Hit the Books

READINGS
Masters of Young Adult Literature

This evening brings together three national award-winning authors of young adult literature. M.T. Anderson, Pete Hautman, and Alison McGhee will all be participating on a panel to share their passion for literature and discuss why they love writing for teens. Anderson is winner of this year’s National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and Printz Honor selection The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party. Hautman, received the 2004 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for Godless. And McGhee is a Minnesota Book Award winner and author of Falling Boy.

7 p.m., Founders Hall Auditorium, Metropolitan State University, 700 East Seventh Street, Saint Paul, 651-793-1633; free.

Master of Suspense Fiction

Looking for something a little more provocative? Go hear New York Times best-selling author Randy Wayne White read from his new novel Hunter’s Moon. I can’t talk too much about the plot without giving it away, but if you’re a fan of suspense novels, then this one’s for you. With this book, White’s critical acclaim continues to grow. The American Independent Mystery Booksellers Association chose his novel, Sanibel Flats, as one of the Hundred Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century.

7 p.m., Once Upon a Crime, 604 W. 26th Street, Minneapolis, 612-870-3785; free.

Read the first two chapters of Hunter’s Moon.

BOOKS
Do a Little Reading on Your Own

Forget about being read to, and go pick up a good novel to read on your own. Laura Restrepo’s Delirium hit the bookstores last week. “You’d suppose a writer has to be pretty damn good, not to mention lucky, to warrant dust-jacket blurbs from not one but two Nobel laureates. The U.S. publication of Laura Restrepo’s Delirium carries ringing endorsements from Jose Saramago and Latin American luminary Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and also comes on the heels of a slew of international awards and acclaim. The story of an unemployed professor of literature who has been reduced to selling dog food for a living — how’s that for metaphor? — and is trying to pinpoint the origins of his wife’s sudden and mysterious descent into madness, Delirium is a literary mystery steeped in the crime and corruption of modern-day Colombia.”

Read an interview with Laura Restrepo.

Read another interview with Laura Restrepo.

Also new on the bookshelves is Angelica, a novel about Victorian England written in four different viewpoints, by Arthur Phillips, author of Prague and The Egyptologist.

MUSIC AND POETRY
Bring Your Own Poetry to the Mix

Green2 copy.jpg Share your own creative exploits tonight at the Artists’ Quarter in downtown St. Paul. Every Monday night, this historic jazz venue has an open poetry night beginning at 9 p.m. Bring your own poems to share, or simply come and listen to others. It’ll be well worth your while. The poetry is usually quite enjoyable, and well-known musicians have been known to take the stage with their own brands of poetry and jazz jamming. Plus, start off the evening a couple hours early and enjoy the music of Green, a burning post-bop quartet featuring Zack Lozier on trumpet, Rob Dewey on piano, Rich Casey on bass, and Scotty Schultz on drums.

9 p.m. (Green 7 p.m.), The Artists’ Quarter, 408 St Peter Street, St.Paul, 651-292-1359; free.

Note: Tickets go on sale today for Cake, through Ticketmaster for $20. The concert is scheduled for April 20th at the WSU McCown Fieldhouse in Winona, MN.

SPORTS
Damn those Predictions

While Santana is certainly making it difficult to get a hit off the Twins, and Matsui’s injury last week leaves a hole in the Yankees lineup, predictions still lean heavily toward the Yankees for tonight’s game. Apparently, these two advantages may not be enough to see the Twins past the Yankee’s lineup. What can I say. Go cheer the Twins on, and prove the forecasters wrong.