Party Hopping

Earlier this week, former GalleyCat editor Emily Gould read alongside the young girl band Supercute! at the 92YTribeca in Manhattan–see all the pictures here.

Along with Sean Fennessey and Elizabeth Spiridakis, Gould helped support Marisa Meltzer‘s new book, Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music. The book studies “the role of women in rock since the riot grrrl revolution.”

GalleyCat missed the event, but TimeOutNY had a great write up of the rock & roll party: “[Supercute!] performed songs in between sets, including a cover of Britney Spears‘s ‘Oops!…I Did It Again.’ They also pitched in during blogger Emily Gould‘s presentation, which began with a performance of one of the dirtiest songs ever recorded, Liz Phair‘s ‘Flower.’ While Gould read a cleaned-up version of the lyrics (‘Blow Pop queen’ subbed in for one of the song’s more memorable lines), the girls of Supercute! sang a G-rated version of the song’s backing vocals.”

Last night CBS medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton celebrated the release of her new book with some of television news’ biggest stars.

Avery Books hosted the party at Bar Americain in Manhattan. The book is entitled The Body Scoop for Girls: A Straight-Talk Guide to a Healthy, Beautiful You: “a no-holds-barred guidebook, based on her passion to cut through the embarrassment that girls often feel about their changing bodies and to arm them with the knowledge they need to make smart choices.”

GalleyCat missed the party, but the picture above shows a few of the attendees. From left to right: The Early Show weather anchor Dave Price, The Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez, CBS News and Sports president Sean McManus, Ashton, and The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

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Earlier this month, the American and French publishing industries came together at the Libertine restaurant in New York City to celebrate author Rick Moody.

The French-American Foundation hosted the reception, the conclusion of a publishing summit for French and American publishers. The party featured a cast of literary stars: Emma Archer, Paul Morris, Maja Thomas, Jeff Seroy, Andy Hunter, Evan Schnittman, Marion Duvert, Alice Tassel, Jonathan Rabinowitz, Calvin Baker and Molly Barton.

GalleyCat missed the reception, but the foundation kindly passed along some pictures from the party. Above, pictured left to right, are Schnittman (Oxford University Press), Morris (Bomb Magazine), and Thomas (Hachette).

Here’s more about the event: “A week of meetings, events and panels organized for a delegation of French publishers–in town on a reciprocal tour planned by the Foundation–to discuss the evolving landscape of the book business. Specifically, the group examined the powerful economic and digital forces transforming modern publishing, and the comparative perspectives in France and the U.S..”

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As we blog our way through the Tools of Change conference in New York City, we’d like to remind all Manhattan-bound literary folk about tonight’s TOC tweet-up.

If you are in New York City for the convention, be sure to sign up for the TOC Tweet-Up. Here’s more about the event: “TOC Tweetup will feature fun, conversation, and rock ‘n twang live band karaoke from the Wicked Messengers! Check out the song list and come ready to impress (we know there are some golden pipes among you!): Live Band Karaoke Song List from Wicked Messengers. Where: Hill Country NYC 30 West 26th Street NY, NY 10010 (the party will be downstairs in the bar).”

If you aren’t in NYC, don’t worry–we’ll post about the festivities tomorrow. In the meantime, catch up on our TOC coverage. Meet the two-screen eReader and the possibility it presents for enhanced eBooks.

Read Arianna Huffington’s thoughts on the future of the book review.

Catch up on the day’s keynote speeches.”

Take a a look at socially networked e-reading with Copia.

Look at the eReader, 2010-style.

Tune in tomorrow for more TOC coverage, both here and on Twitter.

As we head into Valentine’s Day weekend, we had a few recommendations for literary activities for our readers.

First up, authors Kendra Grant Malone, Monica Fambrough, and Travis Nichols will read at the Zinc Bar Reading Series at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in NYC. The night will also feature a performance by Brooklyn-based performance artist Sheila Donovan.

If you are looking for the perfect gift, GalleyCat reader Jeff Gordinier suggested that Cole Porter: Selected Lyrics makes for a lovely Valentine’s Day present. Here’s more about the collection: “Of the masters of twentieth-century American songwriting, Porter was one of the few who wrote both music and lyrics, and, even in the absence of his melodies, his words distill an unmistakable mixture of poignancy and wit that marks him as a genius of light verse.”

Finally, check out Valentine (pictured), a fantasy/thriller graphic novel series translated into different languages with a unique, multilingual interface. Here’s more from the site: “Valentine is currently available in 13 languages: English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Serbian, Irish, and Dutch. A 14th language, Russian, is in progress. How did we find these translators? We are lucky enough to have friends around the world who volunteered when we put out a call via Twitter and Facebook. I think the fancy term for this is ‘crowdsourcing.’”

Add your own Valentine’s Day links in the comments section.

It seems like just yesterday that this GalleyCat editor joined more than 300 New Yorkers at the launch party for The Rumpus. Tonight, the literary website will team up with HTMLGIANT to celebrate its one year anniversary with another New York City party.

Founded by author Stephen Elliott, the literary website has grown into a hub for writers and readers around the country. To help you prepare for this year’s party, we offer this video of last year’s part–a webby time machine taking you back to another cold winter night…

Here are all the details about tonight’s party: “We find it appropriate to celebrate our fitness for survival in the age of the interwebs and to kick off a great new year with an evening of literary and musical offerings in grand Rumpus style. The multimedia evening will feature readings by a line-up of literary stars… WHERE: Broadway East, where Chinatown meets the Lower East Side. 171 East Broadway (nr. Rutgers). View Map. Kitchen will be open with a light menu of snacks. WHEN: January 21, 2010 7:00pm-10:00pm, $5.”

As New York City shivers through another cold snap, local GalleyCat readers should warm up at a special book-themed cocktail party from mediabistro.com.

Tomorrow night, this GalleyCat editor will co-host a party at Copper Door Tavern in Manhattan with physician, editor and author Danielle Ofri (pictured). The party will celebrate the release of her new book, “Medicine in Translation.” The event also aims to build a stronger literary community at mediabistro.com–a new chance for writers, readers, and publishing professionals to mingle. It is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Follow this link to RSVP. Here’s more about Ofri’s book: “[The book] is a look at the multicultural aspects of medicine. Ofri is the doctor to patients from all over the world at Bellevue Hospital. When she moves to Costa Rica, she has the opportunity to experience some of what her patients have experienced, when she has her baby in a foreign country.”

Today this GalleyCat editor hiked to the famous Algonquin Hotel to witness a 21st Century revision of the Algonquin Round Table. During the 1920s, a tough and brilliant group of literary minds that included George S. Kaufman, Dorothy Parker, and Harold Ross met at the Algonquin for daily sessions–nicknamed “The Vicious Circle.”

The new group united via Twitter, led by Bethanne Patrick and Denise Berthiaume back to the Algonquin for lunch. Thirty publishing types showed up for the inaugural lunch today, and they hope to hold quarterly lunches in the same spirit.

A few of the new members are pictured here, from left-to-right: Erin McHugh, Berthiaume, Patrick, and Robin Lenz.

“We were trying to think of a name,” explained Berthiaume. “Vicious Circle didn’t seem like the right name or philosophy for publishing right now. We called it the Virtuous Circle–the complete opposite.”

GalleyCat would like to wish all our readers have a safe and happy holiday. We will be taking a break over the long weekend, but we will be back next week with Consumer Electronics Show coverage and all the news you need to survive 2010.

In the meantime, go visit our digitally obsessed sibling eBookNewser for some year-end e-reading device news. If that’s not enough, check out our collection of Best Writing Music of 2009 lists and our annual Pet Parade. And keep imprisoned Chinese author Liu Xiaobo in your thoughts over the holiday-watch a number of great writers support Xiaobo in that GalleyCat video.

Finally, include your New Year writing resolutions in the comments section. We’ll round up the responses in 2010.

Novelist Paul Auster‘s 22-year-old daughter Sophie (pictured, via) sang songs in New York last night at a benefit for PEN America’s Readers & Writers program. Book Bench was there, sketching the literary luminaries in the audience.

Here’s an excerpt: “Auster, who is twenty-two, is already at work on her second album and is slated to appear in two films next year. Her father, the novelist Paul Auster, was standing in the crowd as well, listening with one knee bent against the back of his seat. He looked unabashedly proud. Sophie, at moments, became more like a kid than a star, as though unaccustomed to the power of her voice. ‘This one is my, uh, Aretha Franklin song,’ she said of her last act, rolling her eyes and mussing her hair. Salman Rushdie, who was sitting across from Auster and his wife, Siri Hustvedt, tried to take a picture with his iPhone.”

Find out more about Auster’s music on her MySpace page.