EVENTS

WEDNESDAY JAN. 17

Pamela Aidan

All right, Jane Austen fans, time to get your prim on and ready yourself for the passion of Mr. Darcy. The local Jane Austen society will grace tonight's reading of These Three Remain—the last in a trilogy that looks at Pride and Prejudice through the eyes of dear Fitzy boy—with their presence. Borders Beaverton, 2605 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., 644-6164. 7 pm. Free.

Carolyn Turgeon

Turgeon reads from Rain Village, a story about a Midwestern girl who overcomes adversity to become a trapeze artist. Powell's City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4631. 7:30 pm. Free.

THURSDAY JAN. 18

Blake Nelson

Young adults, listen up: You can kill a security guard with a skateboard. But only in self-defense. And only if that self-defense is the fiction of Nelson's Paranoid Park (the basis of Gus Van Sant's new movie!). Powell's City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4631. 7 pm. Free. Read a Q&A with Blake on wweek.com.

Bettina Aptheker

Aptheker reads from Intimate Politics, about growing up red, getting raped by her famous father and becoming a feminist rebel...a typical Marxist childhood. Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 228-4631. 7:30 pm. Free.

Dr. Fritjof Capra

Capra will discuss the scientific understanding of life—a unified view of mind and matter. Did you hear that, Christians? This man needs saving. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 274-6564. 7 pm. $40.

Jack Hart

Hart, a managing editor at The Oregonian, is also a word coach. Instead of a whistle, he blows the pluperfect subjunctive. Hart reads from his new how-to-write book. Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd. Ave.. 224-5097, 7 pm. Free.

FRIDAY JAN. 19

Hair-of-the-Dog Happy Hour

Get drunk with the editors of Poetry Northwest. But please don't slur your sestinas. The Empire Room, 4260 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 239-4422. 5 pm. Free-ish.

John Haslett

Haslett re-created the legendary sailing journey of Thor Heyerdahl. But will there be pirates? Powell's City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4631. 7:30 pm. Free.

Paper Rad

See review, below. The Waypost, 3120 N Williams Ave., 367-3182. 8 pm. Free. Saturday: Portland State University's 5th Avenue Cinemas, 510 SW Hall St., 725-4470. 8 pm. Free.

SATURDAY JAN. 20

Zlata Filipovic

The teenage author shows how the brutality of war, from World War I to Iraq, affects the lives of young adults. Note: No text-messaging allowed. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton. 228-4631. 2 pm. Free.

MONDAY JAN. 22

Vendela Vida

The Believer's Vida reads from her novel, Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, a girl's quest to learn her true identity. Powell's City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4631. 7:30 pm. Free.

TUESDAY JAN 23

Kevin Brockmeier

Brockmeier wrote a book about dead people. It involves a human connection. It's a novel. Powell's City of Books. 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4631. 7:30 pm. Free.

Kiss & Tell: A Chat with Local Romance Writers

Seven local babes talk about romance, writing and life. And maybe, if you ask nicely, the pink torpedo of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Sellwood-Moreland Library, 7860 SE 13th Ave., 988-5398. 6:30 pm. Free.

Mathew Scott Hansen

Hansen draws upon the Pacific Northwest's Bigfoot lore to create The Shadowkiller, "a 10-foot-tall, massively constructed, intelligent hominid." Borders of Portland, 708 SW 3rd Ave., 220-5911. 7 pm. Free.

Jessica Stein

Stein tells the story of her three-day, 50-mile walk from New York City to Croton-on-Hudson. She tosses in anarchy, alternative transportation and radical mental health to spice it up. Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak St., 274-1449. 7 pm. Free.