Author Events for Feb 6 to 10

MONDAY (FEB 6)
Pan Houston, “Contents May Have Shifted,” 7 p.m.
Stuck in a dead-end relationship, this fearless narrator leaves her metaphorical baggage behind and finds a comfort zone in the air, feeling safest with a plane ticket in her hand. She flies around the world, finding reasons to love life in dozens of far-flung places, from Alaska to Bhutan.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com.

TUESDAY (FEB 7)
William Landay, “Defending Jacob,” 7 p.m.
Andy Barber is an Assistant District Attorney in a suburban Massachusetts county, living happily with his wife and son. But after a shocking crime shatters their town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His 14-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com.

WEDNESDAY (FEB
Adam Johnson, “The Orphan Master’s Son,” 7 p.m.
Part breathless thriller, part story of innocence lost, part story of romantic love, The Orphan Master’s Son is also a riveting portrait of a world heretofore hidden from view: a North Korea rife with hunger, corruption, and casual cruelty but also camaraderie, stolen moments of beauty, and love.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com.

THURSDAY (FEB 9)
Pat Nolan, “ On The Road To Las Cruces; Being A Novel Account of The Last Day In The Life of A Legendary Western Lawman,” 7:30 p.m.
Pat Garrett, the man who killed Billy the Kid, was himself later done in under murky circumstances in New Mexico. Local writer Pat Nolan has re-imagined what happened, and in the process, given us a new vista on the Old West.
Readers’ Books, 130 E. Napa St., Sonoma, 939-1779.  readers.indiebound.com

FRIDAY (FEB 10)
Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert, 8 p.m.
Join Anthony Bourdain, chef, author and host of “No Reservations” and Eric Ripert, renowned chef of Le Bernardin and regular on “Top Chef” for an evening of storytelling and discussion about the place of food in our lives and what really goes on behind the kitchen doors.
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa, 546-3600, wellsfargocenterarts.org

SATURDAY (FEB 11)

Frederick Weisel, “Teller,” 1:30
Part mystery, part collection of imagined memoirs, the novel is the story of a washed-up ghostwriter of celebrity autobiographies, named Charlie Teller, who gets caught up in the investigation of a friend’s murder, and who recalls his life through his association with the subjects of his books: an aging novelist, a rock musician, a film star. . .
Copperfield’s Books, 775 Village Court, Santa Rosa, 578-8938, copperfieldsbooks.com.

Judith Horstman, “The Scientific American Book of Love, Sex, and the Brain,” 7 p.m.
Horstman takes us on a tour of the brain and our many kinds of love—the whole smorgasbord of emotions, including the love between parent and child, the affectionate love of companionship, the passion of erotic love, the love of animals, and the love of God.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera, (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com

WordTemple Poetry Series with Marjorie Stein, “An Atlas of Lost Causes,” Toni Mirosevich, “The Takeaway Bin,” and Ed Frankel, 7 p.m.
Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 6780 Depot Street, Sebastopol. More details, wordtemple.com.

To submit book events for consideration in this column, contact Sara Peyton at sara.peyton@gmail.com at least three weeks in advance of the event, or submit them to the Events Calendar at events.pressdemocrat.com.