Book It: The Five Best Literary Events This Week

From signings of books about Star Wars sci-fi to real-world science, from talks about David Sedaris comedy to alt-weekly celebrity interviews, the literary calendar is stacked this week.  And the Denver Public Library is holding its annual sale, which means you can stock up for a long summer of reading (and watching, and listening). Here are the five best events this week.

A.D. Jameson, I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing
Monday, June 18, 7 p.m.
BookBar
4280 Tennyson Street
Free
Writer A.D. Jameson comes to BookBar to shine a new and nerdalicious light on a Death Star full of beloved geek classics, from Star Wars (well, mostly Star Wars) to Lord of the Rings to Guardians of the Galaxy to Harry Potter and more. In his new book, I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing: Star Wars and the Triumph of Geek Culture, he explores the enormous love (and occasional hate) for certain properties: How they inspire, how they disappoint, and just how they actually came to be. It’s not just a labor of love, this book; it’s an insightful examination of how the geeks truly have inherited the Earth.

Summer Used Book Sale
Wednesday through Saturday, June 20 to 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Denver Central Library
10 West 14th Avenue Parkway
Free
More than 60,000 items are up for grabs at the Denver Central Library during its four-day annual sale, including children’s books, fiction and non-fiction, CDs, DVDs, audio books and more. New inventory is added each day, so there’s always something new to see Wednesday; come out and stock your shelves and help the Denver Public Library system fund vital programs and services at the same time. It’s a win-win, whether you’re a book collector or a candidate for a future episode of Hoarders.

Richard Munson, Tesla
Wednesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m.
Boulder Book Store
1107 Pearl Street, Boulder
$5 (includes a $5 voucher for any same-day purchase)
Nikola Tesla didn’t just invent a lot of the things we today take for granted: the radio, robots, remote control (and that only dips into those inventions filed under “R”). He also inspired generations of thinkers to follow (Tesla Motors, anyone?), but has somehow been largely overlooked by history. Richard Munson seeks to rectify that with his book Tesla: Inventor of the Modern, and comes to the Boulder Book Store to discuss the work, the bizarre personal life, and the mental acuity of one of history’s most enigmatic and under-appreciated minds.

David Sedaris, Calypso
Thursday, June 21, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
$28 (Includes a copy of the book)
Join Tattered Cover in once again welcoming beloved writer and humorist David Sedaris as he brings his new book, Calypso, to Denver. This memoir uses the purchase of a beach house on the Carolina coast as a vehicle for meditations both hilarious and poignant about middle age and mortality. Joining Sedaris in this discussion and book-signing is fellow author DeSales Harrison, who will talk about his book The Waters & the Wild. Tickets are $28, and include both a copy of Sedaris’ book and an assigned place in the autograph line.

Joe Donnelly, L.A. Man
Friday, June 22, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover LoDo
1628 16th Street
Free
Writer Joe Donnelly was a reporter and editor in Vail before his stint at the L.A. Weekly, where he was able to interview such notables as Wes Anderson, Sean Penn, Drew Barrymore, Christian Bale and many more, all at critical junctures in their careers. Donnelly visits Tattered Cover LoDo to read from and talk about his new book, L.A. Man: Profiles from a Big City in a Small World. According to the Los Angeles Review of Books, the collection of essays is “written with the same brio and enthusiasm that can only come from an émigré to this eccentric city…through all its stories, famous and personal, there lies an adoration for this brutal city, this unforgiving grind, and immaculate landscape.”

Know of an event that belongs here? Send information to [email protected].