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Acclaimed debut memoirist, Michael Gates Gill will be at Warwick's on Monday, September 8 at 7:30pm to discuss and sign his book, How Starbucks Saved My Life. In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a big house in the suburbs, a loving family, and a top job at an ad agency with a six-figure salary. ... (mere)By the time he turned sixty, he had lost everything except his Ivy League education and his sense of entitlement. First, he was downsized at work. Next, an affair ended his twenty-year marriage. Then, he was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, prognosis undetermined. Around the same time, his girlfriend gave birth to a son. Gill had no money, no health insurance, and no prospects. One day as Gill sat in a Manhattan Starbucks with his last affordable luxury — a latté — brooding about his misfortune and quickly dwindling list of options, a 28-year-old Starbucks manager named Crystal Thompson approached him, half joking, to offer him a job. With nothing to lose, he took it, and went from drinking coffee in a Brooks Brothers suit to serving it in a green uniform. For the first time in his life, Gill was a minority - the only older white guy working with a team of young African-Americans. He was forced to acknowledge his ingrained prejudices and admit to himself that, far from being beneath him, his new job was hard. And his younger coworkers, despite having half the education and twice the personal difficulties he’d ever faced, were running circles around him. The other baristas treated Gill with respect and kindness despite his differences, and he began to feel a new emotion: gratitude. Crossing over the Starbucks bar was the beginning of a dramatic transformation that cracked his world wide open. When all of his defenses and the armor of entitlement had been stripped away, a humbler, happier and gentler man remained. One that everyone, especially Michael’s kids, liked a lot better. The backdrop to Gill's story is a nearly universal cultural phenomenon: the Starbucks experience. In How Starbucks Saved My Life, we step behind the counter of one of the world's best-known companies and discover how it all really works, who the baristas are and what they love (and hate) about their jobs. Inside Starbucks, as Crystal and Mike’s friendship grows, we see what wonders can happen when we reach out across race, class, and age divisions to help a fellow human being.

Steven Pinker - The Stuff of Thought - Wednesday, September 10 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Jen Lin Liu - Serve the People - Thursday, September 11 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Encinitas children's author Gretchen Wendel. In the Community Room and adjacent park. A family event to include refreshments, face painting, temporary tatoos, crafts, music, etc. and book signings. 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Danica McKellar - Kiss My Math - Monday, September 15 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Mysterious Galaxy's Book Discussion Group resumes its regular schedule of meeting on Wednesday nights at the store. Participation is open to all readers; readers need not have completed a particular book to attend. Enjoy a dark fantasy about an oracle at the end of the Bronze Age.

DIESEL, A Bookstore is proud to say that former M*A*S*H star, Alan Alda, will be kicking off our event series at the new Brentwood store!! He'll be joining us to share more from his bestselling memoir, THINGS I OVERHEARD WHILE TALKING TO MYSELF, a book that is candid, wise, and as questioning as it ... (mere)is inclusive. In it, Alda amuses and moves readers with his unique and hilarious meditations on questions great and small. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself is another superb Alan Alda performance, as inspiring and entertaining as the man himself. 2006 honors include his 32nd Emmy nomination and winning his sixth Emmy (!) for his appearance on West Wing (Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series) as well as the National Science Board’s Public Service Award, and his induction into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has earned international recognition as an actor, writer and director. In addition to The Aviator, films include Crimes and Misdemeanors, Everyone Says I Love You, Flirting With Disaster, Manhattan Murder Mystery, And The Band Played On, Same Time, Next Year and California Suite, as well as The Seduction of Joe Tynan, which he wrote, and also The Four Seasons, Sweet Liberty, A New Life, and Betsy’s Wedding, all of which he wrote and directed. ** Please note that this event will take place in the outdoor courtyard of the new DIESEL, A Bookstore in Brentwood, located at 225 W. 26th St. For more information, please email events@dieselbookstore.com, or call (310) 456-9961.

Bing West - The Strongest Tribe - Thursday, September 17 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Feel free to wear your sunglasses at night for our evening event on Thursday, September 18, at 7:00 PM. Jeanne Stein and Chris Marie Green continue their unique tales of vampires in Southern California with Legacy, the fourth Anna Strong, Vampire novel, and Break of Dawn, the conclusion of the Vampire ... (mere)Babylon trilogy. Anna's past is back to haunt her as she confronts the werewolf widow of the vampire doctor who manipulated a newly-turned Anna, all while she is dealing with other changes in her family and bounty hunting business. (See review below.) Hollywood stunt woman Dawn Madison has survived her first encounters with the lethal vampires of Tinseltown, but now her quest for her missing father will lead her deeper into the Vampire Underground than she ever imagined. Whether you like your vampires' unlife to be spent in San Diego or Los Angeles, don't miss this event!

Chris Marie Green and Jeanne Stein continue their unique tales of vampires in Southern California with Break of Dawn, the conclusion of the Vampire Babylon trilogy, and Legacy, the fourth Anna Strong, Vampire novel. Hollywood stunt woman Dawn Madison has survived her first encounters with the lethal ... (mere)vampires of Tinseltown, but now her quest for her missing father will lead her deeper into the Vampire Underground than she ever imagined. Anna's past is back to haunt her as she confronts the werewolf widow of the vampire doctor who manipulated a newly-turned Anna, all while she is dealing with other changes in her family and bounty hunting business. Whether you like your vampires' unlife to be spent in San Diego or Los Angeles, don't miss this event!

Bing West - The Strongest Tribe - Thursday, September 18 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Take a new look at Larry Niven's Known Space, two hundred years before the discovery of the Ringworld, with Juggler of Worlds. Attendees at Conjecture last year were able to visit with Larry and ask him about Fleet of Worlds, also co-authored with Edward M. Lerner, which also examined Human – ... (mere)Puppeteer relationships. Paranoid covert agent Sigmund Ausfaller is humanity's secret weapon against alien manipulation ... maybe. Whether you were able to visit with Larry last fall, or haven't seen him in a while, please join us on Saturday, September 20, at 2:00 PM.

John Bemelmans Marciano - Madeline and the Cats of Rome - Sunday, September 21 at 3:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Scholastic Books is publishing a special 10th Anniversary Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.It will contain new exclusive bonus material from J.K. Rowling and have new cover and interior art. You must reserve your copy by August 23 in order to take advantage of our 20% discount offer.

Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein - Plato and A Platypus Walk Into A Bar... - Tuesday, September 23 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Local teen author Laura Preble will talk about the publishing industry and how to get published. Book signings and giveways.

Details to follow.

Markus Flanagan - One Less Bitter Actor: The Actor's Survival Guide - Thursday, September 25 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Local author Victor Villasenor signs Crazy Loco Love.

Details to follow.

Graeme Base - Enigma: A Magical Mystery - Sunday, September 28 at 4:00pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

The Dune Boys return!This is a numbered event. Numbers for the signing line are available with purchase of Paul of Dune from Mysterious Galaxy, on sale beginning Tuesday, September 16. Contact staff for details. If you are planning to attend the event, please do not place on-line orders as all such orders ... (mere)are processed for shipment or held for customers after the event.

Keith Devlin - The Unfinished Game - Tuesday, September 30 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Mysterious Galaxy's Book Discussion Group meeets on Wednesday nights at the store. Participation is open to all readers; readers need not have completed a particular book to attend. Chill your bones with Dan Simmons' account of the Terror that preyed on the crew of two trapped ships.

Kathleen Norris - Acedia and Me - Wednesday, October 1 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Alison Wright - Learning to Breathe - Thursday, October 2 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Details to follow.

Signing Only: Jamie Lee Curtis - Big Words For Little People - Saturday, October 4 at 4:00pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Deanne Stillman - Mustang - Tuesday, October 7 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Read about the candidates in the history-making 2008 presidential election in comic form! Cast your vote in our virtual election when you choose the biography of Democratic Nominee Barak Obama or Republican Nominee John McCain -- or a flipbook with both! Editor Scott Dunbier and cover artist J. Scott ... (mere)Campbell will be on hand to discuss how local independent publisher IDW decided to produce the comics. Details to follow. If you observe Yom Kippur, please shop before sundown -- your "vote" will still count.

Terri Cheney - Manic - Thursday, October 9 at 7:30pm (National Bipolar Awareness Day)Please check back soon for more event information.

Amy Bloom - Away - Monday, October 10 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Amy Bloom - Away - Monday, October 13 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Ed Begley, Jr. - Living Like Ed - Tuesday, October 14 at 3:00pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Philippa Gregory - The Other Queen - Friday, October 17 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Diane Ackerman - The Zookeeper's Wife - Tuesday, October 21 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Mysterious Galaxy's Book Discussion Group meeets on Wednesday nights at the store. Participation is open to all readers; readers need not have completed a particular book to attend. The Bradbury classic -- just in time for Hallowe'en!

Details to follow.

Details to follow.

David Wolman - Righting the Mother Tongue - Wednesday, October 29 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Details to follow.

Mike Sager - Wounded Warriors - Thursday, November 6 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

George Daughan - If By Sea: The Forging of the American Navy - Tuesday, November 11 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.

Details to follow.

Geraldine Brooks - People of the Book - Wednesday, January 9 at 7:30pmPlease check back soon for more event information.