The Fireside Reading Series
Meet some of Minnesota’s finest writers up close and personal at the Hamline Midway Library each week (starting this week!) for the next six weeks. There are names you may recognize, and ones that you may not. The overriding theme here is that each of these writers is a delight. You will not face a dark auditorium, but be able to see and meet each one of them, hear what they have to say, ask questions, and get to know your Minnesota authors.
All events take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays by the fire at Hamline Midway Library, 1558 W. Minnehaha Ave.
January 9
Peter Geye kicks off the 19th annual Fireside Series with a reading from his triumphant new novel, The Lighthouse Road, which beautifully explores the hardship and isolation of life in a turn-of-the-century logging town. Geye has crafted another deeply moving tale of a misbegotten family shaped by the rough landscape where they live at the mercy of wildlife and weather—and by the rough edges of their own breaking hearts. This novel was my Top Pick of 2012.
January 16
Spend an evening with three Twin Cities poets – James Cihlar, Sun Yung Shin and Joanne Esser. Cihlar will read from Metaphysical Bailout and give us a sneak peek at his forthcoming collection, Rancho Nostalgia, which is set to be published in early spring. In her second book of poetry – Rough, and Savage – Shin illuminates Korean history with striking lyrics that explore alienation and nationhood. Joanne Esser depicts “the world’s gorgeous and sometimes terrifying unreasonableness” (Jim Moore) in her debut collection of poems, I Have Always Wanted Lightning.
January 23
In his playful new guide – The Minnesota Book of Skills: Your Guide to Smoking Whitefish, Sauna Etiquette, Tick Extraction, and More – Chris Niskanen will fully prepare Minnesota natives and newcomers alike for life in the North Star State. Join him as he celebrates the curious know-how that makes us uniquely Minnesotan.
January 30
Ellen Hart’s Rest for the Wicked is the twentieth addition to her award-winning Jane Lawless mystery series. In her first official case as a licensed private eye, Lawless finds herself investigating the murder of her partner’s nephew. With Killer Librarian, Mary Logue (writing as Mary Lou Kirwin) tells of a small-town librarian who embarks on a long-overdue journey to London…where she has to sleuth her way through her own real-life mystery.
February 6
Join us for a discussion with Hans Weyandt, co-owner of Micawber’s Books and editor of Read This! Handpicked Favorites from America’s Indie Bookstores. An ode to the art of traditional bookselling and independent bookstores, this book offers lists of favorites that have flown under the radar, but off of bookstore shelves. First published on Hans Weyandt’s blog for Micawber’s Books, each check-list style contribution includes a bookseller’s top fifty books, anecdotes, and interviews about the life of being a bookseller, reader, and engaged citizen. This made my Best of 2012 list and my Gifts for Readers list.
February 13
From award-winning novelist Wendy Webb comes The Fate of Mercy Alban, a spine-tingling mystery about family secrets set in an old haunted house on Lake Superior. Grace Alban has spent twenty years away from her childhood home, the stately Alban House, for reasons she would rather forget. But when her mother's unexpected death brings Grace and her teen-age daughter home, she finds more haunting the halls and passageways of Alban House than her own personal demons. Webb’s first book, The Tale of Halycon Crane, won a Minnesota Book Award – and made my Halloween Reading list. She’s a novelist with a knack for spine-tingling creepiness.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Co-sponsored by Micawber's Books, 2238 Carter Avenue, Saint Paul. Sign language interpretation and other accommodation available with advance notice.
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