WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1; 7 PM @ T&C
Members of the Western Ohio Writers Association will read their original prose and poetry. Come listen!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 11:15 AM @ T&C
Stories about different kinds of work.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8; 7 PM @ The Greene
JENNIFER CRUSIE introduces her first solo novel in six years, Maybe This Time, and it’s worth the wait. It’s a story of meddlesome ghosts, banana bread, ex-husbands, spooky houses, troubled kids, and second chances. And, of course, it has Crusie’s trademark snappy dialogue and richly drawn characters.
Even though she is anxious to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, Andie Miller can’t seem to extricate herself from her ex-husband, North Archer. He has asked just one last favor of her. A very distant cousin of his has died and left him as the guardian of two orphans, who have driven out three nannies already, and he is confident Andie can handle the situation. Andie decides to do this final favor for him, but her jealous fiancé is sure it’s just a plot by her ex-husband to get back together with Andie. What follows is an hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, and an avenging ex-mother-in-law. It gets even more complicated when North shows up, making Andie wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 11:15 AM @ T&C
Back-to-School stories.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13; 7 PM @ The Greene
LISA BLACK, former forensic scientist, will introduce Trail of Blood, her new thriller featuring forensic scientist Theresa MacLean. Starting with actual facts, the novel recalls when the city of Cleveland, during the Great Depression, was terrorized by more than the world’s turmoil: a madman, who murdered by night and left his handiwork to be discovered in the first glare of day. He did his dastardly work for four years and was never caught. Overall, he was responsible for a dozen murders. He was America’s version of Jack the Ripper, but more prolific. Black takes that fact and weaves a chilling modern-day story in which a mad killer seems to be re-enacting the gruesome murders that happened decades ago.
When she investigates the murders, Theresa MacLean finds herself nearer to danger than she ever imagined. As she scours the city in her hunt for a murderous lunatic intent on reliving a terrifying past, she knows the killer is keeping a watchful eye on her because she begins to feel his presence everywhere. Keep the lights on when you read this book!
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15; 7 PM @ The Greene
ADAM JAY EPSTEIN and ANDREW JACOBSON will be discussing the first book in their new middle-grade series, The Familiars. From your Harry Potter reading, you’ll remember that Familiars are magical animal companions to a wizard or witch. In this new book, we meet three animals who are familiars to three young wizards-in-training. When the wizards are kidnapped by the evil queen of the land, it is up to their familiars to go on a dangerous journey to rescue them. They are Aldwyn, the orphan alley cat pretending to have telekinesis; Skylar, a know-it-all blue jay who can cast illusions; and Gilbert, a hapless tree frog with the ability to see visions of the future in pools of water. Follow them on their heroic adventure! You’ll be glad you did.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16; 7 PM @ The Greene
ANNE FORTIER will introduce her debut novel, Juliet. In it we meet a young woman who discovers that she is the descendant of the Juliet who inspired Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet. The author tells us what it might have been like if Romeo and Juliet had really lived. Half of the novel is set in 1340 and tells the “true” story of the star-crossed lovers, and half is set in the present day in the person of young Julie Jacob.
It has it all: history, romance, intrigue, mystery, and it’s told with stunning prose. Jamie Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, says that Juliet is “a feast of myth, history, and tantalizing indulgences—I was swept away, blown away, and taken for ransom. Anne Fortier breathes new life into the Shakespearean tragedy we thought we knew.”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 11:15 AM @ T&C
Bookseller Favorites.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20; 7 PM @ The Greene
MARK KURLANSKY, winner of the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize for his nonfiction book, Nonviolence, will discuss his newest work The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris. The town has produced 79 Major League baseball players with many minor leaguers waiting in the wings. How do they do it, and how has their success impacted the town? This book will tell you. Kurlansky has also written Salt: A World History, Cod, The Last Fish Tale, The Food of a Younger Land, The Big Oyster, and others. He is the first author in the newly established Dayton Literary Peace Prize Author Series.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22; 7-8 PM @ The Greene
Calling all writers! Editors from Writer’s Digest will answer your questions about writing, agents, and the publishing process. If you have the desire to be published, you will benefit from this discussion. The editors will be ROBERT BREWER, editor of Writer’s Market; CHUCK SAMBUCHINO, editor of Guide to Literary Agents; and JANE FRIEDMAN, Writer’s Digest Community Leader. They will answer questions pertaining to those books as well as Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market; Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market; and Poet’s Market.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23; 7 PM @ The Greene
The Smart Chicks Kick-It Tour is coming our way! It’s a teen extravaganza! Come meet KELLEY ARMSTRONG, author of The Reckoning; JENNIFER LYNN BARNES, author of Raised by Wolves; KAMI GARCIA, author of Beautiful Creatures; MELISSA MARR, author of Radiant Shadows; ALYSON NOEL, author of Dark Flame; and JACKSON PEARCE, author of As You Wish. That’s an amazing line-up of young adult authors! Don’t miss the opportunity to meet them and get your books signed.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 11:15 AM @ T&C
Stories about fun in the outdoors.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27; 7 PM @ The Greene
(Line numbers begin at 6 pm)
New York Times bestselling author JOHN SANDFORD will introduce his newest novel, Bad Blood, featuring detective Virgil Flowers, who was first introduced in Invisible Prey, as one of Lucas Davenport’s special team of detectives in the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. In this book, Virgil flies solo to solve a bizarre series of murders and sexual crimes. When the bodies start piling up, he begins to uncover more than he bargained for. And it’s only the tip of the iceberg. There is a multi-generation, multi-family conspiracy to cover up a series of crimes so monstrous that even Virgil is sickened, but he must stop it. It’s a fast-paced story and, as Publishers Weekly says, “...Virgil is up to the task, and, as always, he’s funny, smart and rough when he needs to be – and catnip to the ladies.”
Tuesday, SEPTEMBER 28 ; 7:30 @ T&C
POETRY NIGHT............the last Tuesday of each month in our Joe Muggs Café at Town & Country.
Come read your original or favorite poems, or just listen to other people read their poems. It’s a pleasant way to spend an evening.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29; 7-8 PM @ The Greene
T. R. REID will discuss the softcover edition of his bestseller, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. He posits that all other developed countries guarantee medical care to anyone who is sick while spending far less on health care than the United States. He traveled to France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and Canada gathering evidence from doctors, health care experts, government officials, and patients to examine how foreign countries do it. Though no system is perfect, Reid shows that the United States has much to learn from countries that succeed in providing health care that is affordable, universal, and effective. He debunks the concept of “socialized medicine,” showing that the countries he visited are able to provide universal health care, for the most part, in the private sector.
This book was referenced several times on the Senate floor during the recent health care debates.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30; 7 PM @ The Greene
Children’s author and illustrator DANIEL KIRK will introduce his newest book, Library Mouse: A World to Explore, a wonderful companion to the first two bestselling books about Sam the library mouse. In this newest book, he and his mouse friend Sarah explore the library, finding adventures everywhere. Kirk has also written Library Mouse, Library Mouse: A Friend’s Tale, and the novels Elf Realm: The Low Road and Elf Realm: The High Road.