Book It: The Five Best Literary Events This Week

This week is chock-full of different sorts of love, from sisterhood to barbecue, from authors both long-standing and fresh to the field. And appropriately enough, it concludes with the first annual Bookstore Romance Day. There’s love in the air, people – and on the page. Find out at these five best bets for your ever-lovin’ literary heart.

Erika Witsell, Give
Tuesday, August 13, 7:30 p.m.
Boulder Book Store
1107 Pearl Street, Boulder
$5
Author Erika Witsell brings her new novel Give to the Boulder Book Store for a reading and signing. The book is “a striking, often unflinching, depiction of a doomed marriage and its enduring consequences.” It’s the story of two sisters, unexpected gifts, heedless parenting, long shadows, and the bonds of family. Tickets to the event are $5, which are redeemable for the same amount off any purchase the day of the reading.

Barbecue in America
Tuesday, August 13, 7 p.m.
Cheluna Brewing Company
2501 Dallas Street, Aurora
$20
Colorado Humanities presents a delicious evening of discussion about barbecue, with conversation between culinary expert Adrian Miller and Jim Auchmutey (Smokelore). They will discuss Auchmutey’s experiences as a writer, his founding of the Southern Foodways Alliance, and his guest curation of the Atlanta History Center’s Barbecue Nation exhibit. Tickets include a barbecue buffet dinner provided by Rolling Smoke BBQ; you may want to pack some Wet Wipes to keep those book pages sauce-free.

Sandra Brown, Outfox
Wednesday, August 14, 7 p.m.
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
$28
Join Tattered Cover in welcoming the author of seventy (yes, seventy) New York Times bestsellers, Sandra Brown, who comes to read from and sign her newest novel, Outfox. The book is a psychological thriller that combines heart-stopping suspense, forbidden passion, and an FBI agent’s hunt for a ruthless con man turned serial killer. Tickets include a copy of the book and a place in the signing line; seating is first-come, first-served. Get there early: Rumor has it that the lines are murder.

Bookstore Romance Day
Saturday, August 17, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
BookBar
4280 Tennyson Street
Free
If you’re a lover of literary romance, then you owe it to yourself to participate in the first annual Bookstore Romance Day, designed to give independent bookstores across the country an opportunity to celebrate the genre – its books, readers, and writers alike. BookBar is celebrating with 10 percent off all romance genre books and all-day rosé specials; if you’re up in Fort Collins, Old Firehouse Books is throwing a party of its own. For more information on the event as a whole, visit the initiative’s website.

At the Inkwell
Saturday, August 17, 4 p.m.
BookBar
4280 Tennyson Street
Free
August’s At the Inkwell event includes some of the best local fantasy authors coming to share their wildest imaginations, created worlds, and laws of magic. Writers include Warren Baker, Kate Bashline, Shannon Blair, Brenda M. Hardwick, and David R Slayton. It’s a fantastic evening of even more fantastic prose, all put together once again by Denver author Hilary Leftwich. Come out and experience the impossible.

Have a literary event you think should be included on this list? Send details to editorial@westword.com.