Readers' Circle Lunch! Join us for lunch with Iran Issa-Khan following her talk. You won't want to miss! You'll choose from a selection of special items at The Café at Books & Books by Chef Allen: $25 per person includes sandwich, salad, beverage, cookie, tax & tip. Space is limited, so reserve your place today. RSVP to Marketing@booksandbooks.com

Iran Issa-Khan: Photography (Whitehaus Media, $125) is 162-page book is a survey of work by artist Iran Issa-Khan, whose photographs focus on nature. With a foreword by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid, the title is available as an artist edition and a limited edition of 100 copies, which includes a signed art print by Issa-Khan. 

Senator George McGovern has been a leading figure of the Democratic Party for more than fifty years. From this true liberal comes a thoughtful examination of what being a Democrat really means. McGovern admonishes current Democratic politicians for losing sight of their ideals as they subscribe to an increasingly centrist policy agenda. Applying his wide- ranging knowledge and expertise on issues ranging from military spending to same-sex marriage to educational reform, he stresses the importance of creating policies we can be proud of. Finally, with 2012 looming, McGovern's What It Means to Be a Democrat (Blue Rider, $22.95) offers a vision of the Party's future in which ideological coherence and courage rule.

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Swim (PublicAffairs, $25.99) is a celebration of swimming and the effect it has on our lives. It’s an inquiry into why we swim—the lure, the hold, the timeless magic of being in the water. It’s a look at how swimming has changed over the millennia, how this ancient activity is becoming more social than solitary today. It’s about our relationship with the water, with our fishy forebearers, and with the costumes that we wear. You’ll even find a few songs to sing when you push out those next laps.

Swimming enthusiast Lynn Sherr explores every aspect of the sport, from the biology of swimming to the fame of Esther Williams; from turquoise pools and wild water to the training of Olympians; and she reveals the secret of buoyancy so that anyone can avoid the example of the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who lamented, “Why can’t I swim, it seems so very easy?” When his friend, the biographer Edward John Trelawny, said, “because you think you can’t,” Shelley plunged into Italy’s Arno River and dropped like a rock. With Swim, you can avoid that happening to you.

Do you own a mom? If so, congratulations! This means you have someone to make you sandwiches, someone to drive you to soccer practice, and someone who is able to hold your snotty, used tissues in her own pocket without gagging. A well-functioning mom is essential to domestic harmony and general wellbeing. Yet despite their status as the most advanced humans on the planet, moms do need some daily care and maintenance to keep them running smoothly. M.O.M (Mom Operating Manual) (Atheneum Books, $16.99) by Doreen Cronin explains everything. Mom requirements include, but are not limited to: light watering, the crust of peanut butter sandwiches, and some peace and quiet every now and then for crying out loud. Take care of Mom…and she’ll take care of you.

Stella loves living with Great-aunt Louise in her big old house near the water on Cape Cod for many reasons, but mostly because Louise likes routine as much as she does, something Stella appreciates since her mom is, well, kind of unreliable. So while Mom "finds herself," Stella fantasizes that someday she'll come back to the Cape and settle down. The only obstacle to her plan? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. Angel couldn't be less like her name--she's tough and prickly, and the girls hardly speak to each other.

But when tragedy unexpectedly strikes, Stella and Angel are forced to rely on each other to survive, and they learn that they are stronger together than they could have imagined. In Summer of Gypsy Moths (Balzer + Bray, $15.99) by Sara Pennypacker, the two discover the one thing they do have in common: dreams of finally belonging to a real family. 

Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a Mom. This means you have someone to make you sandwiches, someone to drive you to soccer practice, and someone who is able to hold your snotty, used tissues in her own pocket without gagging. A well-functioning mom is essential to domestic harmony and general wellbeing. Yet despite their status as the most advanced humans on the planet, moms do need some daily care and maintenance to keep them running smoothly. M.O.M (Mom Operating Manual) (Atheneum Books, $16.99) by Doreen Cronin explains everything. Mom requirements include, but are not limited to: light watering, the crust of peanut butter sandwiches, and some peace and quiet every now and then for crying out loud. Take care of Mom…and she’ll take care of you.

Join us for live music in the courtyard

Miranda Lovelady, Dr. Bill Brockton's protege, is spending the summer helping excavate a newly discovered chamber beneath the spectacular Palace of the Popes in Avignon, France. There she discovers a stone chest inscribed with a stunning claim: inside lie the bones of none other than Jesus of Nazareth. Faced with a case of unimaginable proportions, Miranda summons Brockton for help proving or refuting the claim. Both scientists are skeptical--after all, fake relics abounded during the Middle Ages--but evidence for authenticity looks strong initially, and soon grows stronger.

Brockton and Miranda link the bones to the haunting image on the Shroud of Turin, revered by millions as the burial cloth of Christ, and then a laboratory test finds the bones to be two thousand years old. The finding triggers a deadly tug-of-war between the anthropologists, the Vatican, and a deadly zealot who hopes to use the bones to bring about the Second Coming--and trigger the end of time.

Set against an international landscape, and weaving a rich tapestry of religion, history, art, and science, The Inquisitor's Key (William Morrow, $25.99) takes Jefferson Bass to an exciting new level of suspense.

In preparing to write The $100 Startup (Crown, $23), Chris Guillebeau identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment, and from that group he’s chosen to focus on the 50 most intriguing case studies. Distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who’ve learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment. Chris tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick. 6:30pm

When Rachel Bertsche first moves to Chicago, she’s thrilled to finally share a zip code, let alone an apartment, with her boyfriend. But shortly after getting married, Bertsche realizes that her new life is missing one thing: friends. Sure, she has plenty of BFFs—in New York and San Francisco and Boston and Washington, D.C. Still, in her adopted hometown, there’s no one to call at the last minute for girl talk over brunch or a reality-TV marathon over a bottle of wine. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertsche develops a plan: She’ll go on fifty-two friend-dates, one per week for a year, in hopes of meeting her new Best Friend Forever.

In her thought-provoking, uproarious memoir -- MWF Seeking BFF (Ballentine, $15) -- Bertsche blends the story of her girl-dates (whom she meets everywhere from improv class to friend rental websites) with the latest social research to examine how difficult—and hilariously awkward—it is to make new friends as an adult. In a time when women will happily announce they need a man but are embarrassed to admit they need a BFF, Bertsche uncovers the reality that no matter how great your love life is, you’ve gotta have friends.

From a young age, Andy Cohen knew two things: He was gay, and he loved television. Now presiding over Bravo's reality-TV empire, he started out as an overly talkative pop-culture obsessive, devoted to Charlie's Angels and All My Children—and to his mother, who received daily letters from him while he was at summer camp, usually reminding her to tape the soaps.

In retrospect, it's hard to believe that everyone didn't know that Andy was gay; still, he remained in the closet until college. Finally out, he embarked on making a career out of his passion for television. The journey begins with Andy interviewing his all-time idol Susan Lucci for his college newspaper and ends with him in a job where he has a hand in creating today's celebrity icons.

In the witty, no-holds-barred style of his show Watch What Happens: Live, Cohen tells tales of absurd network-news mishaps, hilarious encounters with the heroines of his youth, and the real stories behind the Real Housewives. Dishy, funny, and full of heart, Most Talkative (Henry Holt, $25) provides a one-of-a-kind glimpse into the world of television, from a fan who grew up watching the screen and is now inside the TV, both making shows and hosting his own.

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Power Plug-In (Energy Scienomic, $19.95) is a daring and controversial book which takes a very cold clear look at the impact current energy sources have had on our world and offers educated analysis and recommendations for future investment in global energy development and research. Energy dependence is destroying our world. That's the problem. Energy independence can save it. That's the solution. Gordon E. Ettie is an expert in both energy and investments who has spent his entire career in the energy industry first as an engineer, then as a CEO and finally as a major financial player and investor examines each energy source and offers his educated analysis and recommendations for future investment in global energy development and research for both individual and organizational investors. This is an energy book that will make a difference.

At the height of World War II, four lawyers in the U.S. Treasury Department discovered that the highly educated, patrician diplomats in the State Department had covered up reports of the Nazi extermination scheme—and then blocked the rescue of 70,000 Romanian Jews forcibly marched into the Nazi-conquered Ukraine and left to die of starvation and disease. The Treasury lawyers charged the diplomats with being "accomplices of Hitler." The stakes were nothing less than the fates of countless European Jews (symbolized by an orphaned girl's struggle for survival in Transnistria), the historical reputation of FDR, and the soul of America itself. In America's Soul in the Balance (Greenleaf, $26.95), Gregory J. Wallance uses rarely cited archival documents, memoirs, diaries, and transcripts to construct this gripping, nonfiction Washington political thriller. With exceptional narrative prowess, he examines the anti-Semitism and extraordinary heartlessness of the wartime State Department, whose behavior is a cautionary tale for world leaders weighing the costs of intervention to stop genocide.

Joining Mr. Wallance will be South Florida resident Ruth Glasberg Gold, a survivor of the Romanian Holocaust (and who is featured America’s Soul in the Balance) and the author of Ruth’s Journey: A Survivor’s Memoir.    

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

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 and the Gordon Schools of Beth David Congregation.

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 and the Lehrman Community Day School.

Dr. Wayne Siegel practices clinical cardiology in Miami where he was elected chief of cardiology at Baptist Hospital of Miami where he remains on the senior active staff.Sixth Sense (Wajak Press, $10) is his first “non-medical” publication. The poems point to the spiritual “sixth sense” that comes forth from the inner self and are a celebration of our humanity. This afternoon, Dr. Siegel will regale us with a very special reading that includes images. 

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Puedes tratar de ignorarla pero es inevitable. La tecnología está transformando tu vida y el mundo que te rodea a una velocidad prácticamente incomprensible. Las reglas del juego han cambiado: desde como buscar un trabajo, educarte, promover o financiar tu negocio y hasta proteger a tu familia. Para ser exitosos, es imperativo entender cómo aprovechar estas nuevas herramientas a tu favor. En este revelador libro, Ariel Coro, el principal experto de tecnología para la comunidad hispana, te ofrece justamente eso: un pasaje a este nuevo mundo que te ayudará a lograr tus metas y alcanzar tus sueños. El salto (Vintage, $14.95) es un manual de supervivencia para los tiempos que estamos viviendo. Ofreciendo útiles ejemplos y recursos gratuitos, Coro te mostrará cómo sacar el máximo provecho de este nuevo mundo para encontrar una ruta más directa y rápida hacia el éxito. No te quedes atrás. Conéctate y atrévete a dar “el salto” hacia un brillante y exitoso futuro.

Join us for live music in the courtyard

Please note this event is in Spanish: En esta presentación veremos cómo grupo de hip hop colombiano Choc Quib Town le da forma activamente a su identidad. Pertenecientes a una de las regiones mas ricas en recursos naturales, pero mas pobres del país, estos jóvenes del Chocó, construyen de manera activa un discurso musical y visual que analizaremos a través de un recorrido por algunos de sus videos, desde donde interrogaremos sus acciones musicales. Qué nos enseñan acercan del supuesto multiculturalismo colombiano? Cómo utilizan un lenguaje musical proveniente de los guettos de los Estados Unidos, para afirmar una identidad propia? Veremos cómo utilizan su medio de expresión escogido para establecer un punto de resistencia cultural y al mismo tiempo lograr un éxito comercial que los saca de la pobreza y sirve a las generaciones nuevas para entender cómo darle forma a sus vidas de un modo mas creativo, orgullosos de sus circunstancias, mientras encaran un futuro lleno de nuevas posibilidades. 

A self-described Francophile, Rosecrans Baldwin always dreamed of living in Paris—drinking le café, eating les croissants, walking in les jardins—so when the opportunity to work as a copywriter for an advertising agency in Paris presented itself, he couldn’t turn it down. Despite the fact that he had no experience in advertising. And despite the fact that he wasn’t exactly fluent in French.

Paris, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, $26) is a nimble, comical account of observing the French capital from the inside out. It is an expedition into the Paris of Sarkozy, smoking bans, and a McDonald’s beneath the Louvre—the story of an American who loves Paris all out of proportion, who loves every beret and baguette cliché, but who finds life there to be very different from what he expected. At first, it’s just the joy of running across the lingerie section in the hardware store, but over the next eighteen months, Rosecrans must rely on his American optimism to get him through some very unromantic situations—at work (where he discovers a shockingly long-honored Parisian work ethic), at home (where his wife, who works at home, is dismayed not just by his hours but by the active construction that surrounds their apartment on five sides), and everywhere in between.

An offbeat, up-to-date, surprising entry in the expat canon, Paris, I Love You is a book about a young man who witnesses his preconceptions replaced by the oddities of a vigorous, nervy city—exactly what he needs to uncover a Paris of his own, and fall in love with the city all over again.

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Join us for Coral Gables Gallery Night

The lost Beatles and the lost Rolling Stones photographs – taken in the 1960s by their American road manager, Bob Bonis – were LOST for 40 years ... until discovered by his son, then acquired and exhibited by rock ‘n roll memorabilia expert, Larry Marion. Marion is recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on rock and music memorabilia, especially concert posters. He has worked with many of the leading auction houses, set several world-record prices for Beatles memorabilia, and written and designed sixteen catalogs of music-related memorabilia. Unearthed after forty-five years, the photos that comprise The Lost Beatles /Lost Rolling Stones Photographs (It Books, $29.99) form a groundbreaking portrait of two of the most iconic bands of the twentieth century. Funny, surprising, provocative, beautiful, these photos recall an unforgettable period in history and offer a fresh look at these soon-to-be legends at the beginning of their fame.

All proceeds from the sale of books tonight will benefit The Grace Gold Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Miami Foundation. Grace’s death (from a falling brick in 1979) was the inspiration for Local Law 10 in New York City – and the resulting scaffolding that has saved many lives since. The Grace Gold Memorial Scholarship Fund now gives her a legacy that will educate and inspire writers and journalists who will be our future!

Attention all unpublished writers: Pitchapalooza is coming to Westhampton Beach! Books & Books will be hosting Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published – aka “The Book Doctors” – to make your dreams come true! At Pitchapalooza, 20 participants, selected at random, are given 60 seconds – no more, no less! – to pitch their book idea to veterans of the publishing industry. You’ll get a critique on everything from pitch to style to presentation. At the session’s end, one lucky writer is chosen to meet with a literary agent to discuss the book’s future. So start working on that pitch! But make sure to heed Sterry’s advice: “Don’t tell me your book is sad; make me cry. Don’t tell me your book is funny; make me laugh.”

Join us for live music in the courtyard. 

Coral Reef High School’s Literary/Art Magazine, proudly announces the arrival of its 2012 edition of Elysium. The public is cordially invited to an afternoon of dramatic readings and music. Additionally several award-winning student artists will display their work and briefly discuss their philosophy and motivation. The magazine, printed annually since 2005, has won top national awards from NSPA, CSPA, and NCTE’S PRESLM program. Join us! 

Have you been working in a professional capacity for 10 years and want a change? Join Peace Corps Response for an information session! Peace Corps Response provides qualified professionals the opportunity to serve in rewarding, short-term assignments, in various programs around the world. Attend this session to find out more information about Peace Corps’ exciting new programs, upcoming assignments, and how to apply. You will also be able to ask questions directly to a Recruiter AND a returned Response Volunteer! When you serve as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer, you bring your skills and experience to projects in places where you are needed most.

*To be eligible for service you must be at least 18 years of age and a U.S. citizen, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV) or have at least 10 years of professional experience.

The Art of Intelligence (Penguin, $27.95) draws from the full arc of Henry Crumpton's espionage and covert action exploits to explain what America's spies do and why their service is more valuable than ever. From his early years in Africa, where he recruited and ran sources, from loathsome criminals to heroic warriors; to his liaison assignment at the FBI, the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, the development of the UAV Predator program, and the Afghanistan war; to his later work running all CIA clandestine operations inside the United States, he employs enthralling storytelling to teach important lessons about national security, but also about duty, honor, and love of country. No book like The Art of Intelligence has ever been written-not with Crumpton's unique perspective, in a time when America faced such grave and uncertain risk. It is an epic, sure to be a classic in the annals of espionage and war.

In The Faiths of the Postwar Presidents (Univ of GA, $29.95) David L. Holmes looks at the role of faith in the lives of the twelve presidents who have served since the end of World War II. Holmes examines not only the beliefs professed by each president but also the variety of possible influences on their religious faith, such as their upbringing, education, and the faith of their spouse. In each profile close observers such as clergy, family members, friends, and advisors recall churchgoing habits, notable displays of faith (or lack of it), and the influence of their faiths on policies concerning abortion, the death penalty, Israel, and other controversial issues. National interest in the faiths of our presidents is as strong as ever, as shown by the media frenzy engendered by George W. Bush’s claim that Jesus was his favorite political philosopher or Barack Obama’s parting with his minister, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Holmes’s work adds depth, insight, and color to this important national topic. 8pm

Peter Warlock is a magician with a dark secret. Every night, he amazes audiences at his private theater in New York, where he performs feats that boggle the imagination. But his day job is just a cover for his otherworldly pursuits: Peter is a member of an underground group of psychics who gaze into the future to help prevent crimes. No one, not even his live-in girlfriend, knows the truth about Peter—until the séance when he foresees an unspeakable act of violence that will devastate the city. As Peter and his friends rush to prevent tragedy, Peter discovers that a shadowy cult of evil psychics, the Order of Astrum, know all about his abilities. They are hunting him and his fellow psychics down, one by one, determined to silence them forever. Dark Magic (Tor Books, $24.99) is a genre-bending supernatural thriller from national bestselling novelist and real-life magician James Swain. 

Please note this event is in Spanish: Este no es un libro complaciente para analistas superficiales, pero sí necesario para quien quiera entender las razones de la popularidad de Hugo Chávez Frías, la forma de derrotarlo en octubre del próximo año, y saber lo que nos reserva el futuro. Primero, hay que leer la realidad, saber lo que quiere el venezolano, lo que nos revela examinando una larga sucesión de encuestas, como hace Jose Antonio Gil Yepes. Cómo ganar o perder las elecciones presidenciales de 2012 en Venezuela, es un libro de consulta, escrito por uno de los más reconocidos conocedores de la opinión pública venezolana. Léalo, si quiere saber no sólo como ganar las elecciones, sino evaluar objetivamente los errores y los aciertos de la oposición y del propio Chávez en las campañas electorales. 

What We Leave Behind (Createspace, $14.99) by Rochelle B. Weinstein chronicles the life and emotional growth of Jessica Parker as she frees herself from the past and moves forward with her future. Jonas Levy, a twenty-two-year-old medical student, has abruptly walked out of Jessica’s life after an intense summer romance, and the wounds are still raw. Is it possible to ever forget the boy you first gave your heart to? Jessica eventually moves on and marries film producer, Marty Tauber, starts a family, and appears to have it all, until things slowly begin to unravel. With an unexpected phone call from New York, a secret from Jessica’s past comes to light. Thrust into a modern day moral and ethical dilemma, Jessica must face the pain of her past or lose everything she holds dear. 

Join us for live music in the courtyard

The only writer ever to win both the Pulitzer Prize and Pen/Faulkner Award for a single novel (Independence Day) Richard Ford follows the completion of his acclaimed Bascombe trilogy with Canada. After a five-year hiatus, an undisputed American master delivers a haunting and elemental novel about the cataclysm that undoes one teenage boy’s family, and the stark and unforgiving landscape in which he attempts to find grace. A powerful and unforgettable tale of the violence lurking at the heart of the world, Richard Ford’s Canada will resonate long and loud for readers of stark and sweeping novels of American life, from the novels of Cheever and Carver to the works of Philip Roth, Charles Frazier, Richard Russo, and Jonathan Franzen. A true masterwork of haunting and spectacular vision from one of our greatest writers, Canada (Ecco, $27.99) is a profound novel of boundaries traversed, innocence lost and reconciled, and the mysterious and consoling bonds of family. Told in spare, elegant prose, both resonant and luminous, it is destined to become a classic. 

Presented in collaboration with The Center for Literature and Theater at Miami Dade College. 

With two New York Times best sellers and continued star-status on The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Teresa Giudice has lots more to share with her fans. In this latest book, Teresa provides a detailed program for how she keeps her voluptuous, sexy figure after four kids (and as she approaches 40). The more than 60 recipes in Fabulicious!: Fast & Fit (Running Press, $18.95) emphasize "skinny": including lessons on playing up veggies and grilled meats, cooking low-calorie Italian favorites, and rules for the five things you MUST cut out (and what to replace them with). But Teresa isn't about deprivation. She loves food— especially pasta and Tiramisu! Teresa proves that you CAN have your skinny jeans and spaghetti too. She tells you exactly how to live La Bella Vita- the "skinny" way.

Freeman (Agate Bolden, $16) takes place in the first few months following the Confederate surrender and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Upon learning of Lee's surrender, Sam--a runaway slave who once worked for the Union Army--decides to leave his safe haven in Philadelphia and set out on foot to return to the war-torn South. At bottom, Freeman is a love story--sweeping, generous, brutal, compassionate, patient--about the feelings people were determined to honor, despite the enormous constraints of the times. At the same time, this book addresses several themes that are still hotly debated today, some 145 years after the official end of the Civil War. Freeman by Leonard Pitts illuminates the times and places it describes from a fresh perspective, with stunning results. It has the potential to become a classic addition to the literature dealing with this period. Few other novels so powerfully capture the pathos and possibility of the era particularly as it reflects the ordeal of the black slaves grappling with the promise--and the terror--of their new status as free men and women.

After hosting Robert Goolrick for a two week writer's residency in February 2011, we’re excited to bring the #1 New York Times bestselling author back to present his latest novel, Heading Out to Wonderful, which he completed right here in Cayman. It is the summer of 1948 when a handsome, charismatic stranger, Charlie Beale, recently back from the war in Europe, shows up in the sleepy village of Brownsburg, Virginia carrying two suitcases. One contains his few possessions, including a fine set of butcher knives; the other is full of money. A lot of money. When his attraction to Sylvan, the teenage bride of the town’s wealthiest citizen, turns from lust to an all-consuming passion, Charlie’s possessive nature threatens to destroy everything and everyone in its path. This much-anticipated follow-up to A Reliable Wife is an exciting, erotically charged, and altogether unforgettable story of love gone terribly wrong. Part of the Books & Books International Visiting Author Series, this free event is sponsored by Camana Bay, the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and Sunshine Suites Resort. 

Join us for live music in the courtyard.