BRIAN TOKAR
Professor Brian Tokar reads from Redesigning Life? The Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main, 624-6400, 5:30 pm, free.
KIM HEACOX
Heacox will read from his first novel, Caribou Crossing, set in Alaska. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
VIRGINIA MORRELL
In Blue Nile: Ethiopia's River of Magic and Mystery, Morrell recounts her 1999 expedition down the Nile, "where tribesmen still hunt leopards with spears." University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
HARRIET LERNER, Ph.D.
Noted lecturer, psychotherapist, and author Dr. Harriet Lerner promotes her new book, The Dance of Connection: How to Talk to Someone When You're Mad, Hurt, Scared, Frustrated, Insulted, Betrayed, or Desperate. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.
MARY LOU SANELLI AND JUDITH SKILLMAN
Bellevue poet Skillman reads from her new collection, Red Town. Port Townsend's Sanelli reads from her recently published book Women in the Garden. And Seattle must sit down and listen. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.
W. P. KINSELLA
The author of Shoeless Joe, the book on which Field of Dreams was based, will sign his new book, Magic Time, which is about a college baseball all-star whose attempts at pro ball chronically fail. Barnes & Noble, Alderwood Mall, (800) 837-2210, 7 pm, free. Also at Elliott Bay Book Company, Fri Oct 5, 7:30, free.
MERLINDA BOBIS
UW Women's Center presents Filipina Australian writer and performer Merlinda Bobis, who will read from The Kissing, a collection of short stories that describe the "post-colonial Filipino experience." Women's Center Gallery, Cunningham Hall, UW Campus, 685-1090, 3 pm, free. Also at Kinokuniya Bookstore, 525 S Weller St, 587-2477, 7:30 pm, free.
* DAVID SHIELDS
See Stranger Suggests. Here is what The Stranger's Brad Steinbacher has to say about Shields' new little book, Baseball Is Just Baseball: "Ichiro has stunned the baseball world, and has done so through the only type of exposure that is really necessary: playing brilliantly. He rarely gives interviews (he speaks very little English), and lives an exceedingly private life--the only glimpses us fans get of Japan's number-one son are in the handful of quotes available in the press. These quotes, deceptively simple and humble, have now been collected in a pint-sized book by David Shields, author of Black Planet: Facing Race During an NBA Season. Completely unauthorized, Baseball Is Just Baseball is a quick, entertaining read--and while it may not solve the mystery of just who Ichiro is, mystery is part of his allure." Elliott Bay Book Company, 5:30 pm, free. Also at University Bookstore on Tues Oct 9, 5 pm, free.
JENNIFER LAUCK
Author Lauck presents Still Waters, a memoir in which "she discovers that the past cannot be locked away forever." Third Place Books, 6:30 pm, free.
DENNIS BOCK
Toronto writer, author of the short-story collection Olympia, appears with his new novel, The Ash Garden, which portrays the lives of three characters over 50 years. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.
JONATHAN FRANZEN
Jonathan is everywhere. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free. Also at Elliott Bay Book Company on Sat Oct 6, 7:30 pm, free.
JIM DAVIES & TOM PORTER
The authors of The Glory of Washington: The People and the Events That Shaped the Husky Athletic Tradition sign copies of it. Borders, 1501 Fourth Ave, 11:30 am, free.
* SHERMAN ALEXIE & NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
See Stranger Suggests. The opening night of the Fourth Annual Cultural Inquiry, this year called Maps. Hugo House, 1634 12th Ave, 322-7030, 7:30 pm, $10 general admission/$8 members.
CALYX 25TH ANNIVERSARY READING
Calyx presents Cracking the Earth, its silver anniversary anthology. Readers include Deborah Bacharach, Nancy Dahlberg, and Samantha Storey. Third Place Books, 5 pm, free.
* DR. SERGEI KRUSHCHEV
Son of the Sputnik-era Soviet premier and author of Nikita Krushchev and the Creation of a Super Power, Dr. Krushchev presents a keynote address in the Museum of Flight's month of Sputnik programs. Museum of Flight, 9404 E Marginal Way S, 764-5700, 2 pm, free with museum admission.
JILL FREDSTON
Avalanche expert Jill Fredston reads and signs her new book, Rowing to Latitude: Journeys Along the Arctic's Edge, which describes her encounters with high seas, hurricane gales, and different kinds of bears. Elliott Bay Book Company, 4 pm, free. Also at Third Place Books on Mon Oct 8, 7:30 pm, free.
* XU XI
New Yorker by way of Hong Kong and Singapore and one of the leading English writers in Asia, Xu Xi is pushing two volumes set in the fragrant harbor (Hong Kong): a book of stories, History's Fiction, and a novel, The Unwalled City. University Bookstore, 4 pm, free. Also at Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.
SEATTLE ARTS COMMISSION READING
Poets Suzanne Bottelli, Jennifer Moss, and Laura McKee, recipients of Seattle Arts Commission Artist Awards, will read from their new, new, new works. Hugo House, 7 pm, free.
MOON ZAPPA
America the Beautiful, Moon Zappa's debut novel, is about heartbreak in Hollywood. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free. Also at Third Place Books, 7 pm, free.
* TOLLY BURKAN
Burkan is "the father of the international firewalking movement." That is all I need to say. Third Place Books, 7 pm, free.
DAVID I. KERTZER
Brown professor and historian David Kertzer reads from his new book, The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.
PETER GETHERS
The author of The Cat Who'll Live Forever will appear for a reading, discussion, and signing. Barnes & Noble, University Village, 517-4107, 7 pm, free.
DORON SWADE
Swade wrote The Difference Engine, about the man who envisioned the modern calculator a hundred years before computers were invented, then died and hadn't built it. Tickets available via University Bookstore. Kane Hall, Walker Ames Room, UW Campus, 7 pm, free.
CARL ZIMMER
Award-winning journalist and author signs Evolution. Tickets available via University Bookstore. Kane Hall, Room 130, UW Campus, 7 pm, free.
ANNICK SMITH
Missoula writer and filmmaker Smith wrote a memoir, In This We Are Natives, about the beautiful landscape in which she and her husband made their home, until he died. Elliott Bay Book Company, 7:30 pm, free.
MARY DAHEIM
Daheim signs The Alpine Nemesis, her 14th paperback with newswoman Emma Lord. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, noon, free.
* LILY BURANA
Ex-stripper-cum-journalist wrote Strip City: A Stripper's Farewell Journey Across America, in which she accepts a marriage proposal, but not before she decides to strip her way from Florida to Alaska to get it out of her system. University Bookstore, 7 pm, free.
