* NICOLA GRIFFITH
Local author Griffith will be reading from her new book, Stay; the protagonist is described by the NY Times Book Review as a "classic noir hero, a private eye who's smart, resourceful, cool as a cucumber--and badly damaged." Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.
* DAVID SHIELDS
Celebrated local author and professor Shields will discuss Jewish themes in his new memoir, Enough About You: Adventures in Autobiography. Tree of Life Judaica & Books, 2201 NE 65th St, 527-1130, 7 pm, free.
SANDI SONNENFELD
Sonnenfeld's This Is How I Speak: The Diary of a Young Woman is a memoir of one young woman's first year in the MFA program at the University of Washington. The student experiences love, sex, loss, a bad therapist, and endless Seattle rain. University Bookstore, 4326 University Way, 634-3400, 7:30 pm, free.
ROGER FANNING
Fanning reads from his just-released collection of poetry, Homesick. Open Books, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.
KEVIN O'BRIEN
Chicago native, former railroad inspector, and now Seattle resident O'Brien reads from his latest novel, Make Them Cry, which is set in a seminary in the Northwest. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
PIETER FOLKENS
Folkens is here to push Guide to Marine Mammals of the World, which takes a close look at marine life. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.
ROGER FANNING
Seattle poet Fanning is here tonight with his newly released second book, Homesick, which was published by penguins (I mean Penguin Poet). Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* KEVIN PHILLIPS
Phillips talks about and signs Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich, which examines how the super-rich have worked hard with our government to sustain the great gap between them and us. UW Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room, 7 pm, free w/ticket, available at University Bookstore, 634-3400.
THOMAS GRAHAM JR.
Ambassador Paul Nitze writes of Ambassador Graham's new book, Disarmament Sketches: Three Decades of Arms Control and International Law: "For 30 years Thomas Graham has been an indefatigable warrior for the true and just in the long battle to reduce the risk of nuclear war." UW Kane Hall, room 110, 7 pm, free w/ticket, available at University Bookstore, 634-3400.
* KAREN BRAUCHER and WILLA SCHNEBERG
Respected poets from Portland, Oregon read and discuss their recent works concerning travel to many regions of the world. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 7 pm, free.
SUSAN SLOAN
Sloan's new Seattle-set novel, Act of God, is, according to Publishers Weekly, "explosive" and presents a "rainy Seattle" and "a murderous political climate." Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
LAURA CUNNINGHAM
Here is a telling passage from Cunningham's new Beautiful Bodies: "You Look Beautiful. Yeah, yeah. She looked beautiful." Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
NOVA POETRY PROJECT
Today, young poets of the Nova School's Poetry Project read their poetry. Nova is an alternative school in the Seattle public school system, and the students reading this afternoon have been studying and writing poems with teacher Barbara Osborne and others. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free.
IAN MARSHALL
Marine artist Marshall visits with a new book, Flying Boats: The J-class Yachts of Aviation. Don't ask me; please see www.themarinegallery.com. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 4 pm, free.
LAURA KALPAKIAN
Kalpakian reads from Educating Waverly, which is set on fictional Isadora Island in Puget Sound, and involves the friendship of two young women attending a private school on the island. I wonder what the regular fare for the Seattle/Isadora ferry is? Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
* MICHAEL POLLAN
My intern Colin Booy, whose opinion I respect, holds Pollan's pro-plant book The Botany of Desire in high regard. "Put a star next that reading," he said to me, and I did. University Bookstore, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.
GLORI SIMMONS
Originally from the gloomy Northwest and now a happy San Francisco resident, Simmons is here tonight with a collection of poetry in hand, called Graft. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
JULIA GLASS
Three Junes, Glass' debut novel, has "mature, compassionate wisdom permeating it" (Publishers Weekly) and almost "threatens to burst with all the life it contains" (Michael Cunningham). Yikes! Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
* ROBERT MICHAEL PYLE
A little Nabokovia comes to sudden, unexpected, shimmering life in the University District tonight with this reading of Pyle's Butterflies of Cascadia, which tracks the butterflies of the Northwest. UW Kane Hall, Walker-Ames Room, 7 pm, free w/ticket, available at University Bookstore, 634-3400.
RANDY WAYNE WHITE
White reads and signs Twelve Mile Limit, the ninth in his popular Doc Ford mystery series. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry, 587-5737, noon, free.
DANIEL HAYS
Haze's (I mean Hays') newest book, On Whale Island: Notes from a Place I Never Meant to Leave, takes place on a deserted island off the coast of Nova Scotia, and chronicles a year of discovery and revelation. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.
SANDRA TSING LOH
Loh reads from A Year in Van Nuys, a wacky send-up of A Year in Provence. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.
