Author Events, Jan. 20-26

Clayborne Carson reads from his book, “Martin’s Dream: My Journey & the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.” this Thursday at Book Passage.

Wednesday, Jan. 23
Oliver Burkeman, “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking,” 7 p.m.
Self-help books don’t seem to work. Few of the many advantages of modern life seem capable of lifting our collective mood. Wealth—even if you can get it—doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness. Romance, family life, and work often bring as much stress as joy. We can’t even agree on what “happiness” means. So are we engaged in a futile pursuit? Or are we just going about it the wrong way?
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

Thursday, Jan. 24
Clayborne Carson, “Martin’s Dream: My Journey & the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.,” 7 p.m.
Selected in 1985 by Coretta Scott King to edit the papers of her late husband, Dr. Carson has devoted most of his professional life to the study of MLK. In this candid and engrossing memoir, Clayborne Carson traces his evolution from political activist to activist scholar. He vividly recalls his involvement in the movement’s heyday and in the subsequent turbulent period when King’s visionary Dream became real for some and remained unfulfilled for others. He recounts his conversations with key African Americans of the past half century, including Black Power firebrand Stokely Carmichael and dedicated organizers such as Ella Baker and Bob Moses. His description of his long-term relationship with Coretta Scott King sheds new light on her crucial role in preserving and protecting her late husband’s legacy.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

Thursday, Jan. 24
Jaimal Yogis, “The Fear Project: What Our Most Primal Emotion Taught Me about Survival, Success, Surfing . . . and Love,” 7 p.m.
This epic adventure full of incredible characters, death-defying athletic achievement, and bleeding edge science began with one question: how can we overcome our fears to reach our full potential? This thrilling journey helps us learn how to move through fear and unlock a sense of renewed possibility and a more rewarding life.
Copperfield Books Sebastopol. 138 N. Main St., Sebastopol. 823-2618 copperfieldsbooks.com

Friday, Jan. 25
Thien Sumo, “Sumo,” 6 p.m.
Scott  is a washed-up football player who never made it, and whose girlfriend abandoned him along with his dreams of playing pro football. But things have a way of working out, in this sweet, poetic tale–and a new chapter in Scott’s life begins as the old one ends. Offered a position in a Japanese sumo training “stable,” Scott abandons his old life, his old name, and even his old hair color, and becomes an aspiring sumo wrestler. And in so doing, he begins to find some kind of center in himself…a center that had seemed lost for good.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

Saturday, Jan. 26
Seamus Mullen, “Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better,” 5 p.m.
Copperfield’s Cooks features celebrity author chefs on Saturdays throughout the year in the showcase kitchen of the Culinary Center located in Whole Foods. Recipes for each event are prepared by Whole Food Chef Jerry Aman. After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Manhattan restaurateur Mullen modified his diet to improve his well-being. His debut cookbook, which pairs traditional Spanish cuisine with rustic farm-to-table fare, highlights 18 ingredients (“Hero Foods”) that help him manage his symptoms.
The Culinary Center at Whole Foods Napa, 3682 Bel Aire Plaza, Napa. copperfieldsbooks.com

Saturday, Jan. 26
Lisa O’Donnel, “The Death of Bees,” 1 p.m.
From the opening line of Lisa O’Donnell’s debut novel, you know you are in for something different. ”Today is Christmas Eve. Today is my birthday. Today I am fifteen. Today I buried my parents in the backyard. Neither of them were loved.” You quickly learn that the parents buried in the backyard are Izzy and Gene, parents of Marnie and Nelly – two neglectful, selfish, generally heinous adults now moldering beneath loosely planted stalks of lavender. But you do not know how they got there. Not yet. The girls intend to keep the deaths a secret.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

Saturday, Jan. 26
Ian Renkin, “Standing in Another Man’s Grave,” 4 p.m.
It’s every parent’s nightmare: a fifteen-year old girl has disappeared. She was last seen hitch-hiking along a scenic highway in rural Scotland, and the only other clue is a photograph sent from her phone. Two detectives, one of them retired, are working the case when they learn that there may be other victims out there, stretching back a decade and more. The road itself may provide them with answers, but a complicated case is only made worse by interference from conflicting witnesses, the police department’s own Internal Affairs division–and the ominous attentions of the missing girl’s gangster stepfather.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com