We forget, often, that artifacts survive us, but survive they do, and that is one of the points that Katie Ward makes in her fascinating new novel, “Girl Reading.” Each chapter is about a work of art, usually but not always a painting, always involving a woman and a book. Who are the women in… FULL STORY
About Alexandra Bowie
Alexandra Bowie is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn.
“Planet Under Pressure: Climate Change and Mass Transit” panel discussion at the Transit Museum March 28
When Hurricane Irene swept through New York City last August, fear and speculation about its strength – and potential to cause catastrophic flooding – brought the city’s entire mass transit system to an unprecedented halt. Although the storm’s impact was less severe than anticipated, Irene reminded New Yorkers of nature’s eminent power over human endeavors.… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration” by Isabel Wilkerson
From about 1915 through about 1970 more than six million former slaves and descendants of slaves left the Jim Crow south and moved to cities in the north. As Isabel Wilkerson describes this important internal migration, “it was vast. It was leaderless. It crept along so many thousands of currents over so long a stretch… FULL STORY
Light &Sound: An Evening Chamber Music Series at Old Stone House
Light and Sound Concerts presents two Spring 2012 concerts at the Old Stone House. Join us for two evenings of wonderful chamber music in an intimate atmosphere. Friday, March 16 @ 8 pm Saturday, March 17 @ 8 pm Featuring Julieanne Klopic-Violin Lawrence Zoernig-Cello Joshua Pierce-Piano Program: W.A Mozart Sonata #1 (kv 301) in G… FULL STORY
Bach in the Heights Returns Sunday, March 18
Bach in the Heights, a group of professional musicians assembled and conducted by Brooklyn Heights resident Edward Houser, will perform this Sunday, March 18 at 3 pm. The program will feature two Brandenburg Concertos, and excerpts from the Magnificat (this excerpt is performed on period instruments) and the Easter Oratorio. The performance will be held… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Cat’s Table” by Michael Ondaatje
For much of the 20th century, long sea voyages were the only way to travel from one continent to another, and thousands of people made long trips. Four or six week long voyages were not uncommon (it took nearly a week to cross the Atlantic in the 1960s) and shipboard romances became the stuff of… FULL STORY
Proteus Gowanus Workshop: Mapping Migration
Proteus Gowanus will hold a workshop about mapping migrations, Saturday, March 10, 8 pm, as part of its year-long look at migration. $5 admission Here’s the description: Where does a journey begin? And how do we know where it ends? Join Dr. Debra Tillinger in an exploration of the art of mapping, from the times… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach
Despite what I must admit is a rather dim memory of the New Yorker review suggesting that “The Art of Fielding” is not really a book about baseball, I have to say that it is not about baseball in the same way that “Moby-Dick” is not really a book about whaling. That is to say,… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “Hav” by Jan Morris
The noted travel writer Jan Morris has published very few novels, but I found one of them at the Brooklyn Book Fair, published, perhaps not surprisingly, by NYR Books, a source of many of my favorite books. “Hav” is a novel as travelogue, allowing Ms. Morris to indulge what must have been sorely tempting during… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “Four of a Kind” by Valerie Frankel
As Valerie Frankel’s new novel, set in and around a private school in Brooklyn Heights opens, Bess, mother of four and president of the school’s Parent Association, has invited Robin, a single mother, Carol, an African-American physician, and Alicia, who is Caucasian and lives above Fairway in Red Hook, to her beautifully decorated Clinton Street… FULL STORY
Homemade hummus in Brooklyn
On various trips to the Middle East my family has debated the merits of hummus in all its glorious presentations and tastes. Sometimes it’s topped with zattar, other times with greens or a sprinkling of whole chickpeas. But the main dividing line always comes down to tahini: do you include a lot, or a little?… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Brooklyn Heights Promenade” by Henrik Krogius
Brooklyn Heights residents are justly proud of our Promenade overlooking New York Harbor. Cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, it offers stunning views of the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, the Manhattan skyline, and Brooklyn Bridge Park. But the origins of the Promenade are somewhat murky, and Henrik Krogius has devoted… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Discovery of Slowness” by Sten Nadolny
Constant connection and instant communication have embedded speed in our lives. Sten Nadolny’s wonderful novel, “The Discovery of Slowness,” translated by Ralph Freedman, celebrates the opposite: the value of taking one’s time, of stopping to think before you act or speak. “The Discovery of Slowness,” a historical novel, tells the story of John Franklin, a… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander
For many Jews, the world is and remains a fragile place. Israel is surrounded by enemies, many of whom have vowed her destruction. Intermarriage and secular life have diminished traditional Jewish culture. The Holocaust survivors are dying of old age, and the sense of righteousness their story conveys is in danger of dying with them.… FULL STORY
Missed Connections at NY Transit Museum on Valentine’s Day
Find your Missed Connection at the NY Transit Museum on Valentine’s Day! *Free admission to Love-in-Transit Party for all would-be romantics *NY Times Metro writer Alan Feuer reads poems based on Craigslist Missed Connections posts *Artist Sophie Blackall has a slideshow and will sign copies of her book Missed Connections: Love, Lost and Found *Snap… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “The Stranger’s Child” by Alan Hollinghurst
Every once in a while I read a book that is so good I cannot bear to put it down, but at the same time I cannot bear to finish it because then it will be done and I will never be in suspense again. “The Stranger’s Child,” a new book by Alan Hollinghurst, is… FULL STORY
Brooklyn Bugle Book Club: “In the Garden of Beasts” by Erik Larson
Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933. In that same year, Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated as President of the United States, and in due course he appointed a new United States Ambassador to Germany. After several false starts—it was clearly going to be a difficult post, given the world financial turmoil and German… FULL STORY
Creativity has spilled forth from the classrooms of P.S. 8 and found its way onto the walls of the Urban Folk Art Gallery, thanks to the “How’s the Weather?” exhibition that features dozens of landscape paintings and drawings by first-grade students from the Brooklyn Heights elementary school. The group show marks the end of a… FULL STORY
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