TODAY: FREE reasons to be pretty at BORDERS. 5PM.

If you are out and about TODAY, then swing by BORDERS at Columbus Circle (in the Time Warner Center) and meet writer Neil LaBute, director Terry Kinney and the cast of reasons to be pretty at 5PM. They will be performing and discussing the play. Plus there will be a play signing too!



For more information about this Broadway comedy, click here to visit the website.

New NYP Library Branch at Grand Central!

GRAND OPENING at Grand Central!

Are you a commuter who doesn't have time in the hustle and bustle of the City to go to the library? How about a professional who wants to finally join the masses and read Twilight? Or how about a NYPL patron who needs to return that overdue DVD before your 9am meeting that lasts all day?

Well, now whether before work, after work or when you pop out to Grand Central Market to grab your lunch you can also quick pop over to the NEW Grand Central New York Public Library Branch to grab a book, dvd, CD, etc!

The branch is already open and TODAY they are having a Grand Opening Celebration at 4:30pm with music, light refreshments and more!

NYPL Grand Central Branch

135 East 46th Street [btwn Lex & 3rd Aves]

Monday-Thursday: 8-7

Friday: 8-5

Saturday: 10-5

For more information click here.

Bibliophiles Beware!

Ever have one of those days when you know you want to read that classic like The Hound of the Baskervilles, have a hankering to dive into an old issue of New York Magazine or when you promised your book club that you read The Da Vinci Code when in fact you didn't and you can't get a hold of a copy from the library in time?

Have no fear! Google Book Search is here. Now you can read full books and magazines from the Internet!


There are Fiction and Non-Fiction headings with categories or if you just want to read about a random subject like Fads or Courtship, you can browse their Random Subjects Categories as well! I will admit that I whiled away a few minutes reading the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists; Rules, Britannia: An Insider's Guide to Life in the United Kingdom, Blogging for Dummies and my personal favorite allegory on quantum physics which I haven't read since I was 17, Alice in Quantumland.

Update: Taschen Warehouse Sale

I gallivanted down to the store this morning, right around 11am in fact, just so I could make sure I would get the best browsing selection.

There were about five table tops filled with a mixture of books. From The Big Book of Breasts to The Book of Plants- The Complete Plates to History of Men's Magazines, Vol. 5 to Michelangelo, Complete Work, there was an interesting (and somewhat erotically focused- lots of photography books of naked women and sexual exploits) selection. The prices ranged from 99c to $99. Most books ranged around the $7.49 to $29. There was this beautiful tome on Da Vinci, but it weighed in at 25lbs and I believe it would break my coffee table (well, if I actually had one).

Anyway, it wasn't as fabulous as I expected, but it's worth a look if only to see people's reactions when they catch you browsing through a book full of muffs and puffs (and then slyly reach for said book when you are finished, buy it with downcast eyes and then scurry out the store).

Taschen Warehouse Sale!

Okay, so usually I don't like to share when it comes to my absolute favorite art book publisher, but I thought it was only fair to give everyone the heads up (if only for karmic reasons) about the Taschen Warehouse Sale going on this weekend in NYC.

TASCHEN Store New York

107 Greene Street, NY 10012

Tel: +1-212-226 2212Fax: +1-212-226 2218

store-ny@taschen.com

January 23 - 25, 2009

Friday, Saturday 11:00 am to 8:00 pm

Sunday 12:00 to 8:00 pm

Get Your Library Card!!!

Tomorrow starts another work week and the morning commute. This task can be quite irksome, especially since commuting means interacting with the human race (and for those of us in NYC, the MTA).

Want to make the task a little less daunting?

Get your Library Card!

Nothing drowns out the sounds of the hustle and bustle than that Ken Follett thriller, Nora Roberts swashbuckling romance or the latest New York Times bestseller (I prefer paperback myself).

If you actually want to drown out the sounds, most libraries have a wide selection of CDs that you can rip to your computer and download to your iPod. My current favorite is Bret Michaels' solo album (yes, he made a solo album and yes, it is quite delectably bad).

So go to your nearest library and sign up for a card. It takes about 5 minutes, is free and is the Cheap Chic's option for staying sane while commuting (without breaking the bank). Most libraries also have DVD collections, so you can secretly watch The Love Guru from the privacy of your own home and not have spend a dime by renting it (Trust me, it would be sorry with your investment).

In NYC, there are three main library systems: the New York Public Library (otherwise known as the NYPL), the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Borough Public Library. With over 50 million items in circulation (NYPL), I'm sure you will be able to find something that would tickle your fancy.

All these systems have websites and online catalogs where you can look up their entire collections and place things on hold (Currently, I'm waiting on The House Bunny to come in! Oh my!).

So go online, find your nearest library branch, and get that card!