THURSDAY 10/6

SI KAHN
The Fox in the Henhouse: How Privatization Threatens Democracy has half of a fox's head on its cover and is "one of the most important political books of the year," according to Danny Goldberg of Air America Radio. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.

JOHN RINGO
Ghost is a sci-fi thriller involving the navy. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

MICHAEL COLLINS
Lost Souls is a cop mystery involving a car accident, a dead 3-year-old, and Halloween. Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

JULIE POWELL
Julie & Julia is a memoir about how Powell mastered Julia Childs's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Powell will appear in the store's Everyday Eats kitchen, and store staff will serve food from the book—a buffet, actually. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

FRIDAY 10/7

ZADIE SMITH
The author of White Teeth and The Autograph Man reads from her new novel, On Beauty, which is short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. Plus, surprise guests. See Stranger Suggests, p. 23. Neumo's, 925 E Pike St, 709-9527, doors at 7 pm, reading at 8 pm, free, 21+. (Also at Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 4 pm, free, all ages.)

JOHN DARNTON
The Darwin Conspiracy is a novel about the enemy of Christians everywhere, Charles Darwin. It's told from several perspectives. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free. (Also on 10/8 at Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 4 pm, free.)

SUSTAINABLE NORTHWEST
The good people of Sustainable Northwest talk about local ecology and present a slideshow on "Renewing the Countryside: Washington." Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.

YIYUN LI
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers: Stories is a book of short stories set in China and America. One of the stories is called "Death Is Not a Bad Joke If Told the Right Way." University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

LOUISE ERDRICH
Erdrich's 10th novel, The Painted Drum, about a Native-American antiquities specialist, is told from several perspectives. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free. (Also on 10/8 at Richard Huge House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030, 4 pm, free.)

CHRISTINE DEAVEL
The poet reads from a chapbook called Box of Little Spruce. Open Books: A Poem Emporium, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811, 7:30 pm, free.

SATURDAY 10/8

ANU GARG
"A Word a Day creator Anu Garg will amaze you with his large vocabulary (the English language has about 500,000 words) and his knowledge of word origins (the word 'shampoo' came from Hindi 'champee,' meaning to massage the head). Another Word a Day: An All New Romp Through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English is his new book." (Gillian Anderson) Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave, 386-4636, 2 pm, free.

JOY H. SELAK, DR. STEVEN OVERMAN
Selak and her doctor (Seattle physician Overman) talk about the book they've written together You Don't Look Sick: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 2 pm, free. (Also on 10/9 at Third Place Books, 366-3333, 5:30 pm, free.)

LOUISE SPIEGLER
The Amethyst Road is a fantasy novel for young adults about a racially divided society. Queen Anne Books, 1811 Queen Anne Ave N, 283-5624, 3 pm, free.

CRAIG LESLEY
Burning Fence is a memoir about an Eastern Oregon childhood and a father who totally sucks. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 5:30 pm, free.

DIANA GABALDON
A Breath of Snow and Ashes is a historical romance about time travelers stuck in 1772. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 6:30 pm, free.

JOHN HARRINGTON
The Challenge to Power: Money, Investing and Democracy is about governments and corporations the world over. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

SUNDAY 10/9

STEPHANIE KALLOS
Broken for You is a debut novel involving two women, a wayward boyfriend, and a brain tumor. Queen Anne Books, 283-5624, 3 pm, free.

MONDAY 10/10

RICK MOODY
The novelist (The Ice Storm, Purple America, etc.) reads from his thick new novel, The Diviners, featuring characters with names like Annabel Duffy and Thaddeus Griffin. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St, 443-2210, 7 pm, free.

JIM LYNCH
The Highest Tide is a debut novel set in Puget Sound, and I'm told it's good. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

RAY KURZWEIL
The "inventor and optimistic futurist" talks about his book Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, about the merging of man and machines. Town Hall Seattle, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255, 7:30 pm, $5.

GARRY WILLS
The great historian (and great speaker) talks about Henry Adams and the Making of America. UW Campus, Kane Hall 130, 1900 W Nickerson St, 634-3400, 7:30 pm, $5.

TIM WINTON
The Australian fiction writer reads from his new book of stories The Turning. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30, free.

TUESDAY 10/11

NORMAN SOLOMAN
War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death is a "stop-the-presses book filled with mind-blowing facts about Washington's warmongers who keep the Pentagon budget rising. It would be funny if people weren't dying," says Jim Hightower. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 5 pm, free.

JEFF STONE
Monkey is a children's book (the kind with chapters) about martial arts protégés. Stone will do a martial arts demonstration. Queen Anne Books, 1905 Queen Anne Ave N, 283-5624, 6 pm, free.

KAYLA WILLIAMS
Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army is all about being young and female in the U.S. Army. The candor is "profanity-laced," according to press materials. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

LIZA PALMER
Conversations with the Fat Girl is a debut novel. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

DAN SAVAGE
See Stranger Suggests, p. 23. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.

LAILA LALAMI
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is a debut novel about Moroccans who illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free (also 10/12, Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free).

WEDNESDAY 10/12

MARY MATSUDA GRUENEWALD
Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camps is a memoir. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

WILLIAM RUDDIMAN
Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate argues that global warming began before most people think it did. Pacific Science Center, 200 Second Ave N, 443-2001, 7:30 pm, $5.

ALEX SANCHEZ
Rainbow Road is a gay novel for young adults. Bailey/Coy Books, 323-8842, 7 pm, free.

MICHAEL GOLDFARB
The journalist reads from Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq, about a Kurd who survived imprisonment and torture under the Baathists, started a pro-democracy political newspaper with support from the U.S., and then got killed. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.