Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca is very excited to host local author Alice McDowell for an evening of readings and conversation about her newest book, Dance of Life: Christian, Sufi, and Zen Wisdom for Today’s Spiritual Seeker. Q&A to follow, led by Maureen O’Brien. Event date: Sunday, March 27, 2022 – 7:00pm to 8:00pm McDowell writes about the spiritual journey as a captivating dance. In a clear and compelling voice, McDowell guides the reader through the steps of the dance. Each chapter offers a rich description of one step to spiritual realization and ends with open-ended self-reflective questions for the reader. These steps include experiences of bewilderment, release, renewal, awakening, illumination, darkness, and finally divine union. Calling upon long-forgotten Christian mystics, McDowell situates them alongside contemporary approaches and the traditions of Sufism and Buddhism. Whether beginner or advanced, readers will receive guidance on the dynamics of the spiritual journey, learn how to further develop their inner life, and find ways to move forward when unmotivated, stuck, or lost. Teachings of mystics across time and place will inspire readers to stay true to their calling. Instructive tales and humorous stories from each tradition add light and insight to the reader’s journey. Alice McDowell, Ph.D., is an author, spiritual director, retreat guide, senior teacher, and founder of the Hidden Treasure Program—a three- year training in personal and spiritual growth. She co-founded Light on the Hill Retreat Center in 1991 where she continues to guide individuals and groups on their spiritual journeys. She is author of Hidden Treasure:…
This is the second “Featured Local Bookstores” post that has focused on a bookstore located in downtown Ithaca’s Dewitt Mall. Until 2006, The Bookery and Buffalo Street Books used to be known as Bookery I and Bookery II. Now, however, it is the only bookery in town that offers “an extensive selection of used and rare books, available in our store and online at thebookery.com…. [Read More]
Filed Under: antiquarian, Buffalo Street Books, collector, For the Love of Books, going local, Ithaca, The Bookery
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It’s tough to keep track of activity on the Twitterverse sometimes. This is how Twitter, or social media in general, draws you in and sucks away your time. The drawback of live streaming, immediately accessible social and media platforms is just that: it’s 24 hours, it’s always on. Inevitably, logging off Twitter means checking out from social media and missing out on conversation points, interesting… [Read More]
“A novel, biography, and memoir, all/three going at once.” This is how Kirsten Wasson describes her mother’s voracious literary appetite in the poem “One Way to Read.” The two lines, however, could well have been written to describe the author’s new collection of poems, Almost Everything Takes Forever, published by Antrim House Books. It is a lush, lithe, witty, emotionally frank series of postcards from… [Read More]
Filed Under: Antrim House Books, Elizabeth Bishop, fernweh, Kirsten Wasson, manuscripts, new releases, poetry, Rennie McQuilkin
Austin hosted the 16th Texas Book Festival at the state capitol building October 22-23 with 250 authors presenting and 35,000 in attendance. Los Angeles may boast the much larger Los Angeles Times Festival of Book, which attracts as many as 140,000 visitors; but when you compare LA’s population of 9.8 million to Austin’s 800,000, you see that Austin pulled off a bigger, per capita turn out…. [Read More]
There’s a new bookstore in Athens, Georgia, with a different kind of business model. After four years of planning, learning, getting financing in place and finding the perfect location at 493 Prince Avenue, Janet Geddis opened Avid Bookshop this month. Last Friday night’s grand opening celebration crowded customers into tight corners and out the doors into the streets like a festival. Listen to this podcast… [Read More]