Catalina (Editorial Renacimiento) by Cuban-born author Mario Coyula celebrates the frustration of searching for the impossible. The novel describes the quest of a man for an extremely beautiful woman who died before he was born and is based on the real-life figure of Catalina de Lasa (1875-1930), considered the most beautiful woman in Havana’s Belle Èpoque at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The text is mainly written in long monologues of the three main characters, Catalina, the Husband and the Architect; with frequent overlapping as the architect follows the trail of the couple. He also remembers his own childhood and youth in the 1940s and 1950s. The story covers a social sector and a historical period that has usually been presented in Cuba with a schematic and distorted approach. It depicts the values, habits and lifestyle of the Cuban upper bourgeoisie from aristocratic descent, a social class that was displaced from economic and political power three times between 1868-1959.

Pat Nixon remains one of our most mysterious and intriguing public figures, the only modern First Lady who never wrote a memoir. Ann Beattie, like many of her generation, dismissed Richard Nixon’s wife. Decades later, she wonders what it must have been like to be married to such a spectacularly ambitious and catastrophically self-destructive man. Drawing on a wealth of sources, Beattie reconstructs dozens of scenes in an attempt to see the world from Mrs. Nixon’s point of view. This fascinating and intimate account offers readers a rare glimpse into the imagination of a writer. Mrs. Nixon (Scribner, $26)  is a startlingly compelling and revelatory work.

Semi-retired Ransom Everglades teacher Dan Leslie Bowden will read Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory tonight in what has become an annual tradition at Books & Books. Bowden, whose Georgia accent makes the Alabama author’s work come alive, has read from the book for this event every year since 1999. He began reading it to his students in the 1950s.

The Corruption of Michael Levitt ($10.99) by Joel Levine is a rollicking ride through the 1970's seen through the eyes of Michael Levitt. It's a story of a bright yet naïve man who, while trying to make it in this world is, with the best of intentions, gradually corrupted by the universe in which he exists. As Michael moves from the high pressure life of an associate in a prestigious New York law firm, to the uncharted playground of Miami, the reader is caught up in Michael's personal and professional fast times. Readers will follow Michael through the maze that becomes his life - underworld business dealings, sex, drugs, friends and enemies, enjoying his perceptive, and often hilarious, view of his own situation.

Since Alexis de Tocqueville's seminal work on American democracy, no one has attempted to diagnose the current state of democracy in the United States. Democracy in America (Authorhouse, $25.20)  is a modest attempt to do such an update, based on both democratic theory and the author's actual practice in governing Miami for three terms. Xavier Suarez reports from his perspective as an immigrant, but also from the perspective of a trial lawyer, college professor and politician with half a century of being fully immersed in the American experience.

Under the Yarmulke: Tales of Faith, Fun and Football (Chai Books, $15) isan inspiring and touching collection of stories, lessons and jokes by world-renown rabbi and global leader of interfaith relations, Rabbi Solomon Schiff. In this long-awaited memoir, Sol Schiff recaptures his remarkable journey from local cantor in a Bronx Synagogue to internationally recognized rabbi, whose devotion to community service and interfaith relations has made him a beacon of inspiration for millions of all faiths. He has shared thoughts with five American presidents, three Israeli Prime Ministers, two Popes and the Dalai Lama, along the way collecting a treasure chest of memories.

Harriet Hubbard Ayer established Récamier Preparations, Inc. in 1883, the earliest cosmetic company owned and operated by a woman. First with her creams and balms and then with her words about women’s health and beauty, she influenced several generations of women to look and feel good about themselves. After being committed to an insane asylum, this former Chicago socialite reinvented herself as the highest paid newspaperwoman in the United States, editing the women’s pages of Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. In Dispensing Beauty in New York & Beyond (History Press, $21.99), Annette Blaugrund presents Harriet’s story as never before heard.

Join us for live music in the courtyard

Great Houses of Havana (Monacelli, $75) celebrates one hundred years of creativity, design, and style that made the city "the Paris of the Caribbean." For four hundred years, Havana was the center of Spanish trade in the western hemisphere. With the expansion of the sugar industry, independence from Spain, and North American investment, Havana became a city of great wealth, great style, and great houses in a vocabulary that was a unique amalgam of European, American, and Caribbean elements. 
 
Great Houses of Havana by Hermes Mallea traces the evolution of the Cuban home from the classic, Spanish colonial courtyard house to the “Tropical Modernist” villas of the 1950s—houses reflecting international architecture trends while remaining true to the Cuban tradition.
 
Cuba’s social history is woven throughout the book. Vintage photographs illustrate Havana’s sophisticated lifestyle—the masked balls, yacht club picnics, and dynastic weddings of fashionable Cubans and their international guests. Popular cafes, hotels, theaters, and weekend resorts are also featured, creating a view of the privileged life inside the gated mansions of the city’s grandest neighborhoods. For more information on the making of the book, check out this video on the Great Houses of Havana's YouTube page.

Join author Christina Gonzalez for this special celebration the paperback release of her award-winning novel The Red Umbrella (Yearling, $6.99) . This moving tale of a 14-year-old girl's journey from Cuba to America as part of Operation Pedro Pan -- an organized exodus of more than 14,000 unaccompanied children, whose parents sent them away to escape Fidel Castro's revolution – is perfect for all ages and all South Floridians. In 1961, two years after the Communist revolution, Lucía Álvarez finds everything begins to change when the soldiers come to her sleepy Cuban town. Freedoms are stripped away. Neighbors disappear. And her family is being watched. Lucía's parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send her and her little brother to the United States. Suddenly plunked down in Nebraska with well-meaning strangers, Lucía struggles to adapt. But what of her old life? Will she ever see her home or her parents again? And if she does, will she still be the same girl? The Red Umbrella is a moving story of country, culture, family, and the true meaning of home. Students from Hialeah Gardens High are providing special Pedro Pan-themed decorations for this celebration.

Join us for live music in the courtyard

Holiday Sounds in the Courtyard: Enjoy live holiday music performed by the students of  the Miami Piano Academy while you shop.

Make new friends as the students of the Coral Gables High English Honor Society share Peter Brown’s delightful book YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND! at this special winter vacation Story Time. There will be a craft for kids ages 5-7, too.

Join author Carolyn Scott-Hamilton, aka The Healthy Voyager, for a fun holiday book signing at our Lincoln Road location as she launches her first cookbook, The Healthy Voyager's Global Kitchen (Fair Winds Press, $19.99) . Full of fresh new flavors and exciting ethnic eats—all “veganized” for your enjoyment—The Healthy Voyager's Global Kitchen Cookbook features 150 of the best international recipes from more than 20 countries across the globe that also feature options for gluten free, soy free, diabetic, low fat and beyond.

Written by Carolyn Scott-Hamilton, nutritionist, chef and creator of the wildly popular website, with over 700,000 subscribers at www.healthyvoyager.com, and respected expert in plant-based and special diet travel and living, this cookbook gives you the ability to not only explore new cuisines and dishes you've always wanted to try, but to re-create the meals and tastes you've dreamt of since that honeymoon trip or European vacation you took years ago, regardless of dietary restriction. If you thought that following a vegan lifestyle meant missing out on the spices and flavors of ethnic cuisine, think again! Rave reviews from Food Network’s Iron Chef Cat Cora, P90x’s Tony Horton and even Rikki Rockett of Poison all share one thing in common...They love The Healthy Voyager’s Global Kitchen and you will too!

Where is the leadership we need to solve our most pressing community problems? It’s all around us. Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up (Jossey-Bass, $29.40)  will inspire readers to see new leadership possibilities within themselves and their communities. Paul Schmitz, CEO of Public Allies, shares the experiences and lessons his organization has learned from two decades of finding and developing thousands of young leaders across the country. The author uses inspiring stories and practical examples to demonstrate what it means to lead today. He describes the emergence of Public Allies’ leadership model (and the important role played by Michelle Obama, who left a prestigious legal career to found Public Allies Chicago) and demonstrates its impact through the experiences of young leaders it has nurtured – such as the deli worker who now runs a disability rights organization, the single mom in community college who now works at the White House, and the ex-felon now leading a job training program and maintaining a 3.7 GPA in college. Schmitz also describes his own journey from an aimless youth to a national nonprofit leader and Presidential advisor. Everyone Leads offers a hopeful path for citizens, policy makers, and nonprofit organizations who want to build and engage the diverse leadership our communities and our democracy badly need.

Artist Glenn Terry will be showing his holiday film, “Glenn and Dave’s Christmas Special” in which two friends go searching for Coconut Grove's elusive Christmas spirit. This is the 30th anniversary of the 24-minute comedy.

Join us live music in the courtyard

They were the NFL’s ultimate outlaws, black-clad iconoclasts who, with a peculiar mix of machismo and brotherhood, of postgrad degrees and firearms, merrily defied pro football corporatism. The Oakland Raiders of the 1970s were some of the most outrageous, beloved, and violent football teams ever to play the game. In this rollicking biography, Peter Richmond tells the story of Oakland’s wrecking crew of psychos, oddballs, and geniuses who won six division titles and a Super Bowl under the brilliant leadership of coach John Madden and owner Al Davis. Richmond goes inside the locker room and onto the field with Ken Stabler, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff, George Atkinson, Phil Villapiano, and the rest of this band of brothers who made the Raiders legendary. Funny, raunchy, and inspiring, Badasses (Harper, $14.99)  celebrates the ’70s Raiders as the last teams to play professional football the way it was meant to be played: down and very, very dirty. 8pm

Join us for live music in the courtyard

Gallery Night – Miami GRID by Inez Hollander: The portraits in the series Miami GRID represent a cross-section of South Floridians. Most of the paintings are either 30"x 24" or 22" x 28"; and, as a result, they can be arranged and grouped-together in a grid, juxtaposing the myriad images and characters that constitute the Miami Grid.Inez Hollander has worked with all media and exhibits nationally. Her work has been featured in American Artist Watercolor magazine and Palette Magazine. Her 40 years of teaching experience includes Dade County Public Schools, student teaching supervision for the University of Miami, the Bass Museum School and the South Florida Art Center.

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Join award-winning photographer and writer David FitzSimmons in exploring amazing, up-close worlds of common North American animals—from butterflies and birds to frogs and flying squirrels. David will perform parts of his new picture book, Curious Critters (Wild Iris Press, $19.95). Hear him shriek like a hawk and call like a frog; watch him hop like a frog and slither like a snake. Learn how butterflies drink, ways mammals fly, and why frogs sing. Show includes puppets and take-home activities for all children!

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Join award-winning photographer and writer David FitzSimmons in exploring amazing, up-close worlds of common North American animals—from butterflies and birds to frogs and flying squirrels. David will perform parts of his new picture book, Curious Critters(Wild Iris Press, $19.95). Hear him shriek like a hawk and call like a frog; watch him hop like a frog and slither like a snake. Learn how butterflies drink, ways mammals fly, and why frogs sing. Show includes puppets and take-home activities for all children!

A rare opportunity to meet singer-songwriter and National Book Award-winning author PATTI SMITH in person. Patti will sign copies of her newest memoir,Woolgathering (New Directions Publishing, $18.95) and well as her National Book Award-winning Just Kids.   In Woolgathering, the National Book Award–winner revisits the most sacred experiences of her early years, with truths so vivid they border on the surreal. The author entwines her childhood self—and its "clear, unspeakable joy"—with memories both real and envisioned from her twenties on New York's MacDougal Street, the street of cafés. Woolgathering was completed, in Michigan, on Patti Smith's 45th birthday and originally published in a slim volume from Raymond Foye's Hanuman Books. Twenty years later, New Directions is proud to present it in an augmented edition, featuring writing that was omitted from the book's first printing, along with new photographs and illustrations. Woolgathering celebrates the sacred nature of creation with Smith’s beautiful style, acclaimed as “glorious” (NPR), “spellbinding” (Booklist), “rare and ferocious” (Salon), and “shockingly beautiful” (New York Magazine). Autographing begins at 4pm.

More information coming soon...

From Robery Barclay, the author of If Wishes Were Horses, comes More Than Words Can Say (William Morrow, $14.99) a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words.

Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected and they have the power to turn her own life upside down.

Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change and nothing will ever be the same again.

Discover the work of emerging young artist Lorena Lopez at Bal Harbour Shops Art Night. This is the second Books & Books Gallery Show for Lorena, who is studying for her B.A. in Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Artist Statement: "The basic concept of my work lies in visually representing abstract relationships. Through forms like the painted nude, and animation I strive to discover whether or not abstract emotions can truly be depicted through concrete means. ASTRAL PSYCHOSIS* however is something completely new to me, both in subject matter, and technique. Using layers of translucent color I recreate places photographed by the Hubble Telescope, which till now seemed far out of reach, the stars. ASTRAL PSYCHOSIS* is about creating an experience in which one can not only see, but also touch and hear the vastness of space". Live music from Capricho. Complimentary wine reception provided by Rex Goliath Wine.