Monday
SHERMAN FREAKING ALEXIE: The best-selling author returns with his first novel in ten years. Flight tells the story of an orphaned Indian boy who travels back and forth through time in a violent search for his true identity. Real Change-published poets (that would actually include Alexie, too) read as part of the program.

7:30pm // Town Hall // $5

LOCAL AUTHOR: Maya Sonenberg, the Creative Writing Program Director at the UW, presents a book of short stories, Voices From the Blue Hotel. Ten troubled narrators tell their stories: a woman grieves the twin sister she's lost, a musician wanders the streets of Paris searching for and mourning his girlfriend, a young woman murders her brother's male lover.

7pm // UW Bookstore // FREE

Tuesday
SO CAN THEY SPEAK ENTISH?: Richard "The Hot Zone" Preston has a new book, The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring, about the biosystem of the Sequoia sempervirens (California redwoods), thought to be not only the largest living organism in nature but also one of the oldest. Preston tells the story of the team of scientists and tree-climbers who risk their lives to study these majestic carnivorous creatures.

7:30pm // Town Hall // $5

LOCAL ARTIST: Seattle artist and art instructor Juliette Aristides goes through the material contained in her recent book, Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice. The principles and practices exhibited by the book are embodied in the work she does with the Aristides Classical Atelier at the Gage Academy.

7:30pm // Elliott Bay // FREE

Wednesday
NOVEL INDIAS: Seattle-area fiction writers Bharti Kirchner and Indu Sundaresan, each of whom has dealt one way and another with her home country of India, read from and discuss their work. Bharti Kirchner has written a series of novels, including Shiva Dancing, Darjeeling, and Pastries. Indu Sundaresan has worked historical ground in her three novels, including The Twentieth Wife, The Feast of Roses, and The Splendor of Silence.

7-8:30pm // Seattle Central Public Library Microsoft Auditorium // FREE

YOUR KID'S BRAIN ON SOCIETY: Dr. Patricia K. Kuhl, Co-Director of the UW Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences and Professor of Speech and Hearing Sciences, researches early language and brain development. She examines a child's capacity to learn and how it relates to the central debate about nature or nurture -- how social interaction is vital to every child's ability to learn.

7-8pm // UW Kane Hall Rm 130 // FREE w/RSVP

A DAMN YANKEE WRITES: Mel Stottlemyre discusses his book Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and surviving life´s challenges, written with John Harper. Stottlemyre is a former pitcher and coach in Major League Baseball, and was also a roving instructor for the Mariners from 1977-82.

6:30-7:45pm // Seattle Public Library Ballard Branch // FREE

Thursday
SEATTLE FOLLIES: Town Hall’s comedy/political/musical cabaret presents "Radio Daze," hosted by KIRO’s Dave Ross and KVI’s John Carlson. Joining Dave and John are KJR Sports Radio’s Mike "The Gasman" Gastineau, Cheryl Waters, afternoon host at KEXP appearing with The Heavy Hearts, KUOW’s Phyllis Fletcher with news updates, and Casey MacGill and his band. The listening audience gets prizes for playing Seattle’s favorite news game, "Who Said What?!"

7:30pm // Town Hall // $15 general/$13 Town Hall members, students & seniors

YOUR PUBLIC HEALTH AT WORK: You could use the lecture title, "A Matter of Health and Safety: Public Health ... Looking back, Leading forward" as a sleep aid. Public health deserves better. Seven speakers describe public health initiatives that have made lives better and address issues facing the community.

6-8:30pm // UW Kane Hall Rm 110 // FREE w/RSVP

MICRO-ECONOMICS: Professor Wolfram Latsch speaks about the work of Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winners. Yunus and the Bank received the prize "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below" through the use of micro-credit loans.

7-8:30pm // UW HUB Rm 310 // $5 general / $4 UWAA members / $3 students w/RSVP

Friday
FAMOUS ETHIOPIAN BATTLES: In 1896, an army under the command of emperor Menelik of Ethiopia overwhelmed an attacking Italian force at a place called Adwa. Defeat forced the Italians to call off plans to colonize Ethiopia, making Ethiopia the only African country to defend its independence successfully prior to 1914. In "Ethiopia in the American Imagination: When Menelik Came to America," Professor Raymond Jonas, introduces his current research focus, the historic battle of Adwa.

7-8:30pm // UW Kane Hall Rm 220 // FREE w/RSVP

DIAGRAM THIS SENTENCE: Kitty Burns Florey, former copyeditor and the author of nine novels and numerous stories and essays, has suddenly become a surprising bestselling author thanks to the publication this past autumn of Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences, which provides a look at language like none you're likely to see these days, now that no one teaches diagramming anymore.

7:30pm // Elliott Bay // FREE

Saturday
BASEBALL STRATEGERY: A few hours before the Mariners host Kansas City, Derek Zumsteg of the Mariner website www.ussmariner.com discusses his book on the dirty tricks, scandals, and schemers of America's favorite pastime: The Cheater's Guide to Baseball.

3pm // Elliott Bay // FREE

LOCAL ECOLOGICAL DISASTER: The Puget Sound region is unique in its combination of beauty, wealth, natural resiliency, and history of environmental concern. John Lombard's Saving Puget Sound offers a proposal to conserve our ecosystems in spite of population growth.

6:30pm // Third Place Books // FREE

Sunday
LOCAL AUTHORS: Seattle writers Wendy Call, Alma Garcia and Felicia Gonzalez will read their work, exploring the social, cultural, and linguistic dimensions of border crossings in both English and Spanish.

2-4pm // Seattle Public Library Columbia Branch // FREE

TV WATCHES YOU!: "If you've ever threatened to toss out the TV if it wasn't turned off now, you'll relate to Ellen Currey-Wilson's campaign to protect her son from a media-crazed culture. The catch for her is that she's addicted, and while she shields him, she sneaks peeks herself, and her story is funny and poignant." Her book is called The Big Turnoff.

7pm // Third Place Books // FREE