THURSDAY 6/22
She Kissed Me
"A pictorial odyssey depicting lesbians kissing." Didn't they make a movie of that book? In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth, 7:30 pm, free
Sherman Alexie
Alexie, author of amazing works of fiction like Ten Little Indians, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, and Indian Killer, and posterboy for Native American intellectualism will be at PCC tonight as part of the 2006 Oregon Hate Crimes Conference. PCC Cascade Campus, Moriarty Arts Building, 705 N Killingsworth, 614-7261, 7:30 pm, $10
MONDAY 6/26
Janet Evanovich
Come on, you're not seriously planning on going to this, are you? From the dust jacket of her 12th novel, Twelve Sharp (yes, all of her books are numbered like that)—there's a bounty hunter named Stephanie Plum, a "usual cast of miscreants and weirdos," a "crazed woman," Plum's on-again, off-again vice cop boyfriend, and a mysterious man... street name, Ranger (that's exactly how they wrote it), who needs Plum "for more reasons than he can say." Sounds great, Janet. Barnes & Noble (Clackamas Town Center), 9078 SE Sunnyside Rd, 794-9262, 6:30 pm, free
Buddha or Bust
Buddhist book titles typically fall into two camps of goofiness: ultra-Western-friendly ones like Buddha or Bust, or ultra-serious Path of the Flowering Lotus Blossom type stuff. In BoB, journalist Perry Garfinkle tries to write about the whole Buddhist shebang in a lively, engaging style, including its history, culture, beliefs, and place in this crazy modern world. Plus, the Dalai Lama liked it enough to write a blurb for the back cover. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne, 238-1668, 7:30 pm, free
TUESDAY 6/27
Chuck Klosterman
Our generation's leading (and funniest) philosopher on topics such as Fruit Loops, Screech, the "November Rain" video, Larry Bird, and Britney Spears' thighs comes through town to promote the paperback release of Killing Yourself to Live. The premise of the book is that the infectiously neurotic and whip-smart author drives around the country, visiting the sites of famous rock deaths, but the real meat of the text comes from his inner monologue as he crisscrosses the country alone, hypothesizing on the nature of romance, Eric Clapton's neckbeard, and Thomas Jefferson's preoccupation with mastodons. If you are under 40 and not a total dickhead, there's no reason not to love Klosterman's writing. Barnes & Noble (Lloyd Center), 1317 NE Lloyd Center, 249-0800, 7 pm, free
Davy Rothbart/ Found Magazine
See our interview with Davy Rothbart on pg. 13. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, 8 pm, $8
WEDNESDAY 6/28
Scott Nadelson
The Oregon Book Award-winning author drops by to read from his forthcoming collection, The Cantor's Daughter, about "Jewish New Jersey suburbanites in moments of crucial transition." Annie Bloom's Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, 246-0053, 7:30 pm, free
Monica Ali
Monica Ali's Brick Lane was one of the most critically acclaimed books of 2003, and her stories appear in about every third New Yorker that arrives at my house. Her new book, Alentejo Blue, is about the men and women of a tiny Portuguese village. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne, 238-1668, 7:30 pm, free
Davy Rothbart/ Found Magazine
See our interview with Davy Rothbart, pg. 13. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free
