Are you looking for a bookish event to add to your calendar?
Here are some of the authors coming to bookstores and libraries in the Boston area this month.
Be sure to check your local library and bookstore’s event calendar to see what author events are coming to your community.
Not in the Boston area? This list is still a great way to find a book to add to your TBR list!
Tuesday, January 8th – 7pm at Belmont Books
YA Panel: EmPOWERment
“Gaining confidence is something many struggle with in their teen years. How does that affect our writing and reading of characters going through the same challenges? Erin Cashman, Sara Farizan, and Adrienne Kisner will be tackling this question and talking about their writing process.
Erin Cashman is a Young Adult author living in Massachusetts. Her debut YA fantasy, The Exceptionals (Holiday House) was named a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of 2013. She is also the workshop coordinator and a mentor at the 1st 5 Pages Writing Workshop through the blog Adventures in YA Publishing.
Sara Farizan is an Iranian American writer and ardent basketball fan who was born in and lives near Boston. The award-winning author of If You Could Be Mine and Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, she has an MFA from Lesley University and a BA in film and media studies from American University. Here to Stay is her third novel.
Adrienne Kisner has master’s and doctorate degrees in theology from Boston University and was inspired by her work with high school and college students to write Dear Rachel Maddow. She is also a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts with an MFA in writing for children and young adults. Dear Rachel Maddow is her debut.”
For more information you can visit the event website.
Tuesday, January 8th – 7pm at Brookline Booksmith
Ha Jin, The Banished Immortal: A Life of Li Bai
“With the instincts of a master novelist, Ha Jin draws on a wide range of historical and literary sources to weave the life story of Li Bai (701-762), whose poems–shaped by Daoist thought and characterized by their passion, romance, and lust for life–rang throughout the Tang Dynasty. Jin follows Li Bai from his birth on China’s western frontier through his travels as a young man seeking a place among the empire’s civil servants, his wanderings allowing him to hone his poetic craft, share his verses, and win him friends and admirers along the way. In his later years he is swept up in a military rebellion that alters the course of China, and his death is shrouded in speculation and legend to this day. The Banished Immortal is an extraordinary portrait of a poet who both transcended his time and was shaped by it, and whose ability to live, love, and mourn without reservation produced some of the most enduring verses in the world.”
For more information you can visit the event website.
Thursday, January 10th – 7pm at Harvard Bookstore
Chigozie Obioma, An Orchestra of Minorities
“Harvard Book Store welcomes acclaimed writer CHIGOZIE OBIOMA—author of The Fishermen, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize—for a discussion of his latest novel, An Orchestra of Minorities.“
You can find more event information here.
Friday, January 11th – 6:30pm at The Lenox Hotel, Boston
An Evening with Author Elin Hilderbrand
“Join New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand at The Lenox and get transported to the stunning beaches of St. John as she launches her thrilling new book “Winter in Paradise”.”
To find out more about this $50 ticketed event visit the event website. I would imagine this will sell out quickly, so be sure to look into this soon if you hope to attend.
Friday, January 11th – 7pm at Brookline Booksmith
Lincoln Peirce, Max and the Midnights
“Max wants to be a knight! Too bad that dream is about as likely as finding a friendly dragon. But when Max’s uncle Budrick is kidnapped by the cruel King Gastley, Max has to act…and fast! Joined by a band of brave adventurers–the Midknights–Max sets out on a thrilling quest: to save Uncle Budrick and restore the realm of Byjovia to its former high spirits! Magic and (mis)adventures abound in this hilarious illustrated novel from the New York Times bestselling creator of the Big Nate series, Lincoln Peirce.”
For more information visit the event website.
Thursday, January 17th – 7pm at Belmont Books
Ann Hood, Kitchen Yarns
“From her Italian American childhood through singlehood, raising and feeding a growing family, divorce, and a new marriage to food writer Michael Ruhlman, Ann Hood has long appreciated the power of a good meal. Growing up, she tasted love in her grandmother’s tomato sauce and dreamed of her mother’s special-occasion Fancy Lady Sandwiches. Later, the kitchen became the heart of Hood’s own home. She cooked pork roast to warm her first apartment, used two cups of dried basil for her first attempt at making pesto, taught her children how to make their favorite potatoes, found hope in her daughter’s omelet after a divorce, and fell in love again–with both her husband and his foolproof chicken stock.”
You can find more information on the event website.
Saturday, January 19th – 5pm at Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton
Karen M. McManus, Two Can Keep A Secret,in conversation with Sara Farizan
We are so excited to welcome New York Times bestselling author Karen M. McManus to celebrate her new release, Two Can Keep A Secret, with fellow YA author Sara Farizan. Karen’s new YA thriller takes us to the small town of Echo Ridge, Vt., where secrets are everywhere. After hearing of missing teenagers and a recent homecoming tragedy, Ellery now has to move there to live with her grandmother. Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous—and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself.
Karen M. McManus is the author of the young adult thriller One of Us Is Lying, which spent more than a year on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into 38 languages worldwide. She lives in Massachusetts and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northeastern University, which she uses to draft fake news stories for her novels.
Sara Farizan is an award-winning author of three YA novels, most recently Here to Stay. She is also one of the store’s absolute favorite people, and it will be a joy to welcome her back!
Sunday, January 20th – 3pm at Silver Unicorn Bookstore, Acton
Book Launch Party: Sarah Brannen’s Bear Needs Help
Join us to we celebrate local author Sarah S. Brannen’s new release, Bear Needs Help.
A lumbering little polar bear has one shoe untied, and he needs some help! Sadly for him, though, the other animals are all too scared of him: the lemmings, rabbits, and seals all run away as he approaches them for assistance. What’s Bear going to do? Luckily, two plucky birds are more than happy to help out and offer advice — though probably not quite in the way that readers anticipate. In this sweet and funny book about asking for help (and receiving it), expectations are flipped in a simple but clever way.
“Laced with humor and…decipherable in more ways than one.”—Kirkus Reviews
Sarah S. Brannen is the award-winning illustrator of 20 books for children, including one of our store’s favorite books, Feathers: Not Just For Flying, by Melissa Stewart. She is the author and the illustrator of Madame Martine, Madame Martine Breaks the Rules, and Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. In addition, Sarah as a journalist and photographer, and has two books scheduled for release following Bear Needs Help! Join us to help launch this amazing new wintry book from an accomplished and awesome local author!
Wednesday, January 23rd – 7pm at Brookline Booksmith
Dani Shapiro, Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
“Inheritance is a book about secrets–secrets within families, kept out of shame or self-protectiveness; secrets we keep from one another in the name of love. It is the story of a woman’s urgent quest to unlock the story of her own identity, a story that has been scrupulously hidden from her for more than fifty years, years she had spent writing brilliantly, and compulsively, on themes of identity and family history. It is a book about the extraordinary moment we live in–a moment in which science and technology have outpaced not only medical ethics but also the capacities of the human heart to contend with the consequences of what we discover.”
For more information visit the event website.
Thursday, January 31st – 7pm at Harvard Bookstore
Daisy Johnson, Everything Under, in conversation with Margot Livesey
“Harvard Book Store welcomes award-winning writer DAISY JOHNSON for a discussion of her debut novel, Everything Under, which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. She will be joined in conversation by bestselling author MARGOT LIVESEY.”
For more information visit the event website.
What bookish events are you attending this month?
Leave a note in the comments or tag me on Instagram or Twitter @ABookishHome.
Happy Reading!
Laura Szaro Kopinski
ABookishHome.com
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