THURSDAY 11/30

The Unreleased Beatles
Richie Unterberger has penned an incredibly detailed tome on the wealth of music that the Beatles recorded, but never released. Wow. A big-ass book about music that I'll never hear from the most analyzed and written-about band of the past hundred years. Consider me zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz... Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne, 238-1668, 7:30 pm, free

FRIDAY 12/1

20th Annual Oregon Book Awards
Literary Arts brings in essayist extraordinaire Barry Lopez to emcee this year's Oregon Book Awards, which was already sold out by press time. I'm rooting for Matt Yurdana in poetry, Peter Rock for best novel, and shouting out a big "WTF" for Charles D'Ambrosio's exclusion from the short fiction category. Portland Art Museum, 1219 SW Park, 227-2583, 7:30 pm, $15 (sold out)

The Affected Provincial's Companion
This "humorous" book offers lessons on dandyish topics such as "the perils of sportswear, self-defense for sissies, the proper grooming of facial hair, and how to become a bon vivant." God, I hate myself just for typing that. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free

MONDAY 12/4

Fifty Favorite Fly-Fishing Tales
Hold on to your hats—this week in readings only gets worse. Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills, Beaverton, 228-4651, 7 pm, free

This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God
I can only quote from the publisher's comments here: "The kingdom of God has already broken into this world, but it is not yet fully here. Therefore, as kingdom dwellers, Christians live in tension: groaning from the brokenness of this world, but rejoicing with hope in the promise of God. This Beautiful Mess calls believers to live in the reality of His kingdom now!" Yikes. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free