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Readings & Events
Vendela Vida The Bay Area writer's protagonist in Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name is a young woman whose dark family secrets send her all the way to Lapland in search of her true identity. The book's a bit of a travelogue and a bit of a detective story, yet it also sits squarely in the canon of young writers investigating how parents mess up their children in so many unpredictable, interesting ways. Elliott Bay Book Co. 7:30 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24. BRIAN MILLER
Matt Briggs A reading from his Shoot the Buffalo, with music from Eli Moore.University Book Store at Mill Creek Center, Bothell-Everett Highway & 153rd St. S.E., 425-385-3530. 1:30 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Terry Collins Exploring the link between human and ecological health, a.k.a. "green chemistry," in this lecture. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 652-4255, 360-331-7904, www.iceh.org. $10-$15. 6:30 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Mary Fortino Before its fishing heyday, Ballard was the "Shingle Capital of the World." Find out how from Fortino's lecture. Ballard Branch Library, 5614 22nd Ave. N.W., 206-684-4089. 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Jayne Ann Krentz Her White Lies introduces a "level 10 para-sensitive," i.e. a human lie detector. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St., 587-5737. Noon. Wed. Jan. 24; Borders (Redmond), 16549 N.E. 74th St., 425-869-1907. 2 p.m. Sat. Jan. 27.
Christopher Moore SEE THE WIRE, WEDNESDAY.
Red Pine The latest in his series of translations of Buddhist texts is The Platform Sutra: The Zen Teaching of Hui-neng. Third Place Books. 7:30 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Norah Vincent Like Black Like Me, only about gender: Self-Made Man: One Woman's Journey into Manhood and Back recounts her 18 months as "Ned." University Book Store. 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
James Yee This Muslim chaplain tells of his Navy prison term on charges (eventually dropped) of espionage in For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire. Bellevue Regional Library, 1111 110th Ave. N.E., 425-450-1765. 7 p.m. Wed. Jan. 24.
Kit Bakke & Randy Sue Coburn Authors of the "epistolary bio-memoir" Miss Alcott's E-Mail: Yours for Reforms of All Kinds and of the novel Owl Island. Eagle Harbor Books, 157 Winslow Way E. (Bainbridge Island), 842-5332. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Andrei Codrescu The NPR commentator reports on his adopted home in New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writings from the City. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 800-838-3006, www.brownpapertickets.com. $12.50-$15. 7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Ruth Wilson Gilmore This USC professor, author of Golden Gulag, discusses our prison system in a lecture, "The Politics of Abandonment: The Prison-Industrial Complex After 25 Years." Co-sponsored by Elliott Bay Book Co. Communications (CMU) 120, UW campus. 7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
John StewartNo religious-studies lecture topic could be timelier than his: "The Main Event—Christianity vs. Islam." Camp Berachah, 19830 S.E. 328th Pl., Auburn, 253-939-0488. $12 (includes dinner). 6 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Kim Todd The life of a pioneering 18th-century naturalist recounted in her Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis. Elliott Bay Book Co. 7:30 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Isabel Vincent The story of poor Eastern European women kidnapped into prostitution in her book White Slaves: The Trafficking of Jewish Women. Henry Art Gallery, 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st Street, UW campus, 888-219-5222, www.nextbook.org. $6-$8. 7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Sasha Su-Ling Welland One went to the U.S., one stayed home: Welland tells their life stories in A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters. University Book Store. 7 p.m. Thurs. Jan. 25.
Martin Amis The British author's latest fiction collection, House of Meetings, explores "Russian history and character, political intolerance, anti-Semitism, the psychology of incarcerated life, the problems of freedom, and the weight of crime on the conscience." Oh, is that all? Co-sponsored with Elliott Bay Book Co. Downstairs at Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 624-6600. $5. 7:30 p.m. Fri. Jan. 26.
Michael Collins In his Death of a Writer, a professor's novel mirrors real life in creepy ways. Sponsored by University Book Store. Room 101, Suzzallo Library, UW campus, 7 p.m. Fri. Jan. 26.
Roger Penrose The Oxford mathematician writes about—well, everything, really, in The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Rules of the Universe. Co-sponsored by University Book Store. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., 634-3400. $5. 7:30 p.m. Fri. Jan. 26.
Yasmine GalenornGlossed and Found is her third mystery under the pen name India Ink. Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St., 587-5737. Noon, Sat. Jan. 27.
Maryane Snyder A presentation on "The History and Lore of Runes." Seattle Museum of The Mysteries, 623 Broadway E., 328-6499. 7 p.m. Sat. Jan. 27.
Dick Weissman This former member of The Journeymen penned Which Side Are You On? An Insider's Guide to the Folk Music Revival in America. Elliott Bay Book Co. 7:30 p.m. Fri. Jan. 26; Phinney Neighborhood Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. N. $7-$15. 7:30 p.m. Sat. Jan. 27.
Leatrice Eiseman The secrets of graphic art and design revealed in her Color: Messages and Meanings: A Pantone Color Resource. Eagle Harbor Books, 157 Winslow Way E. (Bainbridge Island), 842-5332. 3 p.m. Sun. Jan. 28.
Rafe Esquith The only school teacher ever to receive the president's National Medal of the Arts, his new book, Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56, recounts his adventures among fifth-graders in L.A. Co-sponsored with Elliott Bay Book Co. Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., www.spl.org. Free. 12:30 p.m. Sun. Jan. 28.
