Author Rob Kall asks “what are your bottom-up powers?” at this engaging book talk and signing at Doylestown Bookshop. For more information about his book, click here.
Posts Tagged ‘Beaufort Books’
Sunshine’s Roll & Stroll
Saturday, September 7th, 2019Sunshine’s Roll & Stroll: The annual Roll & Stroll fundraiser has fun for all ages and abilities. There will be activities, food, music, games, prizes, and fun had by all!
Jeff Alt has been participating in this fundraiser for 20+ years. It is a fun walk to raise money for the Sunshine Communities. Sunshine is a supportive community developing capabilities in the people with disabilities since 1950. Jeff’s walk, which he details in “A Walk for Sunshine” inspired this annual fundraiser which has raised over $500,000 for Sunshine Communities; the home where his brother lives.
Welcome to New York!
Friday, September 6th, 2019
Hello fellow book lovers!
I am the newest intern here at Beaufort Books & Spencer Hill Press! Over the next four months, you’ll be seeing periodic updates on the blog about my latest bookish adventures and NYC experiences. For this brief time as a blogger, I’ll be going full James Bond and using the alias of Captain Beaumerica (I am a Marvel fiend and cannot be stopped). I am so thrilled to share my thoughts, musings, and lessons learned with you all!
I think it is only appropriate that this first post serves as an introduction to myself. Below you’ll find a list of a few of my favorite things.
Favorite Book:
One thing to know about me? I will never lie to you. I have so many favorite books. I’m not a parent, but I imagine that choosing your favorite book is not unlike trying to choose your favorite child. For the sake of time and your sanity, I won’t list all my favorites, but here is my default:
Divergent by Veronica Roth – This book isn’t a groundbreaking novel with an ultra-diverse cast, nor is it an underrated gem that everyone will love, but as a lost middle schooler this book was exactly what I needed to read. It brought me comfort and guidance during that complicated time of adolescence. It was an influential book that shaped the rest of my school experience. I could talk for hours about the first book in this series and the injustice of the film adaptation, but instead I will just encourage you to read it for yourself. Come share in the heartache.
Favorite Movie:
This probably won’t come as a surprise, but I have several favorite movies… Here’s a few:
The Way Way Back – A coming-of-age story starring Steve Carrell and Toni Collette. This film is so heartwarming and emotional. It will always hold a special place in my heart.
The Truman Show – I love Jim Carey. He did a phenomenal job in this movie, but honestly, when does he not?
The Entire Marvel Cinematic Universe – Captain Marvel. Black Panther. Iron Man. Too many to name. I love them all with the passion of a thousand Suns.
Favorite Place:
In May of 2019, I spent two weeks in Southern Oregon and Northern
California. They are easily my favorite places in the World. If I could hole up
in the California Redwoods to write for the rest of my life, I absolutely
would. These massive trees brought tears to my eyes and made me emotional in a
way that I never thought trees could. I consider it a travesty that the
Redwoods are not on the official Wonders of the World list.
Favorite Thing About NYC (so far):
The subway. I consider myself I great driver, but I highly dislike it. Not having to drive everyday is a blessing that I never want to lose. Also, the bookstores. So. Many. Bookstores.
That’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed learning a bit about me! I am so excited to be a part of the Beaufort team and interact with you via Beaufort social media. Check back soon for more updates!
Your Favorite Hero,
Captain Beaumerica
This is a shared blog post for Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press.
THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!
Thursday, August 29th, 2019
Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist are the authors of the new novel The Woman in the Park. Sorkin is a television producer and Holmqvist is a writer, investigator, and actor.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Woman in the Park, and for your character Sarah?
A: We put ourselves in the mind of a woman who really does not know what is real and what is not and imagined an elegant New York woman who meets a mysterious man in Central Park and gets dragged into something darker.
We both have children and have spent many hours in the park with them and the story grew out of that common experience and observing people. We are both storytellers and observers, Teresa as a writer and producer of TV and film and Tullan as a private investigator and writer with a background in acting, and we both love a character-driven approach to stories.
To read the rest of the Q&A, click here.
For more information about The Woman in the Park, click here.
BOTTOM-UP REVOLUTION News!
Tuesday, August 27th, 2019
FEATURE: MASTERING THE EMERGING WORLD OF CONNECTIVITY
Our civilization is a top-down hierarchical one, as are most large-scale ones in the past, i.e., one-to-the-many, ‘top-down’, explains Kall in an interview with Tom Hartmann. Kall’s book, The Bottom-Up Revolution: Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity, is the distillation of his experience founding and running the website Opednews, which started as a personal blog, i.e., one-to-the-many, ‘bottom-bottom’, and morphed into a many-to-the-many, with the potential of bottom-top, as a volunteer-based collective.
Kall calls this ‘gayan’, as contributors and management are directly interconnected in a symbiotic, transparent relationship. Writers can ‘fan’ their favorite writers at Opednews and both comment, generating discussions of controversial topics, and contact other members directly.
I have been a member since 2008 and can attest that it is a unique site, allowing would-be writers to submit, learning the ropes and getting feedback to hone their skills. It struggles with the tension between being open to new ideas, but constrained by the existing zeitgeist. Writers are warned on submitting to ‘think twice’ about using red-flag words (scatology, Hitler, Zionist), and the editors can just not publish something. Publishing progressive material which is highly critical of the powers-that-be (including PCness) is not easy.
For more information about Rob Kall, click here.
For more information about THE BOTTOM-UP REVOLUTION, click here.
To read the rest of the feature, click here.
BOTTOM-UP REVOLUTION News!
Thursday, August 22nd, 2019
REVIEW: MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: MICHAEL DUNFORD’S BOOKSHELF
“The Bottom-up Revolution: Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity” is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and academic library Business Management & Entrepreneurial Leadership collections and supplemental studies lists.
Synopsis: Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, George W. Bush, Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg have all said that change or growth happen from the bottom up. But what does it mean and how do you do “bottom up” better and smarter? Essentially, bottom up is a way of life and a way of doing business. In “The Bottom-Up Revolution: Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity”, award-winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary Rob Kall picks up where Malcolm Gladwell’s seminal book “Tipping Point” left off. It is basically a how-to book for businesses, leaders, organizations, activists, and individuals, cracking wide-open humankind’s biggest trend in seven million years. By understanding the roots and implications of “bottom up” and “top down” corporate executives and business leaders will be better able to tap the incredible power of this trend, just as the billionaire founders of Google, Facebook, Craigslist and Twitter have done.
Critique: Drawing upon informative and illustrative interviews from more than one hundred ‘bottom up thought leaders’ ranging from jack Dorsey, Howard Zinn, Naomi Klein, and Riane Eisler, to Josephy Nye, George Lakoff, and Medea Benjamin, “The Bottom-up Revolution: Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity” is an extraordinary and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and academic library Business Management & Entrepreneurial Leadership collections and supplemental studies lists. It should be noted for personal reading lists that “The Bottom-Up Revolution” is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $12.07).
For more about the book, click here.
For more about Rob Kall, click here.
THE WOMAN IN THE PARK News!
Thursday, August 15th, 2019
Review: SUMMER THRILLER, TERESA SORKIN AND TULLAN HOLMQVIST’S PAGE-TURNER IS THE BEACH READ YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR
You may not know the term “domestic thriller,” but you probably have read one—that is, if your library holds books by Gillian Flynn, Greer Hendricks or B.A. Paris. This summer, add two new names to that list: authors Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist, whose novel The Woman in the Park (Beaufort Books) promises to be one of the best new iterations of the genre.
The story kicks off with a mystery: Police arrive at the New York City apartment of Sarah and Eric Rock, to ask Sarah about a missing person—a woman in the park. From that scene-setter to the epilogue, chapters told from Sarah’s point of view alternate with a psychiatrist’s session notes. We get to know the stylish, 40-something mother in therapy with a doctor who uses hypnosis in treatment. Adultery and madness, as well as erotomania, where a person believes another person is in love with them, are explored, deepened with quotes from Émile Zola’s classic novel of passion and murder, Thérèse Raquin. To reveal more would spoil the surprises in this delicious tale, but suffice it to say, the authors have brought to life Sarah’s self-doubt, personal fears and face-off with reality on every page.
To read the full interview, click here.
To learn more about The Woman in the Park, click here.
REEFER SANITY News!
Tuesday, August 6th, 2019
NEW OP-ED FROM KEVIN SABET ABOUT THE DANGERS OF MOVING TOO FAST ON MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION
“The House of Representative threw a pot party in Washington under the guise of a hearing on the racial impact of marijuana laws. Shamefully, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler refused to allow groups opposed to the mass commercialization of marijuana to participate.
Equally disturbing was the behavior of ranking Republican Doug Collins, who refused to invite witnesses who could offer a counterpoint to Big Marijuana and its Big Tobacco investors.
Had these lawmakers not bought the industry’s propaganda and allowed the committee to hear opposing viewpoints, they would have heard the truth about how an addiction-for-profit industry has been targeting and victimizing minority communities across the country, not providing social justice.
The reality is that marijuana legalization is going too far, too fast. We need to press pause.”
Kevin A. Sabet is the author of Reefer Sanity. A former Senior Advisor in President Obama’s drug policy office, Sabet now directs the Institute on Drug Policy at UF and is a consultant working with governments, NGOs, the media, and other organizations on a wide range of drug policy issues.
To read the full article, click here.
For more information about Reefer Sanity, click here.
Always Wandering, Never Lost
Thursday, August 1st, 2019
Hello Readers!
This summer has been a whirlwind of exciting things, both at work and outside of it. One of my favorite things about New York City is that there’s always something new to explore. I spent every weekend hopping from park to thrift shop to ice cream place and I definitely haven’t been everywhere! Maybe it’s only because I’m here for the summer, but I feel like I could stay for years and still discover new and interesting places every week. Even simple things like walking up 6th avenue instead of 5th on the way to work change the experience of a day so much. Not to say that a one-block difference is as far afield as I went this summer—quite the opposite. I went all the way up to the Cloisters and down to Coney Island, exploring pretty much every bookstore I passed along the way. As much as I loved the things I planned (the Coney Island Cyclone holds up to the hype!), some of my favorite things happened purely by chance, like stumbling across a street fair or seeing the same adorable dog on the subway and later on Governor’s Island. From conceptual ice cream bars to hole-in-the-wall record stores, I never knew what to expect when I set out wandering.
In much the same way, I never knew quite what to expect when I came into the Beaufort & Spencer Hill office—and I’m just as happy about that! From visiting printers to proofreading manuscripts to hunting down addresses for reviewers, it’s been a busy summer, and I’ve enjoyed it all. I came in thinking I wanted to go into publishing, but now I know I do. I like the everyday chaos of working at a small publisher, from first submissions, corrections, and cover design, to ARC buzz, the excitement of pub date, and royalty statements. This might be a bit obvious, but it really does give me an appreciation for how many little projects go into the making of every book on my shelf. And I’ve not only gotten to see how things work, I’ve gotten to do many of them. I came up with keywords to help our titles be found in search. I’ve helped out with submissions. I finally learned how to use Instagram and Twitter! I’ve learned a lot this summer and I’m genuinely excited to explore the industry further.
When I go back to school in a couple of weeks, I know I’ll miss a lot about New York (like the many excellent restaurants on my block), but hopefully I’ll be back one day. And until then, I can always read about it in one of many fantastic books.
Sea you sometime,
Beauseidon
This is a shared blog post for Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press.
THE BOTTOM-UP REVOLUTION News!
Tuesday, July 16th, 2019
REVIEW: THE BOTTOM-UP REVOLUTION: ROB KALL’S NEW BOOK FOR ACTIVIST TEACHERS – AND THE REST OF US
“…Kall’s Bottom-Up Revolution: Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity is a perfect text for secondary and post-secondary courses in history, sociology, political science, critical thinking, writing, and even economics.”
“For Rob Kall, benefitting from the perspective of the world’s conscientized majority, and reading their philosophers, theologians, activists, and social analysts can turn perspectives upside-down. It can change understandings of history, economics, politics – and even of theology and God-talk.”
“Such upside-down vision forms the heart of The Bottom-Up Revolution. Its down-to-earth explanations and practical, encyclopedic guidelines make it an indispensable source for teachers of critical thinking and their students as well as for activists and community organizers.”
“… it’s a source I wish I had at my disposal when I was teaching peace and social justice studies. Secondary and post-secondary teachers should adopt it for the fall semester, 2019.”
To read the full article, click here.
For more on The Bottom-Up Revolution, click here.