50 Upcoming Seattle Events Featuring Good Books You Can Use for Your Summer Reading Book Bingo

50 Upcoming Seattle Events Featuring Good Books You Can Use for Your Summer Reading Book Bingo
on Aug 20, 2019

Author Readings and Film Releases Centered On Books That Qualify for the Popular Seattle Arts & Lectures / Seattle Public Library Program

Summer reading is no joke in Seattle. In fact, our City of Literature takes it so seriously that we have a widely publicized and involved Adult Book Bingo program. For the uninitiated, the Seattle Public Library and Seattle Arts & Lectures put out a bingo card every year with 24 different squares representing different categories of books (like a subject you wish you had studied in school, by an author of color, one-word title, and many more). If you fill out enough squares with books you read before September 3, cool prizes could be yours. Now that Seattle's summer has officially begun (hello, 80-degree days), we've rounded up some book suggestions to give you some last-minute inspiration for the last month of the game. But we haven't just picked any books—below, you'll find suggestions for good books whose authors will be coming to Seattle to read in the near future, so you can meet them in the flesh. Plus, we've thrown in a special section of upcoming wide release movies to inspire your made into a movie bingo square. Not participating in Book Bingo? We'd still suggest all of these books, because summer reading rules.

AUTHOR READINGS & SIGNINGS

JULY 29

Lawn Boy (by Jonathan Evison, reading at Third Place Books Lake Forest Park) Bainbridge Island author Jonathan Evison (All About Lulu, West of Here, and This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!) will read from 2018's Lawn Boy, a hilarious-depressing novel about a Chicano landscape worker named Mike Muñoz who is desperately searching for a way out of his bleak life. Part of his escape involves writing. He wants to write the great American landscape novel, but he's having trouble finding any recent examples to use as a template. Lawn Boy ends up becoming that example as Evison takes the reader on a journey through the American class system. Evison's apparently real and very deep love of topiary serves as a respite from all the rough stuff Muñoz has to go through. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: Set in the Northwest; Fiction)

JULY 30

Ancillary Justice (by Ann Leckie, reading at Central Library) Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Ann Leckie is best known for Ancillary Justice, a novel set in a futuristic space empire. Leckie imagines a far-flung part of the human race as radically changed, with notions of gender vanished and AIs controlling synchronized human bodies. Seize your chance to hear from one of the most inventive sci-fi minds of the day. (Book Bingo Categories: Fiction) The Betrayed Wife (by Kevin O'Brien, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) Summer means breezing through thrillers, and you can't really go wrong with a new one from Kevin O'Brien, a New York Times best-selling author and a member of the Seattle7Writers collective. O'Brien sets this story in Seattle, home to Sheila O'Rourke and her cheating-ass husband. When Sheila lets a teen claiming to be one of her husband's long-lost children into their home, shit starts to get weird and every character starts to seem suspect. O'Brien is good about providing some substance with his confectionary stuff, so expect to tear through this gossipy, creepy book in a couple of days without feeling too empty inside. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: Set in the Northwest; Crime fiction; Fiction)

JULY 31

Hope Rides Again (by Andrew Shaffer, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) About Andrew Shaffer's first Obama-Biden fanfic mystery, Rich Smith wrote: In this obvious piece of escapist fiction, the former president and vice president team up to solve train crimes in Delaware. The book might not help you make sense of the world we're living in right now, but it will help you make sense of the world as it should be. Now Shaffer is back with a sequel in which the duo chase down the thief of Obama's Blackberry. (Book Bingo Categories: Crime fiction; Fiction)

AUGUST 1

The Vexations (by Caitlin Horrocks, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) Caitlin Horrocks's first novel imagines scenes in the life of the innovative French composer Erik Satie: his life in Belle-Époque Paris, his lovers, his friends, and his work. (Book Bingo Categories: About music or musicians; Fiction)

AUGUST 2

My Sister, the Serial Killer (by Oyinkan Braithwaite, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) Nigerian debut novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite will read from My Sister, The Serial Killer, a surprisingly funny, pulpy noir-style thriller. (Book Bingo Categories: Published when the author was under 35; By an author of color; Crime fiction; Fiction)

AUGUST 8

Raised in Captivity (by Chuck Klosterman, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) Traditionally, Chuck Klosterman keeps his wry writings in the nonfiction realm, like his collections of essays on pop culture matters ranging from internet porn to reality in films to progressivism in American football (ala 2003’s Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto), or his music-driven work, like his exploration of the relationship between death and rock stars (2005’s Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story), or even his more recent examination of modern perceptions in a thought experiment sort of book, 2016’s But What If We're Wrong? His latest outing, Raised in Captivity, is “fictional nonfiction,” which the press materials describe as “a collection of stories so true they had to be wrapped in fiction for our own protection.” Among the synopses: An obscure power-pop band wrestles with its newfound fame when its song becomes an anthem for white supremacists; a couple considers getting a medical procedure that will transfer the pain of childbirth from the woman to her husband; and a lawyer grapples with the unintended side effects of a veterinarian’s rabies vaccination. LEILANI POLK (Book Bingo Categories: Fiction) The Art of Racing in the Rain In this adaptation of Garth Stein's novel, a dog named Enzo learns life lessons from his racecar-driving owner, Denny (played by Milo Ventimiglia). (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction) Garth Stein will also appear at Mercer Island Books on July 30

AUGUST 10

Bad Gateway (by Simon Hanselmann, signing books at Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery) Seen the Bellevue Arts Museum exhibition on comic artist Simon Hanselmann and need more? Visit Hanselmann's publisher to hear from the artist, buy his books (starring the stoner witch Megg and her kitty boyfriend Mogg), and get his signature. Here's Jasmyne Keimig on Hanselmann's latest, Bad Gateway: You know that moment when you're in the middle of a hangout with your friends—slamming beers, intermittently hitting a bong, shoving chips into your mouth, binging old episodes of Project Runway—and suddenly a drunk-stoned realization overtakes you. Maybe all this eagerness to get and stay intoxicated comes from a place of deep unhappiness and frustration with a perceived lack of control over your life. The characters in Simon Hanselmann's comics constantly wrestle with this moment. Instead of letting the smoke clear, going to bed, and shaking off this momentary recognition of existential anguish—they lean into it. With drugs, with drink, with darkness, with weird sex, with selfishness, with addiction, with a lack of empathy. (Book Bingo Categories: Comics) Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire (by Michelle Peñaloza, hosting a Literaoke Book Launch at Massive Monkees Studio: The Beacon) Michelle Peñaloza, a former local literary mainstay, has returned home with a debut full-length collection of poetry in tow. The book's called Former Possessions of the Spanish Empire, and in a series of powerful, straightforward, narrative lyrics, Peñaloza reflects on the loss of a father, a relationship, and the legacy of colonialism. Rather than merely read at us for 45 minutes, Peñaloza is throwing a big-ass karaoke launch party. Seattle greats such as Anastacia-Reneé, Troy Osaki, Quenton Baker, Jane Wong, and a few others will accompany her onstage, and if there is a god in heaven, they will sing as well. There is perhaps a surprising overlap between people who love karaoke and people who love poetry, though not so surprising when you consider that they're the two funnest things in the entire world so long as you don't think too hard about them. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: Poetry; By an author of color; Challenges your worldview)

AUGUST 12

Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook (by Tyler Malek, reading at Book Larder) When they first founded their Portland-based artisan ice creamery Salt & Straw, cousins Tyler and Kim Malek had no recipes to speak of. That changed when they developed a revolutionary base to serve as a canvas for their flavors, which range from traditional (Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons or Chocolate Gooey Brownie), to playful (Pots of Gold and Rainbows, made with Lucky Charms), to the downright outlandish (Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey and Dracula’s Blood Pudding, the latter a Halloween special made with pig’s blood), and which frequently incorporate ingredients from local businesses. Now you can re-create the experience at home (sans lengthy queues!) with the Salt & Straw Ice Cream Cookbook, which features recipes as well as ways to harness inspiration so that you can concoct oddball flavors of your own. Tyler will visit Book Larder to divulge his ice cream secrets and sign copies of the book. JULIANNE BELL (Book Bingo Categories: DIY) Dopesick (by Beth Macy, reading at Town Hall) The opioid crisis is bad, and it's getting worse. Since 2014, opioid-related overdoses have steadily risen, along with ODs involving multiple drugs and meth. Last year, fentanyl-involved deaths doubled their 2017 total in King County, according to the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. In her new book, Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America, Beth Macy, who's been reporting on this stuff for the Roanoke Times for a while, chronicles the complex of circumstances that led to this crisis with pathos and precision. She begins in the mid-1990s, describing Purdue Pharma's concerted effort to market OxyContin as a supposedly risk-free pain killer. She then shines a light on all the cracks in the local, national, and global health care systems that allowed the crisis to proliferate. If you've checked out of this story, check back in with Dopesick and get caught up. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: One-word title; Challenges your worldview)

AUGUST 13

Seattle Walk Report (by a mystery author, book launch at Central Library) Meet the cartoonist who makes the charming Seattle Walk Report on Instagram, which will soon be anthologized into a book published by Sasquatch. This mystery person (whose identity will be revealed tonight) will appear with fellow cartoonist and author Paul Constant. (Book Bingo Categories: Comics; Set in the Northwest) The mystery author will also appear at Third Place Books Ravenna on August 22.

AUGUST 14

Liminal Dreaming: Exploring Consciousness at the Edges of Sleep (by Jennifer Dumpert, reading at Town Hall) I dream all the time. Sometimes I remember fragments, sometimes entire sequences, and sometimes I can’t tell if I am awake or asleep, and things can get pretty strange and hallucinatory. It might be liminal dreaming—also called hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations, those hazy dream states of transitional consciousness we pass through as we fall into sleep at night and rise towards wakefulness in the morning. Apparently, you can access and linger in these states, according to Jennifer Dumpert. Town Hall Seattle and Cascade Psychedelic Community welcome the San Francisco-based lecturer, author of , and founder of the Oneironauticum—an international organization that explores “the phenomenological experience of dreams as a means of experimenting with mind”—for a talk on just how to do so with practical exercises and techniques, and how to “engage our dreaming minds to help us answer personal or intellectual questions or even encourage the healing process.” LEILANI POLK (Book Bingo Categories: Science) The Making of a Democratic Economy (by Marjorie Kelly, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) Hear from the Democracy Collaborative's executive VP and the co-author of this book that proposes ways of achieving prosperity for the many, not the few. (Book Bingo Categories: Challenges your worldview)

AUGUST 16

High Weirdness (by Erik Davis, reading at Town Hall) Erik Davis's book High Weirdness delves into the writings of the tragic sci-fi maven Philip K. Dick, the ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, and the mystic author Robert Anton Wilson, who in the 1970s developed a psychedelic spirituality that profoundly influenced radical culture, particularly on the American West Coast. Publicity materials describe Davis’ new theory of the weird as a possible new viable mode for a renewed engagement with reality. (Book Bingo Categories: Challenges your worldview)

AUGUST 19

Inland (by Téa Obreht, reading at Elliott Bay Book Company) The author of the celebrated The Tiger's Wife will return with her new novel, Inland, set in the Arizona Territory in 1893. A literally haunted outlaw and a frontierswoman whose husband and sons have vanished in the midst of a drought head towards a surprising encounter with one another. It's a magic-tinged take on the Wild West, rooted in real history. (Book Bingo Categories: Fiction)

AUGUST 22

Witness Tree (by Lynda Mapes, reading at Central Library) or Stories in Stone (by David Williams, reading at same event) Local author and Seattle Times reporter Lynda Mapes's Witness Tree, which chronicles the year she spent with hundred-year-old oak trees in the Harvard Forest of Massachusetts, and explains how the tree has been impacted by global warming. David Williams's Stories in Stone: Travels Through Urban Geology takes readers on a tour of the city streets to discover underlying geology. Join these prominent science writers as they celebrate the publication of the two books in paperback by University of Washington Press. (Book Bingo Categories: Science (both); Set in the Northwest (Stories in Stone))

AUGUST 27

Wastelands (anthology, contributors Nisi Shawl and Jack Skillingstead reading at University Book Store) If you're beset by fears of planetary doom, you're not alone, as this volume of post-apocalyptic fiction edited by the famed genre anthologist John Joseph Adams will demonstrate. Two esteemed contributors, Nisi Shawl (Everfair) and Jack Skillingstead (The Chaos Function) will appear to discuss the aftermath of whatever finally gives human civilization the boot. The book also includes new stories by such writers as Tananarive Due, Elizabeth Bear, Wendy N. Wagner, and others, as well as reprints by sci-fi/fantasy lights like Carmen Maria Machado, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Charlie Jane Anders. (Book Bingo Categories:: Fiction; By an author of color)

SEPTEMBER 1

Variations of Labor (by Alex Gallo-Brown, reading at Town Hall) Prizewinning local poet Gallo-Brown, often seen at readings around town, will read from Variations of Labor. As the title suggests, this book is all about the frustrations and struggles of workers, depicted in poetry and fiction. (Book Bingo Categories: Poetry; Challenges your worldview)

SEPTEMBER 5

From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation (by Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor, reading at Town Hall) On the occasion of the five-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, writer and activist Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor will discuss contemporary black activist movements and explore the history of black politics in America. (Book Bingo Categories: Changes your worldview; By an author of color)

SEPTEMBER 7

Topdog/Underdog (by Suzan-Lori Parks, Town Hall Takeover event) Town Hall invites you to take part in a special celebration of Suzan-Lori Parks, the first black American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama (for Topdog/Underdog) and a MacArthur Genius Award winner. First, she'll work on a piece, and you'll be welcome to watch her or join her in scribing your own projects. After this session, she'll take your questions. For the second phase of the festivities, she'll present writing commissioned by Town Hall and talk about the processes of dialogue and collaboration. Finally, the Suzan-Lori Parks Band (Parks sings and plays guitar and harmonica) will spellbind your eardrums and mind with Modern Soul, Black-Country, Psychedelic-Afro-Righteous sound. End the day energized and full of creative energy. (Book Bingo Categories: Play; By an author of color)

SEPTEMBER 9

Thing Explainer* (by Randall Munroe, reading at Third Place Books Lake Forest Park) Randall Munroe's XKCD comic has been entertaining nerdy readers since 2005 with social commentary, weirdo romance, scientific hypotheticals, and math jokes. His previous bestsellers, What If? and Thing Explainer, present scientific and mathematical concepts in simple and fun language. Attend this reading to hear from his newest witty collection, How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems, which promises highly impractical advice for everything from landing a plane to digging a hole. (Book Bingo Categories: Science; Comics) *Randall Munroe's new book, How To, comes out in September

SEPTEMBER 11

The Art of Logic in an Illogical World (by Eugenia Cheng, reading at Town Hall's Math Night) and/or Proof! (by Amir Alexander, reading at same event) Hear from two eminent authors on math, logic, and their everyday applications. A logical approach to life isn't just limited to Mr. Spock. In fact, in this anti-intellectual, meme-filled age, it may be a great defense in the face of totalitarianism. Mathematician Eugenia Cheng will read from and discuss The Art of Logic in an Illogical World, which argues that both logical thinking and alogic processes—like emotion—both have their role in everyday life. UCLA professor and author Alexander will recount episodes related to European society's obsession with geometry, with applications from landscape design (including the bizarre example of Nicolas Fouquet, a 17th-century official who was arrested for creating a geometrical garden, which was a design reserved for royalty) to politics (Euclidean geometry was used to justify political structures). (Book Bingo Categories: Science; By an author of color (The Art of Logic in an Illogical World); One-word title (Proof!)) An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People (by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, reading at Town Hall) In her new book An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People, activist Dunbar-Ortiz attacks the heroic myths that are still taught about the history of the US, which ignore the human rights disasters and genocidal practices inflicted on Indigenous populations. Hear her take on setting the record straight in the face of colonialism and imperialism. (Book Bingo Categories: Challenges your worldview; Recommended by a young person)

SEPTEMBER 14

How To Be An Antiracist (by Ibram X. Kendi, reading at Town Hall) Ibram X. Kendi’s highly praised Stamped from the Beginning (2017) upended conventional wisdom about racism by showing how racist ideas are spread top-down, using academic justifications to weaponize dehumanizing thought. Now, the director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University will give an inspiring talk from his new book How to Be an Antiracist, outlining new ways to think about ourselves and our society in order to advance racial justice. (Book Bingo Categories: Challenges your worldview; By an author of color)

SEPTEMBER 16

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? (by Caitlin Doughty, reading at Town Hall) The popular mortician, author, and Good Death proponent Caitlin Doughty (Smoke Gets in Your Eyes) has a new book answering your questions about what happens when you shuffle off this mortal coil, such as What would happen to an astronaut’s body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? Obtain new wisdom from the irreverent Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death as she swings through Seattle. (Book Bingo Categories: Science: Published when the author was under 35)

SEPTEMBER 19

Gun Island (by Amitav Ghosh, reading at Town Hall) In acclaimed author Ghosh's new novel, a rare book dealer with a crisis of faith embarks on a global journey to research a mysterious legend. Reportedly, the novel is, in part, an investigation of the post-climate-change world, with all its vast migrations, economic upheavals, and extreme weather events. Ghosh is a Prix Médicis étranger winner for The Circle of Reason and has received two Lifetime Achievement awards and four honorary doctorates, plus the Padma Shri award from the president of India. (Book Bingo Categories: Fiction; By an author of color) The Tiny Journalist (by Naomi Shihab Nye, reading at Town Hall) Prolific Palestinian American poet Nye recently won the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement, and that's just one prize in a long line of laurels (including a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship). Don't miss her appearance with SAL. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Poetry)

OCTOBER 6

M Train* (by Patti Smith, reading at Benaroya Hall) Rich Smith has written: Many reviewers and people who grew up in the 1980s love the impossible coolness of this punk rock poet and memoirist. They thought that memoir about memory and being a regular person even though you are actually Patti Smith, M Train, was good. They ate up all the New York bohemian details about her early life with Robert Mapplethorpe in Just Kids. I like Horses, and that's about as far as I go, but I understand that she is an important and brilliant force in the world. Smith's new book, Year of the Monkey, is a Polaroid-studded memoir of one year in the American West. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; About music or musicians) *Patti Smith's new book, Year of the Monkey, comes out in September

OCTOBER 20

Between the World and Me* (by Ta-Nehisi Coates, reading at Benaroya Hall) All journalists secretly want to be novelists. Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me and We Were Eight Years In Power and The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration, is no different. His highly anticipated novel The Water Dancer is due out in late September. It's an adventure novel about an enslaved man named Hiram Walker. If it's half as good as his journalism, it will be one of the best novels of 2019. Coates will come on Oct. 20, about a month after the novel's expected release. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; By an author of color) *Ta-Nehisi Coates' new book, The Water Dancer, comes out in September

OCTOBER 23

Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to A Tribe Called Quest (by Hanif Abdurraqib, reading at Town Hall) Hanif Abdurraqib writes good poetry about music, and he writes good music criticism using the tools of poetry. Combining personal narrative with an electric analytical mind, Abdurraqib has made me consider the work of artists like Celine Dion, Macklemore, and Carly Rae Jepsen more deeply than I ever imagined I would. And, as much as it pains me to say, it's true: He has written powerfully about the band Fall Out Boy. His essay about going to see a Bruce Springsteen show after visiting Michael Brown's plaque is a must-read, too. So when news came out that Abdurraqib was working on a biography / book-length personal essay about his love for A Tribe Called Quest, Go Ahead in the Rain, I jumped for joy. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; About music or musicians; By an author of color)

NOVEMBER 10

Calypso* (by David Sedaris, reading at Benaroya Hall) The witty, self-deprecating, hilariously judgmental David Sedaris will return to Seattle to share his writing. His work will probably be polished and beautifully performed, with perfect timing and absurdly funny material. Feel lucky that he chose our town, and help him out by being a responsive, honest audience. (Book Bingo Categories: One-word title) *David Sedaris's new book, A Carnival of Snackeries, is coming out in 2020

NOVEMBER 12

A Gentleman in Moscow (by Amor Towles, reading at Benaroya Hall) Internationally praised author Towles, whose first novel The Rules of Civility in its French translation won the 2012 Prix Fitzgerald and whose second book A Gentleman in Moscow appeared on many 2016 Best Books lists, will speak in Seattle. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Fiction)

NOVEMBER 21

Dunce (by Mary Ruefle, reading at Broadway Performance Hall) Mary Ruefle has a new book of poetry out from Wave Books. It's called Dunce. I am happy to report that Ruefle continues to be obsessed with using her signature conversational style to write abstract-associative poetry about death, loneliness, and poetry itself. Though I'm not as in love with Dunce as I was with My Private Property, it is still early on in my relationship with the book. Regardless, it's my understanding that Ruefle rarely leaves her home in Vermont, and so it's a rare joy to get to see her in person. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Poetry)

NOVEMBER 26

Shrill* (by Lindy West, reading at Town Hall) Stranger alum, Stranger Genius Award Winner, author of the TV-adapted memoir Shrill, and dazzlingly funny person Lindy West will deal out her good-humored wisdom—most likely drawing on her new book of feminist essays, The Witches Are Coming. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; One-word title) *Lindy West's new book, The Witches Are Coming, is coming out in November

JANUARY 24

Her Body and Other Parties* (by Carmen Maria Machado, reading at Town Hall) Every year, without exception, the book world agrees to like one book and to get all buzzy about it on social media and in the newspapers. In 2018, that book was Carmen Maria Machado's debut collection of magical realist short fiction, Her Body and Other Parties (Graywolf Press), which is composed of eight fables about women on the verge, according to Parul Sehgal in the New York Times. Ellie Robins at the LA Times says the book is an example of almost preposterous talent that also encapsulates something vital but previously diffuse about the moment. Annalisa Quinn at NPR says Machado's stories describe familiar, unspoken truths about being women in the world that more straightforward or realist writing wouldn't. Sounds like this book is the perfect mix of political allegory and escapist lit for our post-Weinstein, post-Hillary (maybe?) world. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Published when author was under 35; By an author of color) *Carmen Maria Machado's new book, In the Dream House, comes out in November

FEBRUARY 5

Half the Sky* (by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, reading at Benaroya Hall) According to SAL, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are the first husband and wife to share a Pulitzer Prize for journalism. They earned that honor by writing Half the Sky , which makes a passionate but economics-based argument for women's empowerment worldwide. Their new book, which they'll no doubt read from here, is called Tightrope and focuses on the crises of the American working class. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Challenges your worldview) *Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's new book, Tightrope, comes out in January

FEBRUARY 6

Nightingale (by Paisley Rekdal, reading at Broadway Performance Hall) In 2017, Rich Smith wrote, The best essay I read this year was called 'Nightingale: A Gloss,' and it was written by Seattle writer (but current University of Utah prof) Paisley Rekdal and published in the American Poetry Review. In a straightforward, no-bullshit tone, and with her characteristically sharp eye for scholarly associations, Rekdal weaves the story of a sexual assault she experienced while hiking alone in Loch Ness with Ovid’s story of Philomela, other rapes of antiquity, and also with the story of her writing a poem called 'Philomela.' Her reckoning of the assault, and her reckoning of her own reckoning, reveals sexual violence for what it is: a pillar, not an aberration, of Western civilization. Now, you can read 'Nightingale' in her new collection of the same title. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Poetry; Challenges your worldview)

MARCH 17

Pachinko (by Min Jin Lee, reading at Benaroya Hall) National Book Award finalist Min Jin Lee is the author of Pachinko, a family saga set in Korea and Japan during the 20th century. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; By an author of color; Fiction)

APRIL 15

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy (by Carol Anderson, reading at Benaroya Hall) Carol Anderson's White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide contends with the anti-black fury that has hindered the progress of black citizens since emancipation, while her One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy expounds on another threat to social justice. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; By an author of color; Challenges your worldview)

MAY 7

When My Brother Was an Aztec* (by Natalie Diaz, reading at Broadway Performance Hall) Natalie Diaz is the author of the award-winning collection of poetry When My Brother Was an Aztec (Copper Canyon Press). (She's also a very accomplished basketball player, but that's for another time.) Her other work involves doing cool things like partnering with Hugo House and the Poetry Foundation to create Poetry Across the Nations, a community outreach program facilitated by Native women who host readings and workshops to build intercultural and intertribal networks. RICH SMITH (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; Poetry; By an author of color) *Natalie Diaz's new book, Postcolonial Love Poem, comes out in March

MAY 20

The House of Broken Angels (by Luis Alberto Urrea, reading at Benaroya Hall) Luis Alberto Urrea's The House of Broken Angels, which takes inspiration from his own life, relates the tale of a dying patriarch, his journey as a young man from La Paz to San Diego, the grudges and loves of his extended family, and his 100-year-old mother's funeral. Urrea has been a finalist for the Pulitzer, and his personal yet wide-ranging style seems perfectly suited to this sprawling family epic. (Book Bingo Categories: A SAL Speaker; By an author from Mexico)

MOVIE RELEASES

AUGUST 16

Where'd You Go Bernadette? (movie of the same name opening in wide release, based on the book by Maria Semple) Irreverent local author Maria Semple’s hilarious and highly readable novel has been made into a movie directed by Richard Linklater and starring Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, Kristen Wiig, Judy Greer, Laurence Fishburne, and newcomer Emma Nelson as Bee Branch, Bernadette’s 15-year-old daughter and the most sensible, and sane, person in the book. A true Seattle story, this one has it all: tech transplants, agoraphobic artists, private school, middling moms, and a hearty dose of both love and hate for the city in which it is set. KATIE HERZOG (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction; Set in the Northwest)

SEPTEMBER 6

It ('It: Chapter Two' opening in wide release, based on the book by Stephen King) Former Stranger critic Sean Nelson called 2017's It: Chapter One brilliantly designed, perfectly cast, surprisingly funny, interestingly observed, and rich in cinematic invention. So we have high hopes for the sequel, which has James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, et al. taking over from the talented young actors. The trailer, with a sweet old lady doing scary flaily dances just out of Chastain's view, certainly hints at a grotesque good time. (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction)

SEPTEMBER 13

The Goldfinch (movie of the same name opening in wide release, based on the book by Donna Tartt A teenage boy's mother is killed in a bombing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the confusion, the boy, The, steals a small, valuable Dutch painting by a student of Rembrandt's. Despite moving in with his friend's wealthy family, Theo's life begins to go off the rails. John Crowley (Brooklyn, True Detective) directs this adaptation of Donna Tartt's much-lauded novel. With Ansel Elgort, Nicole Kidman, Finn Wolfhard, and Sarah Paulson. (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction; big book)

OCTOBER 18

Caging Skies ('Jojo Rabbit' opening in wide release, based on the book by Christine Leunens) If anyone can make a warm-hearted comedy set in Nazi Germany, it's Taika Waititi (Hunt for the Wilderpeople, What We Do in the Shadows). An enthusiastic boy in Hitler's youth army finds out that his mother is harboring a Jewish girl. Will Jojo persist in being a horrible little fascist? Waititi co-stars as Jojo's moronic imaginary friend Hitler. (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction)

NOVEMBER 15

The Good Liar (movie of the same name opening in wide release, based on the book by Nicholas Searle) An elderly con artist (Ian McKellen) finds himself falling for his intended mark (Helen Mirren). Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) directs this adaptation of Nicholas Searle's novel. (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction)

DECEMBER 20

Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats ('Cats' opening in wide release, based on the book by T.S. Eliot This Christmas, give yourself the gift of uncanny-valley terror as you watch A-list movie stars cavort under layers of digitally generated fur. (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Poetry)

DECEMBER 25

Little Women (movie of the same name opening in wide release, based on the book by Louisa May Alcott Greta Gerwig follows up her critically acclaimed feature Lady Bird with an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's cherished novel, starring Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, and James Norton. Is there any way this won't be good? (Book Bingo Categories: Made into a movie; Fiction)