events at greedy reads
upcoming events
all events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated
all events are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12; 7:30PM
MARION WINIK;
THE BALTIMORE BOOK OF THE DEAD
MARION WINIK;
THE BALTIMORE BOOK OF THE DEAD
“You’ll want to read The Baltimore Book of the Dead as slowly as possible because every observation is a marvel, every sentence a heartbreak or a revelation of joy. This book is both brief and miraculous, and it will be finished before you’re ready to let it go. Like life.” —Ann Patchett, author of Commonwealth
Marion Winik is a beloved Baltimore writer and critic. Her Bohemian Rhapsody column at BaltimoreFishbowl.com has received the Best Column and Best Humorist awards from Baltimore Magazine, and her essays have been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Sun, and many other publications. She is the host of The Weekly Reader radio show and podcast, based at the Baltimore NPR affiliate. She reviews books for Newsday, People, and Kirkus Reviews and is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. She is a professor in the MFA program at the University of Baltimore.
Winik will be in conversation with Terri Steel.
Marion Winik is a beloved Baltimore writer and critic. Her Bohemian Rhapsody column at BaltimoreFishbowl.com has received the Best Column and Best Humorist awards from Baltimore Magazine, and her essays have been published in The New York Times Magazine, The Sun, and many other publications. She is the host of The Weekly Reader radio show and podcast, based at the Baltimore NPR affiliate. She reviews books for Newsday, People, and Kirkus Reviews and is a board member of the National Book Critics Circle. She is a professor in the MFA program at the University of Baltimore.
Winik will be in conversation with Terri Steel.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 17; 6PM
JASMINE GUILLORY THE PROPOSAL & THE WEDDING DATE In The Proposal, the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date serves up a novel about what happens when a public proposal doesn’t turn into a happy ending, thanks to a woman who knows exactly how to make one on her own…
Jasmine Guillory is a graduate of Wellesley College and Stanford Law School. She is a Bay Area native who has towering stacks of books in her living room, a cake recipe for every occasion, and upwards of 50 lipsticks. “What a charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel. I couldn’t put The Wedding Date down. I love a good romance and this delivered from the first page to the last...One of the best books I’ve read in a while.”—Roxane Gay, on The Wedding Date “With sharp banter, a well-rounded cast of characters, and plenty of swoony scenes, Jasmine Guillory defends her position as one of the most exciting rom-com writers out there.” —Buzzfeed, on The Proposal MARCH 25; 7:30PM
MYISHA CHERRY UNMUTED: CONVERSATIONS ON PREJUDICE, OPPRESSION, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE Why do people hate one another? Who gets to speak for whom? Why do so many people combat prejudice based on their race, sexual orientation, or disability? What does segregation look like today? Many of us ponder and discuss urgent questions such as these at home, and see them debated in the media, the classroom, and our social media feeds, but many of us don't have access to the important new ways philosophers are thinking about these very issues. Enter UnMute, the popular podcast hosted by Myisha Cherry, which hosts a diverse group of philosophers and explores their cutting-edge work through casual conversation.
This book collects 31 of Cherry's lively and timely interviews, offering an accessible resource through which to encounter some of philosophy's most socially and politically engaged, public-facing work. Its original illustrations, depicting the interview subjects up close, show just how broad a range of philosophers--black, white, and brown, male and female, queer and straight, abled and disabled--are at the center of crucial contemporary conversations. Cherry asks philosophers to talk about their ideas in ways that anyone can understand, explaining how they got interseted in philosophy, and why the questions they investigate matter urgently. Along with the interviews, the volume provides a foreword by Cornel West, a section in which all the interviewees explain how they got into philosophy, and a "Say What?" glossary defining terms that might be new to some readers. Like the podcast that inspired it, the book welcomes in those new to these philosophical questions, those captivated by questions of race, class, gender, and other issues and looking for a new lens through which to examine them, and those well-versed in public philosophy looking for a one-stop guide. |
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21; 7:30PM
IDA E. JONES BALTIMORE CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER VICTORINE Q. ADAMS: THE POWER OF THE BALLOT Victorine Quille Adams was a Baltimore native and the first African American woman elected to the city council. Born in 1912, she lived through stringent segregation, racial violence and economic turbulence. Educated at Morgan State and Coppin State Universities, she took to the classroom and enriched the lives of her students. In 1946, she founded the Colored Women's Democratic Campaign Committee to educate African American women about the vote and the power of the ballot box. In concert with fellow educators Mary McLeod Bethune, Kate Sheppard and Dr. Delores Hunt, she persisted in educating and empowering voters throughout her life.
Ida E. Jones is the university archivist at Morgan State University. As member of the Baltimore City Historical Society, she endeavors to excavate Baltimore history for all to enjoy. She believes that through examining history and archives, our lives are enhanced by learning about others who sought to make the world a better place. APRIL 8, 7:30PM KEVIN COWHERD WHEN THE CROWD DIDN'T ROAR: HOW BASEBALL'S STRANGEST GAME EVER GAVE A BROKEN CITY HOPE “Kevin Cowherd has written a remarkable sports book that isn’t actually about sports. Instead, it is a reflection on a single professional contest played in silence—a historical anomaly in which an American city, challenged by both legitimate protest and grievous violence that followed the unnecessary death of a man, took a deep breath and played a baseball game in a locked stadium, without fans. And in that empty space, everyone—from the teams’ owners, to the players, to the politicians, journalists, fans, and ordinary citizens—had to contemplate the hopes and fears and the failures and strengths of their city.”—David Simon, creator and executive producer of the HBO series The Wire
The date is April 29, 2015. Baltimore is reeling from the devastating riots sparked by the death in police custody of twenty-five-year-old African American Freddie Gray. Set against this grim backdrop, less than thirty-six hours after the worst rioting Baltimore has seen since the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968, the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox take the field at Camden Yards. It is a surreal event they will never forget: the only Major League game ever played without fans. The eerily quiet stadium is on lockdown for public safety and because police are needed elsewhere to keep the tense city from exploding anew. When the Crowd Didn’t Roar chronicles this unsettling contest—as well as the tragic events that led up to it and the therapeutic effect the game had on a troubled city. The story comes vividly to life through the eyes of city leaders, activists, police officials, and the media that covered the tumultuous unrest on the streets of Baltimore, as well as the ballplayers, umpires, managers, and front-office personnel of the teams that played in this singular game, and the fans who watched it from behind locked gates. In its own way, amid the uprising and great turmoil, baseball stopped to reflect on the fact that something different was happening in Baltimore and responded to it in an unprecedented way, making this the unlikeliest and strangest game ever played. |
FRIDAY, JUNE 21; 7:30PM
BARBARA BOURLAND
FAKE LIKE ME
in conversation with Cara Ober, Founding Editor and Publisher, BMore Art
BARBARA BOURLAND
FAKE LIKE ME
in conversation with Cara Ober, Founding Editor and Publisher, BMore Art

“In Bourland’s decadent twist on the classic campus novel, a group of struggling artists succeed beyond their wildest dreams, but at what cost? Gloriously mordant, and just the right amount of rococo, you have to start your summer with this glittering new read.”
— COURTNEY MAUM, AUTHOR OF I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE WITHOUT YOU AND TOUCH
After a fire decimates her loft, including the seven billboard-size paintings for her next show, a young, no-name painter is left with an impossible task: recreate her art in three months—or ruin her fledgling career. Homeless and desperate, she begs her way into an exclusive retreat in upstate New York famous for its outrageous revelries and glamorous artists, and notorious as the place where brilliant young artist Carey Logan drowned in the lake.
As the young painter works obsessively in Carey's former studio, uncovers strange secrets and starts to fall—hard and fast—for Carey's mysterious boyfriend, it's as if she's taking her place. But one thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?
— COURTNEY MAUM, AUTHOR OF I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN HERE WITHOUT YOU AND TOUCH
After a fire decimates her loft, including the seven billboard-size paintings for her next show, a young, no-name painter is left with an impossible task: recreate her art in three months—or ruin her fledgling career. Homeless and desperate, she begs her way into an exclusive retreat in upstate New York famous for its outrageous revelries and glamorous artists, and notorious as the place where brilliant young artist Carey Logan drowned in the lake.
As the young painter works obsessively in Carey's former studio, uncovers strange secrets and starts to fall—hard and fast—for Carey's mysterious boyfriend, it's as if she's taking her place. But one thought shadows her every move: What really happened to Carey Logan?