Literary Events for the Week of September 13th

Jonathan Franzen in a really awful picture.

School has started and so has book tour season. There is a metric ton of readings and signings this week, so if you can’t find something to tickle your fancy, you aren’t trying hard enough.

09/13/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Beverly Olevin
The Good Side of Bad
A novel about family, crisis, and the economic meltdown, set in New York and Seattle.

09/13/10 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Deborah Willis
Vanishing and Other Stories
The author presents her collection of 14 short stories.

09/13/10 7 p.m. Richard Hugo House
Works in Progress
  Monthly open mic.

09/13/10 7:30 p.m. Open Books Poem Emporium
Norman Fischer & Emily Warn
Fischer reads from Questions/Places/Voices/Seasons and Warn reads from Shadow Architect.

09/13/10 7:30 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Ussama Makdisi
Faith Misplaced
The author will speak on “The Devolution of American-Arab Relations,” which will mean discussing the Israel question, which inevitably will lead to shouting and vituperation, although probably not from the podium.

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09/14/10 11 a.m. Borders
Maria Ross
Branding Basics for Small Business
What she said.

09/14/10 6 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Jennifer Jordan
The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2
I adore stories about crazy-assed mofo’s doing deeply insane shit, and this fits the bill. Also, Jordan can write.

09/14/10 6:30 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Howard Zinn
A People’s History of the United States
Professor Zinn has unfortunately left us, to muddle along on our own, but he fortunately left a legacy of books and essays that should be required reading for every American. Elliott Bay’s Global Issues & Ethics Book Group will be discussing A People’s History, Tuesday. You should go.

09/14/10 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Brandon Sanderson
The Way of Kings
Book One of The Stormlight Archive. TOR promises nine more volumes in this fantasy series.

09/14/10 7:30 p.m. Benaroya Hall
Jonathan Franzen
On Autobiography & Fiction-Writing: An Evening with Jonathan Franzen
I will be out of the country when Franzen steps on stage. That’s my excuse for not being there. What’s yours?

09/14/10 8 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Eric Puchner
Model Home
Another story of families in crisis, this one the first novel by the author of Music Through the Floor, a collection of stories.

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09/15/10 7 p.m. Secret Garden Books
Jennifer Aist
Babes in the Woods: Hiking, Camping and Boating with Babies & Young Children
Don’t let dingoes eat your baby.

09/15/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Peter Lewis
Dead in the Dregs
The local restauranteur presents his first novel. Lewis signed at Seattle Mystery Bookshop on 9/08, so if you missed him then, catch him now.

09/15/10 7:30 p.m. Espresso Buono Cafe
Couth Buzzard Books
Open mic. Call 206-436-2960 for details.

09/15/10 7:30 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
David Plouffe
The Audacity to Win
Plouffe visits to promote the paperback edition of his book about the Obama campaign in advance of the November mid-terms. I somehow don’t think the timing is an accident. The new edition includes a chapter on this year’s elections, so I’m not stretching, here.

09/15/10 7:30 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Jan Faull
Amazing Minds
The former Seattle Times columnist talks about warping the minds of wee, tiny babies.

09/16/10 3 p.m. Queen Anne Farmer’s Market
Bunny Henderson
Digging It
Author signing.

09/16/10 7 p.m. REI
Eugene Buchanan
Outdoor Parents, Outdoor Kids
The author talks about how to get kids outside. My mom used to say, “go play in traffic, before I kill you myself. And be home in time for dinner or you’re grounded.” Talk about mixed messages.

09/16/10 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Jess Walter
Financial Lives of the Poets
An enjoyable and smart novel about poetry, money, and popular culture.

09/16/10 7 p.m. Pilot Books
Karianne Larsen
Liar, Liar
Debut novel by three sisters. Karianne lives in the Seattle area, so will also be at Stle Mystery Bookshop on 9/25.

09/16/10 7 p.m. Richard Hugo House
Laura Read
“The Chewbacca on Hollywood Boulevard Reminds Me of You”
The prize-winning Spokane poet reads from her prize-winning chapbook.

09/16/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Mark Oldman
Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine: Pleasure, Value and Adventure Beyond Wine’s Usual Suspects
The wine enthusiast beloved of Martha Stewart tells you what to drink.

09/16/10 7 p.m. Third Place Books Ravenna
Michael Lieberman
Books in the Digital Age
An informal discussion about the role of technology in publishing.

09/16/10 7 p.m. University Temple Chapel, United Methodist Church
Tamam Kahn
Untold: A History of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad
“In a sustained act of spirited research and imagination, Tamam Kahn brings Muhammad’s wives and daughters out of the shadows and into the light. The women of Untold have at last found their perfect teller, in voices so gemlike and clear that one wants to chant them aloud.” -Lesley Hazleton, author of After the Prophet

09/16/10 8 p.m. Pilot Books
OPP Reading Series
An open forum to read poetry and prose by people who are not you.

09/17/10 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Jeff Lindsay
Dexter is Delicious
The fifth novel featuring homicidal homicide detective Dexter Morgan.

09/17/10 6 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Mark Haskell Smith
Baked
A mystery novel about pot. Ganga. Marijuana. Wacky tobaccy, cannabis, weed, bhang, dope, grass, hash, hemp, maryjane, tea… did you know that Seattle leads the nation in both pot and coffee consumption? We also buy the most sunglasses, own the most boats, and off ourselves with alarming frequency.

09/17/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Linda MacDonald-Lewis
The Warriors and Wordsmiths of Freedom: The Birth and Growth of Democracy
This reading is at Lake City Presbyterian Church, 3841 NE 123rd Street. She’ll be at the Sorrento Hotel on Monday, Sept. 19th.

09/17/10 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Paul Park
The speculative fiction writer is in town. Sponsored by NW Media Arts.

09/17/10 7 p.m. Rainier Valley Community Center
Verbal Graffiti
Poetry open mic.

09/17/10 8 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Rick Bass
Nashville Chrome
“In his grand return to fiction, Bass summons—with a lyrical style befitting his best nature writing—Arkansas and backwoods trio the Browns, the true-life country music trailblazers who pioneered the 1950s sound from which the novel takes its title … Like the sound Chet Atkins pulls from the Browns in the studio, the narrative has a pitch-perfect chorus of longing and regret, with an undertone that connects and heals.” – Publishers Weekly

09/18/10 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Neil Low
Unreasonable Persuasion
The third novel featuring 1940′s PI Alan Stewart.

09/18/10 4 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Julia Glass
The Widower’s Tale
The author of I See You Everywhere, Three Junes, and The Whole World Over promotes her new book about a widower. That’s truth in advertising, right there.

09/18/10 4 p.m. Green Lake Branch Library
PoetsWest
Open mic.

09/18/10 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Thea Cooper
Breakthrough; Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle
Once again, Canadians come through to save our pasty, white butts.

09/19/10 1:30 p.m. Showbox Theatre
Cornelia Funke
Reckless
UW Bookstore is giving away two free tickets to this reading and signing when you purchase a copy of the book.

09/19/10 4 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Kim Fay
Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam
The former Elliott Bay employee returns to promote her new book. Which includes recipes. You may have noticed that I’m always positive about books which include recipes. So have I.

09/19/10 6 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Linda MacDonald-Lewis
The Warriors and Wordsmiths of Freedom: The Birth and Growth of Democracy
This reading includes a whiskey tasting. What’s not to love? The Sorrento Hotel, 900 Madison St., plays host.