Why Is It Easier to Get GUESTLIST in Barnes & Noble Than in My Local Bookstores? #GLIST

Before my debut novel GUESTLIST was actually a tangible object that people could purchase and read, I told everyone that it would be available at all the usual online book retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s. (Hey, Powell’s, what the hell?)

But people asked, “Well, will it be available at [insert local bookstore]?”

“Oh, sure,” I said. “I’ve spoken with them, they pretty much said they’ll be ready when I’m ready.”

Turns out that hasn’t been the case.

You see, despite my being a local Brooklyn author and the claims of my neighborhood bookstores’ desires to support and showcase the work of local authors, I’ve been getting the run-around from damn near everyone.

Event: Touré – Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness? Book Launch Party (Sept. 13)

Whether you love him or hate him, one thing is surely true—Touré has a new book coming out, and you do not. The author/journalist has written Who’s Afraid of Post-Blackness?: What It Means To Be Black Now, which is about, well, exactly what it says on the tin. Touré attempts to explore what it means to be black in America in the age of Obama.

Examining the concept of “Post-Blackness,” a term that defines artists who are proud to be Black but don’t want to be limited by identity politics, Touré divulges intimate, funny, and painful stories of how racial expectations have shaped his own life, and explores how the concept of Post-Blackness functions in politics, art, culture, and more. The book also includes insights from a wide spectrum of contemporary luminaries, from Cornel West to Malcolm Gladwell to Kara Walker to David Paterson to Chuck D.

On Tuesday, September 13, Greenlight Bookstore hosts the launch of the book with a party featuring refreshments and music from DJ FRiTZO, along with a chance to meet and talk with Touré.

Event: Sapphire Reads From The Kid at the Brooklyn Public Library (August 15)

Earlier this summer, author Sapphire published The Kid, the follow-up to her celebrated novel Push, which, as we all know, was adapted into the film Precious: Based on The Novel Push by Sapphire.

I missed her when she made an appearance at Barnes & Noble on the sequel’s release date but now I have a second chance to catch her. Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore has partnered with the Brooklyn Public Library to host a reading from the new novel on Monday, August 15.

In The Kid, Sapphire brings her readers deep into the interior life of Abdul Jones, the son of Precious, the unforgettable heroine of Push. Starting when Abdul is nine, the story moves from a Mississippi dirt farm to Harlem in its heyday; from a Catholic orphanage to downtown artist’s lofts, as it tells of a twenty-first century young man’s fight to find the path to his future.

Event: Author Donovan Hohn Presents Moby-Duck at Greenlight Bookstore (March 16)

Tonight, Wednesday, March 16, author and journalist Donovan Hohn presents Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them at Brooklyn’s Greenlight Bookstore.

The book delves into the mystery of thousands of bath toys lost at sea and Hohn finds himself on an “accidental odyssey [that] pulls him into the secretive world of shipping conglomerates, the daring work of Arctic researchers, the lunatic risks of maverick sailors, and the shadowy world of Chinese toy factories.”

From the publisher:

In 1992, a freighter encountered a squall in the North Pacific that washed much of its cargo overboard, including almost 30,000 rubber bath toys. Over the next decade, the “Floatees” would encircle … the globe, washing up on beaches from Massachusetts and Maine to Washington state and Alaska. Brooklyn-based author Donovan Hohn became fascinated by the story of what happened to the missing toys, and his quest to discover the truth behind the spill drew him into the secretive world of maritime shipping conglomerates, Arctic researchers, environmental scientists and Chinese toy manufacturers. Donovan will present a slide show of images he collected on his search to tell the story he discovered, and will talk about the whimsical narrative and its larger implications.