Wednesday, March 24

7:30 p.m.

Lisa Lutz

The Spellmans Strike Again

In the fourth and final volume of her New York Times’ bestselling and addictively entertaining comic mystery series, Lisa Lutz unravels another irresistible caper featuring the irrepressible Isabel Spellman and her off-kilter family of private investigators. In this installment, Rae, Izzy’s ingenious of a little sister, gets involved in the Innocence Project and won’t stop until the rest of the family is equally committed. We’ll be raffling off “Free Schmidt” t-shirts provided by Lutz. The third volume, Revenge of the Spellmans, is now available in paperback, and a film version of The Spellman Files is currently in development with Paramount Pictures. Please join us in what is sure to be a very special evening of laughter and intrigue.

Duality in the Buffyverse
Xander: Hey, wait till you have an evil twin. See how you handle it.
Willow: I handled it fine.

Episodes to Watch:
Wish- Buffy season 3 episode 9
Doppelgangland - Buffy season 3 episode 16
The Replacement- Buffy season 5 episode 3
Intervention- Buffy season 5 episode 18
Normal Again- Buffy season 6 episode 17

Essays to Read:
“ 'Where’s the fun?': The Comic Apocalypse in “The Wish” by David
Kociemba. Found at: http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage23/Kociemba.htm

"Going Through the Motions: Reading Simulacra in Buffy the Vampire
Slayer" by Bronwen Calvert. Found at: http://slayageonline.com/essays/slayage15/Calvert.htm

Peeling, Caitlin and Scanlon, Meaghan. “‘What’s More Real? a Sick Girl
in an Institution… or Some Kind of Supergirl?’: The Question of Madness
in ‘Normal Again,’ a Feminist Reading.” Paper presented at the Slayage
Conference on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Nashville, May 2004. Found at:
http://www.alysa316.com/Buffyology/#pub_b

Loyalty, loss, and the ties that bind – these are the ingredients of The Recipe Club, a new novel that combines the story of a friendship told via e-mails, childhood letters, third-person narration, photos, illustrations and more than 80 recipes, to keep the plot cooking. Join co-author Nancy Garfinkel as we share food, recipes, and fun, celebrating the tale of the lifelong friendship of Lilly and Val, and the Recipe Club that united them. Feel free to being your own family recipes and stories to share!

Stand-up comedian, talk show host, and best-selling author Chelsea Handler will be at Women & Children First this Sunday, April 11th from

5-6:15pm.

We will have  her new book for sale so you can get it signed! Don't miss out on this opportunity to meet one of the funniest women on air and in print today!

***The fine and VERY IMPORTANT print: Handler can only sign a limited number of her new book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, which needs to be purchased before or on the day of the event at Women & Children First. Upon purchasing the book you will receive a number that represents your place in line to keep the signing orderly. Handler will personalize your books, although she cannot write messages. Handler will also not be able to take posed pictures, but you may take pictures of her while in line.***

Complimentary mini-martinis while you wait in line!

This month's book is West with the Night by Beryl Markham

In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, Rape Victim Advocates presents a workshop geared toward survivors of sexual assault as well as anyone who works with or loves a survivor. Covering the basic facts and myths of sexual assault, RVA’s workshop will explore the sexual repercussion of victim blaming, handling triggers, and positively reintegrating sex into your life. Adult audiences only. Recommended books: Healing Sex and Yes Means Yes.

Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington DC
Featuring Gregg Shapiro, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Rebecca Villarreal, David Trinidad and Deborah Darr

Co-sponsored by Poets & Writers Magazine

Join us for a reading by contributors to the new anthology, Full Moon on K Street. Featuring more than 100 contemporary poems, this collection captures DC’s unique sense of place, from the monuments and parks,  to the bus stations, from go-go music to chili half-smokes, and the city’s many moods, from celebratory to angry to fiercely political; the result comprises a love letter – with all the complexity that love implies – to our nation’s capitol city.

Sappho’s Salon: A Provocative Night of Lesbian Diversions

Featuring Alix Dobkin and DJ SpinNikki

$7-10 sliding scale includes food and wine

            Before she was a lesbian music legend, before she was a ground breaking lesbian activist and cultural worker, Alix Dobkin was a teenaged, guitar-totin’, card-carrying comrade in the folk music communities of Philadelphia and Greenwich Village circa the 1950s. In her new memoir, My Red Blood, the woman who pioneered lesbian music with her 1972 release, “Lavender Jane Loves Women” recounts her coming-of-age amidst the lefty politicos and beatniks in the East Coast underground. At tonight’s very special Sappho’s Salon, Dobkin will share excerpts of her life story while regaling us with song. DJ SpinNikki will play us in and out of tonight’s performance. All proceeds benefit the artists and the Women’s Voices Fund.

This month's book is Miles from Nowhere by Nami Mun

This month's book is Ka-Ching! by Denise Duhamel

Happy Now?

            Chicago writer Shonk’s new novel looks at love, grief and recovery through the eyes of Claire Kessler, a modern young woman living in Evanston who endures a stream of Internet and speed-dating debacles, until she meets Jay, almost perfect and truly kind. And then on Valentine’s Day he kills himself. At times both heart breaking and darkly comic, Shonk’s deftly told tale avoids melodrama. As Rachel Roseblitt wrote in Elle magazine, “Anyone who has passed up a popcorn car-chase flick in favor of a good indie knows how powerful a simple, skillfully told, character-driven story can be. Katherine Shonk does, and Happy Now?, her first novel, is proof…” Shonk’s first book is the critically acclaimed story collection, The Red Passports.

A Thousand Sisters: My Journey Into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman 
When an episode of Oprah awoke businesswoman Lisa Shannon to the suffering of women in the Congo, she knew she had to do something. A Thousand Sisters is the moving chronicle of raising money to make a difference for Congolese women, only to discover that it is she who is profoundly changed by them. Tracing her life from an average American to an unexpected activist and founder of the organization Run for Congo Women, Shannon’s story is one of adventure, danger, hope and healing.