I mentioned this in passing in a bullet point below, but it's really worth highlighting again: Park Slope United Methodist is holding its annual Book Sale this weekend, Saturday the 23rd from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday the 24th from 1-4 p.m. This is a fabulous event if you're a book lover, as the prices are cheap ($2 hardcover, $1 paperback) and the stock is plentiful and diverse -- I vow every year that I'm not allowed to buy anything until I've read everything I purchased the year before, and then of course I need Pale Fire or the Naomi Novik dragon books or Bel Canto (which I adored) or A Backward Glance . . . (You may remember my post on this from last year.) CDs, DVDs, videos, tapes, records, and puzzles are also for sale.
The church is also accepting donations for the sale this afternoon (Monday) from 12-7 p.m., Thursday from 7-10 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The books, CDs, DVDs, records, etc. should be in good condition and not unsaleable (e.g. no The Collector's Guide to the Best Eight-Tracks of 1979, second edition, please). You can bring them to the church at 6th Avenue and 8th Street in Park Slope at any of the times mentioned above. Hope to see you there!
Finally, if you follow the traditional Christian church calendar, you know that we are now in the season of Lent. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church, which does not practice Lent, so it's a tradition I've been learning about only in my past seven years as a Methodist; and while I am not a very good Lenten practitioner (Lentenee? Lentenizer?), I find the season's thinking about devotion, discipline, sacrifice, and service clarifying and challenging. This year I've been reading two blogs reflecting on the season:
The church is also accepting donations for the sale this afternoon (Monday) from 12-7 p.m., Thursday from 7-10 p.m., and Friday from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. The books, CDs, DVDs, records, etc. should be in good condition and not unsaleable (e.g. no The Collector's Guide to the Best Eight-Tracks of 1979, second edition, please). You can bring them to the church at 6th Avenue and 8th Street in Park Slope at any of the times mentioned above. Hope to see you there!
Finally, if you follow the traditional Christian church calendar, you know that we are now in the season of Lent. I grew up in the Southern Baptist church, which does not practice Lent, so it's a tradition I've been learning about only in my past seven years as a Methodist; and while I am not a very good Lenten practitioner (Lentenee? Lentenizer?), I find the season's thinking about devotion, discipline, sacrifice, and service clarifying and challenging. This year I've been reading two blogs reflecting on the season:
- Amoroma, where my friend and former Scholastic Store colleague Larry Litman shares words and pictures from the churches of Rome (where he now lives); and
- The Park Slope United Methodist Church blog, where our pastor is posting excerpts from various writers, thinkers, and devotionals every day.