Well, I’ve been back in San Francisco for a full week now and surprisingly enough I have not booked another trip… yet. Actually, I have no intentions of doing so. Although there are several weddings and a bachelor party or two in the near future, thoughts of returning to Central or South America have been absent.

In spite of thinking about traveling I have been really active in my job hunt. Having not worked for 3 months now it’s about time I get on the horse and find something worthwhile to occupy my time. To that affect, if any of you out there have any leads in the bay area, I’m all ears.

As far as my reading goes, well it’s been slow. Between looking for work and spending time with my friends it’s been more than a bit difficult to fit a few pages in each day. I know that in the coming week/s I will return to my brutish ways and resume reading with a flourish.

Being Summer now and coming off the tail-end of a long weekend I’m not expecting for there to be much going on in terms of events this week but let’s just have a look anyways.

Tuesday, July 6th
@ 7pm
- Marla Martenson, former matchmaker and now author, will be at Books, Inc. in the Marina telling all the Marinaites about her book Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker. It’s no mystery that the Marina is by and away my least favorite neighborhood in San Francisco so it’s pretty fitting that Ms. Martenson be presenting a book of this nature there. That’s not to bash her book by any means, but since so many of the folk in the Marina fall into the mold of the type of person it would appear Ms. Martneson worked with as a matchmaker in Beverly Hills it seems like crowd would be right. The book is supposed to an amusing look at her “romp” as a matchmaker and so long as she’s a decent writer I’m sure there’s plenty of good and entertaining stories in it to keep someone interested. As for me, I don’t think it’ll be added to my list but maybe a few of you out there could be into it.

Tuesday, July 6th
@ 6pm
- Justine Sharrock, author, will be signing copies of her book Tortured: When Good Soldiers Do Bad Things at Book Passage in San Francisco. While I try and avoid reading news regarding the US and the wars which we are engaged in, here we have a book that investigates the torture program/s the US has engaged in. Of note, one of the personal stories highlighted is that of the whistleblower of the Abu Ghraib. I’ll stay away from this one, just on personal principles but I know there are people out there who dig this kind of information.

Saturday, July 10th
1 pm
- S.G. Browne, author, will be at Borders Books in Dublin signing copies of his book of Breathers: A Zombie’s Lament. Who am I to deny the lovely people of the bay area another book event related to the current fad of Zombies? Browne’s novel is a dark comedy in which the title character joins a zombie support group whose members struggle to grip with the rights of zombies in the 21st century. This book vaguely reminds me of Christopher Moore’s vampire series only this one deals with, obviously, zombies. At the moment I’m a little zombied out but who knows this one may very well make it onto my list of books to read.

Well folks that’s all I’ve got for this week. Hope you enjoy it.

Welcome to Monday, July 5th Los Angelinos. Hope those 4th of July hangovers aren’t too bad today.

Let’s see what we’ve got for you this week.

Wednesday, July 7th
@ 6pm
- Randy Jurado Ertll, author, will be at the Western Justic Center Foundation discussing his book Hope in Times of Darkness: A Salvadoran American Experience. It’s no lie that I’m merely promoting this book due to my recent time spent in Latin America and my own desire to visit El Salvador. Yet, this book appears to be more about how it is a Salvadorean can come to prosper in the US.

Wednesday, July 7th
@ Rich Fulcher, actor & author, will be at Skylight Books signing and discussing his book Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways to Stick It to the Man. Had it not been for my friend Sean over at Face It! I would have no idea who Rich Fulcher is. Mr. Fulcher, for those of you who are unaware is the co-star of the BBC’s The Mighty Boosh, put simply, an amazing comedy show. I think the title of the book pretty much tells you what this book is all about but I highly urge you to go check out this funny man in person at Skylight for some good laughs.

Although Mr. Fulcher isn’t in the below video, this is a clip from the Mighty Boosh just for the hell of it:

Wednesday, July 7th, Thursday, July 8th, Friday, July 9th & Saturday, July 10th
@ 7pm, 6pm, 7pm & 2pm
- Wyatt Doyle, author, will be at Book Soup on Wednesday, La Luz de Jesus Gallery on Thursday, Alias Books (West) on Friday and Mystery and Imagination Bookshop on Friday, telling all of you interested listeners and readers about his book Stop Requested. Mr. Doyle’s book chronicles the many stories of the Los Angeles public transportation system. Although I’ve never experienced the LA public bus system, if it’s anything like San Francisco’s I’m sure there are some humorous, some tragic and some extremely entertaining stories to be heard.

Saturday, July 10th
@ 2pm
- George Clayton Johnson, author, will be talking about his book Twilight Zone Scripts and Stories at Mystery & Imagination Bookshop. You may be wondering why I chose to highlight this particular event and I can proudly tell you that I am a fan of the Twilight Zone and that’s why. I think it’s pretty hard not to be a fan of the series so you you’re a Twilight Zone fan or fanatic this event is right up your alley.

Ok, clearly there are other events happening this week but I kind of feel like going outside and enjoying the day. These two caught my eye right away and that’s what i’m giving you. If you need more suggestions for the week I’d be happy to suggest some other interesting events, feel free to ask for my opinion.

Ok, typically I like to provide you with detail regarding every book event that´s happening. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for you I am in Panama right now (although I´m sick) so this weeks events post is lack a little bit.

Tuesday, June 29th
@ 645pm
- David Bickel, author, will be at Books, Inc. (Palo Alto) talking about his book Creepiosity: A Hilarious Guide to the Unintentionally Creepy.

Wednesday, June 30th
@ 7pm
- Scott Sigler, author, will be at Borders Books on Post Street in San Francisco signing copies of his book Infected.

I think the very first thing I need to mention here is that my blog is now, officially, over a year old. How about that? Who would have thought I would have had the tenacity to keep on carrying on and see this little project of mine out. Here’s hoping that there is at least another year to come.

Of course, during that time there were some little breaks, like the most recent three week one but hey, everyone needs a little vacation now and then right?

Unfortunately or possibly fortunately, I will not be blogging about my most recent trip to Panama and Costa Rica. I could provide you with an explanation but I’m opting not to, since I can.

So, right now I’m in San Diego and anxiously awaiting my morning flight back to San Francisco. Let’s see, I’m ready to sleep in my own bed, shower in my own shower, nap on my own couch, see my friends, tie up loose ends and open up some new ones.

As for the book reviews, the will resume shortly. I can’t tell you when, per se, because that would just put unneeded pressure on me, but they will return shortly I promise. I’m ready to get back into the swing of things.

Enough with the chit chat/banter, here’s what’s going on this week.

Monday, June 28th
@ 7pm
- Celebrate the 75th anniversary of Penguin Books hosted by author and professor at UC Berkeley, Michael Pollan at Books, Inc. in Berkeley. I’m not really sure what’s going to be going on at the event but it’d be worth checking out if your in the neighborhood. Penguin publishes good books so I imagine some fun things will be happening.

Tuesday, June 29th
@ 645pm
- David Bickel, author, will be at Books, Inc. in Palo Alto (I know, it’s kind of far) signing copies of his book Creepiosity: A Hilarious Guide to the Unintentionally Creepy. So, the cover of this book kind of makes me throw up in my own mouth but I guess that’s most likely the idea of the whole book right?

Creepiosity by David Bickel

Wednesday, June 30th
@ 7pm
- Scott Sigler, author, will be at Borders on Post Street discussing his book Infected. It’s pretty rare that advocate a sci-fi signing but I figured it was about time that I mentioned another one. Although this one seems a bit one the wild side, you know aliens infections and the CIA, it sounds like it could be a pretty entertaining and fun read. Oh, I also think it’s meant to be kind of scary which I like.

Ok, I think something is wrong. How is it that there are only two book events (the first event mentioned doesn’t count) that caught my eye this week? I don’t get it. Is it a Summer thing, are all the authors on vacation? I mean, I’m cool with that, I just took a vacation, but still… I’m a little surprised. Look for possible updates during the week.

Two visits to LA in one month, how about that?

I think I’ve been giving Los Angeles a bad rap, I’ll admit it. I actually had a pretty good time on two visits there. I mean, I have family, puppies, friends, good food, good drinks, and all sorts of other goodies there. Could I move there? Well… that’s still very much debatable, but for the time being I will try my best to be more friendly to the city of angels. (It also doesn’t hurt that the Dodgers are playing like crap right now which puts a smile on my face.)

Tuesday, June 29th
@ 7pm
- Scott Sigler, author, will be at Book Soup discussing his book Infected. It’s pretty rare that advocate a sci-fi signing but I figured it was about time that I mentioned another one. Although this one seems a bit one the wild side, you know aliens infections and the CIA, it sounds like it could be a pretty entertaining and fun read. Oh, I also think it’s meant to be kind of scary which I like.

Don’t worry, I’m still fishing for other events but I’m not sure there’s much else for you.

Looks like Friday is the day Los Angelinos. Oddly enough it´s also the day I return to the states and to LA. Although I´ll only be there for a day or two I´ll make the most of it, if I can.

Here ya are.

Friday, June 25th
@ 7pm
- Tarquin Hall, author, will be at Vroman’s talking about and signing copies of his book The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing.

Friday, June 25th
@ TBD
- Theresa Gonsalves, author, will be at Make a Better World Foundation talking about her book Obsessions: The Shocking True Story of the Real Billie Jean in Michael Jackson’s Life.

Ah, to be in Costa Rica. Of course, once again I´m not exactly feeling compelled to indulge you and write out some sort of witty remarks about the events happening below. So, for that I apologize. I did however take the time to do a little bit of research to see if there were any other events that should be added to this weeks list but decided in the end to leave it as it is.

So, here you have it.

Thursday, June 24th
@ 730pm
- Kate Walbert, will sign copies of her book A Short History of Women at the Booksmith on Haight.

Saturday, June 26th
@ 11am
- Michael Esslinger, author, will be on Alcatraz Island at the museum there slinging his book Alcatraz: A Definitive History of the Penitentiary Years.

I know, this is a very very week post. Before I left for my trip this is all I could find that was going on and this is now all I’ve got for you. I’m a bit too lazy to sit at the internet for extended periods of time while traveling. But, for what it’s worth I am reading Ellis’ classic Less Than Zero right now.

Wednesday, June 16th
@ 8pm
- Bret Easton Ellis, author, will be at Largo at the Coronet discussing his book Imperial Bedrooms. If you’re a fan of American Psycho or Less Than Zero, you should already know about this event, but in case you didn’t, now you do. Oh, you should also know that you will have to pay for this event but including in the price are readings by James Van Der Beek, Joel McHale, Jerry Stahl and Joseph Mattson. Very impressive line-up if you ask me.

Yep, still keeping it pretty simple. I promise when I return things will return to normal…

Tuesday, June 15th
@ 730pm
- Sam Barry, author, will once again be at the Booksmith on Haight signing copies of his book How To Play the Harmonica: and Other Life Lessons.

Wednesday, June 16th
@ 730pm
- Piper Kerman, author, will be at the Booksmith on Haight signing copies of her book Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.

@ 3pm
- Jennifer Egan, author, will discuss and sign copies of her book A Visit from the Goon Squad at Diesel in Oakland.

Ok, typically I like to provide you with detail regarding every book event that´s happening. Fortunately for me and unfortunately for you I am in Panama right now (although I´m sick) so this weeks events post is lack a little bit.

Tuesday, June 8th
@ 7pm
- Heather Poole, Kellen Zale, Landon Spencer and Shauna Sweeney, writers, will all be at Vroman’s discussing their book Best Women’s Travel Writing 2010.

Tuesday, June 8th
@ 7pm
- Sharon Oreck, author, will be at Booksoup signing copies of her (mouthfull of a book) Video Slut: How I Shoved Madonna Off an Olympic High Dive, Got Prince into a Pair of Tiny Purple Woolen Underpants, Ran Away from Michael Jackson’s Dad, … So I Could Bring Rock Videos to the Masses.

Friday, June 11th
@ 12pm & again at 7pm
- Michael Grant, author, who wrote the Gone series will be at Vroman’s discussing and signing copies of his books including Hunger, the latest in the series.

Saturday, June 12th
@ 5pm
- Ron Arons, author, will be at the Marriott Hotel on Hollywood Way in Burbank discussing his book The Jews of Sing Sing.

Sunday, June 13th
@ 7pm
- Jillian Lauren, author, will be signing copies of her book Some Girls: My Life in a Harem at Good Luck Bar on Hillhurst Ave. in LA.