Week of May 18, 2008

Please send notices to book.calendar@latimes.com or fax to (213) 237-5916 at least 16 days before publication. Please put the event date and author’s name in the subject line. Book Calendar lists events costing $50 or less. Inclusion isn’t guaranteed.

SUNDAY

David Benioff signs “City of Thieves,” Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 4 p.m. (310) 659-3110 or www.booksoup.com.

Richard Ehrlich discusses “Namibia,” Diesel, a Bookstore, 3890 Cross Creek Road, Malibu, 3 p.m. (310) 456-9961 or www.dieselbookstore.com.

L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez discusses and signs “The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship and the Redemptive Power of Music,” L.A. Philharmonic Store, Walt Disney Concert Hall, 151 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 12:30 to 2 p.m.

Dress up like “Madeline” for a mommy-and-me tea party, Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 2 p.m. $15. Reservations: (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Lisa See (“Peony in Love,” “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”) discusses her work, Victoria Hall Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, 3 p.m. $10. (805) 893-3535 or www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

MONDAY

David Benioff signs “City of Thieves,” Borders Books & Music, 1360 Westwood Blvd., Westwood, 7 p.m. (310) 475-3444.

Mike Edison signs “I Have Fun Wherever I Go,” Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 7 p.m. (310) 659-3110 or www.booksoup.com.

Pico Iyer (“Open Road”) discusses the Dalai Lama and differing perceptions about the world, Campbell Hall, UC Santa Barbara, 8 p.m. $10. (805) 893-3535 or www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

David Rensin signs “All for a Few Perfect Waves,” Village Books, 1049 Swarthmore Ave., Pacific Palisades, 7:30 p.m. (310) 454-4063 or www.palivillagebooks.com.

Penny Vincenzi signs “Sheer Abandon,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 7 p.m. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

TUESDAY

E. Lockhart (“The Boyfriend List”), Sarah Mlynowski (“Bras & Broomsticks”) and Lauren Myracle (“Thirteen”) discuss their young adult novel “How to Be Bad,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 6:30 p.m. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Ben Nugent signs “American Nerd: The Story of My People,” Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 7 p.m. (310) 659-3110 or www.booksoup.com.

John Sandford signs “Phantom Prey,” Mysteries to Die For, 2940 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 7 p.m. (805) 374-0084 or www.mysteriestodiefor.com.

Fareed Zakaria (“The Post-American World”) in conversation with Reza Aslan (“No god but God”), Central Library, 630 5th St., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Reservations: (213) 228-7025 or www.aloudla.org.

WEDNESDAY

Bill Folman signs “The Scandal Plan, or How to Win the Presidency by Cheating on Your Wife,” Borders Books & Music, 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City, 7 p.m. (310) 552-1411.

Christof Koch (“The Quest for Consciousness: A Neurobiological Approach”) talks with Margaret Wertheim, Central Library, 630 5th St., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Reservations: (213) 228-7025 or www.aloudla.org..

Saree Makdisi signs “Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation,” Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 7 p.m. (310) 659-3110 or www.booksoup.com.

Adam Mansbach reads from “The End of the Jews,” Vanguard Nightclub, 6021 Hollywood Blvd., 7 p.m. (323) 314-0780.

Used-books sale, Northridge Library, 9051 Darby Ave., Northridge, 2 to 7 p.m. (818) 886-3640.

THURSDAY

Hillary Carlip signs “À la Cart: The Secret Lives of Grocery Shoppers,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 7 p.m. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Arianna Huffington (“Right Is Wrong: How the Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded the Constitution, and Made Us All Less Safe”) in conversation with Bill Maher, Writers Guild Theater, 135 S. Doheny Drive, Beverly Hills, 7:30 p.m. $20. Reservations: (213) 628-8141 or www.townhall-la.org.

Mike Sager signs “Deviant Behavior,” Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 7 p.m. (310) 659-3110 or www.booksoup.com.

Lewis Schiff signs “The Middle-Class Millionaire,” Borders Books & Music, 25222 El Paseo, Mission Viejo, 7 p.m. (949) 367-0005.

Gail Tsukiyama discusses “The Samurai’s Garden,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, noon. Preordered sandwiches available for $13.95. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Bruce Weigl (“Declension in the Village of Chung Luong”) and Brian Turner (“Here, Bullet”) talk about the poetry of war with Michael Silverblatt on “Bookworm,” 2:30 p.m. KCRW-FM (89.9).

U.S. Poet Laureate Charles Simic reads from “That Little Something,” Campbell Hall, UC Santa Barbara, 8 p.m. (805) 893-3535 or www.artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

FRIDAY

Evan Handler discusses “It’s Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 7 p.m. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Sheldon Siegel signs “Judgment Day,” Mysteries to Die For, 2940 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 1 p.m. (805) 374-0084 or www.mysteriestodiefor.com.

James Van Praagh signs “Ghosts Among Us,” Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 8585 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, 7:30 p.m. $5. (310) 659-1733, Ext. 2 or www.bodhitree.com.

SATURDAY

Barbara DeMarco Barrett signs “Knitting Through It,” Borders Books & Music, 25222 El Paseo, Mission Viejo, 1 p.m. (949) 367-0005.

Craig Bender signs “Sports Fan 101,” Borders Books & Music, 878 Eastlake Parkway, Chula Vista, 2 p.m. (619) 482-9883.

Marke Biskeborn signs “Mojave Winds,” Borders Books & Music, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa, 4 p.m. (714) 432-7854.

David Gilmour signs “The Film Club: A Memoir,” Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, 5 p.m. (626) 449-5320 or www.vromansbookstore.com.

Paul Krehbiel reads from “Shades of Justice,” Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore, 10258 Foothill Blvd., Lake View Terrace, 2 p.m. (818) 896-1479 or www.tiachucha.com.

Thomas Perry (“Fidelity”) and Bill Fitzhugh (“The Adventures of Slim and Howdy”) sign their books, Mysteries to Die For, 2940 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 1 and 2:30 p.m., respectively. (805) 374-0084 or www.mysteriestodiefor.com.