Wednesday, January 4th - Laura Doherty
10:30am
Story time Special Guest
Laura Doherty
Shining Like a Star
In her second release, award-winning children's recording artist Laura Doherty
( Kids in the City ) celebrates the myriad ways children express themselves and their uniqueness in the world. From nature songs to dance tunes, her songs create an uplifting and inspiring experience for children and parents to enjoy together.
Thursday, January 5th - Sarah Levine
7:30pm
Treasure Island!!!
When a nameless narrator in a dead-end job and a passionless relationship and who has a bad attitude reads Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island on a whim, she decides to turn her life around by following in the footsteps of Jim Hawkins. Her best friend is flummoxed, her sister horrified, and her parents more than a little confused when she moves back home, $900 Amazonian parrot on her shoulder, and begins espousing the novel's core values of boldness, resolution, independence and, of course, horn blowing. Outrageous, hilarious and original, Sara Levine's debut novel will have you laughing out loud. She is the chair of the graduate writing program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Refreshments complements of Europa Books.
Sunday, January 8th - Karen Doornebos
4:30pm
Definitely Not Mr. Darcy
Motivated by a $100,000 prize, struggling divorced mother Chloe Parker auditions for a trivia quiz about Jane Austen, only to find herself unexpectedly cast in a
public television reality dating show set in 1812, where competitors vie to win the money and heart of Mr. Wrightman, the heir to a fabulous estate. To further distress Chloe, contestants must dress and behave as if they were in the Regency year depicted in Pride and Prejudice, without cell phones, indoor plumbing, or deodorant. It's time for Chloe to tighten her corset and flash some ankle to beat out women younger, more cutthroat, and less clumsy than she is. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly raved that "Doornebos gives the historical romance novel a hilarious update in this delightful debut."
Thursday, January 12th - Sara Paretsky
7:30pm
Breakdown
Sara will read from and autograph her new book and we'll all celebrate V. I. Warshawski's 30th Anniversary
Illinois' richest and most powerful families. Preteen girls. Vampire fiction.
Murder. Chicago politics. A rabid 24-hour cable news network. After three decades' worth of hard-hitting mystery thrillers, V. I. Warshawski is used to facing some serious headaches, but these make for the worst one yet. Breakdown is Paretsky's fifteenth V. I. Warshawski novel and celebrates the 30th anniversary of the series. Join us for the celebration as she takes on the most compelling, and dangerous, case of her career. Champagne, of course, and other refreshments will be served.
Friday, January 13th - Leigh Stein
7:30pm
The Fallback Plan
Fresh out of college, with no job materializing for her drama degree, Esther
Kohler moves back to her parents' home in the suburbs, where she is forced to take a job babysitting for a young couple whose second child recently died. Esther soon finds herself playing many roles within the troubled family and facing some untidy truths about adult life. Like Lorrie Moore for the Facebook generation or Miranda July's smart aleck kid sister, Leigh Stein shifts effortlessly between pop-culture comedy, dead-on dialogue, and wry psychological insight in her dazzlingly funny and heartbreaking debut novel.
January 22nd - Deborah Niemann
4:30pm
Homegrown and Handmade: A Practical Guide to More Self-Reliant Living
Before 2002, Deborah Niemann thought a cheeseburger and fries were a healthy
meal, and taking care of her two cats and dog was the extent of her animal husbandry experience. Then, in 2002, she relocated her family from the Chicago suburbs to a 32-acre piece of land, where they built their own home and began growing the majority of their food. Today, these modern-day homesteaders raise pigs, sheep, cattle, goats, chickens, and turkeys and derive their fruits and vegetables from an organic garden and orchard. Neimann regularly presents workshops on soap making, bread baking, cheese making, composting, and homeschooling. If it has ever been your dream to escape the grid and live more in harmony with the earth, you will not want to miss today's program.
Friday, January 27th - Charlotte Hart and Susanna Lang
7:30pm
Poetry Reading
Charlotte Hart
Organic Spirits
Susanna Lang
Two by Two
Tonight we present a reading from the most recent collections by two Chicago-
area poets. Charlotte Hart, from Evanston, has been published in Apparatus Magazine,
Barnwood International Poetry Magazine, and The Aurorean. Her most recent chapbook,
Organic Spirits, was praised by poet Ralph Hamilton: "I continue to savor this wonderful
manuscript. It is so full of life, smell, and taste. The perfect anecdote for cold winter
days." A longtime Chicago-area educator, Susanna Lang's work has appeared in New
Letters, The Baltimore Review, and Kalliope, among others. An Illinois Arts Council
award recipient and Pushcart Prize nominee, she has released two poetry collections. She
will read from her most recent, Two by Two.
Sunday, January 29th - Mary Sommers
4:30pm
More than a Midwife: Stories of Glory, Grace & Motherhood
In More Than a Midwife, veteran midwife Mary Sommers shares stories joyous and heartbreaking, experienced through her 20-plus years of working with mothers and their infants. Currently she is the director of Academic Affairs for the Midwest Maternal Child Institute. Early in her career she co-founded Chicago Community Midwives, a not-for-profit home birth service. A former World Health Organization fellow, Sommers has attended and assisted more than 1,000 births in the United States, Mexico, and Malawi.
Sappho's Salon
Please note: Sappho's Salon, our popular salon night for lesbians and their friends, is
taking January off. We will resume on Saturday, February 18th, with our first-ever dance
party and mixer. Boogie away those midwinter blahs!
Mark Those Calendars!
Tuesday, February 28th - Margot Livesey
7:30pm
Margot Livesey kicks off AWP week with The Flight of Gemma Hardy.
Tuesday, March 6th - Carol Anshaw Book Launch
7:30pm
Carry the One
Swedish American Museum
5211 N. Clark
Books officially release on March 6th but can be ordered in advance. ( $25.00 )
Refreshments will be served.
Tuesday, March 13th - Jeanette Winterson Chicago Launch
7:30pm
Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
Swedish American Museum Center
Books release on Mar 6th but can be ordered in advance ( $25.00 ) . As this is Winterson's only Chicago appearance, we recommend getting your tickets early. Tickets are free with the purchase ( including pre-publication orders ) of her new memoir.
Book Groups
Tuesday, January 3rd - 7:15 pm - Classics Book Group - The Face of War by Martha Gellhorn
Sunday, January 8th - 2 pm - Family of Women Book Group - The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Sunday, January 15th - 6 pm - Feminist Book Group - The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
Tuesday, January 17th - 7:30 pm - Women's Book Group - Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanada Ngozi Adichie
