Blog

March 1, 2009

March 1, 2009 – 50th Birthday Bash Salon with Adam Gopnik, Angels and Ages

Famed New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik (pictured here with HBE owners Perry and Loretta), author of the new book, “Angels and Ages: A short book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life,” was the celebrity author who spoke tonight at our second Salon — a birthday bash book party! The event was hosted by our good pal Marcia, who had a big birthday on February 12. She thought it was especially fitting that Adam come to speak about the two men […]
February 26, 2009

February 26, 2009 – Our first Salon!

We are happy to announce a new offering from Hooks Book Events — the Salon. We envision these to be intimate gatherings of friends who are thirsty for knowledge and want to hear the thoughts and ideas of some of the bestsellers who are launching their new books. Refreshments are certainly part of the party, and often reflect the theme of the book. A case in point is our first Salon, when our friend Joy invited 50 of her closest […]
February 19, 2009

February 19 – Grameen Foundation CEO Alex Counts speaks to Cornell alumns

A large group of Cornell University alumni had the opportunity to hear Alex Counts speak today about his book, Small Loans, Big Dreams: How Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and Microfinance are Changing the World. Counts is the president and CEO of the Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit, Washington, D.C.–based organization that has grown from modest beginnings in 1997 to become a global network of forty-six microfinance partners in twenty-four countries. Under his leadership, the Grameen Foundation impacts an estimated eighteen […]
January 28, 2009

January 28, 2009 – In Memory of John Updike

Hooks Book Events acknowledges the passing of John Updike with this offering, “Requiem,” from his forthcoming collection, “Endpoint and Other Poems,” as shared in today’s Opinion section of the New York Times. Requiem, by John Updike Were I to die, no one would say, “Oh, what a shame! So young, so full Of promise — depths unplumbable!” Instead, a shrug and tearless eyes Will greet my overdue demise; The wide response will be, I know, “I thought he died a […]
January 20, 2009

January 20, 2009 – What is Barack Obama reading?

In his first book, “Dreams From My Father,” Barack Obama talks about how he has turned to books as a way of acquiring insights and information from others. Some of his favorites are by James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright and W. E. B. Du Bois. In college, he immersed himself in a spiritual-intellectual search and read the works of Nietzsche and St. Augustine. What is he reading these days? During a 60 Minutes interview in November Obama […]
November 15, 2008

November 15, 2008 – Reading Connection’s Wine & Words event

On November 15th, the Reading Connection held a fundraiser at the National Education Association HQ in Washington DC. TRC sends volunteers into homeless shelters to read (and give) books to the children in the Arlington, VA area. The event included a silent auction and appearance by five local children’s authors. HBE staff came up with the idea of having the authors sell (and sign) their books at the event, get attendees to buy extra copies of the books to donate […]
October 9, 2008

October 9, 2008 – The Grameen Foundation event

After taking Alex Counts to the Main Treasury on September 17th for the Kickoff of the CFC Campaign, we were fortunate to escort him to HUD on the 25th. There were more than 75 in attendance in the beautful new Brooks-Mondale Auditorium to hear Alex Counts. He was a big hit with these young legal fellows who asked interesting and provocative questions about the Grameen model (website: www.grameenfoundation.org) , and of its successes in the U.S. We were also graced […]