Graphic By Nature at San Diego Comic-Con

Hello dear readers! We know it's not quite time for Graphic By Nature -- that's next week -- but this news it too exciting not to share. I'm at San Diego Comic-Con this week! It's my very first time (but hopefully not the last).

I'm finally here!
Source: Heather Varanini

Follow me on Twitter @heather__ilene as I share my experience; I'll be using #SDCC to denote my con-related tweets.

If you have any tips or suggestions for my first SDCC, please write to me on Twitter or leave a comment.

Book It: Events for Bibliophiles

This week - May 13th through 19th -- is Children's Book Week! Join us in the nationwide celebration of reading and books. Learn more about this special week and discover events in your area by clicking here. 

If you would like to see your city or event posted in an upcoming post, please email me: heather[dot]varanini[at]gmail[dot]com.

Monday May 13th

A Niece of Miss Austen: Catherine Hubback's Journey from Hampshire to California. A Talk by Zoë Klippert.

Event: Freelance editor Zoë Klippert will be discussing Hubback's unusual journey from the East Coast to the West Coast.

Learn more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 5pm - 7pm

Location: The Book Club of California

312 Sutter Street, Suite 500

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Jessie Oleson Moore -- The Secret Lives of Baked Goods: Sweet Stories and Recipes for America's Favorite Desserts 

Event: Learn all about the history behind America's favorite sweets with Jessie Oleson Moore's new book, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods. 

Click here to learn more about this event. 

Time: 6pm - 7pm

Location: Omnivore Books

3885a Cesar Chavez Street

San Francisco, CA 

Cost: Free

Tuesday May 14th 

The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival

Event: Join authors Jenni Holm and James Kennedy as they screen the very best of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival.

Click here for more information. 

Time: 6pm - 8pm

Location: San Francisco Public Library -- Main

100 Larkin Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Arturo Mantecon, Translator of Leopoldo Maria Panero

Event: Green Apple Books and co-sponsor Asymptote bring translator Arturo Mantecon to San Francisco for a reading. Mantecon is famous for his translations of Leopold Maria Panero's writings.

Click here to learn more about the event.

Time: 7pm

Location: Green Apple Books

506 Clement Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Wednesday May 15th

Never. Say. Die Book Release Party

Event: Join Green Apple Books, author Brian Murphy, and photographer Brad Mangin discuss their new book NEVER. SAY. DIE and share experiences from the excitement of the San Francisco Giants winning their second championship in three years.

For more information, click here.

Time: 7pm

Location: 540 Club

540 Clement Street & 7th Avenue

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Joe Hill/NOS4ATU

Event: The son of Stephen and Tabitha King, Joe Hill will be discussing his new book, NOS4AU.

Learn more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 7:30pm

Location: The Booksmith

1644 Haight Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Thursday May 16th 

John Gray: Men and Women in Business

Event: John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, and co-author of Work With Me: The Blind Spots Between Men and Women in Business comes to share his insights into the misconceptions that can plague the workplace between the two genders.

To purchase tickets and learn more about the program, click here.

Time: 5:30pm reception/6pm program/7pm book signing

Location: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $12 member/$20 non-member/$7 student

JCCSF Presents Jaron Lanier

Event: Jaron Lanier, author of Who Owns the Future, and father of virtual reality, comes to share his vision of the future of technology. He will also be brining a special user interface in which he will be providing a demonstration.

Click here to learn more about the event and purchase tickets. 

Time: 7pm

Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

3200 California Street

Kanbar Hall

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $10

Friday May 17th

Be Kind Festival -- Michael Chase 

Event: Michael Chase, author of Am I Being Kind? and The Radical Practice of Loving Everyone: A Four-Legged Approach to Enlightenment, will be speaking at the festival. Chase is also the founder of The Kindness Center. This talk is part of the Be Kind Festival happening in Mount Washington Valley from May 17th through May 19th.

To learn more, click here. 

Time: 6:30pm - 8pm

Location: Kennett High School

409 Eagle Way, Loynd Auditorium

North Conway, New Hampshire

Cost: Free

Anne Nesbet at Books Inc. in Berkeley

Event: Author Anne Nesbet will be celebrating the launch of her new book, Box of Gargoyles. It is the sequel to The Cabinet of Earths. The celebration will be complete with tasty drinks and treats.

Click here for more information.

Time: 7pm

Location: Books Inc. Berkeley

1760 4th Street

Berkeley, CA

Cost: Free

Saturday May 18th

Marion Nestle -- Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health

Event: Marion Nestle shares from her new book, Food Politics, on how nutrition and health in the United States are influenced by the food industry.

Click here for more information.

Time: 3pm - 4pm

Location: Omnivore Books

3885a Cesar Chavez Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Big Wow! ComicFest

Event: The Big Wow! ComicFest will be held over the course of two days -- Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th. Stan Lee will be making an appearance on Sunday! Other distinguished guests include Brian Azzarello, J. Scott Campbell, and Neal Adams.

Click here to learn more about the event.

Time: All day

Location: McEnery Convention Center

150 West San Carlos Street

San Jose, CA

Cost: $20 adult/$10 child/under 8 are free -- box office pricing. Check the website for early bird tickets.

Sunday May 19th

Eduardo Galeano

Event: Author Eduardo Galeano, one of the most distinguished writers in Latin America, will be reading from his book, Children of the Days: A Calendar of Human History. 

To learn more about the event, please click here.

Time: 5pm

Location: City Lights Bookstore

261 Columbus Avenue at Broadway

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Claire Messud -- The Woman Upstairs

Messud will be sharing from her new book, The Woman Upstairs.

Click here to learn more about this event.

Time: 7pm

Location: Bookshop West Portal

80 West Portal Avenue

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Literary Loot

Heather's Literary Loot for April

It doesn't look like much, but I promise you -- this bunch makes me feel like I've won the lottery. I really enjoy attending book events where the author gives a talk, participates in a question and answer period, and then holds a signing. Signed books are the Holy Grail for me.

On Wednesday the 17th, I took a trip down to the Commonwealth Club of California to hear Mary Roach discuss her new book, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. Roach is smart and witty and wildly entertaining. She also discussed her writing process as well as her other books. To hear audio from the event, click here. While I hadn't yet purchased Gulp, I did happen to bring my copy of Stiff -- the book that introduced me to her funny and informative writing style that has made her famous. She spoke with me briefly and signed my book (pictured bottom, far right).

A week later, on Wednesday the 24th, I headed over to the World Affairs Council of Northern California to hear Shannon O'Neil share her thoughts on Mexico--U.S. relations and talk about her new book, Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, The United States, and the Road Ahead. The topic of Latin America -- U.S. relations is close to my heart as I graduated with my degree in Latin American and Latino Studies and Politics. I was curious to hear O'Neil's perspectives on the hotbed issues such as politics, immigration, drugs, and violence that dominate the discussions surrounding Mexico and the United States. She kindly signed my book after the event (pictured bottom, center).

Over the weekend, I popped into two local shops: Bookshop West Portal and Two Cats Comic Book Store. At Two Cats, I picked up Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese. It looked interesting and I liked the style. Two Cats has a nice amount of non-superhero comics and that keeps me coming back. Down the street, I headed into Bookshop West Portal in search of Kevin Smokler's Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School. There's been a lot of buzz around this place because Smokler will be joining some of the Tators for an upcoming podcast. I found the last copy of his book hidden in the back of the store in the reference section (pictured, bottom far left). It also seemed to sport his signature, but the sales lady wasn't able to verify. That led to the following Twitter encounter: 

Author Smokler verified his signature in my book via Twitter!

I definitely got more than I bargained for when I picked up Practical Classics -- but in a very good way! 

Not pictured: a digital copy of Tina Fey's Bossypants -- purchased for $0.99 on Amazon (promotion has ended).

Book It: Events for Bibliophiles

Welcome to this week's edition of Book It: Events for Bibliophiles. Did you attend any literary events last week? If so, please let us know in the comment section.

If you would like to see events listed in your area or your book event mentioned in future posts, please contact me via email at: heather[dot]varanini[at]gmail[dot]com.

Here are your events for the week of May 6th through May 12th:

Monday May 6th

Kevin Powers -- The Yellow Birds

Event: Author Kevin Powers shares from his new book, Yellow Birds.

Click here for more information. 

Time: 7pm

Location: Copperfield's Books -- Montgomery Village

775 Village Court

Santa Rosa, CA

Cost: Free

Venezuela in the Post Chávez Era

Event: Rory Carroll, US West Coast Bureau Chief for The Guardian, will be speaking about his new book -- Comandante: Inside Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.

Click here to learn more about the event and purchase tickets.

Time: 7pm - 8pm

Location: World Affairs Council of Northern California

312 Sutter Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $15 nonmembers/$5 students

Tuesday May 7th

Mark Bittman -- Vb6

Event: Author Mark Bittman, famous for his How to Cook Everything books, comes to share his experience on becoming a vegan and getting healthy.

Click this link for more information.

Time: 12:30pm

Location: Book Passage

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Word/Play: Shenanigans of the Highest Brow

Event: Put your literary knowledge to good use in this fun game. Panelists this month include Esther Inglis-Arkell, Colin Winnette, Jenni Holm, Pireeni Sundaralingam, Isaac Fitzgerald, and Phil Cousineau.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets. 

Time: 7pm - 9pm

Location: The Booksmith

1644 Haight Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $15 (for pizza, open bar, and gameplay)

Wednesday May 8th

Literary Luncheon: Rita Moreno  - Rita Moreno: A Memoir

Event: Come and hear Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar award-winner, Rita Moreno, discuss her memoir. She will be telling stories from her journey -- from a young Puerto Rican girl to the silver screen.

To learn more and purchase tickets, click here. 

Time: 12pm

Location: Book Passage

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Corte Madera, CA

Cost: $55 (includes lunch and a signed copy of the book)

Celebrate Michelle Tea's Latest Book

Event: Join McSweeny's in celebrating the release of Michelle Tea's first young adult novel! There will be a lot of fun food and activities. 

Click here to purchase tickets and learn more about details about the event.

Time: 7pm - 9pm

Location: The Secret Alley

180 Capp Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $20 (Includes a copy of Mermaids in Chelsea Creek, food, cocktails, fortune teller services, and a raffle ticket)

Thursday May 9th

Jeremy Scahill's War on War

Event: Jeremy Scahill, reporter for The Nation, discusses his new book Dirty Wars.

Click here to learn more about the program and purchase tickets.

Time: 6pm check-in/6:30pm program/7:30pm signing

Location: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $20 nonmembers/$12 members/$7 students 

Bubbles & Bivalves with Andrew Beahrs

Event: Andrew Beahrs, author of Twain's Feast: Searching for America's Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens, will be joining Aquarium of the Bay in a fundraising effort for The Watershed Project. Bubbles & Bivalves will also be featuring some of the best food and wine from the Bay Area.

To purchase tickets and learn more about the event, please click here. 

Time: 7pm - 10pm

Location: Aquarium of the Bay

Pier 39

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $60 - $120

Friday May 10th

James Kennedy at Books Inc. Laurel Village

Event: Meet author James Kennedy and listen to him share from his new book, The Order of Odd-Fish.

Click here to learn more about the event.

Time: 6:30pm

Location: Books Inc. Laurel Village

3515 California Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

City Arts & Lectures Presents Fran Lebowitz

Event: Satirist Fran Lebowitz will be discussing her work in conversation with Steven Winn.

To learn more about the event and to purchase tickets, please click here.  

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Nourse Theatre

275 Hayes Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $30

Saturday May 11th

Jim Gaffigan signing -- Dad is Fat

Event: Author and comedian, Jim Gaffigan, will be sharing from his new book, Dad is Fat.

Click here for more information. 

Time: 12:30pm

Location: Book Passage

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Josh Farrar -- A Song for Bijou

Event: Author Josh Farrar discusses his new book, A Song for Bijou.

Click here to learn more about the event.

Time: 7pm

Location: Book Passage Corte Madera

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Corte Madera, CA

Cost: Free 

Sunday May 12th -- Mother's Day!

Marc Maron

Event: Author and comedian Marc Maron shares from his memoir, Attempting Normal.

Lear more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Powell's City of Books

1005 W Burnside

Portland, OR

Cost: Free