Corner Bookstore

Juana Libedinsky launches her new memoir Downhill: A Memoir of an Accident, Two Comas, Many Books and Starting Over
2026-09-23 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York)
When a devastating skiing accident leaves Conrado, a young, successful professional, in a coma, it is not only his fate that hangs in the balance. His wife, Juana, and their two children have their lives upended overnight.
Juana, an Argentine journalist living in New York, tells the story in the first person, tracing a journey from the vast stillness of the Patagonian Andes to the fluorescent-lit hospital corridors in Buenos Aires—and, eventually, to the relentless pace and demands of Manhattan, where life does not pause, even when everything else has.
As she navigates the punishing world of coma care, hospital bureaucracy, and—perhaps even more bewildering for a foreigner—the peculiarities of the Manhattan private school circuit, Juana clings to a few anchors: racket sports, an eclectic cohort of friends and neighbors, and books. Lots of books.
Downhill is Juana’s account of a couple of terrible years, told with the sharp eye of a seasoned reporter and a signature dry humor that surfaces in unexpected places. Woven throughout are reflections on the writers who sustained her through interminable hospital stays and the logistical ropes course of caregiving: Joan Didion on grief, Jorge Luis Borges on memory, Abraham Verghese on the orderly nature of tennis. Their voices form a kind of chorus, grounding Juana as she—and we—are reminded of the transcendental and practical powers of reading.

Lauren Willig launches her new book What Happens at Nightfall
2026-10-06 18:00 - 19:30
In the sprawling Gothic expanse of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, some secrets refuse to stay buried.
Recently laid off and searching for purpose, Jess reluctantly joins her best friend on a supposedly fun nighttime cemetery tour. Separated from her group by accident, she discovers a bunch of terrified boys and a strange, ancient key. Both lead to Green-Wood’s surprisingly handsome resident arborist, Adam Chervinsky.
Recently widowed, Adam has more to protect than the leafy residents of Green-Wood. His children, still dealing with the loss of their mother, are acting strangely. A haunting is afoot, and Jess seems to know more than she’s letting on. Sparks fly between Jess and Adam—and the unquiet spirits of Green-Wood rise from their century-long slumber.
As Jess and Adam delve deeper into the cemetery’s haunted history, they uncover a Gilded Age curse, a ghostly socialite, and a demonic pact that stretches across generations. What lies hidden in the Green-Wood’s splendid Vanderwilt mausoleum? As the line between the living and the dead blurs, and the shadows of Green-Wood begin to stir with malevolent intent, Jess must confront not only the supernatural forces but a shocking connection to the past if she and Adam truly want to live happily ever after.

Carol LaHines in conversation about her new book Miracle Grow of the Mind
2026-10-13 18:00 - 19:30
Miracle Grow of the Mind is a funny, heartbreaking exploration of parenthood, disability, medical bureaucracy, Big Agro, food allergies, and environmental pathogens. When Amy and Michael’ s son is born prematurely, they are thrust into a world of pediatric neurologists, sensory reintegration therapy, and endless evaluations.

Michael also struggles with a mother suffering from dementia, who insists he is the grown-up version of a brother who died in infancy. When the Kafkaesque Bureau of Preschool Special Education threatens to make their son repeat kindergarten, the family must confront how they are living and decide which therapies— everything from Mel Finkelstein’ s sensory reintegration sessions to pediatric neurologist visits— are worth the emotional toll.

With the help of Griffin’ s babysitter Estella— caught in a secret affair with Josef, a Hungarian psychiatris navigating his own child’ s special needs— they arrive at an unexpected, poignant resolution. Smart, wry, and deeply human, this novel examines the ways love, absurdity, and hope intersect in the messy work of raising a child.

Carol will be in conversation with Sheila Kohler, author of twelve novels, three collections of short stories, and a memoir, Once We Were Sisters.

Julian Tepper launches his new novel Getting Even / Letting Go
2026-10-20 18:00 - 19:30
On a single spring afternoon in New York City, Gene Mills—a once-successful writer now living on fumes—hosts friends in his apartment while waiting for an art auction that could change everything. The paintings on the block were made by his ex-wife, now a global art star. They depict her affair, her ambition, and the life she detonated when she left him. Gene believes selling them is justice. Or survival. Or both.
As the clock ticks toward the auction lots, Gene spirals through old resentments, legal threats, parental guilt, financial desperation, and the corrosive pleasure of retaliation. What unfolds is an intimate portrait of a man trying to convert emotional injury into cash, to reclaim dignity through ownership, and to convince himself that getting even might finally allow him to let go.
With biting wit and relentless psychological precision, Julian Tepper explores the moral gray zones of divorce, custody, authorship, and art-world power—where love becomes leverage, memory becomes inventory, and victory may cost more than defeat. Getting Even/Letting Go is a novel about what remains when intimacy turns transactional, and whether freedom can ever be purchased without exacting a final, private price.
