Portland Book Events: July 3-July 9

From what we could find, the local book events for the week of July 3, 2010 through July 9, 2010 are:

Saturday July 3-

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Sunday July 4-

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Monday July 5-

Scott Sigler (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): From Scott Sigler, bestselling author of Contagious, comes Ancestor (Crown), a heart-pounding ride that’s part Frankenstein-style cautionary tale, part monster movie, and part medical thriller, as science accidentally unleashes a fearsome ancient predator on the modern world.

60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Portland (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): With updated maps, new hikes, new photos, and useful backpacking options, this revised edition of Paul Gerald’s authoritative guide to Portland’s best day hikes is more useful than ever. Sixty Hikes within 60 Miles: Portland (Menasha Ridge) outlines what to bring, how to get to the trailhead, where to go on the trail, and what to look for while hiking.

Tuesday July 6-

Steve Duno (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): Steve Duno’s Last Dog on the Hill (St. Martin’s) tells the true story of a feral, young Rottweiler mix who, after abandoning his pack and the hills of his birth, went on to change the lives of hundreds of people and dogs, including the author’s, with his extraordinary intelligence and heart.

Willamette Writers Meeting w/ April Henry (The Old Church, @7:00pm): April Henry will talk about how to write mysteries during Willamette Writers Portland meeting at the Old Church. April is the author of Hand of Fate and Torched.

Tom Bissell (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): Combining Tom Bissell’s personal experience as a gamer with interviews of some of the leading game designers at work today, Extra Lives (Pantheon) is an insightful and highly entertaining appraisal of the popular art form of video games.

Walt Curtis Benefit-Film Screening Mala Noche (Cinema 21, @9:00pm, $10): Remastered 35 mm screening of Gus Van Sant’s film of Walt Curtis’ classic Mala Noche. Walt Curtis, noted poet and painter, lost his home and most of his possessions, paintings and papers in a fire May 2 which destroyed the Great Northwest Bookstore and the old wooden church which housed it. Proceeds from the screening will go to the Walt Curtis Fund at the Wells Fargo Bank. Or you can walk into any Wells Fargo Bank and tell them you’d like to donate to the fund.

Wednesday July 7-

Poetry Reading & Open Mic (Star e Rose Cafe, @6:00pm): Come on down to the star e rose and bring those words you have hidden in the back of your closet, your journal you write in while sipping Chamomile. bring your heartfelt love poetry, searing social commentary, uproarious comic routines, and bittersweet personal confessional pieces. bring your rap and your haiku, your monologue and your spoken word. bring your despair and your hope your anger and your happiness bring your souls in your words and we will listen. the star e rose cafe is a safe and cozy place and we welcome all walks of life as long as you do not use words or actions that may hurt others. be respectful and be respected. we look forward to hearing you all speak! lineup: PDX majesty, Christopher Keller, Kashea Kilson-Anderson, Lindsey Morrison grant, Roxy R, Desiree Rutherford, and YOU!

Sandra Dorr (Broadway Books, @7:00pm): Poet, editor, and writing teacher Sandra Dorr will be here to read from her latest collection of poems, Desert Water (Lithic Press). Sandra has encouraged and inspired writers for twenty-five years.  Sandra has also been an NPR commentator and has written two books on women’s health and travel. Poems in this collection won The Writer/Rosebud’s New Discovery Prize, a Salt Hill prize, and first prize in the Colorado Poetry Society’s open contest, among others. Sandra currently lives with her family in western Colorado in a house they built on the edge of canyon wilderness, where she is working on a novel.

Matt Love (Tigard Public Library, @7:00pm): In the summer of 1970, an Oregon classic was filmed in Lincoln County. For nearly three months, the cast and crew transformed Ken Kesey’s epic novel into a movie. The long-time locals are still talking about it. In fact, what went on that summer has since become a legend. Author Matt Love, who is writing a book about the filming of the movie, will offer a unique reflection on the film and what happened when the biggest star in the world came to Oregon to film one of the greatest Oregon novels of all time. The presentation will feature a slide show on the history of the film, discussion and clips from the movie.

Craig Johnson presents “Junkyard Dogs” (Murder by the Book, @7:00pm): In Craig Johnson’s Junkyard Dogs, Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is down in the dumps … but only because a thumb has been found there. He discovers the owners of the dump are having a disagreement, Wyoming-style, with the developers of the land next door. When dead bodies begin to pop up, Walt and his crew must sift out the clues from the garbage to find the killer.

Oregon Literary Review presents First Wednesdays (Blackbird Wineshop, @7:00pm): Oregon Literary Review co-hosts First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting. This show is 21 and over. The readers for July 7 are Pat Cason, Jan Priddy, Nicholas Karavatos, and Susan DeFreitas.

CFI/Freethinkers Book Group (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): This month’s nonfiction book group meets to discuss the second half of Primates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved by Frans de Waal.

Steve Duno (Annie Bloom’s Books, @7:30pm): Last Dog on the Hill tells the story of an indigent young Rottweiler mix who, after abandoning his pack and the hills of his birth, went on to change the lives of hundreds of people and dogs, including Steve Duno’s, whose career as a behaviorist and writer was made possible through Lou’s extraordinary intelligence and heart. Lou won the respect of gang members, foiled an armed robbery, caught a rapist, fought coyotes and kidnappers, comforted elderly war veterans and Alzheimer patients in their final days, taught ASL to kids, learned scores of unique behaviors and tricks, amassed a vocabulary of nearly 200 words, helped rehabilitate hundreds of aggressive dogs and saved them from euthanasia. He was also a clown, consummate performer and Steve’s best friend for sixteen years. His story will make readers laugh and cry in equal measures.

Aimee Bender (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): The wondrous Aimee Bender conjures the lush and moving story of a girl whose magical gift is really a devastating curse. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Doubleday) is a luminous tale — heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad — and was chosen as the latest volume of Powells.com’s Indiespensable subscription club.

Adult Book Group (Tualatin Public Library, @8:00pm): July’s selection is Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck.. Our book discussion group is an informal and relaxed gathering, with a respectful, congenial, and inquisitive atmosphere. Every member of the group takes two to three minutes to give their overall impression of the book. After everyone has given their opening summary, the group is ready to engage in a more thorough discussion. Everyone will be given an opportunity to participate in the discussion, however participation is not a requirement. Listeners are welcome!

Thursday July 8-

Richard Starkings & Moritat Signing (Cosmic Monkey Comics, @11:00am): Richard Starkings, creator and writer of the Image comic Elephantmen will be signing along with artist Moritat. Free copies of the comics will also be available.

Fancy Nancy Party (A Children’s Place Bookstore, @2:00pm): ACP’s very own Val is thrilled to announce our annual Fancy Nancy Party! Dress in your fanciest, and be prepared for royal treatment!

Over It: Artist Reception (Littman Gallery, @5:00pm): What happens when you try to unite a group of 18 creatives behind one “singular idea?”  Attendee’s will find out at the opening of “Over It.”  Check out the Studio Jelly blog for the back story.

Casanova #1 Book Release and Signing w/ Matt Fraction (Floating World Comics, @5:00pm): Before making a name for himself with Marvel Comics’ Invincible Iron Man and Uncanny X-Men, Matt Fraction was blowing readers minds with his creator owned series, Casanova. The series centers upon renowned thief Casanova Quinn, who gets “blackmailed into being a pawn and double agent in a global game of super-espionage”. It will appeal to fans of Michael Moorcock’s Jerry Cornelius stories with a cascade of alternate universes and polymorphic sexuality. Fans will have a chance to meet the Eisner Award winning Fraction and pick up a copy of the newly remastered version of Casanova #1.

Opening Reception: Monsters of Web Comics 2.0 (PNCA-Feldman Gallery, @6:00pm): Curator Andrew Farago explores the digital revolution in the exhibition Monsters of Webcomics 2.0. This showcase of some of the best and boldest work published on the World Wide Web runs the gamut from four-panel comic strips to full-length graphic novels and includes comedy, autobiography, drama, history, science fiction and sociopolitical commentary. Including work by Kate Beaton, Phil and Kaja Foglio, Dorothy Gambrell, Shaenon K. Garrity, Jenn Manley Lee, Dylan Meconis, Erika Moen, Chris Onstad, Spike aka Charlene Trotman and Dirk Tiede, the exhibition represents just a small fraction of the comics available online today.

Book Club (Wilsonville Public Library, @6:00pm): The only one of Kipling’s novels to be cast in an American setting, Captains Courageous endures as one of literature’s most cherished and memorable sea adventures. Harvey Cheyne, spoiled millionaire’s son, tumbles overboard from a luxury liner–only to be rescued by the crew of a Gloucester schooner. Thus begins the boy’s second voyage into the rugged rites and ways of sailors. Come share your thoughts about this book and bring suggestions of your favorite authors and titles for future meetings.

Graphic Novel Reading Club (Bridge City Comics, @7:00pm): Join us on the second Thursday of every month for Portland’s first Graphic Novel Reading Club! Bring a chair and something to drink, if you’d like!  July’s selection is Transmetropolitan Vol. 1, the acclaimed Vertigo series from writer Warren Ellis (Planetary and The Authority) and artist Darick Robertson, Transmetropolitan combines black humor, life-threatening situations, and moral ambiguity to look into the gonzo mind of an outlaw journalist and the world he seeks to destroy.

Barb and J. C. Hendee & Louise Marley (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): In Through Stone and Sea (Roc), the latest volume of Barb and J. C. Hendee’s Noble Dead series, Wynn journeys to the mountain stronghold of the dwarves in search of the Stonewalkers, an unknown sect supposedly in possession of important ancient texts. In Mozart’s Blood (Kensington), Louise Marley weaves a lush historical novel with an unforgettable heroine — a beautiful vampire virtuoso who shares an everlasting bond with the world’s most notorious musical genius.

Deadly Diversions Mystery Book Group (Powells Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, @7:00pm): This month we meet to discuss Trigger City by Sean Chercover. Join us!

Carolyn Parkhurst (Powells City of Books, @7:30pm): From Carolyn Parkhurst, the bestselling author of The Dogs of Babel, comes The Nobodies Album (Doubleday), an emotionally gripping and resonant mystery about a mother and her son, and about the possibility that one can never truly know another person.

Understanding the Crash (Powells Books on Hawthorne, @7:30pm): Understanding the Crash (Soft Skull Press) starts with a simple question that still haunts us all: What has happened to the world economy? With the kind of striking precision that only graphic nonfiction can provide, Seth Tobocman and Eric Laursen explain just how we got into this mess — and how we can get out of it.

Friday July 9-

Dirty Queer Open Mic (In Other Words Women’s Books & Resources, @6:30pm, $1-$5 Suggested Donation): Dirty Queer is an X rated open mic: a place to celebrate sexuality and strut your creative stuff! Hosted by renegade writer and poet Sossity Chiricuzio, Dirty Queer is proven itself to be a thought provoking evening of excitement, laughter and full body shivers. We’re looking for queer erotic entertainers of all sorts: dancers, jugglers, singers, musicians, comics, poets, storytellers, magicians, gender performers … if you can do it in 5-10 minutes or less (w/ minimal props/equip), this open mic’s for you! It’s highly recommended to bring your own folding chairs if you can, as we average 85 people/month. Everyone who attends has a chance to win door prizes from local businesses! Caveats: 18+, consent is key, no hate speech.

Diary Comics (Reading Frenzy, @7:00pm): Join us for the kick off of Jesse Reklaw’s book tour celebrating the release of Ten Thousand Things To Do with a multimedia diary comic extravaganza featuring Melinda Tracy Boyce, Clutch, Virginia Paine and of course, Jesse Reklaw! This event is free and so is the beer.

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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.