Calendar

Aug
20
Mon
Emerging Writers: Open House @ AADL Westgate
Aug 20 @ 7:00 pm – 8:45 pm

Local short story writer Alex Kourvo and young adult novelist Bethany Neal host an open house for writers to connect with one another and/or work on their projects.

 

Laura Bernstein-Machlay: Travelers @ Literati
Aug 20 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Literati is excited to host author Laura Bernstein-Machlay who will be reading and discussing her debut essay collection Travelers.

About Travelers:
Travelers, Laura Bernstein-Machlay’s debut collection of essays, maps the author’s journey as she makes sense of her recovering city, the generations that preceded her, and her own definition of wife, mother, and home. These intimate, humorous and heartfelt essays offer an honest, and discerning look at the moments which both challenge and redeem us; the shaping of our lineage; and the profound necessity of hope.

Deftly observed and thoughtfully crafted, Bernstein-Machlay’s lyrical prose brings to life Detroit’s survivor spirit and the indefatigable nature of family. This collection discovers the inherent grace and defining necessity of place, heritage and the search for our own footing within the vast world we inhabit. Travelers examines the intersection of the connections we form and those we inherit and how, with distance and trust, and a little luck, we might find more than just our way home.

Laura Bernstein-Machlay was born in Detroit, MI. After stints in Ann Arbor, Philadelphia, Chicago and Seattle, not to mention several months-long odysseys abroad, she returned to her hometown where she currently lives with her husband and daughter. An award-winning author of poetry and creative nonfiction, Laura’s poems and essays have appeared in numerous national and international magazines and literary journals.

Aug
21
Tue
Steve Hamilton: Dead Man Running @ AADL
Aug 21 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Join us at the downtown library when Steve Hamilton comes to town on August 21 at 7 PM to debut his new Alex McKnight mystery, Dead Man Running.

The Moth Storyslam: Destiny @ Greyline
Aug 21 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Aug. 7 & 21. Open mike storytelling competition sponsored by The Moth, the NYC-based nonprofit storytelling organization that also produces a weekly public radio show. Each month 10 storytellers are selected at random from among those who sign up to tell a 3-5 minute story on a biweekly theme. August themes: “Business” (Aug. 7) & “Destiny” (Aug. 21). The 3-person judging teams are recruited from the audience. Monthly winners compete in a semiannual Grand Slam. Space limited, so it’s smart to arrive early.
7:30-9 p.m. (doors open and sign-up begins at 6 p.m.), Greyline, 100 N. Ashley. $8. 764-5118.

 

Aug
22
Wed
Toastmasters Meeting @ Sweetwaters
Aug 22 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Toastmasters is an international group devoted to helping each other grow in our abilities to give speeches. The Sweetwaters Toastmasters Club meets twice monthly. We are a fun and friendly group! Toastmasters also helps you develop leadership skills if you wish to do that. Come as many times as you want for free, and decide later if you want to join. In the meantime, come make new friends and have fun!
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea on Washington Street, 123 West Washington Street. Free. 323-286-3999. https://www.facebook.com/groups/TMSweet/

 

 

 

Aug
23
Thu
Fiction at Literati: Julie Schumaker: The Shakespeare Requirement @ Literati
Aug 23 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Literati is pleased to welcome author Julie Schumacher who will be reading from and discussing her new book The Shakespeare Requirement.

About The Shakespeare Requirement:
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune keep hitting beleaguered English professor Jason Fitger right between the eyes in this hilarious and eagerly awaited sequel to the cult classic of anhedonic academe, the Thurber Prize-winning Dear Committee Members. Once more into the breach…

Now is the fall of his discontent, as Jason Fitger, newly appointed chair of the English Department of Payne University, takes arms against a sea of troubles, personal and institutional. His ex-wife is sleeping with the dean who must approve whatever modest initiatives he undertakes. The fearsome department secretary Fran clearly runs the show (when not taking in rescue parrots and dogs) and holds plenty of secrets she’s not sharing. The lavishly funded Econ Department keeps siphoning off English’s meager resources and has taken aim at its remaining office space. And Fitger’s attempt to get a mossbacked and antediluvian Shakespeare scholar to retire backfires spectacularly when the press concludes that the Bard is being kicked to the curricular curb.

Lord, what fools these mortals be! Julie Schumacher proves the point and makes the most of it in this delicious romp of satire.

 

Julie Schumacher grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and graduated from Oberlin College and Cornell University, where she earned her MFA. Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was published by Soho Press in 1995 and was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her 2014 novel, Dear Committee Members, won the Thurber Prize for American Humor; she is the first woman to have been so honored. She lives in St. Paul and is a faculty member in the Creative Writing Program and the Department of English at the University of Minnesota.

Aug
26
Sun
Farewell to Aunt Agatha’s: William Kent Krueger: Desolution Mountain, Lori Rader-Day: Under a Dark Sky, Sarah Zettel: The Other Daughter @ AADL
Aug 26 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Join us for a farewell to Aunt Agatha’s afternoon with William Kent KruegerLori Rader-Day & Sarah Zettel on Sunday, August 26 at 2 PM. Kent will be talking about his new Cork O’Connor book, Desolation Mountain, and Lori will be discussing her new book set in Michigan, Under a Dark Sky. Sarah will be launching her new thriller The Other Daughter. This event will take place at the downtown library.

Special Story Time: Meg Gower: Michigan Moon @ Nicola's Books
Aug 26 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Join us for a story time with Meg Gower, as she reads her book Michigan Moon, published by the Ann Arbor District Library’s imprint, Fifth Avenue Press! Though now retired, Gower used to be a naturalist at Waterloo Recreation Area, so the book that evolved into Michigan Moon features nature photography illustrations paired with lyrical verse.

A landscape architect by training, Meg Gower has worked with the Michigan State Parks as naturalist and informal educator since 2006. She enjoys leading hikes in the woods and hosting star parties. She lives with her husband and daughter at the edge of the largest state park in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

Aug
29
Wed
Adam Schefter: The Man I Never Met @ Nicola's Books
Aug 29 @ 7:00 pm – 7:15 pm

Note: New location. This ESPN analyst (and U-M alum) is joined by Sports Illustratedjournalist Michael Rosenberg to discuss The Man I Never Met, his memoir about being married to a woman whose first husband died in 9/11. Signing.
7 p.m., Nicola’s Books, Westgate shopping center. Tickets $31 (includes a signed copy of the book) in advance at brownpapertickets.com/event/3578330. 662-0600.

Fiction at Literati: Brenda Novak: Face Off @ Literati
Aug 29 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Literati is pleased to welcome author Brenda Novak who will be sharing her lastest novel in the Dr. Evelyn Talbot series, Face Off.

About Face Off:
From New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak comes Face Off, the next installment of Dr. Evelyn Talbot and her murderous home for psychopaths.

SHE VOWED NEVER TO BE A VICTIM AGAIN. BUT NOW A KILLER HAS HER IN HIS SIGHT. . .

Tortured and left for dead at sixteen, Evelyn Talbot turned her personal nightmare into her life’s work–studying the disturbing psychopathy of some of the world’s most vicious serial killers. Now a leading psychiatrist at Hanover House in a small Alaskan town, she tries to believe the past will never come back to haunt her–until a woman goes missing from a cabin nearby, and every clue points to the man who once brutalized her…

As her boyfriend, who is the area’s only police, begins to investigate–and finds not one but two bodies–Evelyn can’t forget that her would-be killer, Jasper Moore, was never caught. But there are no new faces in tiny Hilltop, no one who seems suspicious or potentially violent. In this twisted game of cat and mouse, Evelyn is certain of only one thing–Jasper must be hiding in plain sight. And if she can’t find him before he comes for her, she won’t be lucky enough to survive twice…

Brenda Novak and her husband, Ted, live in Sacramento and are the proud parents of five children-three girls and two boys. When she’s not spending time with her family or writing, Brenda is usually working on her annual fund-raiser for diabetes research. Brenda’s novels have made The New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and won many awards, including three Rita nominations, the Book Buyer’s Best, the Book Seller’s Best and the National Reader’s Choice Award.

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