Location: Merchantville, NJ

Dirty wars: The World is a Battlefield Jeremy Scahill Jeremy Scahill is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of the bestselling book Blackwater, about the world’s fastest-growing private army and a powerful player in the War on Terror. A two-time recipient of the George Polk Award and a frequent contributor to the Nation, Scahill is a correspondent for Democracy Now! and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. From Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia, into al Qaeda-held territory in Yemen and beyond, Dirty wars documents the new paradigm of the American battlefield. Based on interviews with CIA agents, mercenaries, and elite Special Operations Forces operators, Scahill reveals the dark human consequences of the wars the United States struggles to keep hidden. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature Mark Tercek Mark Tercek is president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy, the global conservation organization. A former managing director for Goldman Sachs, where he spent 25 years, he champions natural capital. Tercek was appointed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to serve on the 2100 Commission, created in the wake of Hurricane Sandy to improve the state’s infrastructure for future storms. He serves on the boards of Resources for the Future, the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature, he explores why nature is the foundation of human well-being and of utmost importance for economic progress. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

New York Times bestselling author Wahida Clark has cemented her position as the leader in her genre with her bestselling Thug and Payback series. Her work has become a template for other writers who try to imitate her compelling blend of intrigue, passion, and luxury with the often-violent realities of life on the streets. Wahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She decided to write fiction while serving out a ten-and-a-half year term at a women's federal prison camp in Lexington, Kentucky. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

New York Times bestselling author Wahida Clark has cemented her position as the leader in her genre with her bestselling Thug and Payback series. Her work has become a template for other writers who try to imitate her compelling blend of intrigue, passion, and luxury with the often-violent realities of life on the streets. Wahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She decided to write fiction while serving out a ten-and-a-half year term at a women's federal prison camp in Lexington, Kentucky. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

The Cushion in the Road: Meditation and Wandering as the Whole World Awakens to Being in Harm's Way Alice Walker Alice Walker’s esteemed literary career spans over four decades and includes seven novels, four collections of short stories, four children’s books, and volumes of essays and poetry. Her 1983 novel The Color Purple received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and was adapted for Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film and the Broadway stage. Her many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Lennon/Ono Peace Grant, and a residency at Yaddo. In 2006, she was an inaugural inductee into the California Hall of Fame, and in 2007 her archives were opened at Emory University. Her new book The Cushion in the Road is a collection of meditations on topics ranging from racism to Africa to healthcare and the work of Aung San Suu Kyi. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) TICKETS ON SALE APRIL 5, 2013 at 10:00 AM This is a TICKETED event; $15 General Admission, $7 Students. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow As host of CBC’s radio show WireTap, Jonathan Goldstein “brings self-deprecation to a whole other level” (The Montreal Gazette). Part monologue and part telephone conversation, the show reveals “the warp of Goldstein’s imagination” (Toronto Star). Celebrated author David Sedaris calls him “one of the funniest and most original writers I can think of.” Goldstein’s writing has appeared in The Walrus, the New York Times, and GQ. He is a frequent contributor to This American Life and the author of the novels Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! and Lenny Bruce Is Dead. His new book, I’ll Seize the Day Tomorrow begins the week of Goldstein’s 39th birthday. As he approaches the big 4-0, he humorously contemplates what it means to be an adult in an infantilized world. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Bill Whiting is the author of An Early Work Late in Life: The Art and Life of Danny Allen (Faux Fragments, $29.95 pb). This is the true story of the life and untimely death of an exceptionally talented young artist named Daniel Arthur Allen. When one of Dan's mysterious, jewel-like paintings was discovered in the vault of a major museum nearly four decades after his death, artist Bill Whiting began to write about his life with Danny in Rochester, New York, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the sexual revolution, drugs, gay liberation, and antiwar protests made everyday life anything but predictable. Sometimes raucous and funny, sometimes heartbreaking, An Early Work Late in Life is a tribute to a wonderful, quirky, and gentle young man who might have been a little too good for this world--and believed he could exit this life and move on to a better one all on his own. For a thorough review of the book, paste in the link below:
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Location: Street: 345 S 12th St City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19107-5907 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Little Green: An Easy Rawlins Mystery Walter Mosley Walter Mosley is the bestselling author of more than 41 books, including Little Scarlet, Fear Itself, and Bad Boy Brawly Brown. His many honors include an O. Henry Award, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, a Grammy award, and the PEN American Center’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Mosley burst on the literary scene in 1990 with Devil in a Blue Dress, the first Easy Rawlins mystery mysteries featuring a hard-boiled detective and World War II veteran living in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The book was later adapted for a film starring Denzel Washington. In Little Green, Mosley’s immortal private eye reappears on the 1960s Sunset Strip in search of a young man who has gone missing. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

The Philadelphia Chromosome: A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level Jessica Wapner In The Philadelphia Chromosome, science journalist Jessica Wapner reconstructs the crucial breakthroughs in discovering the links between cancers and their genetic causes. The story unfolds over 50 years, from the first glimpse of a genetic mutation—dubbed The Philadelphia Chromosome—in 1959 to determining its role in causing chronic myeloid leukemia and the development of a revolutionary drug that made this once-fatal cancer treatable with a single daily pill. Wapner’s articles about healthcare and medicine appear in the New York Times, Scientific American, Slate, Science, and Psychology Today. Her writing on cancer research and treatment also appears in Oncology Business Review, Cure, and CR, and her blog, Work in Progress, focuses on the ethics and economics of drug development. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

The Hermit in the Garden: From Imperial Rome to Ornamental Gnome Gordon Campbell Distinguished historian Gordon Campbell is the author of numerous books on literature, art, history, and biography, including the bestseller Bible: The Story of the King James Bible. Professor of Renaissance Studies at the University of Leicester, he is a fellow of the British Academy and a former chair of the Society for Renaissance Studies. In 2012 he was awarded the Longman-History Today Trustees Award for a lifetime contribution to History. In The Hermit in the Garden, his interests in cultural history, architectural history, and designed landscapes converge in a study of the 18th-century craze for ornamental hermits in the grand gardens of Georgian England. Campbell traces the story of garden hermits from their distant ancestors in imperial Rome to their humble descendant, the garden gnome. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 Rick Atkinson Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and military historian Rick Atkinson is the bestselling author of An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle, The Long Gray Line, In the Company of Soldiers, and Crusade. He served as a reporter, foreign correspondent, and senior editor for 25 years at the Washington Post. His many awards include the George Polk award, the Gerald R. Ford Award for Distinguished Reporting on National Defense, and the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. The Guns at Last Light: The War in Europe, 1944-1945 is the final volume in Atkinson’s Liberation Trilogy, a sweeping narrative history of the U.S. military’s role in the liberation of Europe in World War II. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Diaspora will discuss Christopher and His Kind, by Christopher Isherwood. Please come at least a couple of minutes early (before the store closes at 7 pm), so no one will need to come to the door to let you in. If you are late, though, there’s a doorbell to the left of the front door.

Location: Street: 345 S 12th St City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19107-5907 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Four authors of brand-new books of fiction and nonfiction will present their work:

Dr. Michele Angello, author of On the Couch with Dr. Angello: A Guide to Raising and Supporting Transgender Youth (? $20 pb).

When a single child comes out, their entire family will transition, along with their community. On The Couch With Dr. Angello is an eye-opening guide to navigating social spaces when most don’t quite understand the process of changing genders. Dr. Angello offers emotional help and unwavering support as parents with trans identified children ride the waves of grief, acceptance and eventual healing. After years of televised appearances this book comes at a time when the sensationalism of transgender identity has calmed—a time when hearts and ears across the nation are daringly sympathetic and finally able to aid and uplift the transgender experience.

Jala Mckenzie-Burns, author of Climbing Life’s Mountains: Overcoming Challenges of Biracial Birth, Adoption, Gender Identity, and Depression (New Friends, $14.99 pb). In life, everyone climbs mountains. Jala A. McKenzie-Burns shares her story. Abandoned at birth as a biracial child, she was placed into foster care. She grew up at the height of the Civil Rights Movement and absorbed its lessons: to stand up for her beliefs. Adopted by an African-American family, she had many confrontations with both white and black children. Along the way, she realized she was a female. Through her service in the U.S. Marine Corps, working in politics, gaining a college education, marrying a woman she loved, and raising their child, she tried to hide her feminine desires, but the pain never stopped at not being able to express who she really was. When she shared her gender conflict with her adoptive mother, her mother kicked her out of her life. During her transition, she fell into a deep depression. With this illness, she practiced many unhealthy coping mechanisms. During a major portion of her life, she had yearned to find her biological mother. After many attempts, she was finally reunited with her biological mother and sister. Years later, after reconnecting with both her biological and adoptive families, she began to overcome depression. The story explores times of laughter and times of tears, hoping to help others overcome their personal challenges.

Brett Axel, author of Goblinheart: A Fairy Tale (Eastwaterfront Pr., $15 pb). Using "fairy" and "goblin" in lieu of female and male, the author has created a timely allegorical fairy tale. A youngster named Julep, who lives in a forest tribe, insists on growing up to be a goblin rather than a fairy. The tribe learns to accept that Julep iGot My Name: A Novella (CreateSpace, $12.50 pb) and Refuse (CreateSpace, $15.50 pb).

Elliott DeLine, author of I Know Very Well How I Got My Name: A Novella (Elliott DeLine, $12.50 pb) and Refuse (Elliott DeLine, $15.50 pb) The night he loses his virginity, he becomes Dean. Amy Wagner names him—and she would know best. Amy knows all kinds of things that Dean doesn’t understand—things about sex, music, and the darker side of life. All Dean knows is his safe suburban home with his parents, books, and imaginary games. Until now, he’s been able to hide his true identity, even from himself. To the rest of the world, he is a teenage girl—an awkward, boyish teenage girl, but a girl nonetheless. Meeting Amy changes everything. Soon that protected world around him begins to fall apart, and he is left with no other option but to face himself and the truth. I Know Very Well How I Got My Name chronicles Dean’s clumsy progression through the American public school system. It is the 90’s and early 2000’s, in suburban Syracuse, New York—a world in which LGBTQ bullying is not yet a hot topic in schools, and there is little tolerance for outsiders of any kind. A prequel to the award-winning novel Refuse, Elliott DeLine’s second book is about the prevailing myths surrounding bullying and abuse, and the hardships of being young and transgender without a community, support, or a roadmap.

Location: Additional: Pennsylvania Convention Center, North 12th St. and Arch St. City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19107-5907 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Life After Life Jill McCorkle Jill McCorkle’s eight books include the New York Times Notable Books The Cheer Leader, July 7th, Tending to Virginia, Ferris Beach, and Carolina Moon, as well as four short story collections. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Atlantic, Ploughshares, New Stories from the South, and Best American Short Stories 2002, 2004, and 2009. A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, she teaches writing at North Carolina State University and is the recipient of the New England Book Award, the Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, and the North Carolina Award for Literature. Her new novel Life After Life charts the daily triumphs and challenges of the residents and staff of a North Carolina retirement facility. The Middlesteins Jami Attenberg “With a wit that never mocks and a tenderness that never gushes” (Washington Post), Jami Attenberg’s novel The Middlesteins, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, follows a quirky Midwestern family as it unravels under the weight of a mother’s lifelong food obsession. Attenberg’s other novels include The Kept Man, a story with an “admirable sense of fun” (San Francisco Chronicle) about a passive woman freed from inertia, and the “singular and disquieting” (Chicago Tribune)The Melting Season, as well as her debut story collection Instant Love: Fiction. She has written about topics such as sex, technology, design, books, television, and urban life for a number of publications, including Salon, Details, the New York Times, The Awl, and The Rumpus. A blogger since 1998, she was also a web producer for the HBO television shows The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. Parkway Central Library 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 (between 19th and 20th Streets on the Parkway) This is a FREE event; no tickets or reservations are required. For more information, please call 215-567-4341, or click here

Location: Street: Free Library of Philadelphia Additional: 1901 Vine Street City: Philadelphia, Province: Pennsylvania Postal Code: 19103-5207 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)