LibraryThing Local

Well, ok. They're only two feet tall. But the cool thing is you made them! Enter our "Design a Dragon" contest to celebrate the release of "Brisingr" by Christopher Paolini on September 20th. Make a dragon in sculpture, drawing, or any visual art project with materials of your choosing. We ask that your ... (more)finished project be NO BIGGER than two feet in any direction, so they all fit in the store! Entries are due no later than 9pm September 8, 2008. Winners will be notified by Sept 18th. Runners up will receive $15 Toadstool gift certificates; the Grand Prize winner will receive a free copy of the new Brisingr book! Get busy and good luck!

Don't miss the opportunity to hear Michael Lasser discuss his book, America's Songs, which recently came out in paperback. Meet Michael at the Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair on Saturday September 13th, 2008 at 1PM. Books available to purchase and be signed by the author.

MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with ground breaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning ... (more)abilities. Are we, as Ariely asserts, predictably irrational? Can that understanding provide a starting point for improving our decision making and changing the way we live for the better?

"Do you have trouble understanding conversations over the phone? Do you hear normally but have difficulty being understood by the other person during phone calls? The New York Relay Service offers new ways to make phone calls accessible to people who are hearing or speech disabled. In addition to TTY ... (more)relay and Voice Carry Over, you will learn about new services available for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. No registration required. Fisher Meeting Room. Call 249-5481 for details."

Monique Dembele saved lives and dispensed hope in a place where childbirth is a life-and-death matter. Her story is one of unquenchable passion to better the lives of women and children in the face of poverty, unhappy marriages, and endless backbreaking work. Told by a former Peace Corps volunteer ... (more)in West Africa, this compelling story and tribute to a friend is a moving and deeply personal narrative.

Join us for our discussion of A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr. Our book groups are free and open to the public and enjoy benefits such as a free book galley and a 20% discount on next month's selection if purchased that evening.

School's begun. Time to ride the bus but watch out for the pigeon! Stories and games about buses for ages 3 to 5. The program is $5 and includes a $5 coupon good on a $10 purchase. Please call or email to register.

L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez first met Nathaniel Ayers playing a battered 2 - string violin on the streets of Los Angeles. Ayers, a former Julliard student, was forced to drop out when the pressures of mounting schizophrenia and of being, at the time, one of the few African-American students ... (more)became too much to cope with. Lopez finds Ayers medical help, lodging, donated instruments, cello lessons and even a meeting with Yo-Yo Ma, all in hopes of getting Ayers off the streets and back to a more normal life. “A story about unwavering commitment, artistic devotion and the transformative magic of music.”

Join us as we discuss Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down. Our book groups are free and open to the public and enjoy benfits such as a free book galley at each meeting and a 20% discount on the next month's selection if purchased the night of the meeting.

The October book topic will be Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach. The meeting will start at 6:30PM with a special video interviewing Ian McEwan and discussing his book, On Chesil Beach. The usual book club discussion will follow. Free And Open to the Public.

Join Diesel Bookstore for a green event with Van Jones, author of Green Collar Economy! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Van Jones is the founder and president of Green For All, based in Oakland. The mission is to help build an inclusive, green economy - strong enough to lift millions of people out of poverty. Van ... (more)is a tireless advocate, championing "green-collar jobs and opportunities" for disadvantaged people. He is committed to creating "green pathways out of poverty," while greatly expanding the coalition fighting global warming. He's worked to combine solutions to America's two biggest problems: social inequality and environmental destruction. Under the slogan "green-collar jobs, not jails," he is calling for green economic development in urban America. As an advocate for the toughest urban constituencies and causes, he has won many honors, which include the 1998 Reebok International Human Rights Award, the international Ashoka Fellowship, selection as a World Economic Forum "Young Global Leader," and the Rockefeller Foundation "Next Generation Leadership" Fellowship. He's also served on the boards of numerous national environmental organizations. Presently, he is a board member of the National Apollo Alliance, which advocates for clean energy jobs. He is also a founding board member of 1Sky, a national coalition working to avert catastrophic climate change. In 2007, Van helped the City of Oakland pass a "Green Jobs Corps" proposal; the City allocated funds to train Oakland residents in eco-friendly "green-collar jobs." At the national level, Van worked successfully in 2007 with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA), U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-MASS) to pass the Green Jobs Act of 2007. That path-breaking, historic legislation authorized $125 million in funding to train 35,000 people a year in "green-collar jobs." Van is also a co-founder of a new national coalition that promotes the idea of a national "Clean Energy Jobs Corps." This multi-billion-dollar federal initiative would put hundreds of thousands of people to work rewiring and retrofitting the energy infrastructure of the United States. In 2005, Van produced the "Social Equity Track" for the United Nations' World Environment Day celebration. UNWED 2005 drew dozens of mayors from around the world to San Francisco, where they developed policies promoting the concept of "Green Cities." In 1996, Van co-founded (with Diana Frappier) the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, now located in Oakland, California. Named for an unsung civil rights heroine, the award-winning Center promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration. The Center, for which Van serves as board president, incubated Green For All in 2007 and spun it off in 2008. His many media appearances includes the popular Peabody award-winning show, The Colbert Report.PURCHASE OF THE BOOK RESERVES YOU A SEAT AT THE EVENT!

Join Clare Langley-Hawthorne at Diesel Bookstore as she presents the second book in her fantastic new historical mystery series! Featuring the strong, outspoken, intelligent and sassy Ursula Marlow, THE SERPENT AND THE SCORPION is a thrilling story of scandal and betrayal that's richly detailed and ... (more)action-packed. ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Clare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She practiced law in Melbourne until 1995 when she emigrated moved to the United States and began work as a health economist. Clare has since put her pursuit of a PhD on hold to focus on her career as a writer. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband and twin sons. This is her second novel. For more information, visit her web site at www.clarelangleyhawthorne.comPURCHASE OF THE BOOK RESERVES YOU A SEAT AT THE EVENT!

Join other science fiction enthusiasts as they discuss their October selection: The Carpet Makers by Andreas Eschbach. Our book groups are free and open to the public and members enjoy benefits such as a free book galley at each meeting and a 20% discount on next month's selection if purchased the meeting ... (more)night.

The November book topic will be Junot Diaz's Pulitzer winning novel, THE BRIEF WONDROUS LIFE OF OSCAR WAO. Free and Open To The Public. Stop by and share your views!