Upcoming Book Signings and Events at Wordsmiths Books

Chris Bohjalian, whose novel, Midwives, was an Oprah Book Club pick, discusses his new book, Skeletons at the Feast. A dramatic departure for the bestselling author, it's drawn from real life about two families in the collapsing days of World War II Germany, struggling to survive and to believe in the fundamental goodness of people. Bohjalian's books include The Double Bind and The Law of Similars. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

For more than 25 years, Naomi Duguid has journeyed all over the outlying regions of China, sampling local home cooking and street food, making friends and taking lustrous photographs. Beyond the Great Wall shares the experience in a rich mosaic of recipes, photos, and stories. Naomi will not only be discussing the food of China, but also the hot-button politics and social climate. Wordsmiths Books welcomes Naomi Duguid, co-author of Beyond the Great Wall, for a lively and thought-provoking discussion of China as it is now. Don't miss this captivating afternoon.

1. Yeats was preoccupied with the occult for most of his adult life. When he married in 1917, his English wife Georgie Hyde Lees surprised him (and herself) by attempting automatic writing, a form of mediumship. The messages that arrived explained everything from human psychology to world history to life after death. Yeats wrote the philosophic book A Vision (1925) out of the revelations, which also led directly to some of his most powerful poetry. A Vision has been thoroughly edited for the first time by Catherine E. Paul and Margaret Mills Harper, in an edition that is part of the 14-volume The Complete Works of W. B. Yeats. Professor Paul (Clemson University) is a scholar of high literary modernism and Pound; Harper (Georgia State University), of Yeats's occultism and Irish literature.

2. Yeats devoted years to an effort to restore an oral tradition by reviving the bardic arts of chanting and musical speech, an attempt charted in Ronald Schuchard's new book, The Last Minstrels: Yeats and the Revival of the Bardic Arts. Yeats was determined to return the 'living voice' of the poet from exile to the center of culture--on its platforms, stages, and streets--thereby establishing a spiritual democracy in the arts. Professor Schuchard (Emory University) is a scholar and editor of Yeats and Eliot.

Be sure to join us for our Yeats Festival!

DeKalb Medical Center and Wordsmiths Books are pleased as punch and twice as thrilled to celebrate hometown chef, and all-around southern favorite Virginia Willis’ debut cookbook, Bon Appetit Y’all, with a special down-home afternoon event in the spacious and comfy Dekalb Medical Center Women’s Auditorium. You may know Virginia Willis as the radio spokesperson for Gold Peak Tea, or as the Kitchen Director for Martha Stewart Living, or from one of her many classes at Cook's Warehouse, but Bon Appetit, Y’all gives life and love to the recipes that have made Virginia Willis who she is today. Filled with intimate and heartfelt stories and anecdotes, gorgeous pictures, and, of course, delicious recipes, Bon Appetit, Y’all is a marvel of southern cooking. Virginia will be giving a brief cooking demonstration and lecture, and several of her recipes will be served in afternoon snack-sized portions for sampling and munching. Come join Wordsmiths Books and Dekalb Medical Center for a Sunday afternoon full of good food and good fun with Virginia Willis.

Barbara Walters, the most important woman in the history of broadcast journalism, will visit the Georgia Center for the Book on Monday, May 19th, 2008 as part of her nation-wide book tour for her new memoir, Audition. The program will be presented at Presser Hall on the campus of Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Avenue in Decatur. The program begins with an on-stage interview with Jovita Moore of WSB-TV at 7:00 P.M.

Please note: The publisher will have Ms. Walters sign all books a few hours before the event. As such, the only way to get a signed copy of Audition is to purchase it at the event or to pre-order it online from Wordsmiths.

Elise Blackwell (The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish and Grub) is a thoughtful, literary author whose new book, Hunger, is set during Hitler's siege of Leningrad. It's a beautiful novel of a scientist's deeply moving confrontation with his own morality. Critics call it a searing exploration of the limitations and possibilities of the human spirit. The author is on the faculty at the University of South Carolina. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

For centuries, adventurers and scientists have pursued the dream of immortality. Today it appears it might actaully be a reality. This is not an anti-aging book. It's a groundbreaking guide to functionl aging--living longer than we may have ever thought possible. Practical immortality may now be within our grasps thanks to cutting-edge scientific research and amazing medical breakthroughs that are coming at such astonishing speed we can hardly keep up. In Chasing Life, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN, blends dramatic accounts of amazing discoveries from around the world with essential advice on how you can apply them for optimal health and longevity. What Dr. Gupta has found is provacative and often counterintuitive. This life-changing book revolutionizes the way you think about aging--and reveals the secrets to helping you live a longer, healthier life for many years to come. Wordsmiths Books is the bookseller at this event at the Decatur Library and co-sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Alison Weir, the distinguished English historical biographer (The Six Wives of Henry VIII, The Wars of the Roses, and The Life of Elizabeth) and novelist visits to talk about her fascinating portrayal of a remarkable queen, The Lady Elizabeth. It's an unforgettable, sweeping exploration of the bloody conflicts between family, religion and conscience that came to define an age. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Bestselling author Elizabeth Berg, the acclaimed author of more than a dozen novels including Range of Motion, The Handmaid and the Carpenter, and Joy School, discusses her exciting new story collection, The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted. These are exhilarating short stories of women breaking free from convention as they navigate through emotional landmines. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

In the cinematic event of the year, one of the 20th century's most beloved heroes is back in movie theaters worldwide. New York Times bestselling author James Rollins offers this official movie tie-in novel. Wordsmiths is giddy with excitement to welcome James Rollins as he discusses and signs his novelization of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Back on July 21st, 2007, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final installment in a series that changed the world, was released to the public. On July 22nd, 2007, Harry Potter fans everywhere shut the book for the last time, ready to go out into the world and get as involved as they could in the Harry Potter fandom. When the series ended, excited readers found a reason to get out of their houses and go to meetups and events where they could meet other fans and relive the magic all over again.

The girls involved in the Accio Bodyguard Tour are two of these fans in particular who have been heavily involved in the wizard rock movement in the Harry Potter fandom for years, writing and performing music based on events and characters in the series. One is Lauren, a New Jersey native and member of The Moaning Myrtles, one of the first and most successful female wizard rock bands in the genre, earning a total of seven Wizard Rock People's Choice Awards over the past two years. The other is Lena, a music composition major from New York who started her own wizard rock band called The Butterbeer Experience, who claimed Wizrocklopedia.com's Best New Artist Award for 2008.

Wordsmiths Books is ready for a night of wizardly rockin’, with themed treats and goodies and, of course, nothing whatsoever mentioning he who shall not be named. We’ll also be having a costume contest, so come dressed like your favorite character from the Potter-verse and get entered to win prizes while you (w)rock! This free event is for all ages.

Wordsmiths Books hosts Second Sundays with Working Title Playwrights (WTP). On the second Sunday of each month, a contemporary play is selected for reading aloud followed immediately by discussion. There is no charge to participate, and it's open to anyone who wants to read exciting modern plays.

June's play is The Last Night of Ballyhoo by Alfred Uhry. The play takes place in Atlanta, Georgia, in December of 1939. Gone with the Wind is having its world premiere, and Hitler is invading Poland, but Atlanta's elitist German Jews are much more concerned with who is going to Ballyhoo, the social event of the season. Especially concerned is the Freitag family: bachelor Adolph, his widowed sister, Beulah (Boo) Levy, and their also widowed sister-in-law, Reba. Boo is determined to have her dreamy, unpopular daughter, Lala, attend Ballyhoo, believing it will be Lala's last chance to find a socially acceptable husband. Adolph brings his new assistant, Joe Farkas, home for dinner. Joe is Brooklyn born and bred, and furthermore is of Eastern European heritage—several social rungs below the Freitags, in Beulah's opinion. Lala, however, is charmed by Joe, and she hints broadly about being taken to Ballyhoo, but he turns her down. This enrages Boo, and matters get worse when Joe falls for Lala's cousin, Reba's daughter, Sunny, home from Wellesley for Christmas vacation. Will Boo succeed in snaring Peachy Weil, a member of one of the finest Jewish families in the South? Will Sunny and Joe avoid the land mines of prejudice that stand in their way? Will Lala ever get to Ballyhoo? The family gets pulled apart and then mended together with plenty of comedy, romance and revelations along the way. Events take several unexpected turns as the characters face where they come from and are forced to deal with who they really are.

Please join us for a lively reading and discussion of this play. It's FREE! It's FUN! For more information, please contact WTP's Managing Artistic Director, Jill Patrick, at 404-441-2716.

Wordsmiths Books welcomes THE authority on how to barbecue, Steven Raichlen, for a special evening "shindig" celebrating the 10th anniversary edition of his renowned The Barbecue! Bible. Redesigned inside and out for its 10th anniversary, The Barbecue! Bible now includes full-color photographs illustrating food preparation, grilling techniques, ingredients, and of course those irresistible finished dishes. A new section has been added with answers to the most frequently asked grilling questions, plus Steven's proven tips, quick solutions to common mistakes, and more. And then there's the literal meat of the book: more than 500 of the very best barbecue recipes, inventive, delicious, unexpected, easy-to-make, and guaranteed to capture great grill flavors from around the world. Add in the full-color, and it's a true treasure.

To celebrate The Barbecue! Bible turning 10, Steven and Wordsmiths are looking for the best darn barbecuers in the city to enter a barbecue-off, judged by Steven Raichlen himself! For details on the barbecue contest or to enter, send an email to russ@wordsmithsbooks.com.

Divorcing Dwayne by Dixie Diva J. L. Miles is the first volume in a three-book series featuring Francine Harper and her no-good husband, Dwayne. As the series is set in rural Georgia, Miles calls the category "Grits-Lit." As Divorcing Dwayne opens, Francine is in jail, facing felony assault charges for shooting at Dwayne and his stripper-lover, Carla. She had caught them together in the very bed her daddy had carved and given to them at their wedding and let go with both barrels. She hit the bed but missed Dwayne and Carla. In spite of her humiliation, during the course of the story, Francine discovers strengths, divorces Dwayne, and regains her dignity via her trials (and court trial) and many errors along the way. Aided by her best friend, Ray Anne Pickles, Francine manages to run afoul of the law on several occasions, but in the end, she is vindicated. Join us as we welcome back our friend, J. L. Miles. Sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book.

Daily Candy. The brief, ubiquitous, morning-arriving emails are the only way to get the day started, and certainly the best way to plan a weekend. Always on the sparking edge of what’s hot, and the biting edge of what’s fierce, the team at Daily Candy is known for showing unabashed love to those things which ignite a passion in the realm of art, fashion, food, entertainment, and shopping (most often these things are flying under the radar, but, once the Candy team’s announced it, not for long), and ignoring those which come across as trite, unpolished, or derivative. As such, it’s with nothing but joyous glee and excitement that Wordsmiths Books, featured several times in Daily Candy Atlanta, announces it will be hosting the OFFICIAL launch party for The DailyCandy Lexicon.

Join Wordsmiths Books and the national Daily Candy team for a night that’s certain to go down in the history books as one to remember. Free Drinks, free sweets, and the hottest, most mingle-worthy crowd you’ve ever seen inside Wordsmiths’ walls. Either be at Wordsmiths for the official The DailyCandy Lexicon launch party, or hear about it the day after and be envious.

Wordsmiths Books hosts Second Sundays with Working Title Playwrights (WTP). On the second Sunday of each month, a contemporary play is selected for reading aloud followed immediately by discussion. There is no charge to participate, and it's open to anyone who wants to read exciting modern plays.

July's play is Boston Marriage by David Mamet. Anna and Claire are two bantering, scheming "women of fashion" who have long lived together on the fringes of upper-class society. Anna has just become the mistress of a wealthy man, from whom she has received an enormous emerald and an income to match. Claire, meanwhile, is infatuated with a respectable young lady and wants to enlist the jealous Anna's help for an assignation. As the two women exchange barbs and take turns taunting Anna's hapless Scottish parlor maid, Claire's young inamorata suddenly appears, setting off a crisis that puts both the valuable emerald and the women's futures at risk. To this wickedly funny comedy, Mamet brings his trademark tart dialogue and impeccable plotting, spiced with Wildean wit.

Please join us for a lively reading and discussion of this play. It's FREE! It's FUN! For more information, please contact WTP's Managing Artistic Director, Jill Patrick, at 404-441-2716.