Thursday, February 25, 7 p.m. John BanvilleThe Infinities (Knopf, $25.95)Banville, winner of the Man Booker Prize for The Sea, returns to read from his 15th novel. An elegant fiction about mortality and the immortals who may surround us, the book tells the story of the final

days of Adam Godley, a renowned mathematician, the family who has gathered to see him off—and the invisible spirits hovering to make mischief.

Friday, February 26, 7 p.m.Shankar VedantamThe Hidden Brain (Spiegel & Grau, $26)

Exploring questions such as how much we are in control of our actions and how large a role the unconscious plays in our decisions, Vendatam, The Washington Post columnist (“Department of Human Behavior”), combines cognitive science and psychology for a fasci-nating and illuminating look at why we do what we do.

Saturday, February 27, 1 p.m.David R. DowThe Autobiography Of An Execution (Twelve, $24.99)Litigation director of the Texas Defender Service, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center, and a staunch opponent of the death penalty, Dow has written a powerful account of capital punish-

ment. His memoir offers an intimate look at all parties involved, from the overworked legal aid lawyers to their clients.

Saturday, February 27, 3:30 p.m.Judith WarnerWe’ve Got Issues (Riverhead, $25.95)

In her important study of psychotherapeutic drugs for children, Warner, our friend, neighbor, New York Times “Domestic Disturbances” columnist, and author of Perfect Madness, explores questions surrounding over- and under-medication for learning and emotional problems, the power of the pharmaceutical industry, and the an-guish of parents wanting to do what’s best amid confusing advice.

Saturday, February 27, 6 p.m.Dean Haspiel (ed.) The Act-I-Vate Primer (IDW, $24.99)From well known creators to fresh talent, Act-I-Vate.com has long functioned as one

of the most renowned collectives of webcomix on the internet. Now, with their first print anthology, The Act-I-Vate Primer, the collective expands their ever increasing pool of original comic art. Dean will be joined by contributors Jim Dougan, Simon Fraser, and Joe Infurnari.

Sunday, February 28, 5 p.m.Sarah BlakeThe Postmistress (Amy Einhorn, $25.95) Audio

Set in 1940, this rich, historical novel opens with Frankie Bard, a radio journalist covering the war in Europe. Meanwhile, Iris James, a middle-aged postmistress on Cape Cod, falls in love. Their paths cross when Frankie returns to the States determined to deliver a letter from a doctor killed during the Blitz.

Saturday, February 6, 1 p.m.Dolen Perkins-ValdezWench (Amistad, $24.99)

In her powerful debut novel, Perkins-Valdez revis-its pre-Civil War America. Centering on an Ohio resort that caters to Southern plantation owners and their slave mistresses, the book presents a complex, polarized society from the perspective of three slave women; seemingly resigned to their situation, they’re jolted into a new sense of possibility when a newcomer talks about running away.

Saturday, February 6, 6 p.m.Michael KranishFlight From Monticello (Oxford Univ., $27.95).Legends now, the Founding Fathers in their day were as fallible as anyone else. Kranish’s investiga-tion into Jefferson’s actions during a British military incursion in the Revolutionary War reveals the then-

governor of Virginia as a deficient military leader and poor planner.

Monday, February 8, 7 p.m.Julian E. ZelizerArsenal Of Democracy (Basic Books, $35)

A Princeton professor of history and public affairs, Zelizer shows that partisan fighting has always shaped American foreign policy, while national security has always been part of our domestic con-flicts. Rather than a new phenomenon of the Bush/Obama years, U.S. domestic politics and foreign affairs have been intertwined for the last six decades.

Tuesday, February 9, 7 p.m.Basharat PeerCurfewed Night (Scribner, $25)A journalist born in Kashmir, Peer chronicles the devastating effects of the region’s conflict that since 1989 has killed some 70,000 people. From terrorist training camps to villages planted with land

mines, from peasants to politicians, Peer’s book is a comprehensive and vivid account of a war-torn land.

Wednesday, February 10, 7 p.m.Peter HesslerCountry Driving (HarperCollins, $27.99)

The author of River Town and Oracle Bones com-pletes his trilogy on contemporary China with a re-port on that country’s love affair with cars. Hessler, Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, got a Chinese driver’s license in 2001 and spent six years driving some 7,000 miles around China.. His narratives of driving lessons, use of the horn, and traffic violations are funny and frightening.

Thursday, February 11, 7 p.m. Philip PomperLenin’s Brother (W.W. Norton, $24.95)In 1886 Alexander Ulyanov, a brilliant biology student, joined other students at St. Petersburg Uni-versity to plot the assassination of Russia’s tsar. The mission failed, and its leaders, Alexander included,

were executed. His younger brother, Vladimir, was deeply affected by these events and later led the October Revolution of 1917 under his revolutionary pseudonym “Lenin.”

Friday, February 12, 7 p.m.Vanda Felbab-BrownShooting Up (Brookings Institution, $28.95)

A fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, Felbab-Brown argues that the “narcoguerilla” premise—which assumes a symbiotic relationship between drug trafficking and terrorist organizations—that underlies much U.S. policy is mistaken and counterproductive. She draws on specific case studies from around the world as evidence for effective sequencing of counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, and counternarcotics efforts.

Saturday, February 13, 1 p.m.Ronald D. AsmusA Little War That Shook The World (Palgrave Macmillan, $27)In his examination of the brief war between Russia and Georgia of August 2008, the former Assistant Deputy Secretary of State presents evidence that Moscow had been planning such an action for some time. He argues that it was intended to alert the

West that Russia is a force to contend with in the 21st century.

Saturday, February 13, 6 p.m.William Cohen & Janet Langhart CohenRace And Reconciliation In America

(Lexington, $24.95)Cohen, a Jewish-Irish Protestant former Maine Sen-ator, collaborates with his wife, an African-American Southern Baptist former television personality from Indiana, to argue for an open dialogue on racial, ethnic, and reli-gious prejudice. In 2008 the couple convened a multicultural group, which included Douglas Blackmon, Deepak Chopra, Sam Donald-son, Louis Gossett, Jr., and the Honorable John Lewis, to start just such a discussion.

Sunday, February 14, 5 p.m.James Mcgrath MorrisPulitzer (HarperCollins, $29.99)A biography of Joseph Pulitzer and a history of modern journalism, Morris’s book charts Pulitzer’s life from his birth in Hungary and his emigration to the United States in 1864, to his involvement in

journalism, which began when Pulitzer moved to St. Louis after the war. In 1879 he bought two newspapers, combined them into The St. Louis Post- Dispatch, and proceeded to transform the landscape of American news and politics.

Monday, February 15, 7 p.m.Wade DavisThe Wayfinders (House of Anansi, $15.95)

In his startling examination of indigenous popula-tions and global climate change, Davis, a prominent anthropologist, adds human cultural losses to the list of endangered plants and animals. Wade fears that 50% of the world’s 7,000 languages may disappear in our lifetime, along with the values, myths, and meanings they embody.

Tuesday, February 16, 7 p.m.Henning MankellThe Man From Beijing (Knopf, $25.95)When nineteen people are murdered in the Swedish town of Hesjovallen, Judge Birgitta Roslin is espe-cially drawn to the case because her grandparents are among the dead. While the police insist that

the massacre is the work of a lone madman, Birgitta suspects that it’s more complicated. Mankell again shows why he’s among the top international crime writers.

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Wednesday, February 17, 7 p.m.Robert W. McChesney & John NicholsThe Death And Life Of

American Journalism (Nation Books, $26.95)Veteran reporters, the authors chart the erosion of traditional news media. Print and broadcast news bureaus have shrunk or disappeared entirely, meaning that matters of importance, local and national, go uncovered. The authors call for an “era of experimentation,” where old and new media together might fill the news vacuum.

Thursday, February 18, 7 p.m. Katharine WeberTrue Confections (Shaye Areheart, $22).Weber’s wit comes to the fore in her new comic novel about the Ziplinsky family and its candy business. Like any family, this one has secrets, and as Alice, recently married into the clan, tries to un-

derstand her new relatives, she uncovers a story involving Hungarian immigrants and a runaway slave from a cacao plantation.

Friday, February 19, 7 p.m.Kristen Clarke (ed.)Barack Obama And African American Empowerment

(Palgrave Macmillan, $28)With co-editor Manning Marable, Clarke, a civil rights attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, has assembled a roster of dis-tinguished thinkers to consider the evolution of black leadership and politics from the Civil Rights movement to the election of President Obama. Kristen will be joined by contributors Sherrilyn Ifill and Bill Fletcher.

Saturday, February 20, 1 p.m.Frank A. AukoferNever A Slow Day (Marquette Univ., $37)A newspaper reporter, Aukofer covered the major events of the second half of the twentieth century, from the 1960s Civil Rights movement to President Clinton’s impeachment. This is his account of the

adventure that was his life as a journalist and the extraordinary people he encountered along the way.

Saturday, February 20, 5 p.m.Atlas Performing Arts Center1333 H Street NE Steven V. Roberts

From Every End Of This Earth (HarperCollins, $25.99)As participants in Intersections: A New American Arts Festival, we are presenting Steve Roberts, who will explore the contemporary immigrant experience through the accounts of thirteen families from vari-ous backgrounds. Tickets are $5, and may be purchased either at the door or by calling 202-399-7993 ext. 2.

Saturday, February 20, 6 p.m.Lillian Lincoln LambertThe Road To Someplace Better (Wiley, $25.95) In her moving and inspiring memoir, Lambert recounts her upbringing in the rural, segregated South, her menial jobs in New York and Washing-ton, and the hard work that made her the first black

woman to earn an MBA at Harvard Business School. This rags-to-riches American success story charts Lambert’s rise from maid to CEO of a $20 million maintenance company.

Sunday, February 21, 1 p.m.Rebecca SklootThe Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks (Crown, $26)

Henrietta Lacks was a poor Southern tobacco farmer, buried in an unmarked grave, but her cells continue to outlive her. Taken without her knowl-edge and cultured by scientists at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s, they led to a lucrative industry in biological materials. Skloot’s account of this outrage looks at its effects on Lacks’s family and considers the larger history of experimentation on African Americans without their consent.

Sunday, February 21, 5 p.m.Paula ButturiniKeeping The Feast (Riverhead, $25.95)Butturini’s husband was shot and wounded while reporting on an uprising in Romania, and as she helped him recover from the depression and psychic trauma that accompanied his injury, she

learned that the physical damage of war is only the beginning.

Monday, February 22, 7 p.m.Lynne OlsonCitizens Of London (Random House, $28)

Olson follows Troublesome Young Men, her account of the renegade Tories who put Churchill in power, with another fine history of the period. She focuses on three resolute Americans who supported the Brits and helped bring the U.S. to their rescue: Edward R. Mur-row; Averell Harriman, the millionaire politician; and John Gilbert Winant, American Ambassador and an admirable diplomat, whose crucial role has been forgotten until now.

Tuesday, February 23, 7 p.m.Shane HarrisThe Watchers (Penguin Press, $27.95)Harris, an expert on intelligence matters who writes for National Journal, sounds an alarm about how our government has developed sophisticated surveil-lance spyware in the last thirty years. Looking back

to Admiral Poindexter’s Total Information Awareness program, he charts the growth of covert intelligence systems that make it harder to catch terrorists and easier to spy on citizens.

Wednesday, February 24, 7 p.m.Chitra Banerjee DivakaruniOne Amazing Thing (HarperCollins, $23.99)

The latest novel from the author of The Mistress of Spices is a collage of stories that demonstrates narrative’s power to unite people and help them endure. When an earthquake traps nine strang-ers in an office building, they cope with the stress of waiting for rescue by taking turns relating something they’ve never told anyone before.

Wednesday, February 24, 7 p.m. @ Sixth & ITed LeonsisThe Business Of Happiness(Regnery, $27.95)Surviving a plane crash at age 25, Leonsis (now the owner of the Washington Capitals), already a success-ful entrepreneur, realized he wasn’t happy. Applying his analytical skills to the question of personal fulfill-

ment, he studied satisfaction in fellow business executives, successful entertainers, and professional athletes, as well as typical Americans.Two tickets are free with book purchase from P&P or are $12 each.

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Tuesday, February 2, 10:30 a.m.Paula Young SheltonChild Of The Civil Rights Movement (Schwartz & Wade, $17.99)The daughter of Andrew Young knew Martin Luther King, Jr., as “Uncle Martin,” and she and her sisters were carried in their parents’ arms on the march to Selma. This memoir culminates with

passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965; Paula watched Uncle Martin on TV with Lyndon Johnson as the President signed the act into law.

Saturday, February 6, 10:30 a.m.Georgia IrvinGeorgia Irvin’s Guide To Schools (Taylor Trade, $16.95)

Irvin served for 15 years as Director of Ad-missions and Financial Aid at Sidwell Friends School. Her guide to D.C.-area public and private schools—now in its third edition—has long helped parents find the right schools for their children.

Tuesday, February 9, 10:30 a.m. Rosalyn SchanzerWhat Darwin Saw (National Geographic, $17.95)In his round-the-world voyage of1830, Darwin observed huge turtles and an earthquake’s after-effects. Schanzer uses Darwin’s words—from his letters and journals—and her own colorful

drawings to tell the story of this history-changing adventure.

Thursday, February 11, 10:30 a.m.Stuart StottsWe Shall Overcome (Clarion Books, $18; CD included)

The anthem for the Civil Rights movement and a rallying cry for the Vietnam War protests, “We Shall Overcome” today is familiar around the world. Stotts’s history of the song goes back to its origins in hymns and gospel music and its roles in demonstrations against many different injustices.

Tuesday, February 16, 10:30 a.m.and at the Bethesda Library, 7 p.m.Ally CarterHeist Society (Hyperion, $16.99)To put her family’s business—art theft—behind her, Katarina Bishop leaves home for boarding school. Then someone steals a mobster’s priceless collection

of masterpieces, and Kat’s father is the prime suspect. With help from her friends, Kat sets out to solve the case and clear her father’s name.

Tuesday, February 23, 10:30 a.m.Polly HorvathNorthward To The Moon(Schwartz & Wade $17.99)

In the sequel to My One Hundred Adventures, Jane’s new stepfather, Ned, is fired from his job teaching French and, at loose ends, takes the family on more adventures in the United States. Horvath, a New-bery Honor and National Book Award-winner, focuses on the many meanings of family as her characters meet new relatives.

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O An audio edition of this title is available to be ordered.

L A large-print edition of this title is available to be ordered.

February 2010

Children and Teens’ Department

Book GroupsP & P book groups meet monthly, and are free and open to the public.

Book group titles are 20% off for attendees. Read the book and join us!

• Capital James Joyce Club (1st Thursday, 7:30 p.m.)2/4: Ulysses Chapter 14, by Joyce, Odyssey Book 12, by Homer• Classics (1st Monday, 7:30 p.m.)2/1: The Landmark Herodotus, by Strassler• Daytime (3rd Wednesday, 12:30 p.m.)2/17: Let The Great World Spin, by McCann• Evening Fiction (2nd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.)2/9: Regeneration, by Barker• Fascinating History (4th Thursday, 7:30 p.m.)2/25: Havana Nocture, by English• Futurist (1st Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.)2/3: Unscientific America, by Mooney• Graphic Novel (1st Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.)2/24: Stitches, by Small• Modern Japanese Literature (3rd Monday 7:30)2/15: The Woman With The Flying Head, by Kurahishi• Poetry (4th Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.)2/23: Eight American Poets, by Conarrie• Public Affairs (4th Monday, 7:30 p.m.)2/22: • Science Fiction & Fantasy (2nd Thurs., 7:30 p.m.)2/11: Boneshaker, by Priest• Spanish Language (3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.)2/16: La Piel Del Cielo, by Poniatowski• Spirituality (3rd Sunday, 6 p.m.)2/21: • Teen (4th Sunday, 3:30 p.m.) 2/28: Eli the Good, by House• Travel (1st Tuesday, 7 p.m.) 2/2: When A Crocodile Eats The Sun, by Godwin• Women’s Biography (2nd Monday, 7:30 p.m.) 2/8: Road of Lost Innocence, by Mam

Monday, February 1, 7 p.m.Chris FarrellThe New Frugality (Bloomsbury, $24)The personal finance correspondent for NPR’s Marketplace Money shows how the economic downturn can be an opportunity to reconsider what, why, and how much we consume. Defining

“frugality” as a focus on quality rather than quantity, Farrell offers advice on a range of practical matters, from household accounts to planning for college expenses.

Tuesday, February 2, 7 p.m.Garry WillsBomb Power (Penguin Press, $27.95)

Looking back to the Manhattan Project, Wills argues that the secrecy surrounding the invention of the atomic bomb led to the growth of a larger institutional apparatus for covert operations, in-cluding the CIA and the NSA. It also initiated a profound change in the nature of the presidency, with security as the primary focus.

Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m.Anne E. KornblutNotes From The Cracked Ceiling (Crown, $25)Kornblut, a veteran of three presidential cam-paigns who currently covers the White House for The Washington Post, analyses why women still have not been elected to the highest public of-

fices. Drawing on extensive interviews with women of both major parties, Kornblut examines the strategies and assumptions that need to change to make politics truly gender-equal. Anne will be in conversation with CNN’s Candy Crowley.

Thursday, February 4, 7 p.m. Douglas RogersThe Last Resort (Harmony, $24.99)

Rogers’s account of returning to his childhood home in Zimbabwe is a kaleidoscopic narrative of political repression, endurance against theodds, natural beauty, and squalor. A New York-based travel writer, Rogers is vivid and moving as he reports on changes to his birthplace and on his parents’ hardships under the Mugabe regime.

Friday, February 5, 7 p.m.Joel KotkinThe Next Hundred Million (Penguin Press, $25.95). From the author of The City: A Global History and The New Geography, this look at America in 2050 foresees a population greater by 100 million peo-ple, living mostly in suburban areas rather than in

cities like New York and Chicago. With technology enabling more people to work from home, families and local communities will define the social fabric.

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Monday, February 22, 7 p.m.Lynne Olson

Wednesday, February 3, 7 p.m.Anne E. Kornblut

Tuesday, February 16, 7 p.m.Henning Mankell

Saturday, February 27, 3:30 p.m.Judith Warner

Our Membership Dues Have ChangedSince January 1, 2010

$25 - 1 Year $45 - 2 Years $100 - 5 Years

Peter Hessler - Darryl KennedyHenning Mankell - Ulla MontanJudith Warner - Jean-Louis Atlan

Lynne Olson - Stanley Cloud Anne Kornblut - Jim ThresherJohn Banville - Douglas Banville

Author Photo Credits3

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31 1 2 3 4 7 p.m.Joel Kotkin

The Next Hundred Million

10:30 a.m.Georgia Irvin

Georgia Irvin’s Guide To Schools

1 p.m.Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Wench

6 p.m.Michael Kranish

Flight From Monticello

7 p.m.Julian E. Zelizer

Arsenal Of Democracy

10:30 a.m. Rosalyn SchanzerWhat Darwin Saw

7 p.m.Basharat Peer

Curfewed Night

7 p.m.Peter Hessler

Country Driving

10:30 a.m.Stuart Stotts

We Shall Overcome

7 p.m. Philip PomperLenin’s Brother

7 p.m.Vanda Felbab-Brown

Shooting Up

1 p.m.Ronald D. Asmus

A Little War That Shook The World

6 p.m.William Cohen &

Janet Langhart CohenRace And Reconciliation In America

5 p.m.James Mcgrath Morris

Pulitzer

7 p.m.Wade Davis

The Wayfinders

10:30 a.m.and at the Bethesda Library, 7 p.m.

Ally CarterHeist Society

7 p.m.Henning Mankell

The Man From Beijing

7 p.m.Robert W. McChesney &

John NicholsThe Death And Life

Of American Journalism

7 p.m. Katharine WeberTrue Confections

7 p.m.Kristen Clarke (ed.)Barack Obama And

African-American Empowerment

1 p.m.Frank A. AukoferNever A Slow Day

5 p.m.Atlas Performing Arts Center

Steven V. RobertsFrom Every End Of This Earth

6 p.m.Lillian Lincoln Lambert

The Road To Someplace Better

1 p.m.Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

5 p.m.Paula Butturini

Keeping The Feast

7 p.m.Lynne Olson

Citizens Of London

10:30 a.m.Polly Horvath

Northward To The Moon

7 p.m.Shane HarrisThe Watchers

7 p.m.Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

One Amazing Thing

7 p.m. Sixth & I

Ted LeonsisThe Business Of Happiness

7 p.m. John BanvilleThe Infinities

7 p.m.Shankar Vedantam

The Hidden Brain

1 p.m.David R. Dow

The Autobiography Of An Execution

3:30 p.m.Judith Warner

We’ve Got Issues

6 p.m.Dean Haspiel (ed.)

The Act-I-Vate Primer

5 p.m.Sarah Blake

The Postmistress

7 p.m.Chris Farrell

The New Frugality

10:30 a.m.Paula Young Shelton

Child Of The Civil Rights Movement

7 p.m.Garry Wills

Bomb Power

7 p.m.Anne E. Kornblut

Notes From The Cracked Ceiling

7 p.m. Douglas Rogers

The Last Resort

February 201020% off P&P Hardcover Bestsellers and all Event Titles for Members throughout February

20% off P&P Hardcover Bestsellers and all Event Titles for Members throughout February

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Events Calendar

Thursday, February 25, 7 p.m. John Banville