• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Read An Issue
  • About
  • Advertising Information
  • Where to Find the Reader
  • Subscribe to our Mailing List
  • Contact Us

Park Slope Reader

  • The Reader Interview
  • Eat Local
  • Dispatches From Babyville
  • Park Slope Life
  • Reader Profile
  • Slope Survey

Erika Veurink

Spring Reading: Coffee and a Good Book

May 15, 2019 By Erika Veurink Filed Under: Coffee Culture Tagged With: coffee, eric veurnik, Literature, reader lit

Photographs by Paul English

I can’t think of a better excuse to leave the apartment on a sunny Saturday afternoon than the prospect of losing myself in a book at a neighborhood cafe. What could be more indulgent? So order a drink “for here,” crack open the spine, and settle in. These pairings are as apropos as clogs and the Park Slope Co-Op.

Milk Bar (204 6th Ave)

Bright and buzzing, Milk Bar begs to be paired with equally as lively literature. The bar facing Sixth Avenue was built for leisurely browsing in the warmth of the light with a cappuccino in hand. There’s plenty of space and lots to order, but come early as the cafe closes at 4 pm. Benches outside the door make for prime stroller parking.

Pick up a copy of independent magazine like Gentlewoman, Apartmento, or AnOther magazine. Supporting smaller publications is a rewarding way to discover new writers and delightful art. I recently took out a subscription to The Sewanee Review. Along with reading a poignant new essay by an author I adore, I was able to discover tons of new voices. A total win/win. 

Cafe Martin (355 5th Ave)

Pew benches line the walls of this tiny, adorable cafe tucked away on 5th Avenue. Perfectly Parisian and oozing charm, this isn’t the place to unload a laptop or catch up on your latest macrame project. Consider packing a book of poetry, instead. Maybe even consider a striped shirt or beret to really up the French factor. 

A Night in Brooklyn by D. Nurkse is as close as it comes to the official poetic guide to the borough. His renderings of the imperfections that make this part of the city so beloved are stunning. 

Other books of poetry like Not Here by Hieu Minh Nguyen and There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyonce by Morgan Parker are all excellent choices. 

Os Cafe (535 6th Ave) 

Quaint, with just enough space to settle in with a book, Os Cafe is always stocked with fresh pastries. Alternative milks, such as oat and almond, abound. The space is quiet, warm, and perfect for starting a new memoir. 

Joy Enough by Sarah McColl mentions the iconic willow just across the street on 16th. Her memoir is a sweeping look at loss and love through the lens of the relationships that bolster her life. From the Emily Dickinson sentiment that “The mere sense of living is joy enough,” springs this thoughtful and arrestingly emotional story. Other memoirs like The Glass Eye by Jeannie Vanasco or My Soul Looks Back by Jessica B. Harris make great choices, as well.

Milk Bar – Photographs by Paul English

Cafe Regular Du Nord (158 Berkeley Place)

Eclectic and beloved by locals, this cafe is a Park Slope institution. Read as: it fills up quickly on the weekends. Consider coming early one morning, ordering an espresso, and immersing yourself in a food memoir. If you make a habit of it, you might even be featured as one of the cafe’s “Spotlight Regulars.” Some outdoor seating is provided, as well. 

It’s hard to even consider French culinary culture without thinking of Julia Child. Both her iconic voice and playfulness in the kitchen are captured brilliantly in her memoir, My Life in France. To read this book is to feel and taste the side of France Julia fell madly in love with. A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg is a classic of the genre, as well.

Muse Cafe (497 6th Ave)

Lots of table space equals high potential for productivity. This cafe would be the perfect place to start the nonfiction brick of a book that’s been staring at your from your bookshelf for months. Plenty of food options make it prime for bunkering down for an afternoon. Outdoor seating also makes it ideal for lingering. 

Anything by Nancy Jo Sales would be a safe bet. American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers might be my favorite of her books. It’s surprisingly easy to read, despite its intimidating length. And in true Sales fashion, the writing always feels from inside rather than strictly observational.  Also, this cafe feels surprisingly kid friendly. I loved reading Sofia’s Stoop Story: 18th Street, Brooklyn by Marcia LaPaca Bohrer, recently. It’s a local account of Sundays spent with family and the community Park Slope has always fostered. 

Filed Under: Coffee Culture Tagged With: coffee, eric veurnik, Literature, reader lit

Your Winter Reader List: Upcoming Release and Timeless Classics Fit For the Season

February 26, 2019 By Erika Veurink Filed Under: Park Slope Reading Tagged With: books, Erika veurink, Literature, new books, Park Slope, reader, winter reader

Earlier evenings and lower temperatures combine for optimal reading weather. Tucked inside walk ups and brownstones, lining the snowy streets of Park Slope, are toppling bookshelves. They boast buzzy new novels with stunning covers, forgotten required reading from undergrad, and beloved favorites with turned in pages. Even the most seasoned of readers can feel the all too familiar uncertainty of what to read next. There’s nothing like the perfect recommendation to get you out of the decision slump. That’s where local bookstores come in. Chris Molnar from powerHouse Books (1111 8th Ave Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718-666-3049) or www.powerhouseon8th.com online) was happy to share his thoughts on what’s to come and where to begin your winter reading adventure. 

What new novels are you most excited about carrying this winter? 

I can’t wait for Tessa Hadley’s Late In The Day. In my opinion she’s without peer in the New Yorker-approved mainstream of literary fiction. Her short stories have always been marvels of concision, depth, and atmosphere, but lately has her longer work gotten just as good.  With a book club ready plot (two couples that are old friends; one dies and secrets emerge) and coming off 2015’s career-best The Past, I think this has the potential to be a real breakout for her. 

Darius James’ Negrophobia isn’t technically new, but the upcoming NYRB re-release will be a high profile event, reintroducing a brilliant satire on racism that casts a long shadow over everything from The Sellout to Atlanta to Sorry to Bother You.

Are there new authors you think would have special appeal to the Brooklyn reader?

Like a garage rock revival band, Andrew Martin’s debut novel Early Work is a book out of time, a total throwback despite all the current references to Kanye West or Only Lovers Left Alive.  The obvious heir to Philip Roth or David Gates and their cosmopolitan antiheroes, not to mention dishy literary world rom-coms like The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., it’s the kind of book that used to be omnipresent in Brooklyn, but which now has the field to itself.  It is so blithely against the topical trend that it somehow feels bold despite being a breezy, almost guilty pleasure.  Not to mention that beautiful, Balthus-featuring, Rodrigo Corral-designed cover.

Classically, is there a type of novel you find Park Slope residents are drawn to? An all-time favorite author of the neighborhood?

Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels and Knausgaard’s My Struggle series are both standards, and it makes sense – their mix of epic sweep and quotidian warmth is perfect for such an iconic yet family-oriented neighborhood.  It’s no contest, though; the all-time favorite is Haruki Murakami.  No matter the month, he’s always in the top ten bestselling authors here.  I’m not completely sure why that is, but I can definitely see something about those vanishing cats and women fitting in perfectly with the neighborhood, the mystery you feel looking down a row of beautiful, secretive brownstones at dusk.

 Along with new novels, are there any classics you can recommend readers revisit in the winter months?

You can never go wrong with Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams.  It’s so short that you can read it in one sitting, but his mastery of late-nineteenth, early-twentieth century American history is so complete that you feel transported to another time, the action so liquid, so organically strange, so true-to-life in a way that historical fiction rarely is.

Between that and Robert Caro’s riveting (and much, much longer) biography of master builder Robert Moses, The Power Broker, you can pretty much get a full curriculum in the development of America’s wilds, even if it’s just through the eyes of a fictional character and an unelected parks official.

For more recommendations, stop in the store and say hello, tell them the Reader sent you. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your  literary inclined friends. I’m excited for The Au Pair, a debut by Emma Rous and The Care and Feeding of of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray. Perennial winter favorites I find myself returning to include Fates and Furies by Lauren Gross and Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard.

Lastly, don’t forget to check Instagram or as the book inclined community using the app refers to it as, #bookstagram. Follow @powerhouseon8th for booksellers’ most recent loves.

Art by Heather Heckel

 

Filed Under: Park Slope Reading Tagged With: books, Erika veurink, Literature, new books, Park Slope, reader, winter reader

Good & Well: A Local Investigation of Wellness

November 21, 2018 By Erika Veurink Filed Under: Reader Wellness Tagged With: CBD, Chinese Medicine, craniosacral therapy, facials, massage, meditation, sauna, spa, steam, wellness, yoga

It’s nearly impossible to walk a block in Park Slope without spotting wellness in one of its many embodiments. Alternative medical offices and juice shops abound. Conversations often slip into the familiar cadence of words once foreign-words like chakra, ketogenic, or ashwagandha. Gone are the days of living intentionally being reserved for the hyper-health conscious. Wellness has made its way to the masses.     

 

What was once a niche market is now a near 4 trillion dollar movement towards living “well.” And what does that mean exactly? I took to the streets of Park Slope, a historically progressive and health centered neighborhood, to find out. 

My journey began at D’mai urban spa where the scents of serenity that slipped out the sleek exterior created an impromptu oasis on 5th Avenue. I was transported from the muggy street to the back corner of the spa, plush robe knotted, to a sweltering sauna. Wellness, I thought prematurely and perhaps influenced by the cucumber water I was sipping, was actually pretty simple. As my body unwound and the temperature rose, I considered the last time I intentionally did something for my physical self. Did my recent acquisition of a swingy workout skort count? My thoughts were interrupted as I was shuffled to my massage table. When Daniella Stromberg, the owner of D’Ami, proposed a CBD Pain Relief Massage as a experiment in wellness, I was intrigued. 

CBD oil, primarily made from canabitdoid, has been popular in the world of wellness for years. Known to relieve stress, relax tension in the body, and perhaps even lighten the weight of anxiety, this hemp derived miracle worker is shifting into the mainstream. 

As the massage therapist pulled the tension from my wrist she whispered, “There, different story,” and I nearly jumped off the table in light of this revelation. She was right. Wellness is altering, for good, the parts of our stories we can change. Narrative traces through every point in our lives-why should our health be any different? In moving towards what is good, we move inadvertently towards what is true. As Danielle put simply, “Wellness is the state of being your authentic self.” 

 

And these aren’t new stories we’re uncovering. Many ancient practices of wellness have been reinterpreted for life in the 21st century. Take bath houses for example. In 2500 BC, the “Great Bath” functioned as both a community gathering place and a temple. In 2018, between the low-lying warehouses of Gowanus, cityWell brooklyn re-imagines the art of “taking the waters” for modern city dwellers. The space is unassuming from the outside, but after slipping off your shoes and venturing past the entrance, a sanctum awaits. Liz Tortolani, owner and visionary of the space, has crafted an island in a desert. That island being a collection of small shifts that speak to her passion for beauty, restoration, and the timeless pursuit of better living. 

For Liz, empowering wellness seekers to take an active role in the honoring of their bodies is the ultimate form of giving back. And her hope is that this becomes a lifestyle shift, not a once-a-year birthday treat. Wellness being a constant priority makes it preemptive, I learned. Stepping into cityWell feels like a collective exhale. Candles quietly wave, the sound of the warm baths blur out the traffic nearby, and the no shoe rule works to ground attendees in the moment at hand. And that moment is tranquil, safe, and shared. 

The five elements of Chinese medicine (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) are all deftly woven into the space. Upon my second visit, Liz visited me in the sauna clutching a binder overflowing with magazine clippings, color palettes, and early business proposals. The evolution of cityWell took shape before my eyes as she explained how each piece manifested-the cork floors that cover the space, the candles from a local apothecary, the vines climbing above the whirlpool, the personal lockers for New Yorkers on the go, and the rain showers above head. The shared feeling of presentness that humid Tuesday morning, a collection of woman with all sorts of stories gathered in one place, was proof of her success. 

 

Community wove its way into every wellness related practice I visited. At Slope Wellness, a few avenues closer to the park, so did the no shoe rule. White noise machines and a clean, organized office space help instantly create an air of calm upon descent. A host of services, such as Jade Gua Sha Facials and yoga practices fill the multipurpose rooms every day. Here, acupuncture is offered in a group setting, as a nod to its ancient origins, but also as an attempt to provide a more affordable alternative. The practice was founded over five years ago in response to a space in the market for a wellness experience that extended beyond the occasional massage. CSA drops off produce here, rooms can be rented by the community, and health related products are curated for sale. Dawn Phillips, a devoted staff member, spoke again of the importance of empowering patients beyond the appointment, to pursue health at home. In our conversation, she explained how she defined wellness as “the mind, body, and spirit connection.” She spoke to the ancient understanding that these compenents can’t be divorced; that they are most powerful in tandem. When the client understand this, the work done at Slope Wellness has the potential to extend into empowered self care; the ability to pursue wellness at home. 

Her speciality, craniosacral therapy, is the work of talk and touch in releasing tension in the body, in some cases working to dislodge trauma. It seems the more aptly we embrace wellness, the more we open ourselves to conversations of the stories our bodies tell. Dawn noted that talking about trauma has become notably less taboo than it was historically. “We can start to change our reality,” she explained. That change, that shift in narrative, is at the root of all wellness. 

At the end of the day, wellness is as much a robust spa treatment as it is taking the long way through Prospect Park home from work. It’s about modifying, even in the slightest sense, our relationship towards our bodies. And it turns out wellness is often a practice best served in the company of others. It’s a state of mind, an intention. And the occasional green juice.

Filed Under: Reader Wellness Tagged With: CBD, Chinese Medicine, craniosacral therapy, facials, massage, meditation, sauna, spa, steam, wellness, yoga

Primary Sidebar

The Spring 2025 Issue is now available

The Reader Community

READER CONTRIBUTORS

Copyright © 2025 · Park Slope Reader