After winning $3,022,700 from Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings could've retired to a Seattle suburb to roll around in piles of dollar bills. Instead, he became America's answer to Ben Schott, wroting about trivia: a book its history, a regular column in Mental_Floss, a popular weekly trivia quiz, and most recently a hu-frickin'-mungous collection of questions, the Trivia Almanac. In short, he's got the career we've secretly wished we could have since we were nine years......

A while ago we were looking for a picture of a mojito and in our search we ran into local author (and mojito photographer) Amanda Ford. She told us she had a book coming out and we said, Great, let us know when it's on the shelves and we'll interview you. The book is called Kiss Me I'm Single: An Ode to the Solo Life, and its message is of "fierce individuality and even stronger......

Ok, he used to be a science fiction author back in the day (the 80s) but recently he's been trending more towards "technothriller" territory. The difference between those two being a little bit of marketing and a whole lot of sales. Greg's doing a reading at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on the 30th for his new novel Quantico.......

The 90,000-square-foot seminary building at St. Edwards State Park is "one of Washington's unique treasures." But it hasn't been kept up since the 80s, and it's falling apart. Luckily, reports the P-I: McMenamins, a Portland-based chain of hotels, restaurants and brew pubs, submitted a 2005 letter of intent to lease the seminary building and turn it into a hotel with a restaurant and a conference center. Brian McMenamin, co-owner of the company that made the......

Are we more Lake Forest Parkish or Minneapolisesque? Four-foot rules exist in Bellevue, Everett, Federal Way, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park and Tacoma, according to city reports. Burien requires dancers to be at least 10 feet away from patrons, while Renton prohibits off-stage performances altogether. Cities that don't ban dancers from getting near customers include Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and San Diego, according to another city report. Los Angeles and Portland also lack such rules,......

Yesterday we googled the phrase "best restaurant in Renton." (Don't ask.) It turned up this post on A Displaced Hipster's Guide to Renton, which gives the Melrose Grill top honors in Seattle's southern suburb. DH's mission statement: "Two years ago, my wife and I moved out of the city of Seattle to the lovely suburby city of Renton, Washington. We've learned to survive without great restaurants, nightlife, and entertainment--here's how we do it." Like any......

We successfully navigated the B-word over the weekend without seeing John Moe do his McSweeney's dance, which is not very neighborly of us. It's something we would love to see and hopefully he performs again sometime soon, although that seems unlikely because he's got this whole book thing going on as well. It looks like he will be making the rounds in October promoting the book, though, that should launch him into Partly Cloudy Patriot......

Did you miss Michael Pollan when he was in town last month? Even though we told you to go? Never fear -- you have another chance. Pollan reads from his "can you believe how much corn we eat in this country?" expose, The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals at 6:30 tonight at Third Place Books up in Lake Forest Park. He was also on KUOW's Weekday this morning at 9:00, but if......

Octavia Butler died at the age of 58 yesterday after a fall near her home in Lake Forest Park. She was the only science fiction writer ever to recieve a MacArthur Foundation genius award.......

The holidays are over (except for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, of course), so authors are starting to make their way to Seattle again, ready to read excerpts and sign autographs so that you'll be tempted to buy their latest title. Here's a cheat sheet for the week in book tours. Monday, January 9 5:30, EB: Timothy Noah, editor of the late Marjorie Williams' The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family, and......

Monday Nov. 28 5:30: Jane Midgley, Elliott Bay Book Co. Women and the U.S. Budget: Where the Money Goes and What You Can Do About It 6:00: Anne Rice, Third Place Books -- Lake Forest Park Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt (signing only) 7:00: Peter Blecha, University Bookstore (University District) Rock 'n' Roll Archaeologist: How I Chased Down Kurt's Stratocaster, the "Layla" Guitar, and Janis's Boa 7:30: Richard Bach, EBBC Curious Lives: Adventures from......

Seattlest's favorite cooking show doesn't star Rachael Ray or Iron Chef Morimoto. No, we're partial to America's Test Kitchen, the public television sibling of our favorite cooking magazine, Cook's Illustrated. Host Christopher Kimball doesnot make up words such as "jambalika" or forcefully oppose the rigid culinary doctrines of the Ota Faction. America's Test Kitchen is less about charming the audience and more like Highlander: there can be only one best recipe for Denver omelettes, and......

Who needs Hollywood? The superstars are flocking to the Emerald City. Jane Fonda was just at Seattle Costco hawking her autiobiography, and now Goldie Hawn showing a touch more class, is coming to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on Saturday, May 14, at 6 pm. Her autobiography even has a better title than Jane’s My Life So Far. Goldie: A Lotus Grows In the Mud reveals Goldie’s "joy of being a daughter, a......