Save the World and Other Literary Events for the Week of February 7, 2011

If you don't yet know who Jane McGonigal is, you are missing out. Ms. McGonigal is a game designer and theorist who claims that gaming is necessary to the survival of the human race. Her new book, Reality is Broken, is an Epic Win. Watch her on TED and then go see her live on Thursday. Buy the book. Collaborate, cooperate, live the dream...

2/7/2011 12:05 p.m. Seattle Public Library
Thrilling Tales
Story Time for Grown-Ups
Monday lunch hour series at the Central Library.

2/7/2011 6 p.m. Pilot Books
Writer's Group
New exercises every week. Come prepared to write and discuss. Aye, Cap'n!

2/7/2011 6:30 p.m. Queen Anne Books
Sarah Blake
The Postmistress
Ms. Blake will read and sign. QAB has chosen this as their March Book Club selection.

2/7/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Sailesh Chutani, Jessica Rothenberg Aalami, & Akhtar Badshah
Technology at the Margins: How IT Meets the Needs of Emerging Markets
Geeks save the world! "A must-read for nonprofit leaders and technologists who want to leverage the power of IT to help solve global poverty. Authors Chutani, Aalami, and Badshah have given the sector one of the best handbooks filled with stories, advice, and best practices." - Beth Kanter

2/7/2011 7 p.m. Richard Hugo House
Works in Progress
Open Mic
A monthly open reading series. Sign up begins at 6:30 p.m.

2/8/2011 -3/6/2011 Queen Anne Books
Book-It Theatre
Great Expectations
QAB has partnered with Book-It to promote the current production. Season ticket holders receive 15% off any title that Book-It performs. From 2/8/2011-3/6/2011, the company will be performing Dicken's overworked novel of narcissistic social climbers. Ahem.

2/8/2011 6 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Adam Segal
Advantage: How American Innovation Can Change Overcome the Asian Challenge
When will America stop being terrified of Asians ruling the world? And when will people like Segal either quit buying into the meme, or quit feeding it? The Japanese do not own America, despite the paranoia of the 1980's, and the Chinese are not coming for your gay-married anchor-baby, I promise.

2/8/2011 6 p.m. High Point Branch Library
Poetry Workshop
Get feedback on your writing.

2/8/2011 6:30 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Global Issues & Ethics Book Club
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
Demick's prize-winning book covers 15 years in the lives of six North Korean citizens, a period almost as long as I've been fascinated by the country. NK is the closest a modern nation has come to Orwell's 1984, a bizarre outpost in the 21st century, endlessly mysterious and paradoxical.

2/8/2011 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble U-Village
Colleen Houck
The Tiger's Curse
New author, new fantasy fiction series, soon to be new movie.

2/8/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Gary Taubes
Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
Saint Michael (Pollan) called Taubes' last book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, "a vitally important book, destined to change the way we think about food."

2/8/2011 7 p.m. Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room
Joseph Esherick
Ancestral Leaves: A Family Journey through Chinese History
600 years of Chinese history through the eyes of one family. Wow.

2/8/2011 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Nathaniel Friedman w/ Seth Kolloen
FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History
The Sunbreak's sports editor, Seth Kolloen, converses with Mr. Friedman about balling. Heh. Heh-heh-heh.

2/8/2011 7:30 p.m. Open Books Poem Emporium
Joseph Donahue
Terra Lucida
The poet presents the newest installments in his ongoing epic, written entirely in parallel couplets.

2/8/2011 7:30 p.m. Benaroya Hall
Nell Irvin Painter
The History of White People
"Painter is the author of... scholarly works on the history of slavery and race relations in America ... Her latest selection examines the history of 'whiteness' as a racial category and rhetorical weapon: who is considered to be 'white,' who is not, what such distinctions mean, and how notions of whiteness have morphed over time in response to shifting demographics, aesthetic tastes, and political exigencies ... Presenting vivid psychological portraits and dozens of other figures variously famous and obscure, and carefully mapping the links between them, Painter's narrative succeeds as an engaging and sophisticated intellectual history, as well as an eloquent reminder of the fluidity (and perhaps futility) of racial categories." – Brendan Driscoll, Booklist

2/8/2011 8:30 p.m. Rebar
Seattle Slam
Poetry Reading
Competitive poetry open mic.

2/9/2011 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
J.A. Jance
Fatal Error
Ms. Jance is a wonder, a woman who wrote at night after her husband passed out, and kept writing for decades. She's now the author of three series. Her latest novel has Arizona media officer Ali Reynolds trying to clear an old friend suspected of the murder of a total psycho-sleaze-ball.

2/9/2011 12:10 p.m. Seattle Public Library
Ladies' Musical Club
Enjoy a concert on your lunch hour.

2/9/2011 6 p.m. Town Hall Seattle
Peter Calthorpe
Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change
"Herein is the first unobstructed view of a realistic, non-utopian urban society that can systemically address climate, economics, quality of life and the coming transition. The thesis of the book needs to be understood by all: the greatest and most innovative source of renewable energy rests within urban design, not solar panels or wind turbines. Peter's resonant vision creates a straight path to a workable, humane future." - Paul Hawken

2/9/2011 6 p.m. Richard Hugo House
Write Time
Weekly Series
A drop-in writing circle for teens, facilitated by the Hugo House writer-in-residence, Karen Finneyfrock.

2/9/2011 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Juliette Fay
Deep Down True
How is being a teenager just like being a divorcee'?

2/9/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Paul Norlen
Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End: The Story of a Crime
Norlen is the translator of this work by Swedish novelist Leif GW Persson, the first in a trilogy about the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme, in February 1986. "Reminiscent of Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson in its toughness ... worthy of Ingmar Bergman—but with lots more guns." – Kirkus Reviews

2/9/2011 7 p.m. Seattle Public Library
Rosie the Riveter
A New Musical in One Act
Enjoy a preview and meet real-life Rosies.

2/10/2011 2 p.m. Green Lake Branch
Seattle Opera
Don Quixote
A preview of Massenet's opera.

2/10/2011 6 p.m. Ballard Branch Library
It's About Time
Writers' Reading Series
The 256th meeting of the open mic series.

2/10/2011 7 p.m. UW Bookstore
Jane McGonigal
Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
A brilliant and optimistic look at the future, Ms. McGonigal theorizes "The Long Game," a 1,000-year game that moves the human race beyond our narrow, generational focus to millennial, global, cooperative problem-solving. Love her! Love, love, love. Don't miss this one.

2/10/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Susan Vreeland
Clara and Mr. Tiffany
Ms. Vreeland has made a niche for herself writing fiction about art and artists. Her newest fictionalizes Louis Comfort Tiffany, he of the expensive glass, and Clara Driscoll, the woman who designed some of Tiffany's most famous work, especially the much-reproduced and mimicked lamps.

2/11/2011 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Kelli Stanley
The Curse-Maker
The second novel in Ms. Stanley's series of classical mysteries, a.k.a. the Roman Noir series. Gauisus, gauisus, tripudium, tripudium!

2/11/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Bruce Fulton
Waxen Wings: The Acta Koreana Anthology of Short Fiction from Korea
Another translator, this one of Korean literature. Mr. Fulton teaches at the University of British Columbia.

2/12/2011 11 a.m. Secret Garden Books
Seattle Children's Theatre
Go, Dog, Go!
SGB partners with the Drama School to interpret and enact popular books.

2/12/2011 12 p.m. Seattle Mystery Bookshop
Urban Waite
The Terror of Living
A local author debuts! A promising novel about smuggling drugs over the Canadian border.

2/12/2011 2 p.m. University Branch Library
Short Story Writer's Toolbox
Workshop
Students will be introduced to the basics of short story writing.

2/12/2011 4 p.m. Green Lake Branch
PoetsWest
Poetry Reading
Open mic.

2/12/2011 7 p.m. Pilot Books
Amber Nelson & A. Minetta Gould
Poetry Reading
The local poets will read from their new chapbooks.

2/12/2011 7 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company
Edward Harkness & Anne Pitkin
Poetry Reading
Two local poets share some time.

2/13/2011 2 p.m. Seattle Public Library
Jack Hamann
On American Soil: How Justice Became a Casualty of World War II
This is an amazing story of race, power, and injustice. Highly, highly recommended. "Rarely has a book inspired legislation in the U.S. Congress, but that is exactly what happened with On American Soil. This is an important book and I hope many more have the opportunity to read it." – Congressman Jim McDermott

2/13/2011 3 p.m. Open Books Poem Emporium
Anita K. Boyle & Tina Schumman
Poetry Reading
Poets share time at Open Books.