Books

Readings Listings

by Grant Cogswell

*ALONDA DROEGE, JIM DROEGE

The Droeges have compiled 10 detailed trips on Puget Sound in Around Puget Sound by Bicycle and Ferryboat (Globe Publishers). This really is the most enjoyable way to see the region from land. Having a comprehensive guide might take some of the surprises out of it, but surprises aren't always good. Believe it or not, a reasonably fit cyclist can ride from Seattle to Port Townsend this way in one day. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

BRENDA PETERSON

The author of Singing to the Sound: Visions of Nature, Animals & Spirit will read from her book of essays that discuss topics of tragic dimension and enormous threat to the ecosystem, like the coming de facto extinction of the salmon, and touchy-feely non-issues, like the Makah tribe's century-old legal rights to give their kids some identity and self worth by reactivating their minimal, ritual whale hunt. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

LOUISE HAUCK

Hauck "will show how we can open our perceptions to the ongoing presence of deceased loved ones in our lives." I could make fun, but I won't. When I was 20, my fraternity brothers had a party trick where they would "pass each other out," in which the subject would hyperventilate and then have the artery next to his breastbone compressed by a partner. I actually submitted to this in an attempt to communicate with my dead father. This seems incredible now. East West Bookshop, 6500 Roosevelt NE, 523-3726, 7:30 pm, $7.

KEVIN HENKES

The author of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse reads from Wemberly Worried, the tale of a mouse dreading that first day of school. When I went to an English middle school for a year, the new kids got "bog washed" (head in toilet, flush). If you did that to a mouse, he'd disappear! University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

*RUSTY RAY

This is the publication party for Speed and Spray: The Bob Carver Story, with text by Rusty Ray and photos by Bob Carver, the preeminent photographer of hydroplane racing. Racing memorabilia from the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum will be on display. There will also be a corresponding children's event with a coloring contest on Saturday from 11 am to 1 pm. Go back to the era when hydro races were as "Seattle" as the you-know-what that goes in a cup and keeps you up and that stuff that makes those thingamajigs do whatever are today. This event is part of Seafair, and if you don't like Seafair, go back to California. Refreshments will be served. Arundel Books, 1119 First Ave, 624-4442, 7 pm, free.

*DAME DARCY

Little things like this way out in Fremont are why this town rules. The cartoonist of the comics Meatcake and Rollerderby will sign the new issue of Meatcake and play her banjo. Confounded Books and Hypno Video, 3506 Fremont Ave N, 545-0744, 6 pm, free.

VIMALA RODGERS

I get how your handwriting might reveal your personality, but changing your personality (and who doesn't need to?) by altering your style of handwriting sounds a little ass-backwards and kooky. But give it a try! The author of Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life will show you how. "Begin to design a life that really works for you." East West Bookshop, 6500 Roosevelt Way NE, 523-3726, 7 pm, $7.

DEBI HOLMES-BINNEY

Holmes-Binney reads from her new book, Desert Sojourn. This broad's doing it up Old Testament-style. She spent 40 days (and 40 nights) in the Utah desert, freaking and living off roots and crickets. Now that's personal growth. I'm trading my shrink for a sleeping bag. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 2 pm, free.

*NICOLE BLACKMAN

See Stranger Suggests. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

CYNTHIA ACREE

Acree will read from The Gulf Between Us. In 1991 Acree's husband was held hostage by the Iraqi government, "while in a different way Cindy herself was a hostage to the U.S. government and the international news media." In yet another different way, I was a hostage of sorts that year to the pouring skills of international rock star Dave Matthews, who then tended bar at Miller's in Charlottesville, Virginia, where my lens on the Gulf War days and my college experience was... blurred. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

*ERIC OBERG

This will be a talk from the author of Moving Toward Harmony (Far Eastern Press) with a demonstration on martial arts-based exercise programs. Oberg teaches at the Seattle School of Aikido. He's half Japanese and half Swedish, so after he kicks the shit out of you, he'll offer you a massage, or something. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

ALLISON GREEN

The author of Half-Moon Scar will read from her novel about a thirtysomething lesbian's return to her Midwestern home town, where the only CD she and her relatives can agree on is k.d. lang. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN

The executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan "spills the secrets of the trade" in "a wickedly funny exposé of sex, drugs, and haute cuisine": Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. What good is fame if all your friends think you're a jerk? I mean, there are chefs out there looking to kill this guy. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

O. CASEY CORR

O. Casey Corr is one of the writers for The Seattle Times editorial page, so you know his account of the McCaw cellular phone empire, Money from Thin Air, will be a thoughtful, hard-hitting critique of corporate power and new money. And I have a 12-inch dick. Use of cellphones during this event is encouraged. University Village Barnes & Noble, 2700 NE University Village, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.

*MARIANNE BINETTI

The P-I's garden columnist and the author of Perennials for Washington and Oregon and Easy Answers for Great Gardens gives a slide show and talk and passes out door prizes and free perennials. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, 366-3300, 7 pm, free.

DARIN STRAUSS

Reading from his debut novel, Chang and Eng, about the original "Siamese twins." My best friend and I are tight like that, but everybody just thinks we're gay. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.