Wednesday September 3top

Roundtable Reading Circle  

Every Wednesday through Sept. 10, the Bread and Roses Center is hosting a progressive discussion group on how to make the world just a little bit better of a place. Roundtable Reading: Multiracial Organizing for Race and Sex Equality discussion sessions are free and open to the public, but donations are welcome to help pay for food and reading materials. Now go out there and change the world! Bread and Roses Center, 819 N Killingsworth St., 240-4462. 7 pm. Free. Map

Thursday September 4top

Garth Stein  

We’ve always said, if there’s one thing the book industry needs to do a better job with, it’s catering to dogs. Sure, they’re illiterate. Sure, they smell. Sure, they like to eat crap. But by golly, they’re just so gosh darn cute. Starting at 5 pm on Thursday, the sidewalk between Furever Pets and Broadway Books will be lined with doggy toys, open to sampling by the public. Then, at 7 pm, Seattle author Garth Stein will read selections from his bestselling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain—told through the voice of Enzo, its canine narrator—to well-behaved poches and their curious owners at Broadway books. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway., 284-1726. 5 pm for doggy events, 7 pm for reading. Free. Map

James D. Thayer

Portland is an amazing city, you know this. The music, festivals, independent theaters, organic food, beers and just about everything else all help to make it a weird little cultural oasis. But just as amazing as the city proper is the terrain that lies right outside its borders. Local author James D. Thayer’s Portland Forest Hikes offers 20 close-to-home wilderness getaways within 20 miles of downtown. With summer rapidly receding, what better time than now to get out and explore? Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Queer Polyamory Discussion Group

Are you trans, pansexual, lesbian, gay or queer? Does the thought of ditching monogamy sound intriguing but like a potential shitstorm of a moral issue? Hey, we’ve all been there, but fortunately there’s now a resource to help navigate these troubled waters. The first Thursday of every month, Franciszka Fierce hosts the Queer Polyamory Discussion Group. Open to GLBT folks of all ages, In Other Words bookstore provides the venue for an open discussion on the ins and outs of “ethical sluttery.” In Other Words, 8 B NE Killingsworth St., 232-6003. 6:30 pm. Free. Map

Friday September 5top

Ray Thomas 

This month, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance is holding the 2008 Bike Commute Challenge, an inter-workplace competition to see who can get more employees to pedal to the job. We here at Willamette Week have our own reasons why biking to work is a good idea—namely, that there haven’t been enough weird biker-driver death matches lately, and those always make for good reading. Plus, it gets you those always-sexy biker legs. Yum! To help launch the event, Powell’s City of Books will host a conversation on all things biking at 5:30 pm on Friday, followed by a tire-change demonstration at 6:30 pm. At 7 pm, local bike lawyer Ray Thomas (Pedal Power: A Legal Guide for Oregon Bicyclists) will give a talk titled How Pushing Rights for Bikes Helped Propel Oregon’s Bicycle Movement. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 5:30 pm. Free. Map

Saturday September 6top

From Out of the Stacks

If you’re like us, you kneel by your bedside every night and pray to your friendly neighborhood librarian. Why, if it weren't for her help we’d still be searching for that out-of-print biography of Howard Hughes, wandering lost amid the Dewey Decimountains. But folks at the library don’t just help you to find books, sometimes they write their own. Some of those will be showcased at From Out of the Stacks: Library Writers Share Their Works, an afternoon celebrating poetic works by library staff hosted by local poet David Elsey. Hey, with all the time they’ve spent around literature, it’s a pretty decent bet they’ve learned a thing or two about what it is that makes a good read. Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave., 988-5123. 1:30 pm. Free. Map

Monday September 8top

Nena Baker

Like many a good Left Coaster, you probably carry around one of those Nalgene water bottles. It’s the convenient and reusably fashionable way to make sure you’re getting your daily requirement of water. But did you know they’ve been banned in Canada? It turns out that the plastic used to make the bottles contains a potentially harmful chemical called bisphenol-A. Local author and former Oregonian writer (we hear there’s about to be a whole lot more of those…) Nena Baker’s new book, The Body Toxic, investigates this and the many other covert chemicals that lurk within everything from baby bottles to soup cans. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free. Map

Tuesday September 9top

Jesse Buttler

School is starting up again, which means its time far all you young parents out there to resume the endless struggle that is trying to get your kids to care about school. For those of you with somewhat more rambunctious children, here’s some advice: Try cutting back on the sugared drinks, and unplug the electronic toys every once in a while. If that doesn’t work, Dr. Jesse Buttler will be giving a talk in the Ledding Library’s fiction room on how parents can help their kids to cope with ADD and ADHD. Lecture topics include school performance, social interaction and the dietary factors involved with ADD. Ledding Library, 10660 SE 21st Ave., Milwaukie., 786-7580. 7 pm. Free. Map

Robin Cody and Brian Doyle

Oregon Book Award-winner Robin Cody, author of Ricochet River and Voyage of a Summer Sun, will be giving readers a sneak peak at his forthcoming collection of essays, tentatively titled True Short Works. Hey, it’s not out yet, so if you think it sucks you can tell him and at least he’ll have time to go back and change it. He will also be joined by his good friend, University of Portland's Portland Magazine editor Brian Doyle, who will read selections from his new book of poems, Thirsty for Joy. This one’s already been published, so we hope for his sake that it’s good. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway., 284-1726. 7 pm. Free. Map