The book for December (Dec. 11 @ 6:30) is Northwest author Jim Lynch's latest, Truth Like the Sun.  A classic and hugely entertaining political novel, the cat-and-mouse story of urban intrigue in Seattle both in 1962, when Seattle hosted the World's Fair, and in 2001, after its transformation in the Microsoft gold rush.  Larger than life, Roger Morgan was the mastermind behind the fair that made the city famous and is still a backstage power forty years later, when at the age of seventy he runs for mayor in hopes of restoring all of Seattle's former glory. Helen Gulanos, a reporter every bit as eager to make her mark, sees her assignment to investigate the events of 1962 become front-page news with Morgan's candidacy, and resolves to find out who he really is and where his power comes from: in 1962, a brash and excitable young promoter, greeting everyone from Elvis Presley to Lyndon Johnson, smooth-talking himself out of difficult situations, dipping in and out of secret card games; now, a beloved public figure with, it turns out, still-plentiful secrets. Wonderfully interwoven into this tale of the city of dreams are backroom deals, idealism and pragmatism, the best and worst ambitions, and all the aspirations that shape our communities and our lives.

On August 14, we will be discussing a Northwest classic, The Egg & I by Betty MacDonald.

Join us on June 12th @ 6:30pm as we discuss two of Richard Russo's books!  Read one or the other.  The first, Straight Man, is the humorous story of the head of the English department at a university, while Bridge of Sighs is the story of a man and his wife preparing for the trip of a lifetime to Italy.

The Auburn Book Club usually meets at Zola's Cafe, 402 E Main Street, Auburn. Location subject to change

This Beautiful Life - Helen Schulman - This Beautiful Life is a devastating exploration of the blurring boundaries of privacy and the fragility of self, a clear-eyed portrait of modern life that will have readers debating their assumptions about family, morality, and the sacrifices and choices we make in the name of love.

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick deWitt - Set against the back-drop of the great California Gold Rush, this darkly comic novel follows the misadventures of the fabled Sisters brothers, two hired guns, who, under the order of the mysterious Commodore, try to kill Hermann Kermit Warm, a man who gives them a run for their money.

The Buddha in the Attic - Julie Otsuka - Presents the stories of six Japanese mail-order brides whose new lives in early twentieth-century San Francisco are marked by backbreaking migrant work, cultural struggles, children who reject their heritage, and the prospect of wartime internment.

The Egg & I - Betty MacDonald - When Betty MacDonald married a marine and moved to a small chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State, she was largely unprepared for the rigors of life in the wild.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern - Waging a fierce competition for which they have trained since childhood, circus magicians Celia and Marco unexpectedly fall in love with each other and share a fantastical romance that manifests in fateful ways.

Truth Like the Sun - Jim Lynch - A classic and hugely entertaining political novel, the cat-and-mouse story of urban intrigue in Seattle both in 1962, when Seattle hosted the World's Fair, and in 2001, after its transformation in the Microsoft gold rush.

This may not necessarily be the reading order, that will depend on availability of copies of the book and/or whether we can obtain some paperback copies.

The book for May will be Cleopatra: a life by Stacy Schiff :

and the book for June will be Straight Man by Richard Russo. 

"Parrot and Olivier in America is a dazzlingly inventive reimagining of Alexis de Tocqueville's famous journey, brilliantly evoking the Old World colliding with the New. Above all, it is a wildly funny and deeply tender portrait of two men who come to form an almost impossible friendship, and a completely improbable work of art." - from author Peter Carey's website 

Interesting review from the New York Times.

Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2
from 10am-6pm

What has over 120 authors, 60 publishing workshops, 15 programs for families and children and is free? The Northwest Bookfest!

Printable brochure listing all the events

This renewed book festival will take place on Saturday October 1 and Sunday October 2 from 10am until 6pm at Peter Kirk Park, 202 Third St. in Kirkland.

The lineup of authors includes members of the Seattle 7 Writers, young adult authors who are part of the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour, children's author and illustrator Jez Alborough and major local authors.


For a complete list of authors participating and programs, visit http://www.northwestbookfest2011.com/

Book Group Extravaganza

Saturday, October 8, 2011, 1-5pm
Federal Way Library

Are you a book group novice? A hardened veteran? Come enjoy refreshments and learn more about running a successful book discussion group, and meet local author Erik Larson. A panel of book groups will share their experiences and KCLS librarians will present some great new titles for you to try. Erik Larson, author of The Devil in the White City and Thunderstruck, will speak and hold a book signing. These titles and Larson's newest work, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin, will be for sale by Third Place Books.

Federal Way Library, 34200 1st Way S., Federal Way, 98003, 253-838-3668

Reminder that the next meeting of the Auburn Library Book Group will be Tues. Oct. 11 @ 6:30pm @ Zola's Cafe.  We will be discussing Please Look After Mom by Kyung-sook Shin.  Copies are now available at the Auburn Library Temporary Site, 1140 Auburn Way S.