Events Calendar
Reader Retreat with Maureen Corrigan
The Reader Retreat with Maureen Corrigan,
book critic for NPR’s Fresh Air
and lecturer at Georgetown University
DATE: Saturday, November, 8th
TIME: 10am to 3pm
LOCATION: Whitpain Farm
Blue Bell, PA
Join us for an inspiring day of books and conversation!
- Lunch and a keynote talk by Maureen Corrigan’s about her new book So We Read On: How The Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why it Endures
- Q&A with the author about her work as a book reviewer for NPR and The Washington Post,juror for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, and lecturer and critic-in-residence at Georgetown University
- Book discussion of The Great Gatsby, and more!
To register click here!
Schedule
10:00 – 10:30am:
Registration
10:30am – 11:45
Breakout book discussion of The Great Gatsby (led by Lynn Rosen)
11:45 – 12:15
meet & mingle; browse the Open Book pop up bookstore
12:15 – 1:30 pm: Luncheon
Introduction by Lynn Rosen: Creating the Canon: How Books Become Classics
Keynote Speaker Maureen Corrigan
1:30 – 2:00pm: Coffee/tea/dessert and chat with the author; book signing
2:00 – 2:30pm:
What to Read Next: A review of “buzz books” & forthcoming books presented by Lynn Rosen. Get an early look at the books you will want to read and buy as gifts over the holiday season, including a peek at some Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs).
2:30 – 3:00pm: mingle, browse books at the pop-up Bookstore, and depart.
The Reader Retreat is a wonderful opportunity to spend a few hours on a Saturday talking about books with other readers and meeting an author. The event takes place at Whitpain Farm, an historic colonial-era manor house in Blue Bell, PA. (Directions to be provided.)
Cost: $75*
Includes book discussion, lunch and author talk, workshop, and a copy of So We Read On.
*Inquire about special discounts for Whitpain Farm residents.
To register click here!
With questions contact Lynn Rosen:
215-360-5382
An Author House Party with Kevin Powers, author of THE YELLOW BIRDS!
Open Book is pleased to announce an exciting last minute to our event calendar: Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow
Birds will join us for a Literally Speaking Author House Party.
The Yellow Birds is the winner of the Guardian First Book Award, a New York Times’s 100 Most Notable Books of 2012 and a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. It tells the story of two soldier in the Iraq war, their friendship and the trials of war, in powerful and poetic language.
DATE: Tuesday, October 7th
TIME: 5:30 to 7:30pm
Wine & cheese reception
COST: $25
(Includes $5 credit toward any book purchase at Open Book bookstore. Good till December 31, 2014.)
Location: Elkins Park, PA
To sign up:
EMAIL: lynn@openbookphilly.com
or
CALL: 215-360-5382
Hot Off the Press: Fall 2014
It’s time to kick off another “Hot Off the Press” class! 
Starting in September, I’ll be holding the regular evening session in Elkins Park on Wednesdays from 7pm to 8:30pm. I will also be adding a second session: same class, different time and location. The alternative date is Tuesday morning from 9:30 to 11 at Winnie’s LeBus in Manayunk, where we’ll talk books and eat breakfast together (the cost of breakfast is not included in the cost of the class).
For those who are new to the class, in this monthly book discussion class, participants read works of new fiction just as they are being published. Class discussions include analysis of the book as well as background information about the author and the book’s path to publication. We talk serious book talk, but have a lot of laughs too!
Below you will find dates, books, and other details about the new class.
*Ready to register already? Go here: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/hot-off-the-press-fall-class
Hot Off the Press
Class #1
Tuesday, September 16th, 9:30-11am – Manayunk @ Winnie’s LeBus http://www.lebusmanayunk.com/
Wednesday, September 17th, 7-8:30pm – Elkins Park
(Specific location details to be provided – we have a great new space this time!)
The Undertaking by Audrey Magee
This is one of those books that the publisher sent to me and I knew nothing about—never heard of the author, wasn’t really captivated by the plot description. But one day I picked it up and started to read. “Hmmm… this is really interesting,” I thought, and kept reading. I wasn’t too far into the book before I knew it was a book I wanted to share with you. What’s it about, you say? Oh, World War II, German soldier, marriage of convenience. It’s a fascinating and original look at the toll war takes on people’s lives.
Publication Date: 8/19
BUY THE BOOK: I will have all the class books available for sale in my Open Book Bookstore at a 10% discount for class members (plus tax). I will receive copies of The Undertaking early next week.
Either email me that you would like the book or click here to purchase it: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/undertaking-the
[Note: Books for the other classes will be available, also at a discount, as they are published.]
Class #2
Tuesday, October 7th, 9:30-11am – Manayunk @ Winnie’s LeBus
Wednesday, October 8th 17th, 7-8:30pm– Elkins Park
Neverhome by Laird Hunt
I was captivated by the voice in this powerful story of a woman who goes off to fight in the Civil War instead of her husband, posing as a man and enduring what her fellow soldiers endure. Inspired by real-life accounts of women who fought in the Civil War, as one critic said, this book “transforms a footnote in history” and is “a haunting meditation on the complexity of human character, the power of secrets, and the contradictions of the American experience.”
Publication Date: 9/9
Class #3
Tuesday, November 4th, 9:30-11am – Manayunk @ Winnie’s LeBus
Wednesday, November 5th, 7-8:30pm– Elkins Park
Nora Webster, by Colm Tóibín
Many of you have heard me rave about how much I love the novel Brooklyn by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, a book I discovered quite accidentally and fortuitously and have recommended since then to many readers. I’m so pleased to have a new novel from Tóibín to share with you, the story of Nora Webster, widowed at age 40 with four children, having lost the love of her life and now confronting what may or may not be next for herself and her family.
Publication date: 10/7
Class #4
Tuesday, December 2nd, 9:30-11am – Manayunk @ Winnie’s LeBus
Wednesday, December 3rd, 7-8:30pm– Elkins Park
All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
Elf and Yoli are sisters. While on the surface Elfrieda’s life is enviable (she’s a world-renowned pianist, glamorous, wealthy, and happily married) and Yolandi’s a mess (she’s divorced and broke, with two teenagers growing up too quickly), they are fiercely close — raised in a Mennonite household and sharing the hardship of Elf’s desire to end her life. After Elf’s latest attempt, Yoli must quickly determine how to keep her family from falling apart, how to keep her own heart from breaking, and what it means to love someone who wants to die.
Publication Date: 11/6
Cost: The cost for the session is $105.
How to Register and Make a Payment:
Please email me asap at lynn@lynnrosen.com if you wish to sign up so I can hold a place for you. Payment can be made either by mailing a check, made out to “Open Book,” to me at 1100 Melrose Avenue, Elkins Park, PA 19027, or you may sign up online here: https://squareup.com/market/open-book/hot-off-the-press-fall-class
Please feel free to contact me with any questions at: 215-360-5382.
I hope you have all had a nice summer and I look forward to seeing you soon!
With best wishes,
Lynn
Lynn Rosen
Open Book
(215) 360-5382
Lit Lunch: Where Readers Mix with Authors!
Sunday, June 22nd
11:30 am to 2pm
Fork Restaurant, 306 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Enjoy a delicious meal at Fork in the company of the authors of some wonderful new books!
Here’s how it works: brunch will be served in the private dining room at Fork. Four authors will be in attendance. Each author will do a short reading from her latest book and then join you, the guests, at your table: four authors, four tables. Four rotating authors, who will switch tables throughout the meal so that, by the end, you and your dining companions will have had a chance for conversation with each writer.
Authors in attendance include:
Elise Juska, author of The Blessings (May, 2014) and many more
Nomi Eve, author of The Family Orchard and Henna House (coming in August)
Robin Black, author of If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This and Life Drawings (coming in July)
Pam Jenoff, author of The Kommandant’s Girl and The Winter Guest (coming in August)
Cost: $55
Books will be available for sale separately at the event.
To sign up, email lynn at lynnrosen.com or click here.
With questions, email or call 215-360-5382.
Literary Larks
It’s spring and time to hit the road. Open Book is taking some fun field trips to literary venues in the Philadelphia area. Join us!
Saturday June 14th
Pearl S. Buck House
Perkasie (Doylestown), PA
Time: 11am to 2pm
Buck’s classic novel The Good Earth, published in 1931, still resonates with its story of man’s striving to better himself, and the societal challenges of tradition versus modernization in China. In exciting news, a heretofore unknown novel, The Eternal Wonder, written by Buck in 1973 just before her death, has just been published for the first time. The Eternal Wonder tells the coming-of-age story of Randolph Colfax (Rann for short), an extraordinarily gifted young man whose search for meaning and purpose leads him to New York, England, Paris, on a mission patrolling the DMZ in Korea that will change his life forever—and, ultimately, to love.
In this Literary Lark, we will convene for a private tour of Buck’s home in Perkasie. This will be followed by lunch at Vintage Grill and a discussion of both novels, The Good Earth and The Eternal Wonder.
Cost: $65
This includes house admission and a copy of The Eternal Wonder, which you will receive when you sign up for the program, and lunch. Lunch will offer a varied menu of choices.
Logistics: We will meet at the Pearl S. Buck house; you must provide your own transportation to the house. The restaurant, The Vintage Grill, is an easy straight drive three miles down the road from the house.
Sign up HERE:
With any questions or for more information please email lynn@lynnrosen.com or call 215-360-5382.