Thursday 12/7

BRUCE BJORNSTAD
The member of the Ice Age Floods Institute reads from his book On the Trail of the Ice Age Floods: A Geological Field Guide to the Mid-Columbia Basin. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 6:30 pm.

AMERICAN HERITAGE SERIES
A panel about armed rebellions in general and Nat Turner (led a slave rebellion in 1831) and John Brown (led a raid on Harpers Ferry in 1859) specifically. Do you know the story of John Brown? Do you know how he died? This panel sounds fascinating. The panelists: Dr. Midori Takagi, Dr. Stephanie Camp, Dr. Nikhil Singh, Jonathan Lawson, and Erwin Thomas. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, 104 17th Ave S, 684-4757. $7 general admission. 7 pm.

BELLA DEPAULO
She reads from her book Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After. (It includes this statistic: 40% of the adults in the United States of America are divorced, widowed, or have always been single.) University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

CARLENE CROSS
The author talks about Fleeing Fundamentalism, which is also about fleeing a husband. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

MARIA HINOJOSA
The managing editor of Latino USA is the featured speaker commemorating 1948's Universal Declaration of Human Rights for all people. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. Free, donations accepted. 7 pm.

Friday 12/8

YASMINE GALENORN
Witchling is a novel of faerie gobbledygook. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 6:30 pm.

BRANDON SANDERSON, L.E. MODESITT, DAVE FARLAND
They read from their books Mistborn: The Final Empire, Soarer's Choice: The Sixth Book of the Corean Chronicles, and Sons of the Oak, respectively. According to press materials, these books concern, in order: "(1) a mist-haunted world rife with metallurgically-gained super powers and societal revolt against oppression, (2) the thunderous conclusion of a fantasy series wherein humans and aliens fight for the fate of their planet, and (3) another final chapter, this one a fantasy in which a revolution against a supernatural race of powerful immortal beings sees a possible shift in the balance of power when one of the revolutionaries is revealed to be an immortal himself." University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

CHARLES FRAZIER
Frazier's second novel (his first was Cold Mountain, which won a National Book Award and was adapted into a movie that made megabucks) is about (according to a New York Times review) an old man who "has been a frontier trader, a 'white chief' of the Cherokees, an emissary to Andrew Jackson's cabinet, a state senator, and a Confederate colonel. He unfurls his life story as an extended reminiscence that begins in the late 1820s. Frazier seems to be aiming to trace the course of American history across three centuries, from the 18th (Will mentions several times that he grew up among veterans of the Revolution), across the 19th, and into the 20th, over well-trodden thematic turf: the end of the wilderness, the closing of the frontier, the loss of national innocence." Sorry, I just dozed off there for a second. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Saturday 12/9

ROBERT HENSON
Henson—the Al Gore of the UK—reads from his book The Rough Guide to Climate Change. According to press materials, "This book provides a complete overview of global warming and its effects, including information about the evolution of the atmosphere, visible symptoms of global warming, the role of the oil industry, review of media coverage, ongoing government intervention, perspective, views of skeptics, and much more." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 2 pm.

DEBORAH WOODARD
A bunch of writers, including the poet herself, read from Woodard's first full-length collection, Plato's Bad Horse. The other writers are Stacey Levine, Daniel Comiskey, Eben Eldridge, Brian McGuigan, Don Mee Choi, Felicia Gonzalez, Sierra Nelson, Corrina Wycoff, and Nancy Rawles. Yusef Komunyakaa says, "Deborah Woodard is the real thing, and Plato's Bad Horse is definitely worth the wait." Prag House, 714 16th Ave E. $5 suggested donation. 7:30 pm.

WHIT MASON
The political analyst gives a talk based on his book Peace at Any Price: How the World Failed Kosovo, which The Economist calls "a serious and well-considered book, which makes suggestions about what has gone wrong and how such mistakes can be avoided by future international missions." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Sunday 12/10

JERRY MANDER, VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ, & JEANETTE ARMSTRONG
Mander and Tauli-Corpuz are the editors of Paradigm Wars, a book about globalization versus indigenous cultures. Armstrong is one of the book's contributors. They read. They talk. They take your questions. And they do another event on Tuesday at Third Place Books. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 2 pm.

POETRY ON WHEELS
Floating Bridge Press, 4Culture, and Washington Center for the Book will host a reading to celebrate Poetry on Wheels: An Anthology of King County's Poetry on Buses Program 1997-2005. Kill me now. Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 386-4636. Free. 2 pm.

Monday 12/11

BRIAN HERBERT, KEVIN J. ANDERSON
Hunters of Dune is a Dune sequel. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

GREG ATKINSON
The local chef talks about West Coast Cooking. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

JEFFREY GOLDBERG
He talks about the experiences recounted in his new memoir Prisoners: A Muslim and a Jew Across the Middle East Divide. From the Publisher's Weekly review: "Not a light read, this memoir of the author, an American-bred Zionist, and his 15-year relationship with a Palestinian insurgent is bound to have detractors, in part because New Yorker Washington correspondent Goldberg is painfully honest—about his dreams, limitations and anxieties. 'I wanted to... have it all,' he writes, 'my parochialism, my universalism, a clean conscience, and a friendship with my enemy.'" Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. $5. 7:30 pm.

MARGARET STARBIRD, MAXINE HANKS
The two theologians talk about their contributions to the new book Secrets of Mary Magdalene: The Untold Story of History's Most Misunderstood Woman. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Tuesday 12/12

JERRY MANDER, VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ
The coeditors talk about their book Paradigm Wars, in which "contributors document the momentous collision of worldviews that pits the forces of economic globalization against the Earth's surviving indigenous peoples." Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

RACHAEL RAY
The lady on cookbooks at the grocery store talks about her latest, 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

JOHN MOE
So there's this guy named John Moe. He writes funny stuff for the McSweeney's website. He hosts a show on public radio. In case you hadn't guessed, he's a Democrat. Then he goes and watches a lot of Fox News, hangs out with some youthful Republicans, eats a bunch of beef jerky, and writes a book called Conservatize Me: How I Tried to Become a Righty with the Help of Richard Nixon, Sean Hannity, Toby Keith, and Beef Jerky. Here's praise from none other than John Hodgman: "John Moe's heart of darkness journey into the reddest recesses of the states we currently still call 'united' is hilarious, enlightening, and wonderfully humane. He may yet save the union." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

DANNY SHERRARD, OPEN SLAM
The high-ranking slam poet struts his stuff. Slam champion Buddy Wakefield calls him "the future." ToST, 513 N 36th St., 547-0240. $5. 8 pm.

Wednesday 12/13

TIMOTHY EGAN
The New York Times journalist, fresh from his National Book Award win for The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl, is feted by Mayor Greg Nickels, City Councilmember Nick Licata, and lots of others. Walter Conkite gushes: "As one who, as a young reporter, survived and reported on the great Dust Bowl disaster, I recommend this book as a dramatic, exciting, and accurate account of that incredible and deadly phenomenon. This is can't-put-down-history." Central Library (Level 3), 1000 4th Ave. Free. 5:30 pm.

KAT RICHARDSON
The author reads from Greywalker, a novel of paranormal gobbledygook. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

JENNIFER MAIER
The poet reads from her first collection, Dark Alphabet. "Jennifer Maier's colloquial language settles you comfortably into the passenger seat for a journey full of surprising turns," reads the endorsement by award-winning fan of cliches Madeline DeFrees. "Settles you comfortably into the passenger seat"? "A journey full of surprising turns"? Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

JODI MAGNESS
The professor of early Judaism holds forth on "The Archeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls." Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. $15. 7:30 pm.