Andreas Antonopoulos
Join the technological revolution that's taking the world
of finance by storm. Mastering Bitcoin is your guide through the
seemingly complex world of bitcoin, providing the knowledge you need to
participate in the internet of money. Whether you're building the next killer
app, investing in a startup, or simply curious about the technology, this
revised and expanded second edition provides essential detail to get you
started. Bitcoin, the first successful decentralized digital currency, is still in its
early stages and yet it's already spawned a multi-billion dollar global economy.
This economy is open to anyone with the knowledge and passion to
participate. Mastering Bitcoin provides the knowledge. You simply
supply the passion.
The second edition includes:
--A broad introduction to bitcoin--ideal for non-technical
users, investors, and business executives
--An explanation of the technical foundations of bitcoin
and cryptographic currencies for developers, engineers, and software and
systems architects
--Details of the bitcoin decentralized network, peer-to-peer
architecture, transaction lifecycle, and security principles
--New developments such as Segregated Witness, Payment
Channels, and Lightning Network
--Improved explanations of keys, addresses and wallets
--User stories, analogies, examples, and code snippets
illustrating key technical concepts
Pollinator by Blondie
(Pitchfork Magazine) Featuring collaborations with Sia, Dev Hynes, Charli
XCX and more, Blondie’s 11th album is a bit uneven but remains a showcase for
Debbie Harry’s versatile, supremely grounded voice and style.
Silver Eye by Goldfrapp
(Pitchfork Magazine) On their first album in four years, Goldfrapp
synthesize all their many sounds and modes to get at the core of their
musical identity. They find a beautiful, poppy, platonic ideal.
(NME Magazine) Dark, sexy, grown-up – not adjectives you would
previously have associated with Massachusetts trio PVRIS, who were
until recently poised to clamber their way to the position of electropop-punk
heroes. After 2014’s debut album ‘White Noise’ and its killer singles ‘Fire’
and ‘St Patrick’ rose up the charts, PVRIS could have followed the tried and
tested route to fame by dialling back the heavy and upping the pop. Hey, it’s
worked for Paramore (they’re still epic) and even Avenged Sevenfold (they’re
just as heavy, less screamy). What PVRIS have somehow managed to do is keep everything
they put into the first record, but add a darkness that’s taken their game to a
whole new level.
Legacy of Spies by John le Carre
Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George
Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living
out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a
letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War
past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the
toast of secret London, and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux,
George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself, are to be scrutinized by a generation
with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications.
Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carré and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new.
Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. In a story resonating with tension, humor and moral ambivalence, le Carré and his narrator Peter Guillam present the reader with a legacy of unforgettable characters old and new.
The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs
Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American
Revolution, and featuring a cast of legendary characters, The Hamilton
Affair tells the sweeping, tumultuous, true story of Alexander Hamilton
and Elizabeth Schuyler, from passionate and tender beginnings of their romance
to his fateful duel on the banks of the Hudson River.
Hamilton was a bastard and orphan, raised in the Caribbean and desperate for legitimacy, who became one of the American Revolution's most dashing--and improbable--heroes. Admired by George Washington, scorned by Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the new nation. Elizabeth was the wealthy, beautiful, adventurous daughter of the respectable Schuyler clan--and a pioneering advocate for women. Together, the unlikely couple braved the dangers of war, the perils of seduction, the anguish of infidelity, and the scourge of partisanship that menaced their family and the country itself. With flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and epic scope, The Hamilton Affair tells a story of love forged in revolution and tested by the bitter strife of young America, and will take its place among the greatest novels of American history ever written.
Hamilton was a bastard and orphan, raised in the Caribbean and desperate for legitimacy, who became one of the American Revolution's most dashing--and improbable--heroes. Admired by George Washington, scorned by Thomas Jefferson, Hamilton was a lightning rod: the most controversial leader of the new nation. Elizabeth was the wealthy, beautiful, adventurous daughter of the respectable Schuyler clan--and a pioneering advocate for women. Together, the unlikely couple braved the dangers of war, the perils of seduction, the anguish of infidelity, and the scourge of partisanship that menaced their family and the country itself. With flawless writing, brilliantly drawn characters, and epic scope, The Hamilton Affair tells a story of love forged in revolution and tested by the bitter strife of young America, and will take its place among the greatest novels of American history ever written.
This captivating collection, which features bestselling
and award-winning authors, contains laughs aplenty, the most hardboiled of
holiday noir, and heartwarming reminders of the spirit of the season. Nine mall Santas must find the imposter among them. An elderly lady seeks peace
from her murderously loud neighbors at Christmastime. A young woman receives a
mysterious invitation to Christmas dinner with a stranger. Niccolò Machiavelli
sets out to save an Italian city. Sherlock Holmes’s one-time nemesis Irene
Adler finds herself in an unexpected tangle in Paris while on a routine
espionage assignment. Jane Austen searches for the Dowager Duchess of
Wilborough’s stolen diamonds. These and other adventures in this delectable
volume will whisk readers away to Christmases around the globe, from a Korean
War POW camp to a Copenhagen refugee squat, from a palatial hotel in 1920s
Bombay to a crumbling mansion in Havana.
Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 by Hunter S.
Thompson
Forty years after its original publication, Fear and
Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 remains a cornerstone of American
political journalism and one of the bestselling campaign books of all time.
Hunter S. Thompson’s searing account of the battle for the 1972 presidency—from
the Democratic primaries to the eventual showdown between George McGovern and
Richard Nixon—is infused with the characteristic wit, intensity, and emotional
engagement that made Thompson “the flamboyant apostle and avatar of gonzo
journalism” (The New York Times). Hilarious, terrifying, insightful, and compulsively
readable, Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72 is an epic
political adventure that captures the feel of the American democratic process
better than any other book ever written.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
Speaking to us with the wisdom of age and in a voice at
once haunting and startlingly immediate, Nitta Sayuri tells the story of her
life as a geisha. It begins in a poor fishing village in 1929, when, as a
nine-year-old girl with unusual blue-gray eyes, she is taken from her home and
sold into slavery to a renowned geisha house. We witness her transformation as
she learns the rigorous arts of the geisha: dance and music; wearing kimono,
elaborate makeup, and hair; pouring sake to reveal just a touch of inner wrist;
competing with a jealous rival for men's solicitude and the money that goes
with it. In Memoirs of a Geisha, we enter a world where appearances are paramount;
where a girl's virginity is auctioned to the highest bidder; where women are
trained to beguile the most powerful men; and where love is scorned as
illusion. It is a unique and triumphant work of fiction—at once romantic,
erotic, suspenseful—and completely unforgettable.
Geisha: A Life by Mineko Iwasaki
No woman in the three-hundred-year history of the
karyukai has ever come forward in public to tell her story—until now. "Many say I was the best geisha of my generation," writes Mineko
Iwasaki. "And yet, it was a life that I found too constricting to
continue. And one that I ultimately had to leave." Trained to become a
geisha from the age of five, Iwasaki would live among the other "women of
art" in Kyoto's Gion Kobu district and practice the ancient customs of
Japanese entertainment. She was loved by kings, princes, military heroes, and
wealthy statesmen alike. But even though she became one of the most prized geishas
in Japan's history, Iwasaki wanted more: her own life. And by the time she
retired at age twenty-nine, Iwasaki was finally on her way toward a new
beginning. Geisha, a Life is her story -- at times heartbreaking, always
awe-inspiring, and totally true.
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From
his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the
hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs,
Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal
through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great
love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.
Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.
Camino Island by John Grisham
A gang of thieves stage a daring heist from a secure
vault deep below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. Their loot is
priceless, but Princeton has insured it for twenty-five million dollars. Bruce Cable owns a popular bookstore in the sleepy resort
town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He makes his real money,
though, as a prominent dealer in rare books. Very few people know that he
occasionally dabbles in the black market of stolen books and manuscripts. Mercer Mann is a young novelist with a severe case of
writer’s block who has recently been laid off from her teaching position. She
is approached by an elegant, mysterious woman working for an even more
mysterious company. A generous offer of money convinces Mercer to go undercover
and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends, ideally getting close
enough to him to learn his secrets. But eventually Mercer learns far too much, and there’s
trouble in paradise as only John Grisham can deliver it.
Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
Anna Kerrigan, nearly twelve years old, accompanies her
father to visit Dexter Styles, a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the
survival of her father and her family. She is mesmerized by the sea beyond the
house and by some charged mystery between the two men.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.
With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world. It is a magnificent novel by the author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, one of the great writers of our time.
Years later, her father has disappeared and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that once belonged to men, now soldiers abroad. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. One evening at a nightclub, she meets Dexter Styles again, and begins to understand the complexity of her father’s life, the reasons he might have vanished.
With the atmosphere of a noir thriller, Egan’s first historical novel follows Anna and Styles into a world populated by gangsters, sailors, divers, bankers, and union men. Manhattan Beach is a deft, dazzling, propulsive exploration of a transformative moment in the lives and identities of women and men, of America and the world. It is a magnificent novel by the author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, one of the great writers of our time.
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