MONDAY’S TO-DOS

-Show your true colors with an ultra-easy, DIY ombre hair color kit.

-Kick off your “read-more” resolution with Ayana Mathis’ “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie.”

-Take a fresh look—and listen—to early music with Musica Nuova at Le Poisson Rouge.

-Go full circle at the newly opened Noho Italian eatery Circolo. 

-Bowl for justice at Brooklyn Bowl with Led Zep revivalists Leroy Justice.

PAPERBACK WRITER

Beach books aren’t just for summer as it turns out. In fact, the busiest season of the year is a great time to bring them out of hibernation and decompress with some guilty pleasure reading. Instead of plodding through “War and Peace” on your morning commute or even “Anna Karenina” for that matter, get your paperback kicks with tonight’s Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Romance Novels program at Word in Brooklyn. Get the lowdown on becoming a romance novelist from authors Maya Rodale (“Seducing Mr. Knightly”) and Miranda Neville (“The Importance of Being Wicked”), among other industry insiders.

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Romance Novels

photo via

MIND YOUR MANNERS

New York City is always moving at such a fast pace, sometimes little pleasantries get lost in the mix: a forgotten “excuse me,”an ignored “good morning,”a door unheld, these are all-too-common infractions for the polite police. Still locals do care about etiquette, just look at New York Times’regular column Social Q’s penned by Philip Galanes. Tonight, the Moth StorySLAM gives 10 talented yarn-spinners a chance to face off on the subject of Manners at the Housing Works Bookstore Café. In a city as busy as NYC, they’re sure to come up with some colorful anecdotes.

The Moth StorySLAM Launches in Four New Cities!

photo via

KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL

The latest chef to jump into the kitchen confidential memoir game, Marcus Samuelsson heads to the Strand near Union Square tonight for a discussion about foodie culture with New York Times’ journalist/award-winning cookbook writer Amanda Hesser. “They’ll talk cooking, eating, and the food frenzy going on around us,” explains the bookseller’s website. Pick up a copy of “Yes, Chef: A Memoir,” (or a $10 Strand gift card) to attend—but with the promise of “divine snacks” getting in the door might be harder than scoring a rezy at Red Rooster.

See Marcus Samuelsson at Strand Bookstore

LITERARY SALON

Every day you get a healthy helping of food for thought thanks to witty Twitter feeds and social media news, but tonight offers up a chance to combine “thoughts” with actual food and wine at BAM’s Eat, Drink & Be Literary series. For this sit-down dinner salon, the BAMcafé hosts celebrated writers, like tonight’s featured guest, award-winning novelist Ann Patchett, about who the New York Times’ Book Review once wrote, “Expect miracles when you read Patchett’s fiction.” An on-time train to Brooklyn would be nice to start with…

Eat, Drink & Be Literary at BAM

L IS FOR LIT
The L Magazine is putting the L in “literature” with a call for
submissions for its annual Summer Fiction issue. Each year the
subway-inspired mini-mag hosts a “short-fiction Thunderdome” pitting
unknown authors against each other for the ultimate, writerly glory of
having a published short story. Take the L to the Wythe Hotel tonight
for the first installment of the reading showdown, “Literary Upstart:
The Search for Pocket Fiction,” where judges include author/New Yorker
editor Ben Greenman, Harper Perennial editorial director Cal Morgan,
lit agent Katherine Fausset, and New School associate chair author
Luis Jaramillo. Get writing!
Literary Upstart

NEXT CHAPTER
Even in retirement, Oprah still recommends solid reads and most
recently, “Home” topped the list of the 18 books to look out for in
May. In the spring lead-up to flighty beach reads, the latest from
Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison is a heavy story of
redemption and one veteran’s experiences after the Korean War. Tonight
Symphony Space hosts its own Thalia Book Club, which takes an in-depth
look at books that people are talking about—dare we say, Oprah Book
Club-style? This evening’s showcase features author Russell Banks
(“The Sweet Hereafter” and “Affliction”) interviewing Morrison on this
intriguing chapter of 20th-century history.

“GILT-Y” PLEASURE READING
Thinking about making some entrepreneurial moves? Get some inspiration
and tips with a new book by Gilt cofounders Alexis Maybank and
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. Launching April 12, “By Invitation Only: How
We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop” is available for
pre-order now at giltfounders.com. It’s a must-read for anyone
thinking about how to deftly use technology, marketing, and venture
capital to make a successful business in fashion, retail, and luxury.
Flash sale! Pre-order yours now.
Get your copy here

SOLO ACTS
Perhaps one isn’t the loneliest number after all or at least that’s
what’s up for debate tonight at powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn, which is
co-hosting a panel with n+1 for “Singles Going Steady” featuring Eric
Klinenberg, Kate Bolick, and Daniel Smith. If you answer yes to any of
the following questions, don’t worry you’re not alone (no pun
intended): “Do you have your own one bedroom on the Upper West Side
like Seinfeld? Or do you write from your private Manhattan digs like
Carrie Bradshaw?” Right now, being single is at a record high for U.S.
adults with one in seven flying solo, which makes this a great night
to go out, and you know, meet someone.
Why More People are going Solo than ever before at Powerhouse Arena

A FAST FASHION READ

Here’s one for the reading list: “From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy
Combatant” by Alex Gilvarry. Recommended by Glamour.com’s Slaves to
Fashion blog, “The novel is narrated by Boy, a big-time womenswear
designer based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by way of the Philippines,
through the memoirs he wrote while in detention for being a fashion
terrorist. Yes, you read that right—Boy is being detained under the
suspicion he’s trying to secretly infiltrate the fashion industry for
anti-American operatives.” Touted as a quick and witty read peppered
with “impeccably researched fashion history,” it sounds like a genre
all its own—and who doesn’t want to just curl up with a good book
after Fashion Week’s nonstop madness?
Fashion Meets Fiction in this hilarious new novel you need to pick up!

Photo via FashionIndie