Author Events, Jan 27 to Feb 2

The story of Cheryl Cohen Greene is told in the movie “The Sessions”, adapted from her book, “An Intimate Life”. She’ll be sharing her book at Book Passage this Friday.

SUNDAY  (1/27)

Erica Bauermeister, “The Lost Art of Mixing,” 1 p.m.
National bestselling author Bauermeister returns to the enchanting world of The School of Essential Ingredients in this luminous sequel. A beautifully imagined novel about the ties that bind–and links that break–it is a captivating meditation on the power of love, food, and companionship.
Copperfield’s Books, Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa. copperfieldsbooks.com

Luis Alberto Urrea, “Queen of America,” 1 p.m.
The remarkable heroine of the beloved bestseller The Hummingbird’s Daughter makes a welcome return in an epic novel of love, loss, and miracles in America. More than two decades in the making, this novel is the long-awaited sequel to The Hummingbird’s Daughter, and showcases one of our most talented writers at the top of his form.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

TUESDAY (1/29)

Amy Novesky, “Imogen: The Mother of Modernism and Three Boys,” 4 p.m.
Here is the story of Imogen Cunningham, one of the finest photographers of the 20th century, who turns her garden into a wonderland for her three growing boys and a workshop for herself. While she works, her boys play, and Imogen photographs them, leading her to focus on plants and flowers — most notably her signature magnolia blossoms–for which she will become best known.
Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. copperfieldsbooks.com

Louise Aronson, “A History of the Present Illness,” 7 p.m.
Masterfully told, A History of the Present Illness explores the role of stories in medicine and creates a world pulsating with life. Aronson takes readers into overlooked lives in the neighborhoods, hospitals, and nursing homes of San Francisco, offering a deeply humane and incisive portrait of health and illness in American today.
Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. copperfieldsbooks.com

WEDNESDAY (1/30)

Mary Roach, “Packing for Mars,” 7 p.m.
Launch of One Book One Marin 2013. Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 4,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations — making it possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Packing for Mars takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. For more information on the community reading project, go to www.onebookonemarin.org.

THURSDAY (1/31)

Dr. Arthur J. Ammann, “Women, HIV and the Church,” 7 p.m.
This book uses the megaphone of HIV to draw attention to the discrimination of women and violence against women worldwide and the continuing problem of intimate partner violence in developing countries but also in the United States. The book has several essays from other Bay Area authors as well as international authors who speak on behalf of women. Women, HIV, and the Church reinforces the call on the faith community to take action.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

FRIDAY (2/1)

Lisa O’Donnell, “The Death of Bees,” 7 p.m.
A riveting, debut novel in which two young sisters attempt to hold the world at bay after the mysterious death of their parents. Written with fierce sympathy and beautiful precision, The Death of Bees is an enchanting, grimly comic tale of three lost souls who, unable to answer for themselves, can answer only for one another.
Copperfield’s Books, Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa. copperfieldsbooks.com

Cheryl T. Cohen Greene, “An Intimate Life.” 7 p.m.
In this riveting memoir, Cheryl T. Cohen Greene shares some of her most moving cases, and also reveals her own sexual coming-of-age. An Intimate Life: Sex, Love and My Journey as a Sex Surrogate Partner opens with Cohen Greene’s work with Berkeley-based poet and journalist Mark O’Brien, who was confined to an iron lung after contracting polio at age six. His short essay “On Seeing A Sex Surrogate” was adapted into the major motion picture titled “The Sessions”, which opened in theaters last fall.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.com

SATURDAY (2/2)

Jane Hirschfield and others, “Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here.” 7 p.m.
On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad—the historic center of Baghdad bookselling—wounding more than 100 people and killing more than 30. This anthology begins with a historical introduction to al-Mutanabbi Street and includes the writing of Iraqis as well as a wide swath of international poets and writers who were outraged by this attack.  With Persis Karim, José Luis Gutiérrez, Dana Teen Lomax and editor Beau Beausoleil.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. bookpassage.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.