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| Powells Books Events Calendar |
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| 02.12: Matt Ruff |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| It's September 11, 2001. Christian fundamentalists hijack four jetliners. They fly two into the Tigris and Euphrates World Trade Towers in Baghdad and a third into the Arab Defense Ministry in Riyadh. The fourth plane, believed to be bound for Mecca, is brought down by its passengers. The United Arab States declares a War on Terror. From
Matt Ruff, author of the cult hits Set This House in Order and Bad Monkeys, comes
The Mirage (Harper), a mind-bending psychological thriller in which an alternate history of 9/11 uncovers startling and harrowing truths about America and the Middle East. |
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| 02.13: Peggy Orenstein |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somehow, since the exhilarating rise of "girl power" in the 1990s, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source — the source — of female empowerment.
Peggy Orenstein's
Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture (Harper) reveals the dark side of "girlie-girl" values and offers a path forward for anyone trying to help a young girl navigate the rocky road to adulthood. |
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| 02.13: Katherine Boo |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Random House), by Pulitzer Prize winner
Katherine Boo, is a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of life in one of the 21st century's great cities. In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human. With intelligence, humor, and deep insight into what connects human beings to one another, Boo carries the reader headlong into hidden worlds and into the lives of people who are impossible to forget. Cosponsored by the World Affairs Council of Oregon. |
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| 02.14: Science Fiction Book Group |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| This month our group meets to discuss
The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks. Join us! |
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| 02.15: Lisa Gardner |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Lisa Gardner's latest D. D. Warren thriller,
Catch Me (Dutton), the relentless Boston investigator must solve a coldly calculated murder — before it happens. Detective D. D. Warren is hard to surprise. But a lone woman outside D. D.'s latest crime scene shocks her with a remarkable proposition. Charlene Rosalind Carter Grant believes she will be murdered in four days, and she wants Boston's top detective to handle the death investigation. Is Charlene truly in danger, or is she hiding a secret that may turn out to be the biggest threat of all? |
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| 02.15: Ramona Ausubel |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Ramona Ausubel's
No One Is Here Except All of Us (Riverhead), it's 1939, and a remote Jewish village in Romania feels the war closing in from every direction. Yet, the territory of imagination and belief is limitless. At the suggestion of an 11-year-old girl and a mysterious stranger who has washed up on the riverbank, the villagers decide to reinvent the world. Time and history are forgotten. Jobs, husbands, and children are reassigned. For years, there is boundless hope. But the real world continues to unfold alongside the imagined one. This beguiling story explores how we use storytelling to survive and shape our own truths. |
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| 02.16: Dana Stabenow |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Dana Stabenow's
Restless in the Grave (Minotaur), she teams up two of her most beloved characters for the first time, Aleut private investigator Kate Shugak and Alaska state trooper Liam Campbell. Alaska aviation entrepreneur Finn Grant has been killed in a fiery crash, and virtually everyone in southwestern Alaska has a motive, including his betrayed wife, his bullied children, and even Liam Campbell's wife. With few places to turn, Liam asks his former mentor Sergeant Jim Chopin for help, and Jim quickly brings Kate in on the case. What starts with a murder quickly expands into a much larger conspiracy, revealing treason and the darkest of family secrets. |
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| 02.16: Arthur Goldwag |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Arthur Goldwag's
The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right (Pantheon) is a fascinating history of the role that organized hatred has played in American politics from the Colonial Era to our own. From the "Truthers" to the "Birthers," extremism in this country is increasingly becoming a mainstay of American life. Tracing the economic and social forces that have contributed to the current popularity of extremist ideas, Goldwag shows how deeply rooted they are in our history, and how, in fact, the only thing new about them is how mainstream they've become. |
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| 02.17: Nathan Englander |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| The author of For the Relief of Unbearable Urges returns with a commanding new collection of short stories that grapple with the great questions of modern life. Beautiful and courageous, funny and achingly sad,
Nathan Englander's
What We Talk About When We Talk about Anne Frank (Knopf) displays a gifted young author with a command of language and with a depth of imagination that place him at the very forefront of contemporary American fiction. "Put him alongside Singer, Carver, and Munro. Englander is, quite simply, one of the very best we have" (Colum McCann). |
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| 02.18: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
John, Paul, George, and Ben by Lane Smith. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 02.18: Alexandra Day |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Alexandra Day's
The Fairy Dogfather (Green Tiger), young Hector has trouble differentiating the letters d and g. Therefore, when he wrote a request to the universe for a fairy godfather, he shouldn't have been surprised when the Fairy Dogfather arrived instead. Like Carl in Day's classic Good Dog, Carl series, Hector's Fairy Dogfather is an emblem of mischievous but responsible caretaking. In Day's capable hands, he is also a unique character that will entertain children old and young. |
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| 02.19: Patrick deWitt |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| With
The Sisters Brothers (Ecco),
Patrick deWitt transforms the classic Western into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters — losers, cheaters, and ne'er-do-wells of all stripes — and told by a complex and compelling narrator, The Sisters Brothers is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underbelly of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West. |
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| 02.20: The Alzheimer's Prevention Program |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| The only "cure" for Alzheimer's is prevention, and
The Alzheimer's Prevention Program (Workman), by
Gary Small and his wife, Gigi Vorgan, shows the reader how to take control. An easy-to-follow regimen based on the latest Alzheimer's research and with an emphasis on the connection between lifestyle and susceptibility, this science-based breakthrough program can add years of brain health and mental clarity to a person's life. Please note: This event kicks off the OHSU Brain Awareness Lecture Series at the Newmark Theater (1111 SW Broadway). Tickets are available at TicketsWest.com or by phone at 800-992-8499. |
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| 02.20: The Non-Toxic Avenger |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| After learning that the autism and cancer that had impacted her family were most likely the result of environmental toxins,
Deanna Duke, author of the acclaimed environmental blog TheCrunchyChicken.com, undertook a mission to dramatically reduce her family's chemical exposure.
The Non-Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You (New Society) follows Duke's journey as she uncovers how insidious and invasive environmental toxins are. Learn about the chemicals the average American is exposed to every day, the implications for your health, and what you can do about it. |
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| 02.21: Carolyn Turgeon |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Carolyn Turgeon has a gift for imagining magical worlds. Her new novel for teens,
The Next Full Moon (Dowtown Bookworks), begins as 12-year-old Ava is looking forward to a lazy summer. And everything is going beautifully — until Ava begins to grow feathers. Horrified, she hides out in her bedroom, clad in a hoodie, longing for her dead mother, and worrying about her freakish life. Then, Ava discovers an other-worldly place that belongs to the Swan Maidens, one of whom is Ava's mother. |
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| 02.21: The End of Money |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| The age of paper dollars and metal coins is coming to a close. In
The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers — and the Coming Cashless Society (Da Capo Press),
David Wolman introduces the people, technologies, and trends that are powering this shakeup and takes the reader on a tour through the hotspots of the cashless revolution. Along the way, he examines the implications of next-generation payment innovations, investigates alternative and virtual currencies, and showcases the boom in mobile-phone banking. As cash gets pushed toward extinction, now is the time to explore its effect on our wallets and on our lives. |
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| 02.22: Lysley Tenorio |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In stories structured around tense, fascinating dichotomies,
Lysley Tenorio reveals the lives of people on the outside looking in with rare skill, humor, and understanding. Breathtakingly original,
Monstress (Ecco) marks the arrival of a bold new voice in American fiction who explores the clash and meld of disparate cultures with heart and style. |
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| 02.23: Amy Hatvany |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Outside the Lines (Washington Square Press) is
Amy Hatvany's gripping new novel about a woman who sets out to find her father but ends up discovering herself. When Eden was 10 years old, she found her father, David, on the bathroom floor. The suicide attempt led to her parents' divorce, and David all but vanished from Eden's life. Twenty years later, Eden decides it's time to find her father, to forgive him at last, and to move forward with her own life. Her search takes her to a downtown Seattle homeless shelter, to Jack Baker, its handsome and charming director, and, finally, to the painful truths Eden must face if she is ever to move forward. |
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| 02.23: Rachel Lloyd CANCELLED |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| With the power and verity of First They Killed My Father and A Long Way Gone,
Rachel Lloyd's riveting memoir,
Girls Like Us (Harper Perennial), is about her hard-won escape from the commercial sex industry and her subsequent determination to help other young girls escape "the life." This unflinchingly honest and powerful story is one of deep pain, enduring hope, and, ultimately, the promise of redemption. "Never again will you look at young girls on the street as one of 'those' women — you will only see little girls that are girls just like us" (Demi Moore, actress and activist).
We're sorry to report that this event has been cancelled. |
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| 02.23: Ismet Prcic |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Shards (Grove Press) is the provocative and energetic debut novel by Ismet Prcic about a young Bosnian, also named Ismet Prcic, who has fled his war-torn homeland and is now struggling to reconcile his past with his present life in California. A harrowing war story, Shards is also a stunningly inventive coming-of-age novel and a heartbreaking saga of a splintered family. |
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| 02.24: Kevin Fox |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| For Sean Corrigan, the past is unimportant; it's simply what happened yesterday. But on his 21st birthday, he is given a journal that belonged to his father's brother Michael, a man he didn't even know existed. Left behind when his uncle fled to Ireland to escape prosecution for a murder he didn't commit, the journal sends Sean on a search for answers. Like The Time Traveler 's Wife and the classic Time and Again,
Kevin Fox's
Until Next Time (Algonquin) is a romance cloaked in a mystery. It's also a remarkable story that shows how ancient myths affect everything from what we believe to who we love. |
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| 02.25: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 02.27: Tim Dorsey |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Pineapple Grenade (William Morrow), the latest comic thriller from
Tim Dorsey, Serge Storms has finagled his way into a job as a spy for the president of a banana republic. Will he still have time for a cocktail before Homeland Security brings him down? To learn the answer, put on your favorite pink-flamingo shirt and join us. |
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| 02.27: Tupelo Hassman |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| With her debut novel,
Girlchild (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux),
Tupelo Hassman tells the story of young Rory Hendrix, who is determined to get out of the Reno trailer park where she lives with her bartender mother and prove she's not the feeble-minded imbecile she's been labeled. Brash, sassy, vulnerable, wise, and terrified, she struggles with her mother's habit of trusting the wrong men, and the mixed blessing of being too smart for her own good. From diary entries, social workers' reports, half-recalled memories, story problems, arrest records, family lore, Supreme Court opinions, and her grandmother's letters, Rory crafts a devastating collage that paints a vivid picture of her world — while she searches for a way out of it. Monday the 27th, 7:30pm / Powell's City of Books |
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| 02.28: Joanne Fluke |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| When amateur sleuth Hannah Swensen hears that the Cinnamon Roll Six jazz band will be playing at a festival in Lake Eden, Minnesota, she bakes up a supply of their namesake confection to welcome them. But tragedy strikes when their tour bus overturns on its way into town. And keyboardist Buddy Neiman's minor injuries turn deadly serious when someone plunges surgical scissors into his chest. With
Cinnamon Roll Murder (Kensington),
Joanne Fluke "continues to delight cozy mystery readers with superb characters, inventive storylines, and the best recipes in the genre" (Library Journal). |
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| 02.29: Gail Carriger |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Timeless (Orbit), the final novel of
Gail Carriger's bestselling Parasol Protectorate series, Lady Maccon, and her werewolf husband are mysteriously summoned to Egypt. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly spreading? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire? Find out! |
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| 02.29: The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Tending gardens is a lifelong pleasure, but, as we age, our energy and physical abilities become more limited. Packed with projects, garden plans, and step-by-step sequences designed for older gardeners,
Patty Cassidy's
The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors (Annes Publishing) will appeal to active gardeners in their early retirement as well as seniors with more limited abilities and will show how the joy of gardening can remain undiminished for years to come. |
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| 03.01: First Thursday: Jess Bronk & Jonny Silva |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| This month, we display the work of local painters Jess Bronk and Jonny Silva. Jess Bronk's elegantly ethereal images play off the landscape of her Wisconsin childhood and mark a powerful contrast with Silva's intricately detailed portraits, which are heavily influenced by American painter Thomas Hart Benton. |
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| 03.01: Janet Lee Carey |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Wilde Island is not at peace. The kingdom mourns the dead Pendragon king and awaits the return of his heir; the uneasy pact between dragons, fairies, and humans is strained; and the regent is funding a bloodthirsty witch hunt, hoping to rid the island of half-fey maidens. Accused of witchcraft, young Tess is forced to flee but is given shelter by the handsome and enigmatic Garth Huntsman. But Garth is the younger prince in disguise, and soon the pair is at the center of an exciting, romantic adventure and an ancient prophecy that will bring about peace between dragons, humans, and fairies. A "dark fantasy illuminated by piercing flashes of hope" (Kirkus Reviews),
Dragonswood (Dial) is a worthy sequel to
Janet Lee Carey's popular young-adult novel Dragon's Keep. |
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| 03.02: Tobias S. Buckell |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Tobias S. Buckell's new science-fiction novel,
Arctic Rising (Tor), global warming has transformed the Earth, and it's about to get even hotter. The Arctic Ice Cap has all but melted, and the international community is racing desperately to claim the massive amounts of oil beneath the newly accessible ocean. Enter the Gaia Corporation. Its two founders have come up with a plan to roll back global warming. They plan to terraform Earth to save it from itself |
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| 03.02: Blake Nelson |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In
Dream School (Figment), Andrea Marr, the heroine of
Blake Nelson's teen novel Girl, is back — and she's headed to college. Imagining a typical "J. Crew catalog" experience, Andrea leaves Portland to attend prestigious Wellington College in Connecticut. Surrounded by the best and the brightest, she works hard to adjust and keep up. But Andrea has a way of finding her own people: not the well-heeled and well-scrubbed, but the weird, the wild, and the brilliant. It isn't long before her college career veers wildly off course. Suddenly her entire future is in question. But in her darkest hour, Andrea will find the key to her destiny. |
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| 03.03: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
Pancakes for Breakfast by Tomie dePaola. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 03.03: The Lorax Pop-Up! |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Dr. Seuss's bestselling ecological parable, The Lorax, is as timely today as it was when it was first published in 1971. Now, this classic has been transformed into an elaborate pop-up book by master paper engineer
David A. Carter. With the dynamic spreads in
The Lorax Pop-Up! (Random House), Carter has enhanced Seuss's powerful message and brought to life the Lorax, the Bar-ba-loots, the Truffula Tree Tufts, and all the rest for a new generation. |
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| 03.04: Poets Dan Raphael & James Grabil |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Over the past 18 months, Dan Raphael has released a retrospective of his work, Impulse and Warp: The Selected 20th Century Poems; a live poetry and jazz recording with Rich and Carson Halley, Children of the Blue Supermarket; and a new collection of poems, The State I'm In: New Poems. Joining Dan Raphael will be James Grabil, author of a dozen books of poetry and creative nonfiction. He also teaches sustainability at Clackamas Community College. |
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| 03.04: Oregon History Comics |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Portland Mercury reporter Sarah Mirk and the Dill Pickle Club proudly present a boxed set of 10 short comic books that each tells a little-known story from Oregon's past. From women's suffrage in Oregon to the tragic Vanport Flood to the legendary X-Ray Café, Oregon History Comics takes presumably dry topics and makes them exciting and accessible through the bold illustrations of some of Portland's best comics illustrators. Whether you're a history buff or a comics reader, you'll enjoy this innovative blend of historical detail and pop culture. |
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| 03.05: Mattilda Sycamore |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Gay culture has become obsessed with consumerism. Whatever happened to gender liberation? As backrooms are shut down to make way for wedding chapels, and gay sexual culture morphs into "straight-acting dudes hangin' out," what happened to the defiant faggotry that challenged the assimilationist norms of a corporate-cozy lifestyle? Edited by
Mattilda Sycamore, the essays in
Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? (AK Press) reinvoke the anger, flamboyance, and subversion that once thrived in the gay subculture in order to inspire a debate about the perils of assimilation — and a new vision for change. Sycamore will be joined at the event by contributor Ezra RedEagle Whitman. |
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| 03.06: Turing's Cathedral |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| "It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence," 24-year-old Alan Turing announced in 1936. In
Turing's Cathedral (Pantheon), legendary historian and philosopher of science
George Dyson focuses on the small group of men and women who realized Alan Turing's vision of a Universal Machine by building one of the first computers. Their work broke down the distinction between numbers that mean things and numbers that do things — and our universe will never be the same. How did code take over the world? In retracing how Alan Turing's one-dimensional model became John von Neumann's two-dimensional implementation, Turing's Cathedral offers a series of provocative suggestions as to where the digital universe, now fully three-dimensional, may be heading next. |
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| 03.07: Melanie Rawn |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| With
Touchstone (Tor),
Melanie Rawn returns to high fantasy with an engaging tale about a young playwright who combines the talents of Merlin, Shakespeare, and John Lennon. Cayden Silversun is part Elven, part Fae, part human Wizard — and all rebel. His aristocratic mother would have him follow his father to the Royal Court to make a high-society living off the scraps of kings. But Cade lives and breathes for the theater, and he's good, very, very good. With his company, he'll enter the highest reaches of society and power as an honored artist — or die trying. A wholly charming character in a remarkably original fantasy world created by a master of the art. |
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| 03.08: Kim Harrison |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In the 10th book in
Kim Harrison's Hollows series,
A Perfect Blood (Harper Voyager), ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth: A would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons — but it can't be done without Rachel's blood. As a bounty hunter, she has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more. But humanity itself might be her toughest challenge yet. |
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| 03.08: Deadly Diversions Book Group |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| The month our mystery book group meets to discuss
A Walk in the Dark by Gianrico Carofiglio. Join us! |
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| 03.08: The 1975 Portland Timbers |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Rediscover the magic of the Portland Timbers 1975 season and the birth of Soccer City, USA.
Michael Orr's
The 1975 Portland Timbers (History Press) is the story of 17 players and two coaches who came from different clubs and different countries to form a team — just days before their inaugural game. Orr weaves together player interviews, news coverage, and game statistics to capture the Timbers single-season journey from expansion team to championship contender, a few short months that won the hearts of Portlanders and left an indelible stamp on the Rose City's sporting landscape. The author will be joined by Timbers players Willie Anderson, Roger Goldingay, and Mick Hoban. |
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| 03.09: Book Fan Friday |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Book Fan Friday is a workshop for 10- to 18-year-olds who love to write. This month,
Ruth Tenzer Feldman (Blue Thread) and
Michelle R. McCann (Luba) present a workshop titled Down the Rabbit Hole: Writing Time Travel and Fantasy that will help young writers to design their own fantastical trip to another time. |
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| 03.09: Maxine Hong Kingston |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| A poignant and beautiful memoir-in-verse,
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life (Vintage) captures the singular voice of
Maxine Hong Kingston as she reflects on her 65 years. Circling from present to past and back, from lunch with a writer friend to the funeral of a Vietnam veteran, from her long marriage to her arrest at a peace march in Washington, Kingston presents an American life of great purpose and joy and the tonic wisdom of a writer we have come to cherish. |
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| 03.10: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindbergh. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 03.11: Poetry Out Loud |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join high school students from around Oregon for the regional finals of Poetry Out Loud, a poetry recitation contest sponsored by the Oregon Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation. Students recite the words of classic and contemporary poets and compete for spots at the state championship! |
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| 03.11: Poets Julian T. Brolaski & Judith Goldman |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Julian T. Brolaski's
Gowanus Atropolis (Ugly Duckling Press) attempts to reconcile the toxicity of the titular Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn and the east river in "Manahatta" with the poet's search for the pastoral in New York City. The concatenated series of poems in
Judith Goldman's
L. B.; or, Catenaries charts the narratives formed by texts of uniform density hanging freely from two fixed readings not in the same semantic line. Sunday the 11th, 4pm / Powell's on Hawthorne |
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| 03.12: Smallpressapalooza |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Powell's celebrates Small Press Month with the fifth annual Smallpressapalooza. This four-hour-marathon reading features some of the best small press authors from Portland and beyond. Readers include Lisa Wells, Randy Blazak, Joseph Riippi, Diana Salier, Adam Gnade, Martha Grover, and Daniel Libman. |
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| 03.13: Trading Manny |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Baseball's ongoing steroids/performance-enhancing-drug scandal has impacted even the game's youngest fans. In December 2007, just as
Jim Gullo's young son Joe was beginning to develop a true passion for the game, the bombshell news of players' steroid use made it clear that America's pastime wasn't what it claimed to be. Gullo's
Trading Manny (Da Capo Press) is the moving story of how a father and his young son recaptured their love of baseball — a winning testament to why the game matters and how it can still bring us together in spite of itself. |
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| 03.13: Science Fiction Book Group |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| This month we meet to discuss
The Door to Lost Pages by Claude Lalumiere, with the author in attendance. Join us!s |
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| 03.13: The Wrecking Crew |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| If you listened to radio in the 1960s and '70s, you listened to the Wrecking Crew. On hit record after hit record by everyone from the Byrds to the Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Simon and Garfunkel, the Fifth Dimension, and Frank Sinatra, this motley group of West-Coast studio musicians established themselves as the driving force of the pop music industry. In
The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret (Thomas Dunne Books), industry insider
Kent Hartman tells the behind-the-scenes stories of the artists who dominated the sounds of Top 40 radio during the most creative era in American music culture. Lyle Ritz, a bassist in the Wrecking Crew and "father of the jazz ukulele," will join Hartman with his ukulele. |
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| 03.14: Joy the Baker |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Joy Wilson approaches baking with inspiration, heart, and humor — and she can write, which might explain how she's able to both run an extremely successful Los Angeles catering company and write one of the best cooking blogs on the Internet: JoyTheBaker.com won Saveur's 2011 Best Baking and Dessert Blog award. Now, in
Joy the Baker (Hyperion), she presents the best of her incredibly delicious recipes for all kinds of sweets — pancakes, cupcakes, cookies, brownies, cakes, and more — with the same warmth, humor, and irreverence that have already won her so many fans. |
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| 03.14: Hari Kunzru |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Jaz and Lisa Matharu are plunged into a surreal public hell after their son, Raj, vanishes during a family vacation in the California desert. However, the Mojave is a place of strange power, and, by the time Raj reappears, inexplicably unharmed, the fate of this young family will have echoed the stories of all those who have traveled before them.
Hari Kunzru's new novel is full of big ideas, but it's also built around a cast of flesh-and-blood characters, who all converge at a strange town in the shadow of a rock formation called the Pinnacles. Viscerally gripping and intellectually engaging,
Gods without Men (Knopf) is, above all, a heartfelt exploration of the search for pattern and meaning in a chaotic universe. |
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| 03.15: David Rothkopf |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| The rise of private power may be the most important and least understood trend of our time.
David Rothkopf's
Power, Inc.: The Epic Rivalry between Big Business and Government — and the Reckoning That Lies Ahead (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux) provides a fresh, timely look at how, today, thousands of companies have amassed greater power than all but a handful of states. A fast-paced tale in which champions of liberty are revealed to be paid pamphleteers of moneyed interests, and greedy scoundrels trigger changes that lift billions from deprivation, Power, Inc. traces the brutal jockeying for influence that has led to the current financial crisis, the rapid increase in inequality, the breakdown of international institutions, and the raging battle over the proper relationship between governments and markets. |
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| 03.15: Jackie Hooper |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Based on the popular blog The Things You Would Have Said, this extraordinary collection of letters brings together the inspiring stories of ordinary people, showcasing a remarkable range of voices and subjects. From the indignant young boy urging his bully to become "a better man" to the woman apologizing to the girl she picked on in high school to a man thanking the woman who protected his family from Nazis,
The Things You Would Have Said (Hudson Street Press) brings together an outpouring of emotion that is as compelling as it is cathartic. |
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| 03.16: Raymond Bonner |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Raymond Bonner's
Anatomy of Injustice (Knopf) is an impassioned investigation into the shortcomings of our justice system that were brought to light by a mishandled murder case in South Carolina. In 1982, a 23-year-old black man named Edward Lee Elmore was arrested after the brutally beaten body of a white widow was found in the closet of her home. Though Elmore was an unlikely killer — he was mentally retarded and gentle and loving by nature — and his connection to the victim was tenuous, barely 90 days after the victim's body was found, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. Raymond Bonner reveals many specific injustices in Elmore's trial — the blunt racism, the misconduct of the prosecution, the ineptitude of the defense — and makes clear that every year similar tragedies play out in courts across the country. Bonner is joined by pro-death-penalty Oregon prosecutor Josh Marquis for a conversation on executions. |
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| 03.17: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 03.18: Hannah Pittard |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Sixteen-year-old Nora Lindell is missing. As the days and years pile up, the mystery of her disappearance refracts kaleidoscopically. A collection of rumors, divergent suspicions, and tantalizing what-ifs, Nora's story becomes the shadowy projection of teenage lust, friendship, reverence, and regret, embodied in the fantasies of the neighborhood boys she's left behind and who still long for her.
Hannah Pittard's
The Fates Will Find Their Way (Ecco) is a haunting literary debut that shines a light into the dream-filled space between childhood and all that follows. |
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| 03.19: Sara Benincasa |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| From
Sara Benincasa, the comedian Newsweek called "freaking hilarious," comes a funny, raw, and poignant account of her battle with agoraphobia. Relatable, unpretentious, and unsentimental,
Agorafabulous! (William Morrow) recounts how a terrified young woman, literally trapped by her own imagination, evolved into a (relatively) high-functioning professional smartass. |
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| 03.19: Ellen Ullman |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| San Francisco in the 1970s. A disgraced professor takes an office in a downtown tower, one with very thin walls. His neighbor, a psychologist, has one patient who has refused the white-noise machine, and soon the professor is eavesdropping on her sessions. He becomes obsessed with her story — her female lover, her conflicts with her adoptive family, and, finally, her quest to track down her birth mother, which ultimately uncovers some dark secrets indeed. With ferocious intelligence and enthralling prose,
Ellen Ullman's
By Blood (Farrar, Strauss & Giroux) is a dark, intensely personal novel, an ambitious work that establishes her as a major writer. |
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| 03.20: Esi Edugyan |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Esi Edugyan's novel
Half-Blood Blues (Picador), a finalist for the 2011 Man Booker Prize, is the story of Hieronymus Falk, a now legendary black trumpet player who was disappeared in Paris during WWII, as told by Sid Griffiths, an African American musician living in Baltimore in the '50s. From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, Sid leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world as he describes the friendships, love affairs, and treacheries that led to Falk's incarceration in Sachsenhausen. Half-Blood Blues is a story about music and race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves — and demand of others — in the name of art. |
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| 03.21: Cheryl Strayed |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| At 22,
Cheryl Strayed lost her mother, her family, and her marriage. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made an impulsive decision: to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California, Oregon, and Washington — alone. She had no experience as a long-distance hiker. The plan was little more than "an idea, vague and outlandish and full of promise." But that promise, of reconstructing her undone life, helped her to face down rattlesnakes, black bears, intense heat, and record snowfalls and to discover both the beauty and loneliness of the trail. Told with great suspense, style, and humor,
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Knopf) vividly captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her. |
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| 03.22: Jennifer duBois |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Certain she has inherited Huntington's disease — the same cruel illness that ended her father's life — English lecturer Irina Ellison struggles to find a sense of purpose. When she finds a photocopy of a decades-old letter her father wrote to a young Russian chess champion, she makes a fateful decision. Her father had asked the prodigy a profound question — How does one proceed against a lost cause? — but never received an adequate reply. Leaving everything behind, Irina travels to Russia to get an answer for her father, and for herself. Spanning two continents and the dramatic sweep of 20th-century history,
Jennifer duBois's mesmerizing and exquisitely rendered debut novel,
A Partial History of Lost Causes (Dial Press), reveals the stubbornness and splendor of the human will even in the most trying of times. |
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| 03.22: Sarah Bowen Shea |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Since the publication of their first book, Run Like a Mother,
Sarah Bowen Shea and Dimity McDowell have built a vibrant community of women runners — more than 10,000 fans on Facebook and an average of 2,500 daily visitors to their website, AnotherMotherRunner.com — all of whom have been clamoring for another book. Well, here it is. Geared to both beginners and experienced runners,
Train Like a Mother (Andrews McMeel) provides everything busy women need to know to train for a race, including training plans for various race distances, pre- and post-race nutrition, strength training, injury prevention (and rehab), and much more, all presented with the same wit, empathy, and practicality that have won the pair so many avid fans. Please note: Only Sarah Bowen Shea will attend the event. |
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| 03.24: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. Children of all ages welcome. |
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| 03.26: The Ellington Century |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Breaking down walls between musical genres that are usually discussed separately — classical, jazz, and popular —
David Schiff's
The Ellington Century (Univ. of California Press) offers a compellingly integrated view of 20th-century music. Placing Duke Ellington at the center of the story, Schiff, a professor of music at Reed College, explores music written during the composer's lifetime, while demonstrating how Ellington's work is as vital to musical modernism as anything by Stravinsky, more influential than anything by Schoenberg, and has had a lasting impact on jazz and pop that reaches from Gershwin to contemporary R&B. |
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| 03.27: The Dressmaker of Khair Khana |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| When the Taliban seized control of Kabul, the life Kamila Sidiqi had known changed overnight. Though she had received a teaching degree during the civil war — a rare achievement for any Afghan woman — Kamila was banned from school and confined to her home. When her father and brother were forced to flee the city, she became the sole breadwinner for her five siblings. Armed only with grit and determination, she picked up a needle and thread and not only created a thriving business of her own, she mobilized an entire community. In
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, now in paperback, former ABC News reporter
Gayle Tzemach Lemmon tells the incredible true story of this unlikely entrepreneur. |
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| 03.28: Classics Book Group |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| This month we meet to discuss
Lancelot by Walker Percy. Join us! |
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| 03.28: Bill Press |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| In his book Toxic Talk, radio talk show host and political commentator
Bill Press presented the ways in which the right-wing media has done an end run around the American voting populace. In his new book,
The Obama Hate Machine (Thomas Dunne), Press returns to present his thoughts on how the Right has taken rhetoric to slanderous new levels in attacking the nation's 44th president. In his characteristic style, Press shows how the peculiar nature of Obama-hating subverts issue-driven debate and threatens not only the outcome of the 2012 election but the future of the American democratic system. |
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| 03.29: Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Praised not only by Indians but also by prominent modern thinkers such as Aldous Huxley and Albert Einstein, the Bhagavad Gita is one of the most analyzed books of all time. Yet, one aspect has never before been examined: Arjuna's psychedelic soma experience with his guru Krishna. With
Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds (Inner Traditions),
Scott Teitsworth explains how the Bhagavad Gita provides guidelines for the spiritual use of entheogens. Uncovering new depths to this revered manual of spiritual instruction, Teitsworth reveals psychedelic experience to be an ancient path that will bring realization in the prepared student, turn theory into direct experience, and bring the written teachings to life. |
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| 03.30: Anne Lamott |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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Anne Lamott burst onto the literary scene in 1993 with Operating Instructions. This now-classic memoir of her son Sam's first year of life endeared her to single mothers, parents, and even non-parents across the country. With her new book,
Some Assembly Required (Riverhead), she is set to do the same for grandparenthood. Stunned to learn that Sam, now 19, is about to become a father, Lamott begins a journal about the first year of her grandson Jax's life, recalling her own experiences with Sam when she was a single mother. Over the course of the year, the rhythms of life, death, family, and friends unfold in surprising and joyful ways. Please note: This ticketed event takes place at the Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd. Tickets, $26.95, include admission and a copy of Some Assembly Required and are available at the Bagdad Theater, the Crystal Ballroom, CascadeTickets.com, or by phone at 855-227-8499. Books distributed at event. |
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| 03.30: David Javerbaum |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Over the course of his long and distinguished career, God has literally seen everything and done everything. Now, as the earth he has godded so magnificently draws to a Mayan-induced close, God breaks his 1,400-year literary silence with his final masterpiece,
The Last Testament. As dictated to his mortal amanuensis, 11-time Emmy Award-winning comedy writer
David Javerbaum, God looks back with unprecedented candor on his time in the public sector. It's the ultimate celebrity autobiography, sure to appeal not only to hardcore God fans, but to anyone who's ever had total omnipotence. If you place complete faith in the literal truth of one book written by God, make it The Last Testament. |
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| 03.31: Kids' Storytime |
(Sat, 11 Feb 2012)
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| Join us every Saturday for storytime. Today, we're reading
The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na. Children of all ages welcome. |
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