Thursday 9/21

TOM MURPHY
The aviation industry insider talks about Reclaiming the Sky: 9/11 and the Untold Story of the Men and Women Who Kept America Flying. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 5:30 pm.

recommended BARBARA EHRENREICH
The author of Nickel and Dimed reads from her new book Bait & Switch, about the hazards of the white-collar employment sector. A representative paragraph (from page 85): "But from the point of view of the economic 'winners'—those who occupy powerful and high-paying jobs—the view that one's fate depends entirely on oneself must be remarkably convenient. It explains the winners' success in the most flattering terms while invalidating the complaints of the losers. Patrick's clients, for example, came to the boot camp prepared to blame their predicament on the economy, or the real estate market, or the inhuman corporate demands on their time. But these culprits were summarily dismissed in favor of alleged individual feelings: depression, hesitation, lack of focus. It's not the world that needs changing, is the message, it's you. No need, then, to band together to work for a saner economy or a more human-friendly corporate environment, or to band together at all. As one of my fellow campers put it, we are our own enemies." Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

CJ CHERRYH, JANE FRANCHER
Cherryh's Pretender is about a human diplomat living among aliens. Fantasy author Jane Fancher "will be along for support," whatever that means—support in battling the aliens?—and will be signing books of her own. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

MICHAEL PUNKE
Punke talks about Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mine Disaster of 1917. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

recommended AMY WILENTZ
The author of I Feel Earthquakes More Often Than They Happen: Coming to California in the Age of Schwarzenegger "has a sharp eye, a cool wit, a lyrical tone, a reporter's gumption, and a grasp of the place's strangeness and allure that make the book entirely unforgettable," says Susan Orlean, who is no slouch in the Gumption and Cool Wit Department. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Friday 9/22

KARLEEN KOEN
Dark Angels, a prequel to the author's Through a Glass Darkly, involves seventeenth-century England, power, betrayal, etc. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

recommended T COOPER, ADAM MANSBACH
They read from A Fictional History of the United States (with Huge Chunks Missing), which sounds awesome. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

MICHAEL COLLINS
The author of The Keepers of Truth reads from his new novel, Death of a Writer, which is about an unsolved mystery. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Saturday 9/23

JASON LOUV, ANGELINA FABBRO
Generation Hex is about "magical consciousness" and stuff like that. Edge of the Circle Books, 701 E Pike St. Free. 2 pm.

KARLEEN KOEN
Dark Angels, a prequel to the author's Through a Glass Darkly, involves seventeenth-century England, power, betrayal, etc. Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 684-4089. Free. 2 pm.

BANNED BOOKS READING
The local chapter of Amnesty International presents local writers reading verboten stuff—like work by Chinese political prisoner of conscience Shi Tao, "a cyber-dissenter, journalist, and poet who was turned in to the Chinese authorities by Yahoo, Inc." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 5 pm.

JEWELL PARKER RHODES
Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness is "mystical and down-to-earth," according to one of its blurbs. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 6:30 pm.

STEVEN HILL
He holds forth on 10 Steps to Repair American Democracy. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Monday 9/25

THOMAS MULLEN
The Last Town on Earth is a historical novel set in the Northwest during World War I. Queen Anne Books, 1811 Queen Anne Ave N, 283-5624. Free. 6:30 pm.

recommended JOE SACCO
The comic book journalist reads from and talks about his latest, But I Like It, which is about punk music. See interview, this issue. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

recommended KELLY LINK
Her collection of stories Magic For Beginners—pieces orginally published in places like Conjunctions and McSweeney's—is out in paperback. "The dream-logic of Magic for Beginners is intoxicating. These stories will come alive, put on zoot suits, and wrestle you to the ground. They want you and you will be theirs," says Alice Sebold. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

JEWELL PARKER RHODES
Porch Stories: A Grandmother's Guide to Happiness is "mystical and down-to-earth," according to one of its blurbs. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

Tuesday 9/26

GLEN HIEMSTRA
"This is a silly reading that doesn't demand to be listed," says books intern Andrew Bleeker, "but I can't resist a book title like Turning the Future Into Revenue." Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. Noon.

recommended ISAIAH WILNER
The first paragraph of The Man Time Forgot: A Tale of Genius, Betrayal, and the Creation of Time Magazine is: "In January of 1929, the creator of Time magazine lay dying in a Brooklyn hospital bed. He was thirty years old. Briton Hadden did not look like a man with only a few weeks to live. His family had decided not to tell him of his dire condition. But the doctors believed he stood almost no chance. Hadden, who had only just begun the creative revolution that would transform journalism in the subsequent century, had drunk and partied his way to his deathbed." Hadden, and not Henry R. Luce, was the genius behind Time, the book argues. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

recommended KELLY LINK
Her collection of stories Magic For Beginners—pieces orginally published in places like Conjunctions and McSweeney's—is out in paperback. "The dream-logic of Magic for Beginners is intoxicating. These stories will come alive, put on zoot suits, and wrestle you to the ground. They want you and you will be theirs," says Alice Sebold. Bailey/Coy Books, 414 Broadway E, 323-8842. Free. 7 pm.

THOMAS MULLEN
The Last Town on Earth is a historical novel set in the Northwest during World War I. Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park), 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333. Free. 7 pm.

AMINATTA FORNA
The author of the memoir The Devil That Danced on the Water reads from her first novel, Ancestor Stones, about five Sierra Leonean women. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600. Free. 7:30 pm.

recommended DAVID QUAMMEN
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution is a close study of the man with the best beard ever. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 634-3400 for info. $5. 7:30 pm.

recommended SHANNON BORG, STAN SANVEL RUBIN
Borg is a great poet. Her first collection is called Corset. Rubin won the Barrow Street Press Poetry Prize for his third collection of poetry, Hidden Sequel. Open Books, 2414 N 45th St, 633-0811. Free. 7:30 pm.

Wednesday 9/27

ANTHONY ROBINSON
He talks about his book Common Grace: How to Be a Person and Other Spiritual Matters, which is the best title of a spirtual book ever. First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave, 624-6600 for info. Free. 7 pm.

KIT BAKKE
Miss Alcott's E-mail: Yours for Reforms of All Kinds is "a uniquely constructed epistolary bio-memoir in which Bakke and Alcott exchange e-mails across time," according to Booklist. Um, OK. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. Free. 7 pm.

THOMAS HAGER
The Demon Under the Microscope: From the Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug is about bacteria. And so much more. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 652-4255. $5. 7:30 pm.

Open Mic

MELLOW MONDAYS Poetry, a little music, and happy hour prices for poets and their friends. at Bai Pai Thai, 2316 NE 65th St Ste 101, 527-4800. Free. 8 pm. POETSWEST Featured readers and an open mic. Saturdays at 4 pm. at Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave NW, 682-1268 for info. Free. 4 pm. SCRATCHING POST Poetry open mic, all ages. Thursdays at 8 pm, signup at 7:30 pm. at Mr. Spots Chai House, 5463 Leary Ave NW, 297-2424. Free. Thurs, 8 pm. SEATTLE POETRY SLAM Every Tuesday at 8 pm. at Mirabeau Room, 529 Queen Anne Ave N, 217-2800. $5. Tues, 8 pm.