Thursday 7/20

BRYAN MILLER, BOB REDMOND

The poets read from new work. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.

PETER SELZ

The UC Berkeley art history professor talks about Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond. Frye Art Museum Auditorium, 704 Terry Avenue, 622-9250, 7 pm, free.

PETER W. GALBRAITH

The former diplomat talks about The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War Without End. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. 7 pm, Free. (Also on 7/21 at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 206-366-3333. 6:30 pm, free.

ROBERT SULLIVAN

Cross Country is about the American road. It's also about a bunch of other stuff. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7pm, free.

GAUTAM MALKANI

He's an editor at London's Financial Times, and he's written a novel called Londonstani. "This seems like a good reading to go to, if only to get a feel for the weird dialect he apparently uses," comments Andrew Bleeker, the intern who assists with assembling this calendar. "The reviews are intriguing, and it looks like the week's only real 'book event,' if such a thing exists." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

Friday 7/21

MIKE LAWSON

The Second Perimeter is a thriller. Bremerton is among its settings. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free.

LAWNEY REYES

He reads from his nonfiction book Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 8 pm, free.

Saturday 7/22

PETER LAVEZZOLI

He holds forth on The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.

DENNIS REA

The local discusses Live at the Forbidden City: Musical Encounters in China and Taiwan. Floating Leaves Teahouse, 2213 NW Market St, 7 pm, free.

KATHLEEN de AZEVEDO

Samba Dreamers is about a pair of tortured souls. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

Sunday 7/23

ELIZABETH COOK-LYNN

The author of collections of fiction and poetry reads from a reissue of her 1990 book The Power of Horses and Other Stories. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

JENNY KURZWEIL

Fields that Dream is about small-scale sustainable farmers in America. Third Place Commons Farmer's Market, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 206-366-3333, 3 pm, free.

Monday 7/24

NAHID RACHLIN

Jumping over Fire is a novel about an Iranian-American family and, says Sigrid Nunez, "a fine introduction to a land and a culture about which it is imperative we Americans inform ourselves as much and as quickly as possible" (whew!). Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

Tuesday 7/25

J. A. JANCE

The best-selling author's latest, Dead Wrong, involves babies and illegal immigrants. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St, 587-5737, noon, free. (Also at Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7pm, free.

DEBRA DEAN

She reads from her novel The Madonnas of Leningrad. "Dean's exquisite prose shimmers with a haunting glow, illuminating us to the notion that art itself is perhaps our most necessary nourishment," says Chang-rae Lee. Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 206-684-4089, 6:30 pm, free.

JOSEPH DONAHUE, PETER O'LEARY

Donahue writes poems; his new book is called In This Paradise. Bleeker, the Stranger intern, is particularly fond of these lines: "Some lie a day alone in bed/deciding that what they truly desire/is a briar tattoo around the upper arm." O'Leary reads from Depth Theology. Open Books, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.

ROXANNE VARZI

The UC Irvine professor reads from Warring Souls: Youth, Media, and Martyrdom in Post-Revolution Iran. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

VERNOR VINGE

The science-fiction writer (Rainbow's End) talks about what he does and how he does it. JBL Theater at EMP, 325 Fifth Ave N, 770-2702, 7:30 pm, ($4 $3 students/seniors).

Wednesday 7/26

WENDY BLACKBURN

Beachglass is a novel with its share of inept sentences, such as this one from page one: "My new life was like the egg in the egg-drop project that high-school science teachers assign—the one where the students have to use household materials to construct a contraption in which they can nestle an egg, drop it from a second story window, and have the egg not break." Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 684-4089, 6:30 pm, free.