If you’re a Portland author, poet, publisher, comic, zinester, or literary journal, and would like to be considered for our weekly new release feature, please add your new release to our list.

Title: A Simple Machine, Like the Lever

Author: Evan P. Schneider

Publisher: Propeller Books

Purchase: Buy here

Description: Nicholas Allander, 31—carless and careerless—is trying to get his life on track while holding his head high. He’s trying to pay off his debt, impress his girlfriend, keep his job, cast off his introversion, and accept the world’s imperfections without abandoning his heart. Unsure of what moves to make, though, he considers growing his beard, taking up alcoholism, abandoning scrounging, and owning an automobile—before too much slips by. All the while he clings to his bicycle, a simple machine whose purpose and workings he grasps.

Nick’s struggle to position his aesthetic within the world is the story of a perfectionist who is far from perfect, who is considerate but clumsy, and may be invisible. Like Nick, A Simple Machine, Like the Lever is short, toned, observant, generous, purposeful, and brimming with bicycle wisdom.

Reviews: “Clever, poignant and unexpectedly funny, Schneider’s A Simple Machine, Like The Lever masterfully evokes the simple pleasures—and harsh realities—of keeping to one’s ideals in a world where speed is revered and complexity is king.” —David Rozgonyi, author or Goat Trees: Tales from the Other Side of the World

“Schneider’s literary cycling uplift is enough to counteract the weight of the world. He nails the essence of being a cyclist and of being young—the yearning, the detachment, the attempted grace, the uncertainty, the gray confusion.” —Jonny Waldman, founder of Zero Per Gallon ($0.00 9/10)

Author Bio: Evan P. Schneider is the founding editor of Boneshaker: A Bicycling Almanac. His work has appeared in The Normal School, Propeller, False, GER, on the McSweeney’s website, and in other publications. He has received a fellowship from KHN Center for the Arts, and in 2006, his poem “Traffic” was printed as a limited-edition broadside by New Leaves Press. Born in New Mexico and raised in Colorado, Schneider now lives in Portland, Oregon.

Have you read A Simple Machine, Like the Lever? We invite you to leave your review, and discuss it with others, here. Or, you can review any of the other new releases added to our list. We will pick the best reviews to highlight on our blog!

If you’re promoting an upcoming Portland literary event, and would like to be considered for our daily event highlight, please add your event to our list.

What: Wordstock Think & Drink featuring Jennifer Michael Hecht

Where: rontoms (600 E. Burnside)

When: October 5th, 2011, 6:00pm-7:30pm

How Much: Free & Open to the Public, 21 and over

Info: The 2011 Wordstock Think & Drink will feature Jennifer Michael Hecht, author of The Happiness Myth, who will tackle the history of happiness. The happy-hour series, which sparks provocative conversations about big ideas, is sponsored by Oregon Humanities.

Jennifer Michael Hecht is the author of award-winning books of philosophy, history, and poetry, including The Happiness Myth, Doubt: A History, and her most recent poetry book, Funny. She earned her PhD in the history of science and European cultural history from Columbia University in 1995 and now teaches at the New School University in New York City.

Oregon Humanities connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information about our programs and publications—which include the Conversation Project: A New Chautauqua, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Teacher Institutes, Happy Camp: Oregon Humanities Honors Symposium, Public Program Grants, Responsive Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine—can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

Other Portland Literary Event’s Happening Today:

7:00pm-Stanley Trollip and Michael Sears present “Death of the Mantis” at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills

7:00pm-Angel Punk #1 Release Party at Hollywood TFAW

7:30pm-Mountain Writers present Judith Barrington at 23 Sandy Gallery

7:30pm-Diana Abu-Jaber presents “Birds of Paradise” at Annie Bloom’s Books

Are you attending this event tonight? We invite you to recap your experience, and discuss the event with others, here. Or, you can recap any of the other events added to our list. We will pick the best recaps to highlight on our blog!

If you’re promoting an upcoming Portland literary event, and would like to be considered for our daily event highlight, please add your event to our list.

What: Portland Stories Reading Showcase

Where: Central Library/U.S. Bank Room (1028 SE Water Ave)

When: October 4th, 2011, 6:00pm-7:30pm

How Much: Free & Open to the Public

Info: Join Wordstock and Multnomah County Library for a free festival “sneak-peak” event. In honor of the Wordstock 2011 theme “American Stories,” three Portland-based festival authors present three different takes on “Portland Stories”: Kerry Cohen, “Seeing Ezra: A Mother’s Story of Autism, Unconditional Love, and the Meaning of Normal”; David Biespiel, “Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces,” “The Book of Men and Women”; and Kilong Ung, “Golden Leaf: A Khmer Rouge Genocide Survivor.”

Other Portland Literary Event’s Happening Today:

7:00pm-Taylor Anderson presents “Firestorm” at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills

7:30pm-Justin Torres presents “We the Animals” at Powell’s City of Books

Are you attending this event tonight? We invite you to recap your experience, and discuss the event with others, here. Or, you can recap any of the other events added to our list. We will pick the best recaps to highlight on our blog!

If you’re promoting an upcoming Portland literary event, and would like to be considered for our daily event highlight, please add your event to our list.

What: Diana Abu-Jaber presents “Birds of Paradise”

Where: Powell’s City of Books (1005 W Burnside)

When: October 2nd, 2011, 7:30pm-9:00pm

How Much: Free & Open to the Public

Info: In Birds of Paradise (W.W. Norton), Diana Abu-Jaber‘s multilayered novel about a family that comes apart at the seams and finds its way together again, Avis and Brian Muir are haunted by the disappearance of their ineffably beautiful daughter, Felice, who ran away when she was 13. Now, after five years of modeling tattoos, skateboarding, clubbing, and sleeping in a squatter’s house, Felice is about to turn 18 and must reckon with the guilty secret that drove her away and face her fear of losing her family and sense of self forever.

Other Portland Literary Event’s Happening Today:

2:00pm-Lisa Schroeder presents “Sprinkles & Secrets” at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills

Are you attending this event tonight? We invite you to recap your experience, and discuss the event with others, here. Or, you can recap any of the other events added to our list. We will pick the best recaps to highlight on our blog!

If you’re promoting an upcoming Portland literary event, and would like to be considered for our daily event highlight, please add your event to our list.

What: “Spell Checkers Vol. 2″ Release Party

Where: Bridge City Comics (3725 N. Mississippi Ave.)

When: September 30th, 2011, 6:00pm-8:00pm

How Much: Free & Open to the Public

Info: Bridge City Comics is proud to host the creative team of Portland locals Jamie Rich, Joelle Jones and Nico Hitori De! They will be signing copies of Spell Checkers Vol. 2 but sketches will be left to the discretion of the artists. Come join us for a night of fun, comics, try to stump Jamie Rich at 80′s music trivia!

Bridge City Comics will have copies of Spell Checkers Vol. 2 on hand for purchase during the event, as well as a copies of Spell Checkers Vol. 1 and assorted other titles from the creative team.

Other Portland Literary Event’s Happening Today:

7:00pm-Kiki Hamilton presents “The Faeire Ring” at Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills

7:30pm-Charles Mann presents “1493″ at Powell’s City of Books

Are you attending this event tonight? We invite you to recap your experience, and discuss the event with others, here. Or, you can recap any of the other events added to our list. We will pick the best recaps to highlight on our blog!

Venice Is For Lovers is the print portion of The Miracle In July: A Digital Love Story, an experiment in multimedia publishing.  Hot and dark, the semiautobiographical work tells the story of a relationship that began online, between people 9 time zones and 5000 miles apart.  Michelle Rae Anderson was a writer who didn’t write, and nursing a broken heart, when she met Daniel, who began their online affair with a story.  The exchange of stories led to a passionate international love affair that grew far beyond mere erotic taleswapping.  Michelle will answer questions about her efforts to create connections between print and online publishing when she signs Venice Is For Lovers.

In her eye-opening book Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy (Oxford University Press), Susan N. Herman, president of the ACLU, takes a hard look at the human and social costs of the War on Terror. A decade after 9/11, it’s far from clear that the government’s hastily adopted antiterrorist tactics — such as the Patriot Act — are keeping us safe. In fact, it has become clear that these emergency measures have the potential to ravage our lives — and have already done just that to countless Americans. This book is a wake-up call for all Americans who remain largely unaware of the post-9/11 surveillance regime’s insidious and continuing growth. Cosponsored by the Oregon chapters of the ACLU and the World Affairs Council.

Who’s the sexiest vampire alive? Perhaps the undead playboy Gregori Holstein, the immortal hero of Kerrelyn Sparks‘s witty, paranormal romance Sexiest Vampire Alive(Avon). With the new book in Sparks’s Love at Stake series, Gregori has met his match — the beautiful, brave, and brainy daughter of the President of the United States, whom Gregori must accompany on a dangerous secret mission to China.

In Birds of Paradise (W.W. Norton), Diana Abu-Jaber‘s multilayered novel about a family that comes apart at the seams and finds its way together again, Avis and Brian Muir are haunted by the disappearance of their ineffably beautiful daughter, Felice, who ran away when she was 13. Now, after five years of modeling tattoos, skateboarding, clubbing, and sleeping in a squatter’s house, Felice is about to turn 18 and must reckon with the guilty secret that drove her away and face her fear of losing her family and sense of self forever.

In Lisa Schroeder‘s children’s book Sprinkles and Secrets (Aladdin), 12-year-old Sophie’s dream of becoming an actress comes true when she’s offered a spot on a TV commercial. But then she finds out that she’ll be advertising the ever-popular brownies from Beatrice’s Brownies, which just so happens to be the number one competitor to the bakery owned by her best friend’s family. Sophie has a tough choice to make. What’s a girl to do?