With the holiday season upon us, booksellers are hosting authors whose new volumes, including cookbooks and art books, are perfect for gift-giving. (To submit an event to the calendar, email books@baycitynews.com.)
Dec. 1
Mitch Albom: The author of the bestselling memoir “Tuesdays with Morrie” appears in a talk about his new novel “The Little Liar” presented in Santa Clara County Library District’s 2023 Distinguished Author Series. [11 a.m., Orchard City Banquet Hall, 1 W. Campbell Ave., Campbell; registration requested at sccld.org/MitchAlbom.]
Dec. 2
Dabito: The Los Angeles-based artist and designer signs copies of “Old Brand New: Colorful Homes for Maximal Living,” in which he shares personal anecdotes along with easy-to-follow design tips for homeowners and renters. [1 to 3 p.m., Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe, 4541 Irving St., San Francisco]
Dec. 2
PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Awards: The 34th annual event honors diverse writers whose work promotes multiculturalism, including: Javier Zamora for “Solito: A Memoir”; Ada Limón for “The Hurting Kind”; T. J. English for “Dangerous Rhythms: Jazz and the Underworld; Leila Mottley for “Nightcrawling: A Novel”; Jenny Xie for “The Rupture Tense”; Kobena Mercer for “Alain Locke & The Visual Arts”; and D.S. Marriott for “Before Whiteness.” [2 to 5 p.m., Rockridge Branch Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland]
Dec. 2
Jennifer Burns: The Stanford University historian discusses “Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative,” which is billed as the “first full biography of America’s most renowned economist.” [4 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera]
Dec. 3
Teresa Janssen and Ginny Moyer: The West Coast writers speak about their debut historical novels. Janssen’s “The Ways of Water” is a coming-of-age story of a young girl in the early 1900s American Southwest, and Moyer’s “The Seeing Garden” is a 1910-set story of a 19-year-old New York woman who is courted by the son of a California railroad magnate. [2 p.m., Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco]
Dec. 4
Ray Isle: The Food & Wine magazine wine editor shares “The World in a Wineglass: The Insider’s Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now” in a $150 per person ticketed event, which includes lunch at A16 with wine pairings, and a copy of the book. [12:30 p.m., A16, Chestnut St., San Francisco]
Dec. 6
Allison Landa: The local author, a writing coach, speaks about her memoir “Bearded Lady,” in which she describes how she overcame her battle with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a rare condition causing extreme hairiness. [6:30 p.m., North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley]
Dec. 7
California Noir Panel: Writers and editors Shanthi Sekaran, Aya DeLeon, Owen Hill, Michael Lukas David, Summer Brenner, J.M. Curet and Barry Gifford, contributors to the Bay Area-based “Noir” anthologies published by Akashic Books, read and share details about their work. [7 p.m., Books Inc., 1344 Park St., Alameda]
Dec. 7
Curtis Chin: The “gay ABC, or American-born Chinese” man, cofounder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, discusses “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant: A Memoir” with Saldy Suriben, chief marketing officer for Silicon Valley Pride. [7 p.m., Books Inc., 1875 S. Bascom Ave., #600, Campbell]
Dec. 8
Kliph Nesteroff: Known as the “premier popular historian of comedy,” the author of “Outrageous: A History of Showbiz and the Culture Wars” appears in conversation with comedian Irene Tu. [7 p.m., Green Apple Books, 1231 Ninth Ave., San Francisco]
Dec. 10
Andrew Sean Greer, Sandra C. Greer: The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and his scientist mother (whose most recent books, respectively, are, “Less Is Lost” and “Chemistry For Cooks,” appear in a holiday conversation that promises to be humorous. [4 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera]
Dec. 10
Tariq Trotter: The hip hop artist Black Thought (and leader of the band The Roots) is promoting his memoir “The Upcycled Self” in conversation with New Yorker staffer Jelani Cobb; $49 tickets for the City Arts & Lectures presentation include a copy of the book. [7:30 p.m., Sydney Goldstein Theatre, 275 Hayes St., San Francisco]
Dec. 12
Stephanie Land: The author of the bestselling “Maid” appears in an online talk presented by local libraries about her new memoir “Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education.” [11 a.m., register at https://libraryc.org/sonomalibrary/35971/register]
Dec. 12
Alexis Soloski: The New York writer and former theater critic speaks with San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Lily Janiak about “Here in the Dark,” her debut suspense novel about a young critic “drawn into a dangerous game that blurs the lines between reality and performance.” [5:30 p.m., Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco]
Dec. 12
Ray Isle: The Food & Wine magazine wine editor releases “The World in a Wineglass: The Insider’s Guide to Artisanal, Sustainable, Extraordinary Wines to Drink Now” in a $60-per-person ticketed event, which includes tastings and a copy of the book. [5 p.m., Green Room, H2Hotel, 219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg]
Dec. 12
Michael Mann: The scientist, professor and author “The New Climate War” discusses his new volume, “Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis,” which describes what may happen if humans fail to act in ways that promote conditions on the planet that allow us to thrive. [6 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera]
Dec. 13
Jack Hirschman @ 90: A Birthday Celebration: City Lights bookstore and publisher honors the late translator, editor, activist and former poet laureate of San Francisco in a reading event with Agneta Falk, Scott Bird, Dimitri Charalambou, Neeli Cherkovski, Mauro Ffortissimo, Celia Hirschman, Matt Gonzalez, devorah major, Sarah Menefee, Alejandro Murguia and Byron Spooner. [6 p.m., City Lights, 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco]
Dec. 14
Sacha Lam: The author discusses their award-winning “When the Angels Left the Old Country,” a young adult historical queer fairy tale about an angel and a demon who immigrate from their tiny shtetl to New York. [6:30 p.m., North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley]
Sam Wasson: The author of “The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story” appears to promote what’s described as “the definitive account of Coppola’s decades-long dream to reinvent American filmmaking, if not the entire world, through his production company, American Zoetrope.” [6 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera]
Dec. 16
Viola Buitoni: The native Roman, raised-in-the-Umbrian countryside cooking instructor and food writer discusses her new cookbook, “Italy by Ingredient: Artisanal Foods, Modern Recipes”; the talk is preceded by an 11 a.m. demonstration. [Noon, Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco]