Events

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In Be Great: The Five Foundations of an Extraordinary Life, serial entrepreneur turned social entrepreneur, Peter H. Thomas, shares his business experience to show readers what it means to be successful in business and in life. He shares his five foundations by storytelling--giving examples of his and other people's challenges and resulting successes--by following their core values that helped unlock their greatest potential. Peter H. Thomas will be donating some profits from book sales on his tour to local Boys & Girls Club chapters.

Women are emerging as religious leaders in unprecedented numbers and in many different roles in faith traditions across the board. Religious women have yet to reach “nirvana” in the quest for equality, but the overall trend is at a “tipping point” in many faith traditions. Gender equality has become an accepted norm, culturally and theologically. It’s just a question of how soon the new order of equality is actually realized.

Women are not only denominational and organizational leaders, but leading theologians and scripture scholars, prolific writers in the field of spirituality, prominent activists for social justice, peace and ecological sanity, leaders in forging positive
interfaith relations, and leaders in religious media.

This is the thesis of a new book, Breaking Through the Stained Glass Ceiling. It features transcripts of radio interviews with women leaders from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other traditions.

Maureen Fiedler is the host of Interfaith Voices, a public radio show, heard on 70 radio stations in North America. She has been involved in interfaith activities for more than three decades as an active participant in coalitions working for social justice, racial and gender equality, and peace. Her special interests lie at the intersection of theology and public policy. She is the editor of Breaking Through the Stained Glass Ceiling: Women Religious Leaders in Their Own Words which highlights the growing leadership of women in the world of religion. She is a Sister of Loretto, and holds a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University.

Adults and girls (ages 8 & up) are invited to join best-selling author and Girls Leadership Institute co-founder Rachel Simmons for a fun, interactive back-to-school workshop on getting the most out of friendships and staying true to yourself. With laughter and honesty, Rachel will teach girls powerful strategies to express themselves with authenticity and confidence, deal with friend drama effectively, and make healthy decisions in relationships. Adults will learn tools to support girls on the journey. Bring lots of questions and stay for the book signing!

Tickets are $20 per parent-daughter pair and include a copy of The Curse of the Good Girl, Rachel Simmons's new book about raising authentic girls. Part of the proceeds will be donated to the Girls Leadership Institute's Scholarship Fund.

Attendees may also bring an additional person to the event by purchasing the $5 Plus One ticket.  

St. Louis's own John Lutz, an award-winning author of more than forty novels and over 200 short stories in virtually every mystery sub-genre, will sign copies of his books. His latest novel, Mister X, is a Frank Quinn mystery.

From the author of the acclaimed Ahab's Wife comes a futuristic adventure story. Lucy Bergmann's husband dies shortly after discovering evidence of extraterrestrial life. His secret and Lucy's agreement to transport an ancient scroll that offers an alternate version of the Book of Genesis make her a target, and a fateful plane ride crash lands her in Mesopotamia, where she meets a delusional American soldier named Adam in their own Garden of Eden.

He mutlitates his victims. Slices their throats. And carves an X into their flesh. Five years ago, he claimed the lives of six women. Then the killings abruptly stopped. Ex-homicide detective Frank Quinn remembers. Which is why he's shocked to see one of the dead women in his office. Join us for a discussion and book signing of the next Frank Quinn mystery from St. Louis's own John Lutz.

In St. Louis's South Side, people stand in line for frozen treats named for building material, and women used to scrub their concrete steps every Friday. In the South Side, a stop sign means "tap the brakes quick," and a restaurant masquerades as a windmill. In the South Side, a dentist once moonlighted as a murderer, and a bloody bank heist became the basis for an early Steve McQueen movie. Suburban Journals reporter Jim Merkel brings nearly ten years' experience in covering the South Side, recounting some of the people, places, and events that made it a place like nowhere else.

Building on Daniel Goleman’s Emotional and Social Intelligence, the Center for Right Relationship has developed skills and tools that work with Relationship Systems Intelligence, an awareness of the system itself that goes beyond its individual members. A team, couple, organization, or community is larger than the sum of its parts. Nothing new about that. What is new to many of us is the idea that the emotional field, or the relationship itself, has information that is helpful to its individual members. Through a demonstration and debrief, we will explore the implications of this idea for our personal and professional relationships, as well as for organizations and communities.

Alfred DePew's first book, The Melancholy of Departure, won the Flannery O'Connor Award, and he currently writes a regular column for the Vancouver Observer and trains leaders and their organizations in conflict resolution and change management. Please RSVP by calling 314.367.6731 or emailing rsvp@left-bank.com. There is a suggested donation of $20, and proceeds from donations will be donated to River City Readers.

The St. Louis County Library Foundation and KMOX's Fontbonne University/Charlie Brennan Show Book Club present New York Times Food Columnist Mark Bittman. In over 500 fresh, delicious recipes, The Food Matters Cookbook offers a pleasurable and practical way to reduce your carbon footprint and your waistline. KMOX's Charlie Brennan will serve as Master of Ceremonies, and the event is co-sponsored by Whole Foods Market. Books for signing will be available for purchase from Left Bank Books.

Join us for a reception and booksigning about overcoming bad habits. With St. Louis author Meg Selig's new book, move beyond willpower and succeed with changepower--the synergy that comes from combining willpower with other resources, useful outside supports, and wise strategies. Lively and engaging true stories will offer humor and support as you pick and choose from 37 secrets in Changepower! to find the strategies that work best for you.

The Big Read festival features publishers, book-sellers (us), national authors, readings, book signings, panel discussions, workshops, demonstrations and an interactive children's area with readings, costumed characters and projects that engage the young reader. The Big Read is free and open to the public. Left Bank Books is co-hosting book signings with Richard Burgin (Rivers Last Longer), Lauren Chattman (Cookie Swap), David Clewell (The Low End of Higher Things), John Lutz (Mister X), Bill McClellan (Gently Down the Stream), Scott Phillips (The Ice Harvest), John Schlimm III (Seven Stars Cookbook, The Ultimate Beer Lover's Cookbook), Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz (Love that Dog), Mark Tiedemann (Remains), Charles Todd (An Impartial Witness), Qiu Xiaolong (Years of Red Dust, The Mao Case), and the editors of Floodstage. For a full schedule, visit www.culturalfestivals.com.

World War I nurse Bess Crawford, introduced in A Duty to the Dead, returns in an exciting new mystery in which a murder draws her inexorably into the sights of a cunning killer in the summer of 1917. Charles Todd is the author of twelve Ian Rutledge mysteries, two Bess Crawford mysteries, and one stand-alone novel. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline Todd will be speaking about and signing copies of their books.

Dr. David Kessler, the dynamic former FDA commissioner who reinvented the food label and tackled the tobacco industry, now reveals how the food industry has hijacked the brains of millions of Americans. The result? America's number-one public health issue. Dr. Kessler cracks the code of overeating by explaining how are bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain sugar, fat, and salt, and The End of Overeating uncovers the shocking truth about how we lost control over our eating habits--and how we can get it back.

Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD, is the senior fellow of th echild Trauma Academy, a not-for-profit organization based in Houston that is dedicated to improving the lives of high-risk children. He is the co-author of The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, the best-selling book based on his work with maltreated children, as well as a new book, Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential -- and Endangered. Tickets are $15 through St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, 314.361.7075.

Today, families come in all shapes and sizes. Twenty-four million children across America currently live without their biological fathers, and over fifty thousand children have been adopted by same-sex couples. A coming-of-age (and coming-out) story, Blood Strangers chronicles Katherine A. Briccetti's journey to fill the gaping holes in her family tree as she deals with the wake created in three generations of fatherless families and adoptions--her father's closed adoption, her own adoption by her stepfather, and the "second-parent" adoption of her sons by her partner.

In The Maze Runner, Thomas arrived in the Glade with no memory. The Glade is an ever-changing maze which seems to have no exit and which is populated by hybrid creature/robots known as "Grievers." But battling the Grievers and finding an exit is just a first test. Find out what happens next in The Scorch Trials, the second in this young adult dystopian science fiction trilogy by James Dashner, who is also the author of The 13th Reality series.

Matt Kindt is a Harvey Award-winning author and illustrator of graphic novels. 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man is a poignant look at what it really means to be different, alienated from the rest of the world, as seen by a man who stands head and shoulders above everyone else and keeps growing, unable to interact with a world (and a house and a wife) that isn't built for his size. Revolver is a tale of two worlds, and how both test a man to his limits…

Take One Candle, Light a Room is a powerfully moving story about the ways in which we find a place for ourselves within our families and the world. All three characters will come face-to-face with the issues of race that beset them: Fantine, whose light black skin has eased her way in the world; her father, who grew up in the Jim Crow South; and her son Victor, whose fall into violence mirrors the path of so many other black men his age.

Susan Straight is a special author to us and a perfect fit for reading groups, so we'll be doing this event as a special Reading Group Night. There will be refreshments and book give-aways, and for one night only, Take One Candle, Light a Room will be available at our 20% reading group discount.

David Pepin has loved his wife since the moment they met and, after 13 years of marriage, he still can't imagine living without her--yet he obsessively contemplates her demise. Soon she is dead, and he's both deeply distraught and the prime suspect. Mr. Peanut is a police procedural of the soul, a poignant investigation of the relentlessly mysterious human heart--and a first novel of the highest order from Adam Ross.

Don DeLillo is the author of fifteen novels, including White Noise, Libra, and Point Omega, and three stage plays. He has won many awards, including the National Book Award. The Saint Louis Literary Award event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Anheuser-Busch Auditorium at SLU's John Cook School of Business, 3674 Lindell. To RSVP, email slula@slu.edu. A book signing with the author begins at 4:30pm and is followed by the prgram at 5:30pm. For details on a special reception and dinner with Don DeLillo, visit www.slu.edu.

Pushcart Prize-winning author Richard Burgin, currently a professor of Communication and English at St. Louis University and the founder of Boulevard magazine, presents Rivers Last Longer, a suspenseful psychological thriller told from multiple points of view. Sheila Kohler has won O'Henry Prizes and is the author of several novels, including Becoming Jane Eyre and Cracks, which is being adapted into film for a 2010 release.

Join us for a haunted evening filled with ghost stories from around the area. We'll be joined by Janice Tremeear, author of Missouri's Haunted Route 66: Ghosts Along the Mother Road; Michael Henry, author of Ghosts of St. Charles, and Ken and Lisa Marks, authors of Haunted Hannibal. They'll tell us about the haunted houses, hometown murders, paranormal activity searches, restless spirits, why a road got nicknamed "Bloody 66," and more.

The Lee Institute presents Greg M. Epstein, who serves as the Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University. He regularly contributes to "On Faith," an online forum on religion produced by Newsweek, The Washington Post, and Tikkun. His book, Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligiuos People Do Believe offers a look at Humanism, which is a comfort and hope of many who are searching for something to put their faith in, and which affirms our ability to live ethical lives of personal fulfillment and aspire together for the greater good. The event is free and open to the public. Visit www.leeinstitute.net for more details.

Justin Krebs, co-founder of the Living Liberally network and Drinking Liberally happy hours, shares the little ideas for embracing your progressive values in everyday life, as well as the big ideas of what it means to be a "liberal" in America today. Start a conversation, join a movement, share a drink, engage your neighbors--and begin by reading the book. We also recommend grabbing a glass of wine from Bridge for the event and Drinking Liberally with us!

Paranormal investigator Blake Danzig, star of the syndicated show "Haunted California" and owner of Danzig Paranormal Investigations, has been able to see and talk to the dead since he was a small boy. Assisted by his best friend and self-proclaimed witch, Melody Adams, Blake helps his ex-lover and San Francisco Police Detective, Brian Cox, solve cold case murders by contacting the spirits of the victims. Until he gets too close to a psychotic spirit… (Please note that this book contains sexually explicit material.)

Kate Buford, formerly a commentator of NPR's "Morning Edition," brings clarity and a fine eye for detail to this comprehensive biography of the legendendary figure who defined excellence in American sports: Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest all-around athlete the U.S. has ever seen. She traces the pivotal moments of Thorpe's incomparable career, including his gold medals 1912 Olympics and his aid in creating what would become the NFL, while also delving into the difficulties he faced as a Native American early in the twentieth century.

National Book Award-winning author and celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation in Washington: A Life. In this unique biography, Chernow takes us on a page-turning journey through all the formative events of America's founding in a crisply paced narrative that brings to life the complicated man.

Books for signing must be purchased from Left Bank Books and will be available at the event.

Julie MacIntosh looks at the amazing story behind the seige of America's favorite beer company and explains how InBev, a Belgian company controlled by Brazilians, took over one of America's most beloved brands after barely a whimper of a fight.

Rob Scotton is the best-selling author and illustrator of Russell the Sheep and Splat the Cat, among other picture books. Now, it's Halloween, and Splat is determined to be the scariest cat in the class. Unfortunately, he's just too much of a scaredy-cat himself. But maybe Splat will win the prize for scariest cat after all! Join us for this special Halloween event with Rob Scotton as he reads from Scaredy-Cat, Splat, and maybe even demonstrates an easy-to-make Halloween costume like the character Spike wears in the book. Our own black cat, Spike, might be around, as well, but he doesn't spook too easily.