Book Events 2008 Alumni Presenters For those of you who wish to learn more about some of our former Book Event presenters, here is a list of the writers, illustrators and other literary illuminaries who have appeared at a Gallery Bookshop Book Event in 2008. Links to the Book Events guest speakers' websites will open in a separate window, so you may easily return to the Gallery Bookshop website.

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DATE	AUTHOR	TITLE
Dec. 12	Charlie Freed	Vet Tails
Dec. 5	Antonia Juhasz	The Tyranny of Oil
Dec. 3	Don Kirkpatrick	Rant & Whimsy
Nov. 26	Mickey Huff	Project Censored: The News that Didn't Make the News
Nov. 21	Jay Frankston	Tales of Mendocino and Mendocino Magic
Nov. 19	Johanna Bedford, Jeanette Boyer, & Katy Tahja	Women Authors of Gallery Bookshop (Women's Book Night)
Nov. 7	Todd Walton & Marcia Sloane	Buddha in a Teacup
Oct. 29	Ellen Sussman	Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave
Sept. 19	Christopher Paolini	Brisingr
Sept. 17	Barbara Quick	Vivaldi's Virgins
Sept. 12	Heidi Cusick Dickerson & Russ Parsons	Soul & Spice: African Cooking in the Americas & How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table
Sept. 10	Amy Stewart	Flower Confidential
Aug. 6	Meg Waite Clayton	The Wednesday Sisters
Aug. 3	Dana Bagshaw	Mama Grace
July 30	Stephenie Meyer	Breaking Dawn
July 30	Gayle Greene	Insomniac
July 20	Molly Dwyer	Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein
July 13	Nesta Rovina	Tree Barking
July 9	Meredith Norton	Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting
July 2	Bruce Patterson	Walking Tractor and Other Country Tales
June 28 & 29;	Andrew Todhunter	Writing As Spiritual Practice (seminar)
June 11	Amy Stewart	Women s Book Night: Flower Confidential
May 7	Anne Semans	Sexy Mamas: Keeping Your Sex Life Alive While Raising Kids
May 4	Janine Canan	Goddesses, Goddesses
May 2	Raj Patel	Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Feb. 24	Maureen Eppstein	Quickening

Return to the Alumni Index

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Charlie Freed Vet Tails Friday, December 12, 6:00 pm
	"In the drenching rain, stuck in a muck of mud lay Jethro, the farmer's prize Angus bull. I stood there, no slicker, no boots, torn shirt, soaking wet in the mud. I took my pants off. I then took the chain and passed it up one pant leg and then down the other. Standing in my underpants, waist deep in mud, I put the chain around Jethro's neck, making sure my pants protected his skin. I hooked the chain ends to the comealong and that to the farmer's tractor." Longtime local veterinarian Charlie Freed joined us for readings from his new book, Vet Tails. Well-behaved pets were invited to attend -- wine, refreshments, and pet treats were served! Orders/Information: Pet Tails Paperback, Tate Publishing, $14.99 ISBN 9781606045046

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Antonia Juhasz The Tyranny of Oil Friday, December 5, 3:00 pm
	Why are oil and gas prices so high? Who's really controlling those prices? How much oil is left? How far will Big Oil go to get it? And at what cost to the environment, human rights, the economy, worker safety, public health, and democracy? The answers aren't what you think. They're much worse. But there's also plenty that we can do about it. As oil prices -- and public outrage -- skyrocket, Antonia Juhasz, a leading industry critic and expert on corporations and globalization, gives us the hardest-hitting expose of the oil industry in decades. In The Tyranny of Oil she investigates the true state of the U.S. oil industry -- uncovering its virtually unparalleled global power, influence over our elected officials, and lack of regulatory oversight, as well as the truth behind $150-a-barrel oil, $4.50-a-gallon gasoline, and the highest profit in corporate history. Exposing an industry that thrives on secrecy, Juhasz shows how Big Oil manages to hide its business dealings from policy makers, legislators, and, most of all, consumers. She reveals exactly how Big Oil gets what it wants -- through money, influence, and lies. Orders/Information: The Tyranny of Oil Hardcover, HarperCollins, $26.95 ISBN 9780061434501

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Don Kirkpatrick Rant & Whimsy Wednesday, December 3, 6:30 pm
	Mendocino resident Don Kirkpatrick joined us for a lively reading from his new book of verse. Rant & Whimsy is just that -- brimming with poems that range from witty and whimsical to angry and politically charged. Kirkpatrick is the retired superintendent of the Mendocino Unified School District, having served as a teacher and administrator in various communities for more than forty years. His poems are extensions of the limerick verses that he developed to celebrate birthdays and retirements. The book is illustrated by the author's granddaughter, Lara Silva Kirkpatrick, who lives in Spain with her Spanish father and American mother. Orders/Information: Rant & Whimsy Paperback, Famous Poets Press, $10.00 ISBN 9780979855276

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Mickey Huff Project Censored The News that Didn't Make the News Wednesday, November 26, 6:30 pm
	Gallery Bookshop hosted Mickey Huff, who spoke about Project Censored: The News that Didn't Make the News. The best-selling "Censored" series -- with over 150,000 copies in print -- highlights each year's twenty-five most important underreported news stories, alerting readers to the negligence of corporate media and the resurgence of alternative media. This year's top stories included real news from Iraq, behind the scenes plans for the Security and Prosperity Partnership ("NAFTA on steroids"), US militarization of Latin America, an Executive Order to seize protesters' assets, and the Act to rout out "Homegrown Terrorism." Featuring contributions by Yes! Magazine, FAIR, the Index on Censorship, the Center for Media and Democracy; Project Censored special research on media reform in the Truth Emergency movement, and much, much more.

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Jay Frankston Tales of Mendocino and Mendocino Magic Friday, November 21, 6:30 pm
	Local author Jay Frankston was on hand to discuss his book Tales of Mendocino and Mendocino Magic. "Once upon a time, between the late Sixties and the early Seventies, there was a strange convergence of energies in a little town named Mendocino, sitting on top of a cliff in northern California. There were hippies and artists, drop out professionals and Hollywood producers, druggies and back-to-the-land sorts, and they all came together in an explosion of energy, a wild mix of young and old ready to leave the past behind and start something new. All hoping for something better. And it worked to create moments of oneness, both unique and spiritual which we recognized as Mendocino Magic." Orders/Information: Tales of Mendocino and Mendocino Magic Paperback, self-published, $10.00

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Women's Book Night: The Women Authors of Gallery Bookshop Johanna Bedford, Jeanette Boyer & Katy Tahja Wednesday, November 19, 6:00 pm
	Gallery Bookshop is fortunate to have three published authors on staff. Each writes in a different genre and each has found a different path to publishing. This Women's Book Night featured these talented and entertaining women talking about their writing and sharing their stories. Women's Book Night is a free after-hours series that brings reading women together in a convivial atmosphere with compelling speakers and enticing extras. This month's gathering also featured a craft workshop where we learned to make beautiful beaded book cords. Plus: chair massage, wine, and chocolates. The Early Mendocino Coast by Katy Tahja Driving Highway 1 along the Mendocino coast is a scenic adventure that draws thousands of visitors every year. Following the coast from Gualala on the south to Needle Rock in the north can be a challenge and features back-road driving. But imagine 100 years ago. Were there roads then too? How did people move along the coast? And what were they doing? Why did they settle here? Forget the Gold Rush and the forty-niners -- timber was king here. Logging, milling, and shipping wood was the focus of the economy. Railcars steamed through the forests, and ships pulled up to rickety landings to load shipments for faraway places. Today some coast views remain the same, while others have changed dramatically, and whole towns have vanished over the century. Junkyard Dreams by Jeanette Boyer Rita Vargas owns an automobile junkyard outside of Santa Fe. Her property abuts a hill with a spectacular view, making the junkyard a magnet for ubiquitous developers. But Rita's land has been in her family for generations, and she doesn't want to sell. Also, her son Parker, a talented artist, uses salvaged pieces from the junkyard for his sculptures. Local wheeler-dealer Leroy Sena has already bought the ridge above Rita's property, and when Leroy sells that land to a small-time landlord and his gallery-owner sweetheart, the stakes are raised. In Junkyard Dreams, old-timers retaining their emotional ties to the land face newcomers with money who want to build on every hilltop. This first novel illustrates that for every person opposed to the rapid growth of the real estate bonanza, two more people are scheming on how to profit from the boom. This seriously political but realistically compelling portrayal of land conflict confronts the trade-offs between improvement and preservation. Wood, Water, Air & Fire with poetry by Johanna Bedford "Wood, Water, Air and Fire" presents sixty-three distinctive voices from an area of northern California known for the austere beauty of its redwood trees and rugged Pacific coastline. The poets here range in age from fourteen to eighty-eight, and often paint a vivid picture of rural life. Bit if the context of these poems is elemental, the emotional tone is rich and varied. Sometimes subtle, often surprising, even startling, these poems arising from spirit of place go on to explore intimate personal experience. The result is a fascinating tapestry of lives lived close to wood, water, air and fire. Orders/Information: The Early Mendocino Coast by Katy Tahja. Paperback, Arcadia Publishing, $19.99 ISBN 9780738559469 Orders/Information: Junkyard Dreams by Jeanette Boyer. Paperback, University of New Mexico Press, $12.95 ISBN 9780826339492 Orders/Information: Wood, Water, Air & Fire with poetry by Johanna Bedford. Paperback, Potshard Press, $13.00 ISBN 096560523X

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Todd Walton & Marcia Sloane Buddha in a Teacup Friday, November 7, 6:30 pm
	Todd Walton and Marcia Sloane presented an afternoon of stories and music from Buddha in a Teacup and other works. Inspired by the teachings of the Buddha, the forty-two contemporary short stories of Buddha in a Teacup will uplift and inspire modern-day readers, who needn't have interest in Buddhist spiritual practice nor be familiar with Buddhist jargon to derive full enjoyment from reading them. The tales express universal human predicaments and challenges that transcend any particular philosophical or religious orientation. Some of the stories are humorous, some sad, some erotic, some enigmatic; all are linked by the themes of mindfulness, nonviolence, honesty, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, and love -- perhaps the greatest remaining hope for our otherwise savage society. Orders/Information: Buddha in a Teacup Hardcover, Lost Coast Press, $19.95 ISBN 9780060890537

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Women's Book Night presents: Ellen Sussman Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave Wednesday, October 29, 6:00 to 8:00 pm
	Gallery Bookshop hosted another Women's Book Night (Bad Girl Edition) when author Ellen Sussman talked about her latest book Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex. Dirty Words is a witty reference that steps in where time-honored discussions of the birds and the bees typically fall short. All of the 100-some entries are formally defined and further explained through reflective and ribald definitions, essays, and stories by some of today's most exciting writers. Ellen Sussman also created the anthology Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave. A riveting anthology of real-life stories from women writers who celebrate and meditate upon their acts of defiance, this not-to-be-missed work offers a secret-telling, soul-baring fest for the prodigal daughter that secretly exists in everyone. Women's Book Night is a free after-hours series that brings reading women together in a convivial atmosphere with compelling speakers and enticing extras. This month's gathering featured a tattoo demonstration with Madame Chinchilla of Triangle Tattoo, plus temporary body art and a new signature drink by Corinne Gordon of Dick's Place. Visit Ellen Sussman at her website, http://ellensussman.com Orders/Information: Dirty Words: A Literary Encyclopedia of Sex Hard cover, Harper Collins, $19.95 ISBN 9781596914742 Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave Paperback, WW Norton, $14.95 ISBN 9780816656776

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Christopher Paolini Brisingr Friday, September 19, 9:30 pm to midnight
	We celebrated the midnight release of Brisingr, the third book in Chrisopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, which began with Eragon. Guests brought their own pillows and cozied up for a viewing of the film Eragon, which started at 9:30 p.m. Plus: you could make your own sword and try it out with help from a local fencing expert, snack on dragon cupcakes and punch, and try the Inheritance Cycle trivia contest and Ancient Language Quiz! Then, you got to take home your own copy of Brisingr at the stroke of midnight. Following the colossal battle against the Empire's warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice. Christopher Paolini's abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at fifteen after being homeschooled all his life. Both Eragon and Eldest, the second book in the Inheritance cycle, became instant bestsellers. Orders/Information: Brisingr Random House, $27.50 ISBN 9780375826726

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Women's Book Night Barbara Quick Vivaldi's Virgins Wednesday, September 17, 6 - 8 pm
	Women's Book Night heated up with Barbara Quick, author of Vivaldi's Virgins. Pairing the seductive appeal of a legendary composer with the coming of age of a violin prodigy, Quick's enthralling novel, just out in paperback, recreates Vivaldi's Venice at the height of its splendor and decadence. Women's Book Night featured free chair massage, wine, gourmet chocolates, and other enticing extras. In this enthralling new novel, Barbara Quick re-creates eighteenth-century Venice at the height of its splendor and decadence. A story of longing and intrigue, half-told truths and toxic lies, Vivaldi's Virgins unfolds through the eyes of Anna Maria dal Violin, one of the elite musicians cloistered in the foundling home where Antonio Vivaldi -- known as the Red Priest of Venice -- is maestro and composer. Fourteen-year-old Anna Maria, abandoned at the Ospedale della Pieta as an infant, is determined to find out who she is and where she came from. Her quest takes her beyond the cloister walls into the complex tapestry of Venetian society; from the impoverished alleyways of the Jewish Ghetto to a masked ball in the company of a king; from the passionate communal life of adolescent girls competing for their maestro's favor to the larger-than-life world of music and spectacle that kept the citizens of a dying republic in thrall. In this world, where for fully half the year the entire city is masked and cloaked in the anonymity of Carnival, nothing is as it appears to be. A virtuoso performance in the tradition of Girl with a Pearl Earring, Vivaldi's Virgins is a fascinating glimpse inside the source of Vivaldi's musical legacy, interwoven with the gripping story of a remarkable young woman's coming-of-age in a deliciously evocative time and place. To find out more about Barbara Quick and Vivaldi's Virgins, visit her website at http://www.barbaraquick.com/. Orders/Information: Vivaldi's Virgins Paperback, HarperCollins, $14.95 ISBN 9780060890537

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Heidi Cusick Dickerson Russ Parsons Soul & Spice: African Cooking in the Americas How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table Friday, September 12, 6:30 pm
	Mendocino coast author and cooking expert Heidi Cusick Dickerson teamed up with food writer Russ Parsons to present their two excellent books plus live cooking demonstrations. Heidi's gorgeous recipe book, Soul & Spice, features cuisines of African origin, from Caribbean and Creole to soul food and barbecue. Russ's latest book, How to Pick a Peach, is an indispensable guide to common fruits and vegetables, from asparagus to zucchini. He offers valuable tips on selecting, storing, and preparing produce, along with one hundred delicious recipes. It's an entertaining and informative reading experience that is guaranteed to help put better food on the table. Orders/Information: Soul & Spice: African Cooking in the Americas Paperback, Chronicle Books, $16.95 ISBN 0811804194 How to Pick a Peach: The Search for Flavor from Farm to Table Paperback, Houghton Mifflin, $16.95 ISBN 9780547053806

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Amy Stewart Flower Confidential Wednesday, September 10, 6:30 pm
	Author Amy Stewart talked about gardening, life with chickens, and her latest book, Flower Confidential, a globe-trotting, behind-the-scenes look at the dazzling world of flowers. Stewart follows a rose from the remote Ecuadoran greenhouse where it's grown to the American retailer where it's finally sold, and visits a huge, stock-exchange-like Dutch flower auction. Stewart's floral romanticism -- she admits early on that she's "always had a generalized, smutty sort of lust for flowers" -- survives the potentially disillusioning revelations of the flower biz. By the end, the book is as lush as the flowers it describes. Flower-based cocktails and light nibbles were served. Orders/Information: Flower Confidential Paperback, Algonquin Books, $13.95 ISBN 9781565126039

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Women's Book Night Meg Waite Clayton The Wednesday Sisters Wednesday, August 6, 6 - 8 pm
	Meg Waite Clayton, author of The Wednesday Sisters, was the featured speaker at the August Women's Book Night. Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of this beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family. For thirty-five years, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally have met every Wednesday at the park near their homes in Palo Alto, California. Defined when they first meet by what their husbands do, the young homemakers and mothers are far removed from the Summer of Love that has enveloped most of the Bay Area in 1967. These "Wednesday Sisters" seem to have little in common: Frankie is a timid transplant from Chicago, brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete, Kath is a Kentucky debutante, quiet Ally has a secret, and quirky, ultra-intelligent Brett wears little white gloves with her miniskirts. But they are bonded by a shared love of both literature -- Fitzgerald, Eliot, Austen, du Maurier, Plath, and Dickens -- and the Miss America Pageant, which they watch together every year. As the years roll on and their children grow, the quintet forms a writers circle to express their hopes and dreams through poems, stories, and, eventually, books. Along the way, they experience history in the making: Vietnam, the race for the moon, and a women's movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves, while at the same time supporting one another through changes in their personal lives brought on by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success. Humorous and moving, The Wednesday Sisters is a literary feast for book lovers that earns a place among those popular works that honor the joyful, mysterious, unbreakable bonds between friends. Women's Book Night is an after-hours, women-only series that features wine, chocolates, free chair massage, and other extras. To find out more about Meg Waite Clayton, visit her website at http://www.megwaiteclayton.com/. Orders/Information: The Wedesday Sisters Hardcover, Random House, $25.00 ISBN 9780345502827

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Dana Bagshaw Mama Grace Sunday, August 3, 3:00 pm
	Author Dana Bagshaw discussed her new book Mama Grace. The author presents what her grandmother had intended to be a novel, a story of homesteading in the 1900s that shows a woman's struggle to keep herself and her family together against incredible odds. Bagshaw reworked the story, and it was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book. Orders/Information: Mama Grace Paperback, Evans Publications, $17.95 ISBN 9780934188463

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Stephenie Meyer Breaking Dawn Friday, August 1, open until midnight
	Gallery Bookshop remained open late for the midnight release of the fourth book in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series, Breaking Dawn. New York Times bestselling author Meyer returns to her teen vampire saga with this much-anticipated addition to the series. In this riveting novel, questions will be answered and the fate of Bella and Edward will be revealed. Orders/Information: Breaking Dawn Hardcover, Little Brown Young Readers, $22.95 ISBN 9780316067928

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Gayle Greene Insomniac Wednesday, July 30, 6:30 pm
	Gayle Greene talked about life with insomnia and her in-depth study of the topic in her new book Insomniac. In the book, Greene takes readers into the world of sleep research, sleep clinics, pharmaceuticals, sleeping potions, alternative medicine, and sleep physiology and psychology. Oprah magazine calls it "far too interesting to lull you to sleep." Orders/Information: Insomniac Hardcover, University of California Press, $29.95 ISBN 9780520246300

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Molly Dwyer Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein Sunday, July 20, 6 - 9 pm
	Local author Molly Dwyer spoke about her new novel, Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein, winner of the 2008 Next Generation Independent Book Award for Historical Fiction. New York Times bestseller author John Lescroart says, "Reading this ambitious and excellent first novel is like taking an extended and enjoyable vacation in Great Britain with a really smart best friend." Orders/Information: Requiem for the Author of Frankenstein Paperback, Lost Coast Press, $19.95 ISBN 9781882897933

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Nesta Rovina Tree Barking Sunday, July 13, 3 pm
	Bay Area author Nesta Rovina talked about her new memoir, Tree Barking. Tree Barking is an insightful and engaging memoir that weaves the author's personal story with her remarkable experiences as a home health care worker. It's compelling reading for anyone interested in the state of the health care industry today. Wine and nibbles were served. Orders/Information: Tree Barking Paperback, Heydey Books, $14.95 ISBN 9781597140812

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Meredith Norton Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting Wednesday, July 9, 6 - 9 pm
	Gallery Bookshop hosted another Women's Book Night when author Meredith Norton talked about her memoir, Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting. A portion of sales from the evening was donated to the Mendocino Cancer Resource Center. Women's Book Night is a free after-hours series that brings reading women together in a convivial atmosphere with compelling speakers and enticing extras. The July 9th event featured free chair massage and chocolates from Papa Bear's Chocolate Haus. Orders/Information: Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting Hardcover, Penguin, $24.95 ISBN 9780670019281

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Bruce Patterson Walking Tractor & Other Country Tales Wednesday, July 2, 6:30 pm
	Local author and character Bruce Patterson talked about the new edition of Walking Tractor and Other Country Tales. Set in northern California's Anderson Valley, these personal essays tell of Patterson's love of rural living and his experiences working as a logger, fleece stomper, weed whacker, and in other seasonal and physically demanding jobs. Patterson's tales of tough work and end-of-the-day carousing are insightful, honest, touching and, best of all, a hoot. Patterson was a civil rights worker in the 1960s and, along with Ron Kovic, founded the Los Angeles chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. For twenty years he was a columnist for the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Walking Tractor was originally self published and then picked up by Heyday Books, publisher of high quality and accessible books on California history, literary anthologies, natural history, California Indians, and regional guides. For more information about Bruce Patterson's new book, visit http://www.4mules.com/. Orders/Information: Walking Tractor & Other Country Tales Paperback, Heyday Books, $14.95 ISBN 9781597140829

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Andrew Todhunter Writing As Spiritual Practice Seminar Saturday & Sunday, June 28 & 29, 10 am to 5 pm
	Writing As Spiritual Practice was another weekend of creativity and meditation with local author and teacher Andrew Todhunter. Sponsored by Gallery Bookshop, the program was held Saturday June 28 and Sunday June 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Mendocino Village. With an emphasis on practice over theory, this two-day, twelve-hour course combined writing instruction and written exercises with non-denominational meditation techniques, breathing, stretching and other centering exercises adapted for the process of creative writing. Andrew Todhunter is an award-winning author and teacher with more than fifteen years of experience in western and eastern meditation techniques.

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Women's Book Night with Amy Stewart Flower Confidential Wednesday, June 11, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
	Amy Stewart talked about gardening, life with chickens, and her latest book, Flower Confidential. Women's Book Night is our free after-hours series that brings reading women together in a convivial atmosphere with compelling speakers and enticing extras. The June event featured wine and nibbles, an edible-flower tasting, and (yes!) free chair massage. Flower Confidential is a globe-trotting, behind-the-scenes look at the dazzling world of flowers. Stewart follows a rose from the remote Ecuadoran greenhouse where it's grown to the American retailer where it's finally sold, and visits a huge, stock-exchange-like Dutch flower auction. Stewart's floral romanticism -- she admits early on that she's "always had a generalized, smutty sort of lust for flowers" -- survives the potentially disillusioning revelations of the flower biz. By the end, the book is as lush as the flowers it describes. To learn more about Amy Stewart, visit her home page at http://www.amystewart.com/index.html. Orders/Information: Flower Confidential Paperback, Algonquin Books, $13.95 ISBN 9781565126039

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Second Annual Mom's Night Out with Author Anne Semans Sexy Mamas: Keeping Your Sex Life Alive While Raising Kids Wednesday, May 7, 3:00 pm
	Back by popular demand: Sexy Mamas! Gallery Bookshop once again honored our community's mothers with a women-only, after-hours special event. At 6 pm the doors closed on the regular business day and reopened for wine, snacks, chocolates by Papa Bear's Chocolate Haus, book browsing, and the company of other mamas! Local massage therapists were on hand to refresh tired moms with free shoulder massage. At 6:30 pm author Anne Semans lead a discussion based on her book, Sexy Mamas: Keeping Your Sex Life Alive While Raising Kids. Mothers know that our sexuality doesn't disappear when children arrive; it simply gets buried under an avalanche of diapers, carpool routes, and conflicting demands. Sexy Mamas offers advice, real world stories, and practical information from doctors, therapists, and the most knowledgeable experts -- other mothers. From the book: Sexuality is the source of your creativity; it infuses you with love, energy, and a sense of well-being; it improves all your relationships; and makes you more human to your own children. The author's interest in accurate sex education was sparked by the nun who taught eighth grade religion class and counseled her students to "think of a hamburger when you find your thoughts straying to the impure ... it will distract you." Suspecting that God really didn't intend for us to choose between two things as wonderful as sex and food, Anne made a point of learning as much about sex as she could. She's spent the last 20 years educating herself and others about the wonders of sex, primarily through writing and working with several women-owned sex toy stores, most recently as Marketing Director at Babeland.com. Anne believes that all people, including children, deserve information about their sexuality in order to lead more fulfilling lives, which is what inspired her to write Sexy Mamas. Gallery Bookshop wishes to thank Babeland.com for co-sponsoring this community event. For more information contact Gallery Bookshop at 937-2665. For more information about Anne Semans, visit http://www.anneandcathy.com/. Orders/Information: Sexy Mamas: Keeping Your Sex Life Alive While Raising Kids Paperback, New World Library, $14.95 ISBN 9781930722279

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Janine Canan Goddesses, Goddesses Sunday, May 4, 3:00 pm
	Award-winning author Janine Canan presented Goddesses, Goddesses, a memoir recounting her encounters with visionary writers and poets. Among the individual whose lives touched hers are Iris Murdoch, Else Lasker-Schuler, Marija Gimbutas, James Broughton, Diane Di Prima, Alma Villanueva, Ali Akbar Khan, and Mata Amritanandamayi. Poetic snippets written by these illuminating individuals intersperse the thoughtful discussion, fond memories, and moments of epiphany. Canan is the author of several other books, including Walk Now In Beauty: The Legend of Changing Woman, which tells the story of the Navajo Creation Goddess in poetry, exquisitely illustrated with contemporary sand paintings by artist Ernest Posey. For more information about Janine Canan, visit her website at http://janinecanan.com. Orders/Information: Goddesses, Goddesses Paperback, Regent Press, $16.00 ISBN 9781587901294

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Raj Patel Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System Friday, May 2, 3:00 pm
	Author Raj Patel talked about his new book, Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System. Naomi Klein called Stuffed & Starved "One of the most dazzling books I have read in a very long time. The product of a brilliant mind and a gift to a world hungering for justice." Half the world is malnourished, the other half obese -- both symptoms of the corporate food monopoly. To show how a few powerful distributors control the health of the entire world, Raj Patel conducts a global investigation, traveling from the "green deserts" of Brazil to bankrupt Ugandan coffee farms and barren fields of India. What he uncovers is shocking -- the real reasons for famine in Asia and Africa, an epidemic of farmer suicides, and the false choices and conveniences in supermarkets. Yet he also finds hope -- in international resistance movements working to create a more democratic, sustainable, and joyful food system. Raj Patel has written for the Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, and though he has worked for the World Bank, WTO, and the UN, he's also been tear-gassed on four continents protesting them. For more information about Stuffed and Starved, visit http://stuffedandstarved.org. For more info about the author, visit http://www.rajpatel.com/ Orders/Information: Stuffed & Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System Paperback, Melville House, $19.95 ISBN 9781933633497

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Maureen Eppstein Quickening Sunday, February 24, 2008, 3 pm Special location: Mendocino Community Library, 10591 Williams Street, Mendocino, CA.
	Local poet Maureen Eppstein presented her new poetry collection at a gala reading and reception. Originally from New Zealand, Maureen Eppstein now lives in Mendocino, where she helps run the Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. Her widely published poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, received awards in many competitions, been included in a textbook on computer graphics, and used in a university-level geology course. Cover reviews on her new books are by internationally acclaimed poets Jane Hirshfield and Eavan Boland. Jane Hirshfield's most recent poetry collection is After. She is also author of the influential essay collection Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry. She wrote: "With a naturalist's eye for the precise and sensuous image and a writer's care for the precise and sensuous word, Maureen Eppstein plants our human griefs into this book, roots them, and invites them to quicken into new life." Eavan Boland, a major Irish poet, is director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University and author of many poetry and essay collections, including Object Lessons: the Life of the Woman and the Poet in Our Time. In her comments she noted that: "These eloquent poems appear at first to record detail, the ordinary, the everyday. They celebrate a swallow's nest, sand grains, even the growth of weeds. But there is a twist: these are also dark pastorals that -- in the poet's words -- review and regret "the damaged earth". Again and again, these poems return to defenseless nature, to creatures looted and evicted and to human lives hurt and interrupted. This shadowing of the relation between the poet and every kind of nature is the real theme of these fine poems. It deepens and sharpens their music." Orders/Information: Quickening Paperback, March Street Press, $9.00 ISBN 9781596610798

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