Jhumpa Lahiri, Matt Weiland, and L.J. Davis tomorrow night!

This one is going to be amazing -- don't miss it!


Friday, November 13, 7:30 PM NYRB Classics 10th Anniversary Celebration Featuring publisher Edwin Frank With authors Matt Weiland, Jhumpa Lahiri, and L.J. Davis

NYRB Classics began publishing in 1999, with beautiful trade paperback reissues of classic but previously out-of-print texts, each introduced by a noted writer or scholar. Greenlight joins in celebrating the publisher's 10th anniversary with a distinctly local reading and reception.

NYRB Classics publisher Edwin Frank will introduce three readers. Jhumpa Lahiri (The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth) will discuss and read from Mavis Galant's story collection The Cost of Living, to which she wrote the introduction. Matt Weiland (State By State) will expound on the joys of George Stewart's quirky history Names On the Land, which he introduces. L. J. Davis, one of the few living writers republished by NYRB, will read from his 1971 novel A Meaningful Life, a comic and cathartic urban masterpiece set in a crumbling Brooklyn brownstone.

The reading will be followed by a wine and cheese reception catered by Greene Grape Provisions -- your chance to meet some of the authors and publishers that define Fort Greene and Brooklyn. Join us for a celebratory anniversary event!

This event is free and open to the public. You can RSVP on Facebook - RSVPs are appreciated (to give us an attendance estimate) but not required. Seating is first come, first served. Please note: there is NO PHOTOGRAPHY at this event.

Jonathan Lethem at Greenlight tomorrow night!

It's our first-ever author event, and boy are we excited!

At 7:30 PM on Thursday, November 5, Brooklyn's unofficial laureate Jonathan Lethem (author of Motherless Brooklyn and Fortress of Solitude) reads from his new novel Chronic City, a surreal and witty epic set in a Manhattan almost like our own. The oddball cultural savant Perkus Tooth is an unforgettable character, and the journey our hapless narrator takes through Perkus' world of stranded astronauts, dog hotels, giant tigers, and alternate realities that bleed into city politics is a trip well worth taking

Jonathan is reading the ENTIRE 467 page novel aloud over the course of eight reading events in New York City -- Greenlight Bookstore is proud to host Reading Number 5! Join us for a reading, followed by a signing and reception with the author. Then the true fans can stick around for a second round of reading, as long as it takes to get through 1/8 of the book!

Rebecca and Jessica both LOVE this novel to the point of obsession -- we're thrilled to have Jonathan for our first sit-down author event. Don't miss the chance to meet one of Brooklyn's greatest literary authors at Brooklyn's newest independent bookstore!


This event is free and open to the public. You can RSVP on Facebook -- RSVPs are appreciated (to give us an attendance estimate) but not required. Seating is first come, first served.

Can't make it to the event, but craving a signed copy of Chronic City? You can email us or call (718) 246-0200 to request a signed copy be held or shipped to you. Even request personalization! Contact us as early as possible -- we may run out!

The Launch Party Recap Part II

We finally got the other set of photos off the camera! Battery chargers go missing so easily in new stores, where gadgets and wires and cords don't have permanent homes yet. So indulge us in one last quick party recap -- then we'll move on to new topics.

People began arriving around 7 and the place filled up fast



Champagne from Greene Grape and beer from the beer garden up the street started flowing and good eats from Provisions, Marquet and The (legendary) Cake Man made their way around



Meanwhile, the Candlewick bear was a little antisocial and kept working, so someone put a tag on his back, which wasn't very nice. He cheered up later and joined the party though.



Then around 7:45 the speeches began. We kicked it off with our Councilwoman (and a great friend to the bookstore) Letitia James



Then Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said a few words, charming everyone as usual (notice Jessica's husband 'covertly' downing a drink while taking a break from serving champagne at out makeshift bar)



Poor Elissa Olin, who recently opened her own store on Myrtle Avenue was stuck out in the rain because by this point we were too crowded



Then local author Touré came on to say a few words about Brooklyn literary culture



It was so great to be surrounded by dear friends



Then Jessica and I said our words, our Thank Yous, and we toasted, hugged, cried, and commenced to enjoying a fine fine party

The Saturday festivities photo recap

My camera was passed around the store all weekend so when I finally got home and looked through all the photos from our Bookstore launch events, I had so many smiles on my face. Here for your enjoyment as well are a few photos from Saturday.

We started the day with a storytime where Michelle Knudsen came and read her adorable book Library Lion. Storyhour was super cute (all the kids roared on cue) and Michelle really knows how to work a crowd of kids, but the photos of parents reading with their children after storyhour are what make me happiest. To see parents fostering a love for books by sitting on a bookstore floor to read a book together is a beautiful thing.










And at the evening party, there was so much joy in the air! Or maybe that was champagne. Both! Either way, it was fun and we send a big thank you to everyone who trekked out in that weather! We have photos on another camera (with a dead battery and a MIA charger) of Letitia James, Marty Markowitz and us toasting the crowd, and some great crowd shots of all of you too, so maybe we'll post more later on. But for now...


There were the 'boys'



And the 'girls'



And our literary friends with adorable haircuts Jami Attenberg and Kate Christensen



And Touré , who gave a very nice speech for us. Thanks for representing Brooklyn literary culture to our crowd!



Esther and Dikko from Purgatory Pie Press



Alexis (drinking on the job...we all were that night) and Eleanor



And all the rest of you...



Thanks so much for making it a special special day.

Finally Open, and In the News!

On Saturday October 17, still a week away from our official launch party, Greenlight Bookstore had its soft opening. We chalked up our sidewalk sign, unlocked the doors, and notified our Twitter followers and Facebook fans. And it's been non-stop joy and energy ever since. Our face are tired from smiling, and we're losing our voices from saying "thank you" to all the congratulations and expressions of good will, and our throats keep catching with how beautiful it all looks. And even better, people are buying books!

Here's a quick rundown of just SOME of the places you can read about Greenlight in the last week -- they say it better than we could!

The Brooklyn Paper (October 14)

The Daily News (October 16)

The Fort Greene Local blog on the New York Times (October 17)

Time Out New York Kids (October 20)

The New York Press (October 21)

auk wrecks and ark larks (October 23) - this one has a bunch of great pictures of the store taken by our friend Megan Barron!

Brownstoner renovation blog (ongoing)

Yelp (ongoing) - add your own review!

Let us know if we've missed any -- I know there are some more great blog posts out there about the opening.

Okay -- back to bookselling! See you all in the store...

Greenlight Bookstore Launch Party Invitation!

Come celebrate the opening of Greenlight Bookstore and share in our excitement with a day of festivities at the bookstore on Saturday, October 24! We're still very new but we just couldn't wait any longer to open our doors to the book lovers of Fort Greene, Brooklyn and New York City.

At 10:00 AM, we welcome kids of all ages for a special inaugural Story Time. Brooklynite Michelle Knudsen, author of the beloved bestseller Library Lion (Candlewick Press), will read from her charming picture book, and will then sign copies of her books, which we will have for sale. Book-related treats and prizes will be handed out to kids, and parents can browse the store before the evening's festivities.

Then, at 7:00 PM, all book lovers are invited to join us for the Greenlight Bookstore Launch Party, complete with complimentary champagne for toasting (21 and over of course)! In attendance will be some of our favorite Brooklyn authors, as well as editors, publishers, writers, readers, neighbors, and friends.

Local literary magazine A Public Space will give away free copies of their most recent issue to the first 100 customers in the door after 7 PM, and other giveaways will be announced as well. Fort Greene author Touré will read from new work, and Fort Greene's own City Council Member Letitia James will officially commemorate Greenlight's opening. Greenlight Bookstore's owners Rebecca Fitting and Jessica Stockton Bagnulo will take a moment to say thanks to the people who helped them bring this new bookstore to Brooklyn.

This is the kickoff we've been waiting for - we're planning on some serious celebrating!

This invitation is open to all - feel free to pass it along. You can RSVP on our Facebook page and share with your friends there too.

We'll hope to see you at Greenlight Bookstore's Launch Party on October 24, 2009!

This weekend we started shelving books

Each step in the process of building our bookstore has been a revelation. When the space was raw it was a blank canvas and we felt like anything could happen. When it was a construction zone, we'd monitor the changes and watch as things began to take shape. It was literally different every day. When the ceiling went in, the space suddenly sounded different, and that was a joyous shock - the first auditory change we'd experienced. When the shelves went up, but weren't yet stained, we had our first three dimensional sense of what the store would look like. Up until that point, we only had paper plans and our imaginations and our vision. After the shelves got stained and finished, we stepped back and looked, and loved what we saw even more than we thought we would. We truly created a home for our books.

And then this weekend, the moment we'd all been craving: we started putting books on the shelves. The pile of boxes had grown so large; almost bloated and unwieldy, it was a relief to knock some of it out. It was also pure joy to shelve, and pure beauty to see the bookcases begin to fill up. The sound of books sliding against wood, the zen-effect alphabetizing has, the excitement you get when shelving a favorite book or author, and the connections you make with others when you find shared favorites. I especially loved breaking down the boxes as we emptied them onto the shelves, physical proof of our progress.

We started with fiction on Saturday. Fiction is the largest section you see (on the left side of the store) when you look in the front window. It spans one large zig-zag wall.

Before:


After:


Thanks to all the people who gave us 'thumbs up' as the passed by our windows that day - it was wonderful to see that you were as excited about seeing the books going up as we were. There's still a ton of sorting and shelving to do, but each day we get closer, and folks: we are so close to being able to open our doors. Thanks for being patient with us! We promise, we'll be open very soon.