April Events at Books & Books

SUSTAINATOPIA FESTIVAL AUTHOR SERIES: The Third Wave: A Volunteer Story is a modern day Mother Theresa story of volunteering around the world. It shares adventure, love and heart of a volunteer. Alison Thompson is a humanitarian and is fondly known in Sri Lanka as the “Angel of Galle. In January 2010, Alison went with actor Sean Penn and ten doctors to Haiti to help with the earthquake aftermath. They founded and ran a refugee camp and field hospital with over 65,000 displaced people. Alison also founded “We Advance with actress Maria Bello and Aleda Frishman which deals with gender based violence protecting the brutally raped women and children of Haiti. In 2010, Alison was awarded the Order of Australia, the highest civilian medal awarded by Queen Elizabeth the 2nd of England for her volunteering work and her contribution to mankind. Her hobbies include: Argentine tango, surfing, volunteering, camping, piano, harp, fencing, chess, ballet, photography, cricket, baseball, poetry, soccer, cooking, carpentry, elephant polo, politics, theology, and laughing. Meet her this afternoon at Books & Books and find out how you, too, can change the world, through volunteering. Noon
James Grippando‘s ever-popular hero, Jack Swyteck, is on his most dangerous case yet in Afraid of the Dark (Harper, $25.99) , uncovering a sinister underground world that has him racing across the globe. Then: Sergeant Vince Paulo held his best friend’s daughter, McKenna, bleeding in his arms as she uttered the name of her murderer and ex-boyfriend, Jamal. That was minutes before a blast made everything go black for Vince—forever. Now: Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck has been called in to save Jamal from the death penalty for terrorist activity. Despite urgent warnings from his fiancee, undercover FBI agent Andie Henning, to stay away from the case, Jack finds himself inextricably drawn to Jamal’s past—even believing his alibi that he was abducted and held in a black site in Prague at the time of McKenna’s death. But if Jamal is innocent, then the man who murdered McKenna and took Vince’s sight is still out there . . . free. Soon bodies begin to pile up and ghosts from the past reappear very much alive, confirmed by ominous threats from a faceless man known only as “the Dark.” Vince and Jack must confront a mortal danger that goes beyond McKenna’s death, across international waters—a journey to piece together the past that leads through the back alleys of London, onto illegal Internet sites, and straight into the mind of pure evil. 8pm
Words are powerful tools for self-expression and for changing the world. New Orleans-based (from the lower Ninth Ward), African-American performer and award-winning poet Sunni Patterson brings a warm spirit, stirring lyrics and passionate performance to her work. WordSpeak, a project for teens, includes workshops, slams and performances. Sunni has been featured at HBO’s Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry and worked with well-known artists and performers including Hannibal Lokumbe, Kalamu Ya Salaam, Sonia Sanchez, Wanda Coleman, and Amiri Baraka, among others. Sunni Patterson comes to Miami to launch the sixth year of Tigertail’s WordSpeak, an ongoing spoken word program for South Florida teens. Tonight, she will give a reading and performance that Mary Luft, Tigertail Productions’ Executive Director calls, “an astounding transformative project that will challenge and inspire.” 8pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Escaleno, 7-11pm
Coral Gables Gallery Night: Mexico: Landscapes and Portraits of a Country/Gilberto Canellano: “The search for that decisive moment that so haunted Cartier-Bresson is represented here by his good disciple, and the magic of the shots taken of our beloved people in Mexico, all of which are no more than a decade, seem as if to return to the iconography of Alvarez Bravo or Graciela Iturbide at times.” – Eduard Reboll, Curator 7-10pm

SUSTAINATOPIA FESTIVAL AUTHOR SERIES: Is it possible to make bigger profits while building a better world? Yes, if you are a HIP investor. Most investors have focused on a capitalist approach—chasing short-term financial gains, but risking societal, environmental, and economic stability. An increasing minority follows a socially responsible philosophy—excluding “bad” companies from their portfolio—that often leads to lower long-term returns. A third way, transformational for the investing world, is revealed in The HIP Investor. HIP stands for Human Impact + Profit. In The HIP Investor, R. Paul Herman—creator of the HIP methodology and a leading investment manager—introduces a systematic approach for investors that is designed for more attractive profits and positive human, social, and environmental impact. Based on comprehensive research of the S&P 500, HIP assesses and values measurable results over well-intentioned policies and philosophies, and shows how higher-performing companies can deliver both human impact and profit for shareholders. This HIP approach is shown to outperform the financial returns of the S&P benchmark in both up and down markets. 5pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Eddie Balzola and Oriente, 8pm-12am

Called “a perceptive and amusing social critic, with a wonderful eye for detail” by The Washington Post, Slavenka Drakulic-a native of Croatia-has emerged as one of the most popular and respected critics of Communism to come out of the former Eastern Bloc. In A Guided Tour Through the Museum of Communism (Penguin, $14) , she offers a eight-part exploration of Communism by way of an unusual cast of narrators, each from a different country, who reflect on the fall of Communism. Together they constitute an Orwellian send-up of absurdities during the final years of European Communism that showcase this author’s tremendous talent. 4pm
When Alan Paul’s wife was offered the job as the Wall Street Journal‘s China bureau chief, he saw it as an amazing opportunity to shake up their increasingly staid suburban New Jersey life. Excited and not a little scared, they packed up their three children—ages two, four, and seven—and headed for adventure and uncertainty in Beijing, China. Based on his award-winning Wall Street Journal Online column, “The Expat Life,” Big in China (Harper, $25.99) explores Paul’s unlikely three-and-a-half-year journey of reinvention in this rapidly developing metropolis. At the heart of the memoir is his time fronting Woodie Alan, a blues band he formed with a Chinese partner. The cross-cultural collaboration became an unlikely success. The band embarked on a tour across China, earning the title “Best Band in Beijing” and recording an acclaimed CD of original music sung in both English and Mandarin, which prompted ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons to say, “This is the best Chinese blues band I ever heard. Who knew?” Woodie Alan was symbolic of Paul’s entire China experience and proof of what transpires when one can suspend preconceived notions and plunge into a new reality. 6pm

SUSTAINATOPIA FESTIVAL AUTHOR SERIES: We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better Worldoffers executives, brands and non-profit leaders critical insights into how to capitalize on social media to build brand communities, profits and positive impact. Simon Mainwaring understands that brands are facing two powerful challenges: a struggling economy and new social media technology that is reinventing business models, profit centers and the business leaders of the future. Having worked on dozens of Fortune 500 brands for many of the world’s top advertising and digital agencies for almost 20 years, Simon is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on branding and social media. Noon
SUSTAINATOPIA FESTIVAL AUTHOR SERIES: In The Responsible Business: Reimagining Sustainability and Success, Carol Sanford brings light to the future of business and changing the conversation we are having about responsibility. Sanford is on a mission to create a better world, and she believes that business can and will play a major role in accomplishing that. “It will be more than just a responsibility program,” she says. “Responsibility will be in the DNA of the business and everyone will participate to make a real difference.” To that end, Carol has been leading major consulting change efforts in both Fortune 500 and new-economy businesses for more than 30 years. Carol is a judge and mentor for University of Washington Global Business Center Social Entrepreneur Competition, Seattle. 1pm
SUSTAINATOPIA AUTHOR SERIES: Today’s economy has forced many charities to cut back on their services. Charitable giving is also down, and federal and state governments are pulling back on their support of the social sector. This trend has drastically changed the business model for many nonprofit organizations, requiring them to become innovative and entrepreneurial in order to survive. Increasingly, this means engaging in “social enterprise,” and defining success in terms of both financial and social returns.  At the same time, many for-profit businesses are also finding they can generate significant revenue while addressing social needs.  Moreover, financial incentives, tax benefits and more can be realized through social enterprise activities.  Nationally recognized attorney and financial advisor Marc Lane‘s timely book, Social Enterprise: Empowering Mission-Driven Entrepreneurs, is the complete legal guide to social enterprise.  It strategically considers the public policy, legal and business challenges facing social enterprises and those who support them. The book is an urgently important resource not only for lawyers, but also for nascent and seasoned social entrepreneurs, donors, investors and other stakeholders who see social enterprise as a potent tool to drive positive social change. 2pm

Upton and Sally Ryder Brady were a rare breed: cultivated and elegant, they lived a life of literary glamour and high expectations. Sally a debutante; Upton a classics major from Harvard, they met at the Boston Cotillion. He was articulate, witty, and worldly, and he danced like Fred Astaire. How could she resist? Despite raising four children on Upton’s modest wage as the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic Monthly Press, theirs was a world of champagne, sailboats, private islands, famous writers, family rituals, and ice-cold martinis. They lived life on their terms. But as time wore on, Upton, the charming and brilliant husband, the inventive, beguiling partner, grew opinionated, cranky, controlling, and dangerous. When Upton died suddenly one evening in their Vermont cottage, Sally began uncovering secrets. As she went through his papers, she discovered that her husband of forty-six years had desired the love of other men. Her riveting, charismatic husband was not quite the man he appeared to be, and a year of mourning became for Sally a time to unravel the dark and unexpected web he had left behind. Hers is a moving and powerful story of coming to terms with what cannot be changed. A Box of Darkness (St. Martin’s, $23.99) is also a story of great love. 6:30pm
Since the beginning of human history people have created myths, tall tales, superheroes, and arch-villains – men and women who embarked on insane adventures, performed extraordinary feats of unparalleled awesomeness, and overcame all odds to violently smite their foes into bloody pulp. In Badass: The Birth of a Legend (Harper Collins, $16.99) , Ben Thompson compiles these fantastical tales from the beginning of time to today and tells them in the completely over-the-top manner in which they were intended, including: Rama, the Indian god-king who led an army of monkeys against the King of All Demons; Thor, the Viking god of thunder and awesome hair, who crushed the skulls of giants with a ridiculously huge hammer; Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon hero so hardcore he could arm-wrestle monsters’ joints out of their sockets; Moby Dick, the hate-filled literary behemoth who obliterated ship hulls with his face; Skuld, the Norse necromancer queen who summoned a horde of zombie berserkers and Dirty Harry Callahan, the prototypical modern-day antihero and very embodiment of badass. 8pm

Horse racing has never seen a more intense rivalry than that between Affirmed and Alydar in the historic year of 1978. The journey through the Triple Crown races — Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes — is difficult for both horse and jockey. To this day, 33 years later after Affirmed accomplished the feat, horse racing has not seen another Triple Crown champion let alone a greater rivalry than the two gallant chestnut thoroughbreds waged that spring. Lou Sahadi magically recaptures that extraordinary time in horse racing with his new book, Affirmed: The Last Triple Crown Winner (Thomas Dunne, $24.99) , with a foreword by Affirmed’s Hall of Fame jockey, Steve Cauthen. Foaled in Kentucky and raised in Florida, Affirmed became the first thoroughbred from the Sunshine State to win a major classic race. Affirmed’s performances on the track confirmed his greatness in the sports’ history, he remains now 33 years later the last Triple Crown winner. When will some magnificent horse take his or her place alongside this great champion? 8pm

Join us for a Monster Mash with Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas series. The folks in her new series, Monster High, prefer to call themselves RADs, but some call them monsters. So far, the “monster” community has kept a low profile in Salem, Oregon, but this year two new girls enroll at Merston High School, and the town will never be the same. Catch up with Frankie Stein, Cleopatra de Nile and Melody Carver in Monster High #2: The Ghoul Next Door (Poppy, $16.99) . Frankie lost her head over Brett once and vows never to do it again. Not that she has a choice: Bekka is clinging to her guy like plastic wrap. But when Brett comes up with a plan that could help the RADs live free, sparks fly, and Bekka will stop at nothing to put out the flames . . . even if it means destroying the entire monster community. Melody is trying to save her boyfriend, Jackson, from being exposed by Bekka, too. But Cleo is making it royally difficult for the normie while threatening her acceptance into the RADs’ exclusive group . . . a group that Melody suspects she has more in common with than she ever thought. Click here to enter our Facebook contest. Three lucky winners will get a Monster High collectible doll from Mattel and one person gets a Monster High T-shirt. You must be present at the April 5 Monster Mash event to win. 7:30pm

In Finding the Upside: Practical Wisdom for Challenging Times (Upside Publishing, $14.95) , executive and career coach Steve Goldberg invites you to join the growing movement of individuals who are discovering innovative new ways to meet life’s difficulties with courage, resourcefulness, and optimism. There is a golden opportunity surrounding us right now to take stock of the potentially positive and redeeming aspects of the current state of affairs we’re in! Every “upside” adjustment we make in our thoughts, attitudes, and actions can have a powerful effect on our quality of life, the outcome of our future and the futures of our children and grandchildren. Finding the Upside is a unique collection of personal stories, research, timeless quotes, exercises, affirmations, and related resources to help you strengthen your own toolkit of practical wisdom for surviving and thriving in challenging times. Executive and career coach 7pm

Books & Books Bal Harbour will be hosting the Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy Poetry Night. Ten students from the school will be reading personal poems, in both English and Hebrew. The Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy Children’s Choir will also sing at the event. 7pm

Since coming to power in 1999, President Hugo Chavez has used the windfall of high oil prices to remake Venezuela internally along the model of twenty-first-century socialism and, even more audaciously, to rewrite global relations by directly challenging U.S. hegemony. The dramatic ascendency of the country in hemispheric and global international relations over the past decade is the subject of Venezuela’s Petro-Diplomacy (U. Press of Florida, $65) . Tony Maingot, Ralph Clem and the contributors to this book offer fresh, authoritative insights into a wide array of questions hanging over Venezuelan foreign policy and the leadership of the maverick president, Chavez. While revenue from petroleum exports has swelled national coffers and allowed the expansion of public programs and the extension of aid to foreign countries, bolstering Chavez’s popularity at home and abroad, the volatility of petroleum prices and the neglect of other export industries have the potential to render Chavez’s–and Venezuela’s–power tenuous. 8pm

Lin Arison invites readers on a journey through Umbria, in the company of Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony orchestra. Part memoir, part travelogue, Feast for the Senses: A Musical Odyssey in Umbria (Chronicle, $40) features the sites, foods, crafts, and festivals that give Umbria its unique character. Included are three DVDs: the celebrated MTT on Music; a short documentary on the musicians in Umbria; and a filmed conversation between Thomas and architect Frank Gehry, designer of the orchestra’s new Miami campus. Join us for the La Sera reception at 7pm with a performance by the Fellows of the New World Symphony featuring light fare, fine wine — $20 per person. RSVP mcb118@earthlink.net for the reception. Presentation begins at 8pm

From way downtown — yes! Miami Heat forward James Jones scores on a three-point play — story reading, autographing and book donation — with a special Story Time to kick off the FedEx Entrega book donation drive at Books & Books. Kids, ages 7 to 12, bring a book to donate — in either English or Spanish — and join us as the NBA’s Three-Point Contest Champion reads from the A Tale Dark and Grimm (Dutton, $16.99) by Adam Gidwitz. James will follow up his reading with an autographing. FedEx Entrega is a three-month regional book donation campaign that strives to instill a love of reading at an early age. FedEx Express is working with Friends of the Orphans in Miami, which will make the books available to children through their existing programs in South Florida and Latin America. The book collection bins will be at Books & Books stores in South Florida through June. But get on jump (shot) on it today by joining us for this special afternoon with James Jones! 3:30-4:30pm
Hear a real, live composer read from a book called The Composer is Dead. Touch a real, live — well, not really alive — musical instrument, lots of instruments, just like the ones real, live musicians play after real, live composers compose symphonies based on books. Did you get all that? Whew. Well, it’s all easy when you come to this special event with composer Nathaniel Stookey who wrote the music for The Composer is Dead (HarperCollins, $17.99) by Lemony Snicket. He really parts of the book and tell you all about writing the music, working with Lemony Snicket and narrating the concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra that coming weekend at the Adrienne Arsht Center. And you’ll encounter all sorts of instruments with the Instrument Discovery, provided by Allegro Music. Touch and learn about the different instruments. Who knows — you may become a real, live composer one day. 5pm
Renowned entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk reveals how companies big and small can scale that kind of personal, one-on-one attention to their entire customer base, no matter how large, using the same social media platforms that carry consumer word of mouth. The Thank You Economy (Harper, $14.99) offers compelling, data-driven evidence that we have entered into an entirely new business era, one in which the companies that see the biggest returns won’t be the ones that can throw the most money at an advertising campaign, but will be those that can prove they care about their customers more than anyone else. The businesses and brands that harness the word-of-mouth power from social media, those that can shift their culture to be more customer-aware and fan-friendly, will pull away from the pack and profit in today’s markets. Filled with Vaynerchuk’s irrepressible candor and wit, as well as real-world examples of companies that are profiting by putting Thank You Economy principles into practice, The Thank You Economy reveals how businesses can harness all the changes and challenges inherent in social media and turn them into tremendous opportunities for profit and growth. 8pm

He has no history in the rice fields, no background in being a master. Plantations are as foreign to him as the African plain that birthed the slaves his uncle owns. Surely, though, he knows his own heart. She has no say in his decisions, his day, his life. She doesn’t even have a say in her own. But when Nathaniel Pereira plunges into the murky mysteries of freedom and survival in the suffocating Southern heat, Liza can see how she might change her life forever. Tracing the thread of slavery from sixteenth-century Timbuktu, Song of Slaves in the Desert (Sourcebooks, $25.99) explores one man’s struggle to understand a world where honor is in short supply yet dignity cannot be sold. His mission in peril, his mind nearly undone, Nathaniel’s obsession binds him to his fate more tightly than chains ever could. A masterful writer skilled in both accuracy and nuance, Alan Cheuse grapples with the nether parts of our history, the murky boundary between right and wrong, and the wild tendency of love to break free. 8pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Federico Britos and Jorge Sanchez, 7-11pm

Tropicalia (U. of Notre Dame Press, $15) is a collection of poems by Emma Trelles, winner of the Andres Montoya Poetry Prize. The book is a melodic union between the green insistence of the subtropics and the city ensconced within. Trelles’s language is detailed and startling, her poems infused with color and light, and the secret beauty of back alleys and parking lots is seamed to sorrow, hope, and land. Rock bands play among odes to Lorca and Chagall, and the hard news of protest and war lives among the simple pleasures of words and sky. Trelles is also the author of the chapbook Little Spells (GOSS183), a recommended read by the Valparaiso Poetry Review and the Montserrat Review. Twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the recipient of a Green Eyeshade award for art criticism, her work has appeared in publications such as Verse Daily, 3 AM Magazine, Gulf Stream, OCHO, Newsday, the Miami Herald, and the Sun-Sentinel, where she was the art critic and a features staff writer for three years. She received her MFA in creative writing from Florida International University and is a regular contributor to the Best American Poetry blog. 7pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Juanita, 8pm-midnight

Have you ever wondering what it must have been like to be Audrey Hepburn? The graceful manner, the iconic look. Well, this is your chance to see the girl behind the famous woman. And learn myriad ways to tie a scarf! And the joy of a little blue gift box. Join us for the Almost Breakfast Near Tiffany’s event for local author Margaret Cardillo’s debut children’s picture book — Just Being Audrey (Balzer & Bray, $16.99) . This is Audrey as a little girl, an actress, an icon, an inspiration; this is Audrey just being Audrey. When Audrey Hepburn starred in a movie, she lit up the screen… But her life off-screen was even more luminous. As a little girl growing up in Nazi-occupied Europe, she learned early on that true kindness is the greatest measure of a person — and it was a lesson she embodied as she became one of the first actresses to use her celebrity to shine a light on impoverished children throughout the world. 12:30pm

Calling all Greek cuisine lovers of South Florida! Come and meet Stephanie Patsalis, author of the Greek Chic Cuisine ($42.32) cookbook. Greek Chic Cuisine has elements of the traditional and the contemporary rooted in the authentic flavor of the Mediterranean. The unique nature of this cookbook is that while offering authentic traditional recipes, you also have the option to “Greek Chic” many items. The “Greek Chic” tips will help you add an easy contemporary touch to traditional Greek food. These authentic flavors of Greece include dishes like Spanakopita, Souvlakia, Baklava or contemporary dishes like Baklava Pancakes, Gyro Lettuce Wraps, and Ouzo Chocolate Cupcakes. The Mediterranean diet is known as the healthiest in the world. This food uses the freshest ingredients making it healthy not heavy, and highlighting the best of Greek culture. 6pm

Healing: Bible Studies for Growing Faith (Pilgrim Press) contains five study sessions on the healing narratives from the New Testament. Donna Schaper is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and is the senior minister of Judson Memorial Church in New York City. She received the D.Min. from Hartford Seminary. 8pm

What started out as a granddaughter’s love for her grandmother and a desire for the great-grandchildren to enjoy her recipes, became a way to share them with us all. Nahima’s Hands: Unique Mediterranean Cuisine ($19.95) is a compilation of recipes from Nahima Albert, Andrea Cassell’s Grandmother, as well as original recipes from Andrea, herself. This book features Mediterranean dishes which are easy to prepare. You will find a variety of recipes from soups and salads to desserts and breads. You will even find a slow cooker section. Wine pairing is offered for several recipes making this book a complete family entertainment guide. 8pm

Confessions of a Gay Anchorman (lulu.com, $20.99) is Charles Perez’s behind-the-scenes, in-front-of-the-camera look at what it is to be a gay man on TV. It is a call for others, like Anderson Cooper and Shepard Smith to come out of the closet! 7pm

Off the coast of Cuba, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter spotted a ransacked vessel and rescued Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo, who chartered the Joe Cool for a trip to the Bahamas. They claimed that pirates ambushed the boat, killing the captain and crew. But in a Miami federal courtroom, prosecutors soon discovered the crew was hijacked and murdered-not by pirates-but by their own charter passengers. Find out more in Murder on the High Seas (Berkley, $7.99) by Carol Cope. 7pm

Two phrasemakers and longtime married partners had to relearn a shared, intimate conversation post-stroke as Diane Ackerman narrates in her touching latest work, One Hundred Names for Love (Norton, $26.95) . Paul West, Ackerman’s 75-year-old British husband (she is 18 years younger), was a retired English professor and the author of 50-plus books, survivor of diabetes and a pacemaker, when he was struck by a massive stroke that left “a small wasteland” in his brain, especially in the key language areas. For literary minds like West and Ackerman, his inability to formulate language (reduced to repeating numbly the sounds “mem, mem, mem” in anger and confusion) was a shock to them both: “o be so godlike, and yet so fragile,” his wife writes in despair. Her memoir of this terrible time, first in the hospital, then at home, records the small victories in his speech making and numerous frustrating setbacks; she even took it upon herself to make up humorous but challenging exercises for him to do, Mad Libs–style. Contrary to the bleak prognosis, West gradually made progress, while their journey makes for goofy, pun-happy reading, a little like overhearing lovers coo to each other. 8pm

There have been few cultural touchstones to open people’s eyes to everyday lesbian life—until now. Through fascinating interviews and stunning portrait photography, The L Life (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $32.50) introduces us to the women who are changing our view of the world. This candid collection is a celebration of real women, alongside headline-makers such as breast cancer researcher and bestselling author Dr. Susan Love; groundbreaking authors Alison Bechdel and Ann Bannon; entertainers such as actress Jane Lynch and comedian Kate Clinton; Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and longtime activist Phyllis Lyon; award-winning film producer Christine Vachon; and many more. Erin McHugh is a former publishing executive and the author of 19 books, including the five-volume series The Portable Queer. She lives in New York City and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 7pm

The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. The gambit was a stupendous failure, resulting in the death or imprisonment of more than a thousand men. In its wake, the United States appeared inept, reckless, and corrupt. Now, journalist Jim Rasenberger takes a closer look at this darkly fascinating incident in American history. At the heart of the crisis stood President Kennedy, and Rasenberger traces what Kennedy knew, thought, and said as events unfolded. He also draws compelling portraits of the other figures who played key roles in the drama: Castro, who shortly after achieving power visited New York City and was cheered by thousands (just months before the United States began plotting his demise); Dwight Eisenhower, who originally ordered the secret program, then later disavowed it; Allen Dulles, the CIA director who may have told Kennedy about the plan before he was elected president (or so Richard Nixon suspected); and Richard Bissell, the famously brilliant “deus ex machina” who ran the operation for the CIA—and took the blame when it failed. Written with elegant clarity and narrative verve, The Brilliant Disaster (Scribner, $32) is the most complete account of this event to date, providing not only a fast-paced chronicle of the disaster but an analysis of how it occurred—a question as relevant today as then—and how it profoundly altered the course of modern American history. 8pm

Young adult novelist Ginny Rorby sets her newest story Lost in a River of Grass (Carolrhoda, $17.95) in the Everglades, where the young protagonist finds herself struggling to survive in an unforgiving wilderness. Sarah, the 13-year-old narrator, sneaks away from an overnight school field trip for what was supposed to be a quick airboat ride with Andy, a boy who lives in the preserve. Naturally, disaster strikes and they’re forced to walk out of the Everglades (they’ve got a knife, a small amount of Gatorade and some suspicious Spam). Rorby skillfully layers in a story about overcoming prejudice. Sarah is black and Andy is the son of a Confederate-flag waving self-described redneck. In another Rorby tale, The Outside of a Horse (Dial, $16.99) , Hannah Gale starts volunteering at a horse stable because she needs a place to escape. Her father has returned from the Iraq war as an amputee with post-traumatic stress disorder, and his nightmares rock the household. At the stable, Hannah comes to love Jack, Super Dee, and Indy; helps bring a rescued mare back from the brink; and witnesses the birth of the filly who steals her heart. Hannah learns more than she ever imagined about horse training, abuse, and rescues, as well as her own capacity for hope. Physical therapy with horses could be the answer to her father’s prayers, if only she can get him to try. 6:30pm
The finest legion of the Roman Empire, the X Fretensis, is on the march. Standards raised and feet marching towards a besieged city and a conquered people. No free-thinking earthly power would dare reckon with the Roman Army at the Empire’s zenith. No one that is, but the Jewish people, compelled by a direct descendant of Judah Maccabee, who draws together and leads a splintered band of guerillas in a seemingly hopeless struggle. After the fall of Jerusalem, the remaining partisans fight their way out of the shattered city of Jerusalem and make their way to Masada, deep in the Judean wilderness. A small hardened group watches the massing troops of Rome from the desert mountain fortress. The Jewish people are an ancient immovable authority but they are on the brink. It’s a world of emerging loyalties, faiths and allegiances and within it, we take a journey through the eyes of the two chief combatants. Jed Kurzban‘s The Fall of the Fortress (Createspace, $14.99) takes us on a gritty lurid journey as man versus man, empire versus empire and God versus Gods unravels. 8pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Negroni Trio, 7-11pm

Until now, there have been few cultural touchstones which open people’s eyes to everyday, normal lesbian life. The L Life (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $32.50) by Erin McHugh introduces women who are altering our view of the world with a series of striking portrait photography and enchanting interviews. This candid selection is a celebration of everyday women, alongside headline-makers such as breast cancer researcher and bestselling author Dr. Susan Love; groundbreaking authors Alison Bechdel and Ann Bannon; entertainers such as actress Jane Lynch and comedian Kate Clinton; Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and longtime activist Phyllis Lyon; award-winning film producer Christine Vachon; and many more.
Live Music in the Courtyard: Rose Max & Ramatis, 8-midnight

PJ Library Story Time: — We have just one question (not four): Where will you be getting ready for Passover? PJ Library Story Time today! The national PJ Library program supports families in their Jewish journey by sending Jewish-content books and music on a monthly basis to children. Presented in collaboration with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Temple Beth Am and MiamiMunchkins.com. 10:30am
Joe David Bellamy’s new book, Kindred Spirits (PublishingWorks, $14.95) , a book about family and relationships and the amazing deep ancestral history of those same people that no one ever knew before with such sweep, detail, and comprehensive clarity until now. Bellamy’s genealogical odyssey will be a revelation to anyone interested in his or her own family history and to anyone who has ever wondered what it would mean to meet one’s ancestors. Scientific advances such as DNA testing and recent opportunities via internet research have given genealogy and family history new credibility that has made it the second most popular subject area on the internet after pornography — and an obsession with baby boomers. 4pm

PJ Library Story Time: Matzoh Time! Get ready for Passover with PJ Library Story Time. The national PJ Library program supports families in their Jewish journey by sending Jewish-content books and music on a monthly basis to children. Presented in collaboration with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, the Miami Beach JCC and the Lehrman Community Day School. 12:30pm

Explore the world inside The Fish Tank (Schiffer, $16.99) with author Kristina Henry. With twenty beautiful, bold color illustrations and haiku poetry for text, this book describes life in a tropical fish tank and explores the concept of living together peacefully and happily. Meet goldfish, tetra, tiger barbs, and angelfish. These tropical fish in many shapes, colors, and sizes dwell in a murky aquarium. In their world, they either fight or hide to survive. When a newcomer arrives and cleans the glass tank, the fish see things clearly for the first time. This book, presenting hope for harmony, is a delight for children and adults alike, as together they explore life in the fish tank. 3:30pm

On Governance, Cor Publicum (Samsara Press, $21.95) introduces a fundamentally new social contract and a radically new system of governance and law based on Heart Wisdom. Rather than offering solutions to overcome the limitations of our current systems, Franca Baroni describes governance and law from within the next evolutionary stage. Cor Publicum– the heart of the collective – weaves individual, regional, national and international bodies together through the intelligence of the heart to create a sustainable and resilient blueprint of governance and law. In this event, Franca will read a few passages from her book and facilitate an inner journey to embody the agreements of the new social contract, deepen the connection between the individual and collective body and create a pathway into the collective heart. 6:30pm
Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo chartered the Joe Cool for a trip to the Bahamas. They claimed that pirates ambushed the boat, killing the captain and crew. When a U.S. Coast Guard cutter spotted the vessel off the coast of Cuba, the boat was ransacked and the Coast Guard rescued the two men. But in a Miami federal courtroom, prosecutors soon discovered the crew was hijacked and murdered – but not by pirates. They were killed by their own charter passengers. Find out more in Murder on the High Seas: The True Story of the Joe Cool’s Tragic Final Voyage (Berkley, $7.99) by Carol Cope. 8pm

In the small southern China town of Chin-kiang, in the last days of the nineteenth century, two young girls bump heads and become thick as thieves. Willow is the only child of a destitute family. Pearl is the headstrong daughter of Christian missionaries — and will grow up to become Pearl S. Buck, Nobel Prize-winning writer and activist. This unlikely pair becomes lifelong friends, confiding their beliefs and dreams, experiencing love and motherhood, and eventually facing civil war and exile. Pearl of China (Bloomsbury USA, $15) by bestselling author Anchee Min brings new color to the remarkable life of Pearl S. Buck, illuminated by the sweep of history and an intimate, unforgettable friendship. 8pm

Joel M. Curzon and his new award-winning book, Light Fading: Reflections on the Imperiled Everglades (Peter E. Randall Publisher, $60) , at Fairchild. Light Fading is the only hardcover, coffee-table book dedicated to America’s most famous wetland. Working with biologists, and contacts from special interest groups, such as Friends of the Everglades, Curzon discovered ideal locations to explore, and the brilliant full-color photographs and thoughtful essay speak eloquently of the issues facing this important national park. Free entrance at Fairchild all day today to celebrate Earth Day! 3pm

Rina Jakubowicz, author of Choose Peace: A Practical Guide into Consciousness (Just be Pub., $18.95), shares her experiences following a promise to her ex-husband that their divorce would not be in vain. She discovered herself as an individual and unexpectedly went on to create this 15-step guide toward peaceful transformation. Since life is a puzzle often missing pieces, we tend to rely on outside sources for our temporary happiness. Rina’s book offers a refreshing perspective for those willing to change negative patterns, fearlessly search within, and ultimately, choose peace …consciously. 8pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Emmet Cohen Trio, 7-11pm

Books & Books’ popular Lip Service event joins forces with WLRN’s award-winning Under the Sun for a special performance at the Miracle Theater — to be recorded for broadcast on WLRN. Lip Service is true stories out loud. Eight people, eight stories, eight minutes each. The stories are hilarious, heartbreaking, poignant, embarrassing, inspiring, and all true. WLRN’s Under the Sun tells the stories of South Florida. It’s a storybook match. Tickets are on sale now. 8pm

Florida author Lori Roy brings her hotly anticipated debut novel, Bent Road (Dutton, $25.95) , to Books & Books. At the core of Bent Road is a Midwestern family’s struggle with a past never laid to rest. For twenty years, Celia Scott has watched her husband Arthur hide from the secrets surrounding his sister Eve’s death. — until the whole family moves back to the Kansas town Arthur fled. Now Celia and her children are mired in secrets and rumors that rule the small town. Was Arthur’s abusive brother-in-law, Ray, responsible for Eve’s death all those years ago? Does he pose a danger to his wife, Ruth, and the entire family? Soon after the Scotts return to the home on Bent Road, a young girl, bearing a haunting likeness to Eve and the Scotts’ daughter, Evie, disappears, and the family is forced to confront its troubled past. Could the girl’s disappearance be connected to Eve’s mystifying demise twenty-five years before? Is Ray the link between the two tragedies? Is Evie in danger? For the sake of her children, Celia must learn that sometimes killing is the kindest way. 5pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Escaleno, 8-midnight

Happy Easter! Bal Harbour Shops is closed today.

In 2005, celebrated novelist Francisco Goldman married a beautiful young writer named Aura Estrada in a romantic Mexican hacienda. The month before their second anniversary, during a long-awaited holiday, Aura broke her neck while body surfing. Francisco, blamed for Aura’s death by her family and blaming himself, wanted to die, too. Instead, he wrote Say Her Name (Grove, $24) , a novel chronicling his great love and unspeakable loss, tracking the stages of grief when pure love gives way to bottomless pain. Say Her Name is a love story, a bold inquiry into destiny and accountability, and a tribute to Aura, who she was and who she would’ve been. 8pm

Note: This event is in Spanish. Letra Urbana Encuentros @ Books & Books: Los Nativos Digitales, presentacion a cargo de Ana Tettner. Esta nueva generacion es la primera en la historia de la humanidad que nacio y crece con la tecnología digital. La diversion de estos ninos y jóvenes, sus obligaciones y sus relaciones sociales dependen de todos los aparatos a los que se conectan. Es una nueva realidad que a quienes tenemos que relacionarnos con ellos, como padres, abuelos o maestros, nos plantea un gran desafao. Ademas produce un desfasaje generacional que nos ubica como “inmigrantes digitales”, tratando de adaptarnos a esta nueva situacion. iComo comunicarnos con los estudiantes, los hijos y los nietos que son esencialmente diferentes a nosotros? Los adultos que visitamos con miedo o con asombro el mundo de la tecnologia digital, tenemos el inmenso reto de adecuar nuestra manera de acercarnos u educarlos siguiendo el modo de aprendizaje de los Nativos Digitales. Pero tambien, habra que entender que los jvenes estn asumiendo riesgos como por ejemplo vincularse digitalmente con personas, con las que nunca lo harian en “espacio real” y, hoy como ayer, dependen de la orientacin de los mayores para evitar los peligros. Ana Tettner es Licenciada en Educacion de la Universidad Central de Venezuela y tiene una Maestra en Anlisis y Resolucion de Conflictos, de Nova Southeatern University.Escribi en 2005, La Violencia va a la escuela : un manual para padres y profesores sobre el acoso escolar y cmo prevenirlo. 6:30pm
How did the deeply flawed George W. Bush ascend to the highest office in the nation? What forces abetted his rise? And — perhaps most important — have those forces really been vanquished by Obama’s election? Award-winning investigative journalist Russ Baker gives us the answers in Family of Secrets (Bloomsbur
y Press, $20) , a compelling and startling take on the Bush dynasty and the shadowy elite that has quietly steered the American republic for the past half century and more. Baker shows how this network of figures in intelligence, the military, oil, and finance enabled — and in turn benefited handsomely from — the Bushes’ perch at the highest levels of government. As Baker reveals, this deeply entrenched elite remains in power regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. 8pm

Books & Books was honored to kick off the yearlong series of Algonquin Book Club Nights last month. These events pair the wonderful authors from Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill with other renowned authors for a conversation, a conversation at one bookstore that’s webcast live across the country, a conversation we can all join via online chat. It’s a giant, interconnected, internet book club, and if March’s engaging, entertaining and enlightening pairing of Julia Alvarez and Edwidge Danticat at Books & Books is any indication — we’re now all members of the best book club ever! For the second Algonquin Book Club Night, we’ll be showing the live webcast of author Sara Gruen discussing her phenomenally bestselling Water for Elephants (Algonquin, $14.95) with Kathryn Stockett, author of The Help. Readers fell in love with Water for Elephants and its story of Jacob, a young man tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, and Rosie, the untrainable elephant. This instant #1 New York Times bestseller is now available in 44 languages and has over 4 million copies in print worldwide. The movie version, starring Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson, opens April 22. And this will be your chance to join the conversation at our Bal Harbour Shops store and online. 7pm

New York Times bestselling author Charles Fishman brings us The Big Thirst(Free Press, $26.99), a fascinating journey into the secret life of water, a book that upends everything we think we know about the most vital substance in our lives. He takes readers from the wet moons of Saturn to the water-obsessed hotels of Las Vegas, and from a rice farm in the Australian outback to companies like Coca-Cola, IBM, and Royal Caribbean, which are all coming up with new ways to creatively conserve water. Fishman reveals that our relationship to water is conflicted and irrational, neglected and mismanaged. Whether we will face a water scarcity crisis has little to do with water itself and everything to do with how we think about water — how we use it, how we understand it, even how we price it. Quite simply, Fishman shows that we are entering a new era of water, not an era of scarcity but an era that will require smarter water, and smarter water use. The Big Thirst will forever change the way we think about water, our indispensable relationship to it, and the creativity we can bring to ensuring that we always have plenty of it. 8pm

Broward County kicks off his Conference on Children’s Literature with a reception and book signing featuring pop-up book master Robert Sabuda, renowned illustrator Floyd Cooper, featured storyteller Antonio Sacre and Kathy Baxter of the School Library Journal at Books & Books Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale. The true genius of the pop-art book, Sabuda will be signing copies of the grand finale of the Encyclopedia Mythologica series — Dragons & Monsters (Candlewick, $29.99) — along with his beloved and bestselling classics like The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and so many more. Reception is free and open to the public. 5pm

From the author of Crazy in Alabama and One Mississippi comes a hilarious and heartfelt story about an Alabama socialite with an unusual secret. Georgia Bottoms is known in her small community of Six Points, Alabama, as a beautiful, well-to-do, and devoutly Baptist Southern belle. Nobody realizes that the family fortune has long since disappeared, and a determinedly single woman like Georgia needs an alternative, and discreet, means of income. In Georgia’s case it is six well-heeled lovers — one for each day of the week, with Mondays off and none knows of the others. But when the married preacher who has been coming to call (Saturdays) decides to confess their affair in front of the whole congregation, Georgia must take drastic measures to stop him. In Georgia Bottoms (Little, Brown and Company, $24.99) , Mark Childress proves once again his unmistakable skill for combining the hilarious and the absurd to reveal the inner workings of the rebellious human heart. 8pm

Do baboons have a sense of right and wrong? Do cats and dogs have their feelings hurt? Animal behavior expert Jonathan Balcombe makes the case that animals, once viewed only as mindless automatons, actually have rich sensory experiences and emotional complexity in Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals (Palgrave/Macmillan, $27) . Drawing on new research, observational studies, and personal anecdotes to reveal the full spectrum of animal experience, Balcombe paints a new picture of the inner lives of animals that diverges from the “fight or die” image often presented in the popular media. He challenges traditional views of animals and makes the case for why the human-animal relationship needs a complete overhaul. 8pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Jazzilla, 7-11pm

An epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Isolated by Mexico’s deadly Copper Canyons, the blissful Tarahumara Indians of have honed the ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. In Born to Run (Vintage, $15) , a riveting narrative, award-winning journalist and often-injured runner, Chris McDougall sets out to discover their secrets. In the process, he takes his readers from science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultra-runners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to a climactic race in the Copper Canyons that pits America’s best ultra-runners against the tribe. McDougall’s incredible story will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that you, indeed all of us, were born to run. 2pm
In the early 1960’s a bloody civil war broke out between the two powerful Irish Mob families in the Somerville Massachusetts neighborhood known as Winter Hill. Over sixty men were murdered, including the leader of the Winter Hill Gang, James “Buddy” McLean. The leadership of one of the most influential non-Italian crime organizations in the United States was inherited by his childhood friend, Howard T. “Howie” Winter. In Citizen Somerville (Powderhouse Press, $16.95) by Elayne Keratsis and Bobby Martini, the events during his tenure offer a true picture of an era in Boston’s pre-Whitey Bulger history when the streets were protected by a close-knit group of Irish-Italian “businessmen”. The son of one of Winter’s closest friends, Bobby Martini has laid his own history bare to depict a life of survival in the rough streets of Somerville, stopping just short of entering the Mob life. 7pm
Live Music in the Courtyard: Emmett Cohen Trio, 8-midnight