for Wednesday, October 29, 2008

* Seattle Public Library has announced that My Jim by Seattle author Nancy Rawles is the 2009 Seattle Reads selection. My Jim is based on the character of Jim in Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Told from the perspective of Jim’s wife, Sadie, My Jim offers a different perspective on the familiar novel. SPL has ordered 38 new trade paperbacks in anticipation of demand, to supplement the six hardcovers currently in stock. [LINK]

The past few years have seen a number of authors retelling classic novels: Ahab’s Wife by Sena J. Naslund, (Moby Dick); March by Geraldine Brooks (Little Women); Wicked by Gregory Maguire (The Wizard of Oz). I’ll be interested in how Rawles’s contribution to the genre compares. Has anyone out there already read it? What did you think?

* 12:15 – 1:45 PM: SPL’s Wallingford Branch hosts Book-It Repertory Theatre for another presentation of their “Danger: Books!” program. Professional actors will read from banned or challenged books. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is way up there on the list of frequently banned or challenged books, which ties in nicely with Seattle Reads 2009. [LINK]

* 6:30 PM: YA Fantasy author Patrick Carman visits SPL Ballard Branch to read from Stargazer, the fourth novel in his “Land of Elyon” series. [LINK]

* 7:00 PM: Laura Anne Gilman will be at the U-District UW Bookstore to read and sign book number five in her “Retrievers” series, Free Fall. A little different from the current wave of paranormal romance novels dominating genre fiction sales, Gilman’s “Retrievers” books tend more towards the Science Fiction end of the spectrum than Fantasy/Horror. They aren’t bad. [LINK]

* 7:30 PM: Town Hall Seattle presents Mike Chinoy, former Senior Asia Correspondent for CNN and author of Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis. Chinoy will talk about North Korea policy in the Bush Administration, as well as what challenges the country may present to our next president. $5 at the door, or via www.brownpapertickets.com, 800/838-3006. [LINK]