Portland Book Events: June 19-25

From what we could find (please contact us if you have an event you would like us to add to this or future schedules), the local book events for the week of June 19, 2010 through June 25, 2010 are:

Saturday June 19-

Friends of Milwaukie Library Book Sale (Waldorf School Gymnasium, 9am-4pm): Thousands of books for sale!  Proceeds support Milwaukie’s Ledding Library.

Mother Daughter Book Club (Hillsboro Main Library, @10:00am): A book discussion group for girls in grades 3-5 and their mothers or other significant women in their lives to read and discuss great books together. The group meets the third Saturday each month at 10 a.m. at the Main Library. New members are always welcome and no registration is required! June’s Book: Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters by Lesley M.M. Blume Cornelia, 11-years-old and lonely, learns about language and life from an elderly new neighbor who has many stories to share about the fabulous adventures she and her sisters had while traveling around the world.

Market Day Poetry Series featuring Peter Ludwin, Eileen Elliott, and Gail Moore (St. John’s Booksellers, @12:00pm): Curated by Dan Raphael and hosted by Christopher Luna, the Market Day Poetry Series features new poets every Saturday at noon from June through September.  This weeks featured readers are Peter Ludwin, Eileen Elliott, and Gail More.

Eating Local (Pastaworks, @2:00pm): Eating Local (Andrews McMeel) is a stunning cookbook with 150 recipes focused on incorporating more local, fresh ingredients in your kitchen, along with the inspirational stories of 10 CSA farms around the country. Author Janet Fletcher will be joined by one of the farmers featured in her book. Cosponsored by Edible Portland.

Regretsy (Powells City of Books, @2:00pm): Based on the eponymous hit blog and arranged in categories such as Decor, Pet Humiliation, and Christmas, April Winchell’s Regretsy (Villard) showcases the best of the worst handcrafts gone wrong, ranging from the hilariously absurd to the purely horrifying.

The Q Poetry Night with Tara Hardy (The Q Center, @6:00pm, $5 suggested donation): Join us for a night of queer poetry with one of Seattle’s best queer poets Tara Hardy. Tara will open the evening with a short poetry workshop and then lead us into the rest of the night’s fun! Further on, the event will have Q Poetry’s feature poets form the NW perform their best works, as well as an open mic for everyone else who would like to get up on the stage and share their work with the PDX audience.

Amanda Howells (Barnes & Noble-Clackamas, @7:00pm): Join us to welcome young adult author Amanda Howells as she presents her debut novel, The Summer of Skinny Dipping, the story of a teen trying to cope with a summer that hasn’t been what she expected. Fans of Sarah Dessen’s books will love this book!

Sister Spit Eurotrash Benefit (Mississppi Pizza Pub, @9:00pm): Queer zinesters, novelists, & musicians perform alongside Michelle Tea to benefit Sister Spit’s 2010 Eurotrash Tour For more info check out the Sister Spit website.

Free Film Screening: 16mm Beer Commercials (Ampersand, @9:00pm): Join Ampersand for an outdoor film screening on our back patio. We are partnering with Tom Robinson, a local film archivist & projectionist, for a screening of vintage beer commercials from his personal collection. We’ll have a limited number of chairs available, so feel free to bring blankets or lawn chairs.  Free beer from Ninkasi Brewing!

Sunday June 20-

Friends of Milwaukie Library Book Sale (Waldorf School Gymnasium, 9am-4pm): Thousands of books for sale!  Proceeds support Milwaukie’s Ledding Library.

The Handmade Marketplace (Powells City of Books, @2:00pm): For crafters who have more confidence running a sewing machine than setting up a website, Kari Chapin’s The Handmade Marketplace (Storey) breaks down and makes sense of the global possibilities for marketing and selling crafts.

Bike Snob (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): BikeSnobNYC, one of cycling’s most prolific, well-known, hilarious, and once-anonymous bloggers, treats readers to a laugh-out-loud rant and rave about the world of bikes and their riders in Bike Snob (Chronicle Books). He also offers a unique look at the ins and outs of cycling, from its history and hallmarks to its wide range of bizarre practitioners.

Monday June 21-

Food Politics (Fairview-Columbia Library, @4:00pm): Local author Jean Johnson will discuss food sourcing and compare sustainable agriculture with agribusiness. The class will look at confined animal feeding operations for laying hens, chickens, dairy cows, and beef cattle. Finally, we’ll tackle cost issues and see if it is possible for a family to stay within its budget and buy food that is produced sustainably.

Steven Raichlen (Barnes & Noble-Clackamas, @7:00pm): Join us to welcome award-winning cookbook author, cooking teacher, and food columnist Steven Raichlen as he presents his book Planet Barbecue! This incredible new cookbook includes over 300 recipes from 60 countries. It’s a perfect Father’s Day gift!

Sloane Crosley (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): From the author of the sensational bestseller I Was Told There’d Be Cake comes How Did You Get This Number (Riverhead), a new book of personal essays brimming with all the charm and wit that have earned Sloane Crosley widespread acclaim, award nominations, and an ever-growing cadre of loyal fans.

Janelle Brown (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): Janelle Brown’s second novel, This Is Where We Live (Spiegel & Grau), tells the story of Jeremy and Claudia, a young, artsy married couple — she’s an aspiring filmmaker; he’s an indie musician — with a case of real-estate fever, as their dreams are dealt a series of crushing blows.

Talking Earth-Bob Cohen Tribute/Sid Miller Reading and Conversation (KBOO 90.7FM, @10:00pm): Bob Cohen was found dead, of natural causes, last month. On tonight’s show a few friends of Bob, including Lou Sohn, Doug Marx, and Ginger Andrews, join host Barbara LaMorticella in sharing a few poems and reminisces. Portland poet and editor Sid Miller is the author of two full-length poetry books, both published in 2009: Nixon on the Piano (David Robert Books) and Dot-to-Dot, Oregon (Ooligan Press). Tonight he reads from Dot-to-Dot, a poetic record of Miller’s travels to find inspiration by charting the nooks and crannies of Oregon.

Tuesday June 22-

Creative Memoir Writing – Written Reflections of a Life (Sellwood-Moreland Library, @6:30pm): A creative writing workshop that focuses on the genre of memoir and the different forms it can take. How does memoir adapt to the story being told? How does the utilization of diction, tone and stylistics aid to the story? There will be a large emphasis on our own writing, in class writing and the option to share. Various short text handouts will be given to support the focus of the course. Tae M. Gordon is the advisor for the Writers Club at Clackamas Community College and also their Resident Graduate Assistant. Register here.

Rob Schlegel (Broadway Books, @7:00pm): Poet Rob Schlegel is an adjunct professor at the University of Montana. His collection of poetry, The Lesser Fields, is the winner of the Colorado Prize for Poetry, and he’ll be with us tonight to read from it. Published in 2009 by the University Press of Colorado, this lovely book is filled with the stark beauty of the natural world. Mr. Schlegel’s poems have appeared in Boston Review, Handsome, Octopus, VOLT, and elsewhere. He was born and raised in Portland.

Suzanne Jauchias (Annie Bloom’s Books, @7:30pm): You Know Your Way Home, Suzanne Jauchias’ memoir, chronicles the journey of a brilliantly gifted little girl plagued by an abusive family life. The book follows Suzanne’s struggles in a world unsympathetic to her natural psychic abilities. She careens through multiple marriages while attempting to maintain an acceptable social image. The author’s unflinching willingness to expose the most personal details of her life reveals her courage and conviction that true healing occurs when authentic stories are shared and passed on. In this, readers have found hope, courage and inspiration.

Brando Skyhorse (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Heralding a young, new literary talent, Brando Skyhorse’s first novel, The Madonnas of Echo Park (Free Press), gives voice to the Mexican-American community in Echo Park, California.

Wednesday June 23-

Third Annual McKenzie Books Sidewalk Sale (McKenzie Books, 10am-6pm): DonorsChoose.org, a non-profit charity that accepts donations to fund classroom supplies for teachers and their students locally and nationally, will benefit from the sale of more than 4,000 popular used books at the Third Annual McKenzie Books Sidewalk Sale. The book selection will span all categories at prices of $0.50 for paperbacks and $1.00 for hardcover books. There will be something for everyone including children’s books, mystery, romance, health, mind & body, home & garden, science fiction, and many more. Credit cards will be accepted.

Women of True Grit (Concordia University-George White Library, @5:30pm): Author and speaker Tina V. Savas will be here for a book signing of Women of True Grit, co-authored by Edie Hand. The book just released in March 2010, profiles 38 women, some famous and all notorious for their career accomplishments and life in general. In their own words, they share true stories, some never before heard.

Opening Reception: Jhina Alvarado (Ampersand, @6:00pm): July’s show features paintings by San Francisco artist Jhina Alvarado. Working with orphaned snapshots long removed from the contextual meaning of family dynamics, Alvarado paints forgotten individuals amid an ambiguous white space rendered slightly opaque & dream-like by an overlay of encaustic wax. The sense of unbalance & abstraction created by the white space of her painted environment is heightened by a thick black band that covers each of her figures’ eyes. As viewers we are given few details; their obscurity is near complete as though we, too, have black bands over our eyes even as we engage in the act seeing.  More info and images here.

Verse in Person-Marilyn Johnston & Margaret Chula (Northwest Library, @7:00pm): Listen to Oregon poets read from their works. This monthly program is organized by local poets to highlight two to three poets each reading.  Featured readers this month are Marilyn Johnston and Margaret Chula. Marilyn Johnston’s first collection of poems, Red Dust Rising, about a family healing from the Vietnam War, was nominated for the 2004 Pushcart Prize. Margaret Chula’s collections of poetry include Grinding My Ink; Shadow Lines; Always Filling, Always Full; This Moment; The Smell of Rust, and most recently, with quilt artist Cathy Erickson, What Remains: Japanese Americans in Internment Camps.

Poetry Reading In Honor of William Stafford (Lake Oswego Library, @7:00pm): Join us as the Friends of William Stafford and the Lake Oswego Public Library present an evening of poetry. The evening will feature poets from the Lake Oswego Centennial Poetry Project and will be hosted by FWS Board member, Scot Siegel.

David J. Williams (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): With The Machinery of Light (Spectra), David J. Williams completes his furiously paced, stunningly imagined trilogy — a work of vision, beauty, and pulse-pounding futuristic action.

Christopher Hitchens (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Over the course of his 60 years, Christopher Hitchens has been both a foreign correspondent in some of the world’s most dangerous places and a legendary bon vivant with an unquenchable thirst for alcohol and literature. Hitch-22 (Twelve) is the story of his life, lived large.

Thursday June 24-

Wendy Smith (A Children’s Place Bookstore, @4:00pm): ACP is thrilled to host the launch party for local author Wendy Smith’s first Middle Grade novel After All, You’re Callie Boone. For more information on Wendy check out her website.

Renée Watson (A Children’s Place Bookstore, @4:00pm): It’s a super double event Thursday! We’re hosting another book launch, this time for Renée Watson. Come celebrate the release of A Place Where Hurricanes Happen and get your signed copy! Renée will read her poetry and excerpts from her books.

Roland Smith (Tigard Public Library, @6:00pm): Come to hear one of Oregon’s most popular authors talk about Tentacles, the sequel to Cryptid Hunters, followed by a question and answer session. Participants will receive a free copy of Tentacles while supplies last!

Open Mic (Lake Oswego Library, @6:30pm): The 2010 Open Mic season has begun—and what a great beginning! January featured performances by a classical guitarist, storyteller, and poets. Please join us for an evening of local talent! Sign up begins at 6:30pm and performances begin at 7:00pm.

Zoe Carter (Barnes & Noble-Vancouver, @7:00pm): Our Non-Fiction Book Group continues with a special visit from popular writer Zoe Carter, author of the well-reviewed and highly regarded book Imperfect Endings: A Daughter’s Tale of Life and Death. All are welcome to this unique event!

Blake Charlton (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): In Blake Charlton’s debut novel Spellwright (Tor), Nicodemus is a young, gifted wizard with a problem. Magic in his world requires the caster to create spells by writing out the text — but he’s dyslexic, and thus has trouble casting even the simplest of spells.

Zach Dundas (Annie Bloom’s Books, @7:30pm): Zach Dundas’ The Renegade Sportsman is a fascinating and hilarious journey into the underbelly of this country’s sporting culture – where fans and competitors alike get rowdier, dirtier, and louder than their mainstream counterparts – to rediscover the true spirit of American sports.

The Grove Review Release Party (The Writers’ Dojo, @7:30pm): The newest edition of The Grove Review will be welcomed with a reading at the Writers’ Dojo! Several of the featured authors in the anthology will be reading their pieces, including Paulann Petersen, Oregon’s new Poet Laureate. Other readers will include Molly Gloss and Hannah Louise Poston. The event is free, and everyone is welcome! The Grove Review Issue 5 will be available for purchase (cash/check), and financial donations are welcome and appreciated. A dessert and wine buffet will follow.

Mishna Wolff (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): Mishna Wolff grew up in a poor black neighborhood with her single father, a white man who truly believed he was black. Her hip, funny memoir I’m Down (St. Martin’s) will have readers questioning what it means to be black or white in America.

Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts! (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Featuring an introduction by Lynne Margulies, who was comedian Andy Kaufman’s girlfriend at the time of his death in 1984, Dear Andy Kaufman, I Hate Your Guts! (Process) contains the hilarious, astonishing letters and photos mailed to Kaufman by female wrestling contenders in 1977.

Friday June 25-

Five Year Anniversary Celebration w/ Devon Monk (St. John’s Booksellers, @7:00pm): We have battled and struggled and made it to a cake-worthy milestone.  St. Johns Books celebrates 5 years in business!  We’ll have that cake, and eat it, and host a really cool author. Devon Monk, a Portland-area author, presents Magic on the Storm, the latest installment of her Allie Beckstrom series.  Set partly in St. Johns, the new book features a climactic scene in Cathedral Park, beneath the arches of our beloved bridge.  Birthday cake will be served after the reading!

Robert Dugoni (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): Attorney David Sloane is back seeking vengeance for the death of a young boy in Bodily Harm (Touchstone Books), the newest novel from New York Times-bestselling author Robert Dugoni.

Jim Woodring (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): For over 20 years, Jim Woodring has delighted, touched, and puzzled readers with his lush, wordless tales of Frank. Weathercraft (Fantagraphics) is Woodring’s first full-length graphic novel set in Frank’s world, featuring the same hypnotically gorgeous linework and mystical iconography.

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For further events check out the links to the community calendars for Tri-County area Libraries: Washington County, Multnomah County, Clackamas County.

Image credit Zorger.