Queen Anne Books

Sure to be a good time! Doug Fine, a regular contributor to NPR and Public Radio International, decided to take the plunge and live truly Green on a ranch in New Mexico. His new memoir-- an epic adventure in living locally-- explores the joys and challenges of living ecologically responsibly. He chronicles ... (more)twelve months of eating locally, using solar power, and erasing his carbon footprint. He's funny, he's entertaining, he's educational, and he's environmentally safe! What a great inspiration to put that Earth Day spirit into action!

Join us for a presentation and signing with the author. In keeping with Doug's great goals, our neighbor and crusader for green living with great taste, Eat Local, is generously providing coupons for the whole audience and a great door prize for one lucky Queen Anne Books customer! Check out Eat Local's website at www.EatLocalOnline.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us ... (more)spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. To take on the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night ... (more)stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior...

Pols spends the ensuing weeks despairing over everything, from the financial nightmare of single motherhood to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance at motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more disaster in a long line of romantic disappointments. But even as she tries to give her son’s young father a radical makeover, she realizes that his devotion and love for their child matters more than his spotty résumé or his inability to remember to put oil in the car. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose.

Meet the author at a reading, signing and reception at Queen Anne Books on Sunday June 22 at 3:00!

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Parents: Get a sitter and come to this provocative, inspiring presentation by author Kimberly Ford. Her new book, Hump: True Tales of Sex After Kids is racier than most of our readings, so we'll start just a half hour before closing and go after-hours, until 9:00. The Seattle PI's "Working Dad" and ... (more)Family Beat reporter Paul Nyhan co-hosts with Queen Anne Books. In his work for the Seattle PI and on his Working Dad blog, Nyhan's articles about parents and post-baby love are of big interest. We thought a reading, Q&A and reception with Kimberly Ford would be a welcome date night option for parents in the Seattle area!Here's what the publicity says about the book:
"Hump: True Tales of Sex after Kids" is a candid—sometimes dark and often hilarious—look at the difficulties and rewards of nurturing an excellent sex-life in a household overrun by young children. Marked by wit and its accessible, intelligent tone, Hump is a page turner that will speak meaningfully to any parent who plans to keep having sex. The collection of true stories features a wide cast of recurring, unforgettable characters engaged in a wide variety of (equally unforgettable) sexual adventures, all the time underscoring the importance of monogamy and the richness of family life.

Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris was my favorite book of 2007, so I'm very excited to discuss it with the group on the last Saturday of July!
Everyone is welcome to our no-guilt, drop-in alternative book club. We meet every other month, usually on the last Saturday night of the given month. ... (more) The store closes at 6 on Saturdays, so we have the place all to ourselves for an hour of in-depth discussion about the book (usually something a little edgier than the regular book club fare). After an hour of literary-mindness, we keep the fun going by heading out to a local bar or restaurant together.
Pop in and join us; it's a great way to think about what you've read and meet some fantastic people.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Queen Anne Books welcomes all interested readers to its drop-in, no-guilt book club. We get together the first Wednesday and second Monday of every month, so pick the day that works best for you and join us at 7:00. No reservation or sign-up is needed-- just drop by. Sign up for Patti's email list ... (more)if you would like to receive reminders, discussion links and summaries.

Join us for a multiple author reading from the new travel collection How to Fit a Car Seat on a Camel and other Misadventures Traveling with Kids. Sally Bjornsen, Dana Standish, Mary Jane Beaufrand and J. Anderson Coats will share their stories of travel with children. From lucky underwear to airport ... (more)shenanigans, projectile vomits to culture shock, these ladies have had quite the experiences!

The Queen Anne Art Walk is the third Thursday of every summer month from 6:00- 8:00. Businesses all along upper Queen Anne host receptions and show the work of local artists.
For August-September, Queen Anne Books will be featuring the incredible photography of Roseanne Olson. During our reception ... (more)with the artist, Olson will be signing her new book, This is Who I Am. We are proud to show gorgeous photography and sell her compassionate, thought-provoking book. For a sample of Roseanne Olson's work, please see her website, www.roseanneolson.com.

Join us for cookies and conversation with Queen Anne's very own Mary Daheim!
We'll be celebrating the release of Mary's latest B&B mystery, Vi Agra Falls. When Joe Flynn's ex-wife moves back to the neighborhood (Vivian, or Vi), we all know trouble's brewing! Cousins Judy and Renie keeps the clues and ... (more)the laughs flowing through this fantastic Seattle mystery.
Mary Daheim will provide the fun, we'll provide the food, and you'll fill up the audience-- it should be a great evening!

Join us for cookies and conversation with Queen Anne's very own Mary Daheim!
We'll be celebrating the release of Mary's latest B&B mystery, Vi Agra Falls. When Joe Flynn's ex-wife moves back to the neighborhood (Vivian, or Vi), we all know trouble's brewing! Cousins Judy and Renie keeps the clues and ... (more)the laughs flowing through this fantastic Seattle mystery.
Mary Daheim will provide the fun, we'll provide the food, and you'll fill up the audience-- it should be a great evening!

Queen Anne Books takes part in the Queen Anne Art Walk (the third Thursday of every month from 6-8). For September, enjoy the talents of the team behind the lovely children's picture book Ocho Loved Flowers: author Anne Fontaine, illustrator Obadinah, and designer Shannon. Obadinah's illustrations ... (more)will be up all month as our art exhibit, and the team will be on hand to sign books and answer questions during our opening reception during the Art Walk.

Come discuss the modern classic, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about ... (more)an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

True stories of hardship and survival can be some of the most captivating reading. Join us for a special event with author Richard Farr to celebrate his riveting new book, Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic.
This event is part of Seattle's celebration of National ... (more)Reading Group Month. I think Farr's riveting account of an expedition gone wrong would make a wonderful intergenerational book club book (as the author's website states, the book "was written to appeal to readers aged approximately 12 to 112") or a perfect non-fiction choice for adult book clubs that usually discuss fiction.

Relative Discomfort: The Family Survival GuideJeremy Greenberg’s new book, Relative Discomfort revolutionizes the ways in which people deal with the stress of seeing family.

Let this holiday season be the first in which you don’t dread seeing your loved ones.

Under the guise of a “guidebook,” ... (more)Jeremy delights readers with hilarious, original, smart perspectives on the family dynamic. Readers will laugh out loud, and come away with a richer understanding of what exactly makes their families tick, and what about their families ticks them off.

An internationally headlining stand-up comedian, columnist and author, Jeremy Greenberg writes a column entitled “Eastside: Center of the Universe,” which celebrates the elevated status of suburban Seattle. He has been a contributor to the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes , a joke writer for Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen, and has written for MSN, Geek Monthly, Twins Magazine, and Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine. When not traveling and writing, Jeremy is home with his wife and twin sons in Kirkland, Washington.FUN READING and BOOK SIGNING:Saturday, October 11 at 2 p.m.

Meet the author Amy Bloom at this event for her book-club-perfect novel, Away. now available in paperback.
Amy Bloom's collection of short stories, Come to Me, was a finalist for the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Fiction Award. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Story, Antaeus, ... (more)River City, American Fiction, and other fiction magazines, and has been anthologized in the 1991 and 1992 Best American Short Stories collections and in the 1994 O. Henry Prize Story Collection.

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.com

Election Day is right around the corner and the holidays are fast approaching. Couldn't you use some laughs (and a great gift idea)?
Join local author and creator of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG), Martha Brockenbrough, for a reading, signing, and reception celebrating her ... (more)new book-- Things That Make Us [Sic].
For anyone who has been singing along to a pop song only to realize that using "you and meeeee" for the rhyme (when "you and Iiiii" is gramatically correct) just doesn't cut it...
For anyone who can't stand politicians, journalists, and celebrities who mangle the English language...
For anyone who sweats a little every time they send something out into the world to be read because, like me, they're bothered by poor grammar but also susceptible to it...
THIS IS THE BOOK!!!
Things That Make Us [Sic] has been hailed as "a hilarious book for users of the English language who think that grammar is fun." Once you've read Martha's letter to David Hasselhoff, comments on the LOLcats' grammar, and her list of "Flabby Cliches to Trim," you, too, will know that language is fun.
If you liked Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynn Truss, you'll love Martha Brockebrough's Things That Make Us [Sic]! Plus, it's the perfect gift for your uptight co-worker, your friend who thinks texting "Where you @?" qualifies as initiating a meaningful correspondence, your favorite English teacher, your funniest in-law, and so many more people on your list... Pick up some inscribed or signed copies at our event, and you'll be Santa's (and the copyeditor's) best little helper.

Discuss the fascinating history, Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm, but we're doing one week earlier in November due to Thanksgiving. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional ... (more)book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

Discuss the fascinating history, Sin in the Second City by Karen Abbott with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. ... (more) After about an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

The Queen Anne Merchants pull out all the stops for Holiday Magic. Strolling musicians, treats and holiday cheer abound!
Join us for fun and festive holiday shopping. Queen Anne Books will host Marcella Rosene, author of Cooking with Les Dames D'Escoffier, for a signing. Her delightful cookbook collects ... (more)wisdom and recipes from culinary luminaries like M.F.K. Fisher and Alice Waters. Pick up signed copies for the foodies on your list-- a perfect holiday gift!

The Queen Anne Merchants pull out all the stops for Holiday Magic. Strolling musicians, treats and holiday cheer abound!
Join us for fun and festive holiday shopping. Queen Anne Books will host Marcella Rosene, author of Cooking with Les Dames D'Escoffier, for a signing from 2pm to 4pm. Her delightful ... (more)cookbook collects wisdom and recipes from culinary luminaries like M.F.K. Fisher and Alice Waters. Pick up signed copies for the foodies on your list-- a perfect holiday gift!

Discuss the novel, Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an ... (more)hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

Help us welcome back Judi Hendricks for a signing of her new book! We've been fans since "Bread Alone," Judi's delicious first novel (set on Queen Anne!), I've made her Mexican Wedding cookies from the tour for "Isabel's Daughter," and now we're ready to celebrate her latest novel, a sweetly funny and ... (more)emotionally rich story of a woman who was raised on a New Mexico commune and returns there to rebuild her life.

voluntourism n. the theory or practice of being a volunteer while traveling.
Seattle author Joyce Major joins us to discuss her inspiring book about a year of voluntourism, Smiling at the World: A Woman's Passionate Yearlong Quest for Adventure and Love.
If the travel and search for meaning in "Eat, ... (more)Pray, Love" intrigued you, if Greg Mortenson's commitment to his cause in "Three Cups of Tea" inspired you, then this event is for you! Joyce found passion and purpose in a year of travel-- teaching English in China, living with a family in Rio, reporting for an Irish newspaper, working in restoration in Italy and laboring at a sustainability sanctuary in New Zealand! Those adventures inspired her to write her book and travel even more. In keeping with Joyce's theme of responsibility to help protect the earth, her resources and all of her inhabitants, the author and Queen Anne Books will partner with a local non-profit to help encourage local volunteerism and participation. Check back for more details! For more about Joyce Major, her travels and her book, please visit her website:
www.smiling at the world.com.
We hope you can join us!

Discuss the novel Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an hour ... (more)talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

In celebration of National Children's Book Week and Page Ahead's Book Drive, author Wendy Wahman joins Charles to share her new picture book, Don't Lick the Dog. Learn how to approach pooches, meet a real, live author and illustrator, and enjoy the reading stylings of Charles during this festive event!

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood is pleased to host Grace Diekhaus as she discusses her late husband Peter J. Levinson's fourth and final book, Puttin' On the Ritz: Fred Astaire and the Fine Art of Panache, a surprising portrait of Fred Astaire and how he became America's most elegant song-and-dance ... (more)man.Mr. Levinson passed away in October of 2008.

What makes me start to laugh my way to well-toned abs, then want to eat so much Japanese food I'll never see my waist again? This hilarious new book by Andy Raskin. The subtitle is "How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life," and the focus of the books is Andy Raskin's attempt to meet ... (more)with Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen noodles and founder of Nissin Foods. Why? It's all very complicated, but it involves overcoming addiction, getting blacklisted at a favorite sushi restaurant, discovering Japanese food comics, and lots and lots of Japanese cuisine (from the high to low). It's highly entertaining, quite educational, and unlike any book I've ever read.
Join us for an event as unique and delightful as this author and book. Yes, my friends, I challenge you to a RAMEN TASTING at Queen Anne Books! We'll sample some of Nissin's flavors and brands, and maybe some closer to the Ramen street food if I can get it. We'll have the noodles before the reading (approximately 6:15- 6:45) to try to minimize book/noodle interaction. Limit your sodium intake in preparation, bring your own chopsticks if you want, and get ready for a rollicking, ramen-good time.

We usually meet the last Saturday of every other month, but due to a schedule conflict, I'll be hosting one week later-- the first week of June.
Discuss the novel The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday ... (more)at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood is pleased to welcome Barbara Isenberg as she discusses and signs Conversations with Frank Gehry. Culling the most candid, revealing, and entertaining interviews from her twenty years of talking with Frank Gehry, Isenberg gives us an intimate portrait of one of our most ... (more)influential working architects, and one who has left an indelible imprint on the Los Angeles skyline.

DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to welcome David Carr as he discusses and signs The Night of the Gun: A Reporter investigates the Darkest Story of His Life. His Own. This event is free and all are welcome!

This summer, Queen Anne Books is pleased to partner with the Quenne Anne Farmers Market Association to bring books to the market!
For opening day of our Farmers Market, local author and foodie Matthew Amster-Burton will be signing copies of his book, Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father's Quest to Raise ... (more)an Adventurous Reader.
For the full line-up of authors, chefs and performers scheduled for the Farmers Market this summer (so far-- more are being added!), please see the Queen Anne Farmers Market Association website: www.QAFMA.org .

This month, our book club is reading and discussing Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food. The author’s summation of the book appears on the cover: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. This book ties in beautifully to the eating and buying local movements gaining momentum across the country. Join ... (more)us to discuss it!

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood will be selling books at an event sponsored by the Los Angeles Bioneers group at the Santa Monica Public Library featuring author Woody Tasch as he discusses and signs his important new book, Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as If Food, Farms, and Fertility ... (more)Mattered.Woody Tasch is Chairman Emeritus of Investors' Circle, a nonprofit network of angel investors, venture capitalists, foundations, and family offices that, since 1992, has facilitated the flow of $130 million to 200 early-stage companies and venture funds dedicated to sustainability.
***PLEASE NOTE***
This event is NOT at DIESEL, A Bookstore, but at the Santa Monica Public Library!

Discuss the novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about ... (more)an hour talking about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

Join Queen Anne Books at the Queen Anne Farmers Market! Kathy Casey, Seattle food diva and author of Sips & Apps will be signing books at our booth at the Queen Anne Farmers Market. Get great ideas for how to use all the great produce available, and buy signed copies of her books as gifts or a treat ... (more)for yourself.

Say YES to food that loves you back! The fresh produce on sale at the market is gluten-free, and Shauna James Ahern gives great ideas of how to enjoy it. Shauna will be signing her inspiring book (with delicious recipes) after Daniel Ahern, her husband, does a chef demo at 4.

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present local writers Kathy Briccetti, Meilan Carter, and Jasmine Dawson as they discuss their contributions to the national anthology, Who's Your Mama?: The Unsung Voices of Women and Mothers.
Kathy Briccetti has published essays, poetry, and criticism ... (more)in literary and commercial magazines. She received a Pushcart Prize nomination for an essay excerpted from her forthcoming memoir, Blood Strangers, which will be published by Heyday Books in spring 2010. She lives in El Cerrito and works in Oakland.
Meilan Carter is interested in crossing literary genres, documenting family history, and challenging language. The beauty in death, magic, and the complexities of relationships, are some of the themes that appear in her work. A writer of both fiction and creative non-fiction, Meilan recently completed her MFA in Fiction at Mills College. She is currently working on a creative non-fiction novel about the loss of her father titled The Etiquette of Death. She lives in Oakland with her husband David and son Kamau.
Jasmine Dawson is an Oakland native and received her BA from San Francisco State University and MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She has written and published book reviews, essays, and research. She finished her novel and is currently working for the City of Oakland.

DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood is pleased to have local author Dylan Landis as she discusses and signs Normal People Don't Live Like This. This event is free and all are welcome! Normal People Don't Live Like This will be published Sept. 8 by Persea Books. It is a debut collection of ten linked stories—praised ... (more)by Janet Fitch, Elizabeth Strout and Lisa Glatt— about the hidden lives of a teenager and her mother, and how they struggle to negotiate emotional damage and open themselves to love. The girl, Leah, yearns for belonging and worships the most delinquent girls at school, while her mother, Helen, secretly rents a welfare hotel room that she obsessively decorates. The stories – quirky and darkly humorous -- mostly center on Leah, but they're also about the disturbing, sometimes transformative lives of the girls and women she knows. These stories have appeared in anthologies such as Do Me: Tales of Sex & Love from Tin House; Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003; Women on the Edge: Writing from Los Angeles; and Bestial Noise: The Tin House Fiction Reader, among others, and in literary magazines such as Tin House, Bomb, the Santa Monica Review and others. All were written while she lived in LA, from 2000 to 2008.

Discuss the novel The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga with our Saturday night drop-in book club.We meet every other month, usually the last Saturday at 8:00pm. Our book choices are usually a little edgier than the traditional book club fare, and our discussions are focused yet fun. After about an hour talking ... (more)about the book, most of us head to a bar or coffee shop to socialize. This helps us spend our book club time talking openly and in-depth about the book, then gives us a great opportunity to bond with fellow readers afterwards. Everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion, and all are encouraged to join us for social time after, too. Remember, they're Saturday nights starting at 8:00.

Romance? Check. History? Check. Time travel? CHECK!The Little Book, out now in paperback, would make a great book club choice. "A wide-ranging novel of grand ideas. . .a graceful waltz of a book, spinning at times at dizzying speed, but leaving behind a haunting, unforgettable melody."--New ... (more)Orleans Times-Picayune