First up, in the University District, Lorraine McConaghy reads. If you're into war and stuff, the title Warship Under Sail: The USS Decatur in the Pacific West probably means something to you. So you should put down your plastic war-plane model and come to this reading. You can leave the camouflage jacket on; you'll fit right in. Over at the Henry, Gary Hill, who is a local artist, discusses his new book An Art of Limina: Gary Hill's Works and Writings. According to the presser, this reading "investigates relationships between words and electronic images." Perhaps Jen Graves has something to say about Hill; I don't know his work. Also on the UW campus is Lester R. Brown, the author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Brown believes that we can find a new economic path that is environmentally feasible.
Speaking of economic feasibility, Elliott Bay Book Company hosts Amanda Little. Little is the author of Power Trip: From Oil Wells to Solar Cells—-Our Ride to the Sustainable Future, which is about how we are goddamned addicts who need just one more hit of fossil fuels.
Greg Bear is at University Book Store. Greg Bear. Bear is a local author who has written some cracking great sci-fi novels (Darwin's Radio is one such sci-fi novel). Mariposa, his newest, looks less sci-fi-ish than some of his others. It's about a shady corporation and veterans who are losing their emotions.
There will be a Suggests popping up soon about the reading of the night, so I don't want to spend too much time on it, but here are the details of the 12 Books Launch. The Sorrento Hotel is home to a new bookstore made up of twelve books, most of which have some sort of local interest. If you're staying in the hotel, you can order a copy of the books up to your room, like room service. Celebrating the launch tonight will be some local authors (Matt Briggs, John Roderick), a publisher explaining his new line of bootleg books (Matthew Stadler), and Bruce Benderson, whose Pacific Agony is a hilarious, smart new novel about a cynical New Yorker writing a guidebook to the Pacific Northwest. (I wrote a little about it here.) If literary fiction isn't your thing, I'd suggest you go to the Bear reading. I bet you'll enjoy yourself.
The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.
