September
thursday23
Nigel Barker plugs Nigel Barker’s Beauty Equation: Revealing a Better and More Beautiful You. 
Gwen Cooper presents her memoir, Homer’s Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned About Love and Life With a Blind Wonder Cat.
Glenda Hatchett presents her self-help book, Dare to Take Charge: How to Live Your Life on Purpose.
Karl Marlantes discusses Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War. Reservations requested.
Christopher McDougall signs Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen.
Joe Meno reads from the new paperback edition of his story collection Demons in the Spring.
friday24
Danielle Dutton reads from her debut novel, Sprawl.
Matthew Gavin Frank reads from his food memoir, Barolo.
Richard Poplak presents The Sheikh’s Batmobile: In Pursuit of American Pop Culture in the Muslim World.
Dawn Schiller signs her memoir, The Road Through Wonderland: Surviving John Holmes.
Scott Simon discusses his new book, Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption.
Kate Zambreno reads from her novel O Fallen Angel.
saturday25
Banned Books Week Read-Out Authors of the ten most challenged books of 2009 read from their work and “share their experiences as targets of censors.”
Lincoln T. Beauchamp Jr. presents Blues Speak: Best of the Original Chicago Blues Annual.
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore’s 20th-Anniversary Celebration Author panels through September. Featured at this panel: Jeanne M. Dams (Indigo Christmas), Jamie Freveletti (Running Dark), Henry Perez (Killing Red), Luisa Buehler (The Inn Keeper: An Unregistered Death), and Alzina Stone Dale (Mystery Reader’s Walking Guide).
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore’s 20th-Anniversary Celebration Author panels through September. Featured at this panel: Clare O’Donohue (The Double Cross), Diane Gilbert Madsen (Hunting for Hemingway), Arnie Bernstein (Bath Massacre: America’s First School Bombing), Tim Broderick (Cash & Carry), and Laura Caldwell (Red Blooded Murder).
Global Voices Author Series Howard Reich discusses his book Let Freedom Swing: Collected Writings on Jazz, Blues, and Gospel; he’ll be joined by flutist Nicole Mitchell.
Crystal V. Rhodes signs her novel Small Sensations.
sunday26
Anne Calcagno reads from her Chicago-set debut novel, Love Like a Dog.
Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore’s 20th-Anniversary Celebration Author panels through September. Featured at this panel: Bryan Gruley (The Hanging Tree), Theresa Schwegel (Last Known Address), Kevin Guilfoile (The Thousand), Barbara D’Amato (Foolproof), and D.C. Brod (Getting Sassy).
tuesday28
Michele Norris discusses her memoir, The Grace of Silence.
David Rakoff presents his new essay collection, Half Empty.
Giuliana and Bill Rancic promote I Do, Now What? Secrets, Stories, and Advice From a Madly-in-Love Couple.
wednesday29
Joshua Ferris reads from his novel The Unnamed.
Becca Klaver, Jaswinder Bolina Poetry readings.
John C. McManus talks about Grunts: Inside the American Infantry Combat Experience, World War II Through Iraq.
thursday30
Joyland Joyland: A Hub for Short Fiction editors Emily Schultz and Brian Joseph are joined by Charles McLeod, Megan Stielstra, and others for readings from Joyland 2.
Ordinary Women, Extraordinary Heroines Author program with Audrey Niffenegger (Her Fearful Symmetry), Amina Gautier, Zoe Zolbrod (Currency), Emily Gray Tedrowe (Commmuters), Teri Coyne (The Last Bridge), and Deborah Siegel (Sisterhood, Interrupted).
Poetry Off the Shelf Pulitzer-winning poet Franz Wright (Walking to Martha’s Vineyard) reads for a Poetry Foundation program.
Isabel Wilkerson discusses The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration.
Dave Zirin (edgeofsports.com) presents Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love.
October
friday1
Artifice Magazine Launch party with readings by Fred Sasaki, Caroline Picard, David Welch, Craig Davis, Roxane Gay, Matt Seigel, and Tim Jones-Yelvington.
Diane Gilbert Madsen reads from her mystery Hunting for Hemingway.
Audrey Niffenegger presents her new graphic novel, The Night Bookmobile.
saturday2
Karyn Grice reads from her novel No Strings Attached.
Audrey Niffenegger signs her new graphic novel, The Night Bookmobile.
Michael O’Flaherty reads from his novel Shiny Shiny.
sunday3
Suzanne Collins signs the final book in her Hunger Games series, Mockingjay.
monday4
Jonathan Eig presents Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster.
wednesday6
Bill Barnhart presents John Paul Stevens: An Independent Life.
R.A. Salvatore signs his latest fantasy novel, Gauntlgrym: Neverwinter, Book I.
thursday7
Sara Gruen reads from her new novel, Ape House.
Donald Stoker discusses The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War.
friday8
Michael Connelly reads from his latest Harry Bosch detective novel, The Reversal.
Tucker Max promotes Assholes Finish First.
saturday9
Chris J. Hartley signs Stoneman’s Raid, 1865.
Earl J. Hess signs Into the Crater: The Mine Attack at Petersburg.
Heather McDonald presents her memoir, You’ll Never Blue Ball in This Town Again: One Woman’s Painfully Funny Quest to Give It Up.
David Plowden signs his latest photo collection, Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden.
monday11
Jenny McCarthy signs Love, Lust & Faking It: The Naked Truth About Sex, Lies, and True Romance.
tuesday12
Global Voices Author Series Gurcharan Des (India Unbound) discusses The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma.
Edward McClelland talks about Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President.
Society of Midland Authors Author Stephen T. Asma (On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears) is the featured guest.
wednesday13
America’s Test Kitchen ATK editorial director Jack Bishop presents The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.
Mary Catherine Bateson presents Composing a Further Life: The Age of Active Wisdom.
Jonathan Eig presents Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster.
Kenneth Green signs his self-published memoir, I’m From Division Street.
Laura Kipnis presents How to Become a Scandal: Adventures in Bad Behavior.
Adam Langer reads from his new novel, The Thieves of Manhattan.
thursday14
Thomas Geoghegan presents Were You Born on the Wrong Continent? How the European Model Can Help You Get a Life.
Ben Greenman signs Celebrity Chekhov.
Nicole Hollander presents The Sylvia Chronicles: 30 Years of Graphic Misbehavior From Reagan to Obama.
Bobby Hull signs his photographic autobiography, The Golden Jet.
Danbert Nobacon presents his debut YA book, 3 Dead Princes: An Anarchist Fairy Tale.
Poetry Day Frank Bidart (Watching the Spring Festival) reads for the 56th annual Poetry Day.
friday15
Rex Ghosh signs his thriller Nineteenth Street NW.
Blair Kamin signs Terror and Wonder: Architecture in a Tumultuous Age.
sunday17
Gayle Soucek signs Marshall Field’s: The Store That Helped Build Chicago.
Peter Yarrow presents The Peter Yarrow Songbook.
monday18
George Dohrmann presents Play Their Hearts Out: A Coach, His Star Recruit, and the Youth Basketball Machine.
tuesday19
One Book, One Chicago Keynote speech by novelist Toni Morrison (A Mercy). Tickets required (handling charge for phone and online orders).
The World Beyond the Headlines Talk by author Imtiaz Gul (The Most Dangerous Place: Pakistan’s Lawless Frontier).
wednesday20
Tracy Baim discusses Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage.
Peter Lewis reads from his mystery Dead in the Dregs.
Nathan Rabin signs My Year of Flops: The A.V. Club Presents One Man’s Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure.
Rick Springfield signs his memoir, Late, Late at Night.
Garry Wills signs Outside Looking In: Adventures of an Observer.
thursday21
Bobby Flay promotes his latest cookbook, Bobby Flay’s Throwdown! More Than 100 Recipes From Food Network’s Ultimate Cooking Challenge.
Scott Kenemore signs The Code of the Zombie Pirate: How to Become an Undead Master of the High Seas.
Simon Mawer reads from his latest novel, The Glass Room.
Edward McClelland talks about Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President.
Tony Romano reads from his story collection If You Eat, You Never Die: Chicago Tales.
friday22
Ursula Bielski presents There’s Something Under the Bed: Children’s Experiences With the Paranormal.
Roger Ebert signs his new books The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker and The Great Movies III.
Allison Leotta reads from her debut suspense novel, Law of Attraction.
saturday23
David Hirsch and Dan Van Haften sign Abraham Lincoln and the Structure of Reason.
James Lander signs Lincoln and Darwin: Shared Visions of Race, Science, and Religion.
sunday24
Chicago Humanities Festival Dozens of programs on this year’s theme, “The Body.”
Elizabeth Kostova reads from her novel The Swan Thieves.
monday25
Benjamin Percy reads from his debut novel, The Wilding.
James Swanson signs Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse.
tuesday26
Dinaw Mengestu reads from his new novel, How to Read the Air.
James Swanson signs Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln’s Corpse.
wednesday27
Tracy Baim discusses Obama and the Gays: A Political Marriage.
Eric Foner presents The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery.
Adam Levin reads from his debut novel, The Instructions.
Nathan Rabin signs My Year of Flops: The A.V. Club Presents One Man’s Journey Deep Into the Heart of Cinematic Failure; he’ll be joined by Onion columnist “Jean Teasdale” (A Book of Jean’s Own!).
thursday28
Ina Garten promotes her latest cookbook, Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?
Poetry Off the Shelf John Balaban (Path, Crooked Path) and Le Pham Le (From Where the Wind Blows) read for a Poetry Foundation program.
Lee Sandlin presents Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild.
friday29
Nora Titone presents My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy.
Witty Women Writers Night With Stacey Ballis (Good Enough to Eat), Claire Zulkey (An Off Year), Wendy McClure (the forthcoming The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie), and Jen Lancaster (My Fair Lazy: One Reality Television Addict’s Attempt to Discover If Not Being A Dumb Ass Is the New Black, or, a Culture-Up Manifesto).
saturday30
Ron Chernow discusses Washington: A Life.
November
tuesday2
Charles Burns & Chris Ware See Best Bet.
wednesday3
Maud Lavin presents Push Comes to Shove: New Images of Aggressive Women.
Sam Shepard See Best Bet.
Ming Tsai signs his latest cookbook, Simply Ming: One-Pot Asian Meals.
thursday4
Sian Beilock presents Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To.
Poetry Off the Shelf Naomi Shihab Nye (What Have You Lost?) reads for a Poetry Foundation program.
friday5
Katherine Leiner talks about Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists.
saturday6
Chris Connelly) reads from his novel Ed Royal.
tuesday9
Daniel Ruddy signs Theodore Roosevelt’s History of the United States: His Own Words, Selected and Arranged by Daniel Ruddy.
Society of Midland Authors Author Jonathan Eig (Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster) is the featured guest.
thursday11
Adam Bradley hosts a panel discussion on The Anthology of Rap.
friday12
Buddy Valastro promotes his memoir, Cake Boss: Stories and Recipes From Mia Famiglia.
saturday13
Amy Sedaris signs Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People.
sunday14
Joanna Fuhrman, Suzanne Buffam Poetry readings. A Renaissance Society program.
Joan Naper reads from her novel Beautiful Dreamer.
monday15
Lynda Barry speaks for SAIC’s Visiting Artists Program and signs her new book, Picture This: The Near-Sighted Monkey Book.
tuesday16
David Plowden signs his latest photo collection, Requiem for Steam: The Railroad Photographs of David Plowden.
David Sedaris reads from his latest collection, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary.
wednesday17
Live at Maxim’s David Royko (Royko in Love: Mike’s Letters to Carol) is the featured guest.
thursday18
Roger Ebert signs his new books The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker and The Great Movies III.
Janet Zenke Edwards signs Diana of the Dunes: The True Story of Alice Gray.
Maggie Kast talks about The Crack Between the Worlds: A Dancer’s Memoir of Loss, Faith and Family.
Patrick Somerville reads from his new novel, The Universe in Miniature in Miniature. 21+.
sunday21
Kim Rosenfield, Karen Weiser Poetry readings. A Renaissance Society program.
tuesday30
Conversations in the Arts Singer-songwriter Patti Smith (Just Kids) is the featured speaker. Reservations required.
Jon Cotner presents Ten Walks/Two Talks, a “series of sixty-minute, sixty-sentence walks around Manhattan with a pair of roving dialogues.”
Listings compiled by Jerome Ludwig
More Fall Arts Guide