ANITA PRATAP
Pratap, a journalist for CNN and Time, talks about where her job has taken her and signs her new book, Island of Blood: Frontline Reports from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Other South Asian Flashpoints. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
ART THIEL
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's sports columnist signs Out of Left Field: How the Mariners Made Baseball Fly in Seattle. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
JAMES CARROLL
The characters in the Berlin-based historical thriller Secret Father include two variously impaired young men: One has polio, and one's a socialist. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free. (Also at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, on Fri Sept 26 at 6 pm.)
ANNE LAMOTT
The "noted author, single mom, and cranky Christian" (the New Yorker)--also a Salon columnist and the author of Bird by Bird, among other inspiring titles--talks about, you know, life. The paperback of her most recent novel, Blue Shoe, is now out. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 325-3554, 7:30 pm, $20.
FRIDAY 9/26
* FRANCIS ITANI
"Deafening is a remarkable and absorbing first novel," says Cold Mountain author Charles Frazier. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SATURDAY 9/27
GEORGE W. SCOTT
The former senator signs A Majority of One: Legislative Life. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.
NICHOLAS SPARKS
The bestselling author of sepia-toned novels like Message in a Bottle signs his latest, The Wedding. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 4 pm, free.
TONY HOROWITZ
Horowitz signs the paperback release of Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SUNDAY 9/28
GERRY SPENCE
The Smoking Gun is an account of an unfair trial. Downtown Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 622-4599, 12:30 pm, free.
DAVID OATES
The Portland author signs Paradise Wild: Reimagining American Nature. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.
TATYANA MISHEL
Mishel is at work on a novel and a book of poems. Victrola, 411 15th Ave E, 325-6520, 7 pm, free.
PRIYA KEEFE, CLARK HUMPHREY, PAUL NELSON
Keefe and Nelson are poets, and Humphrey is working on a novel about the world's blandest person. Titlewave Books, 7 Mercer St, 324-6379, 7:30 pm, free.
MONDAY 9/29
ANNE PERRY
No Graves As Yet is a mystery that begins with a car accident. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free. (Also at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, at 7 pm.)
ANN BANCROFT & LIV ARNESEN
The two explorers sign No Horizon Is So Far, their story of being the first women to cross Antarctica on foot. University of Washington, Kane Hall 130, 634-3400, 7 pm, free (tickets required).
SENA JETER NASLUND
Four Spirits is a novel set in Birmingham, Alabama, in the 1960s. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
* JEFFREY EUGENIDES
See Stranger Suggests. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, 621-2230, 7:30 pm, $9-$23.
TUESDAY 9/30
* ROBBIE CONAL
See preview, page 25, and Stranger Suggests. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
DAVE BARRY
The humorist signs Boogers Are My Beat: More Lies, But Some Actual Journalism. Third Place Books, 633-3333, 7 pm, free.
* HENRY PETROSKI
Small Things Considered: Why There Is No Perfect Design examines how objects shape our lives. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
CAROLINE ALEXANDER
The author of The Endurance reads from her new book, The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty, which is "destined to become the definitive, enthralling history of a great seafaring adventure," according to Publishers Weekly. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free (tickets required).
WEDNESDAY 10/1
ORATRIX
A bunch of dyke performance poets who, you know, aren't going to take it anymore. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 233-9873, 7 pm, $5-10 (sliding scale).
AN UNCENSORED CELEBRATION
An evening of dramatic readings from books that have faced censorship, emceed by city librarian Deborah Jacobs. Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 624-2184, 7:30 pm, free ($5 donations welcome).
MICHAEL WIEGERS
The Copper Canyon Press editor reads from Contemporary Mexican Poetry. Marco Polo Travel Resources, 713 Broadway E, 860-3736, 7:30 pm, free.
