July 18-20 (this Friday-Sunday) is the 10th Annual Harlem Book Fair. For a full list of events, go here.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 7:00pm
B&N Tribeca (97 Warren Street)
Michael Ian Black: My Custom Van

Michael Ian Black will be at the Tribeca Barnes & Noble Tuesday to read from (or discuss, or make fun of, or something) his new collection of essays, My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face. Sarah Silverman says it’s “Fun to read while you’re pooping.” That’s good enough for me.

Wednesday, July 16, 7:00pm
B&N Tribeca (97 Warren Street)
Grandmaster Flash

Two B&N events this week because they’re so good. Grandmaster Flash has a memoir out, Adventures of Grandmaster Flash: My Life, My Beats, and he’ll be at the Tribeca B&N Wednesday. Do I really need to say more than that?

Thursday, July 17, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Dzanc Books and Friends

Dzanc Books is an upstart indie publisher. On Thursday Aaron Petrovich of Hotel St. George Press will host a reading by the contributing authors of Best of the Web (Dzanc Books), including Garth Risk Hallberg, Cara Hoffman, Sarah Sweeney, Justin Taylor, Tess Taylor, and Claudia Zuluaga. Joshua Kornreich will read from his novel The Boy Who Killed Caterpillars (Marick Press) and Peter Markus will read from Bob, or Man on Boat , published by Dzanc Books.

Thursday, July 10, 7:30pm
Solas Bar (232 E. 9^th Street btw 3^rd and 2^nd Aves)
St. Mark’s Reading Series featuring Ed Park and Leni Zumas

More Ed Park (Editor of Believer Magazine and New-York Ghost, and now author of Personal Days), along with Leni Zumas (Farewell Navigator: Stories).

Friday, July 11, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
David Browne & Thurston Moore

It’s Sonic Youth night on Friday at McNally Robinson as founding member Thurston Moore and writer David Browne (Goodbye 20^th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth) come together to discuss the New York underground scene in the 70s and 80s as well as the band. The website says there might be audio and video. Moore is the author of several books, most recently No Wave: Post-Punk. Underground. New York 1976-1980. and the eponymous and brief moment in music in New York. Browne is a journalist and author, and his book gives the history of Sonic Youth and its influence on the scene.

 
Monday, June 30, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby Street, South of Houston)
BOMB Magazine presents: Victoria Redel and Honor Moore

BOMB Magazine presents BOMBLive from time to time, and this Monday there will be a talk between Victoria Redel (The Border of Truth) and Honor Moore (The Bishop’s Daughter) “about fathers and daughters, fiction and memory.” With a Q+A and signing. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008
McNally Robinson (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Marcus Reeves & Alec Forge on Hip Hop and Radio

In case you missed the last Marcus Reeves’s (Somebody Scream!: Rap Music’s Rise to Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power) event that I mentioned, here’s another, equally interesting. He will be talking with Alec Foege, author of Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio, about hip-hop and commercial radio on Wednesday.

Wednesday, June 25, 8:00pm
Happy Ending Reading Series (Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street)

Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending Reading Series ends out Wednesday with readings from Marisa Silver (The God of War), Nicholas Dawidoff (The Crowd Sounds Happy), and Sloane Crosley (I Was Told There’d Be Cake) and music by Nina Katchadourian. Each author is asked to do one risky thing, and the musician to play one cover. Always a fun, smart time.

Thursday, June 26, 7:30pm
St. Mark’s Reading Series @ Solas Bar (232 E. 9th Street btw. 2nd and 3rd Aves)
Continuum 33 1/3rd Reading

Three authors from Continuum’s 33 1/3^rd series will read at Solas on Thursday: LD Beghtol (Magnetic Field’s 69 Love Songs), Franklin Bruno (Elvis Costello’s Armed Forces) and Elizabeth Vincentelli (Abba Gold).

Tuesday, June 17, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby St, South of Houston)
Francisco Goldman and David Lida on Mexico City and Latin America

David Lida (First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capitol of the 21^st Century) talks with Francisco Goldman (The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop?) about Mexico City and Latin America Tuesday at Housing Works.

Thursday, June 19, 6:30 – 8:30pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince Street between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Joseph O’Neill (Netherland) in conversation with Pantheon editor Deborah Garrison

A post 9/11 novel based in New York has a lot of opportunity to falter, but I’ve heard good things about Netherland. It’s the story of a European man living here and dealing with all that entails, having ambiguous feelings about his adopted town. Joseph O’Neill has written two other novels and a family history and is a regular contributor to The Atlantic Monthly. Thursday he’ll talk with his editor Deborah Garrison about fiction and the editorial process.

Thursday, June 19, 7:00pm
BookCourt (163 Court Street in Brooklyn)
Nam Le (The Boat) with Liza Monroy (Mexican High)

Nam Le, author of the much-talked-about and much-acclaimed debut collection of short stories The Boat, is in town to do a few events. He was born in Vietnam and raised in Autstralia, and the short stories in this collection range from the semi-autobiographical story about a character name Nam struggling to complete his master’s at Iowa to stories based in Colombia and Tehran. It’s on my to-read pile. If you can’t make it Thursday, you can check his website for more events in New York and elsewhere, here. You can also read the short story “Tehran Calling” online at fivechapters.com. Thursday he will be reading with Liza Monroy, whose first novel is Mexican High, of which you can read more about here.

Tuesday, June 10, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby St, South of Houston)
Uwem Akpan & Anderson Tepper

Uwem Akpan will read from and discuss his upcoming story collection, Say You’re One of Them, and his life as a Jesuit priest with Vanity Fair’s Anderson Tepper in the first installment of Two residents of PEN World Voices’ year-round programming. Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in souther Nigeria and teaches at a Jesuit seminary in Zimbabwe. “My Parents’ Bedroom,” a story in the book, was a finalist for the Caine Prize for African Writing.

Wednesday, June 11, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby St, South of Houston)Horacio Castellanos Moya, Senselessness

Horacio Castellanos Moya is one of El Salvador’s most acclaimed writers, and the author of eight books and many newspaper and magazine articles. Senselessness is his first work to be published in English. He’ll be reading from it Wednesday at Housing Works.

Thursday, June 12, 7:30pm
Solas Bar (232 E. 9th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
St. Mark’s Bookshop presents Tao Lin & Dynasty Handbag

The writer (Eeeee eee eeee) Tao Lin will read from his newest work, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and Dynasty Handbag, the “the solo music/video/voiceover/comitragic performance vehicle created and executed by Jibz Cameron” will perform at this edition of the St. Mark’s reading series.

Monday, June 2, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)

The Chelsea Hotel in Words and PicturesTwo residents of the Chelsea Hotel, Julia Calfee and Ed Hamilton, come together for a slideshow, discussion and signing today. Ed Hamilton, the author of Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with Artists and Outlaws in New York’s Rebel Mecca (Da Capo), lived at the Chelsea for almost a dozen years and provides portraits of the artists who have lived there. Calfee, photographer of Inside the Chelsea Hotel (powerHouse), has had work exhibited in France, England, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the US. Her book contains photos of the Hotel and its residents and includes an intro by Milos Forman.

Thursday, June 5, 7:00pm
Barnes & Noble Union Square (33 East 17^th Street)
Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence

Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses, Midnight’s Children) will read from his new novel, The Enchantress of Florence, Thursday at the B&N in Union Square. The reading will feel rushed, he’ll do a Q+A, people will probably ask frustrating questions, and the line will stretch to the back to have him sign a copy (no personalization!), but it’ll be Rushdie.

Saturday, June 7, 10:00am
Housing Works Used Bookstore (126 Crosby Street)
Open Air Book Fair

Crosby Street between Prince and Houston will be covered in thousands of books, records and CDs for a dollar a piece, plus clothing, shoes, and accessories from Housing Works Thrifts Shops for $20 a bag. It’s also the monthly sale inside the store on Saturday and Sunday, so everything inside will be 30% off.

Tuesday, May 27, 7:00pm
Strand (828 Broadway at 12th St.)
Walter Mosley & Mike Farrell in Conversation

Walter Mosley and TV star Mike Farrell (“M*A*S*H,” “Desperate Housewives”)discuss literature, human rights, American politics, the upcoming election, and their new books, The Tempest Tales and Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist(guesswhichperson wrote which). The discussion is moderated by Michael Ratner,, and the event is presented by The Nation, The Center for Constitutional Rights and Akashic Books.

Thursday, May 29, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby Street)
Opium Magazine’s Literary Deathmatch

Bob Powers (You Are a Miserable Excuse for a Hero), Garth Risk Hallberg (representing Canteen Magazine), Aaron Garretson (representing Opium), and a Smith Magazine representative will compete for bookish domination at Housing Works Thursday. The readings are judged by Ben Greenman (New Yorker), Joel Dovev (SF’s Killing My Lobster), and The Bumby’s (A Fair and Honest Appraisal of Your Appearance). That’s a whole lot of hotness per capita, if you ask me. $10 gains you entry and a free copy of the latest Opium Magazine at this night of literary bloodsport

Monday, May 19, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson Booksellers (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond

The title of this collection of poetry is a little boring, but the subtitle and guiding principle are exciting. Edited by Ravi Shankar, Tina Chang, and Nathalie Handal, Language for a New Century is a selection of poems from fifty-nine countries and territories in the Middle East and Asia, areas that are often over-simplified and grouped together in our politics in America. They are organized thematically, not geographically, and this results in an exciting variation. Editor Ravi Shankar and the poets Timothy Liu, Sarah Gambito and Vijay Seshadri will read from their work and discuss the role of poetry abroad.

Wednesday, May 21, 7:00pm
McNally Robinson Booksellers (52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry)
Ed Park, author of Personal Days (Random House), in conversation with his Random House editor, Julia Cheiffetz

I know I already mentioned Ed Park (founding editor of The Believer magazine and publisher of New-York Ghost) once on here, but if you missed that one, you might want to go check this one out. Park’s new novel follows a group of co-workers in an office as their company comes apart. He’ll talk with his editor Julia Cheiffetz at this event. If you’re not a New York reader, then go to the New-York Ghost’s website for a complete listing of readings.

Thursday, May 22, 7:30pm
Word (126 Franklin St. in Greenpoint)
Music Writing Event

If you’re a fan of music writing, or just music, and haven’t yet heard of or read anything from Continuum’s 33 1/3 series, which features pocket-size books by well known music writers and musicians writing about key records, then it’s high time you get on it. Thursday writers from the series Matthew Stearns (Sonic Youth’s Daydream Nation), Michael Fournier (The Minutemen’s Double Nickels on the Dime), and Amanda Petrusich (Nick Drake’s Pink Moon) will read and discuss their work. The evening will be moderated by Rolling Stone’s Jenny Eliscu.

Friday, May 23, 7:00pm — 9:00pm
KGB Bar (85 E. 4th Street between 2nd and 3rd Aves.)
Drunken Boat: Launch Party, Issue # 9

Drunken Boat is an international online journal of the arts, and Friday it will be celebrating the launch of its ninth issue, which focuses on Poetics and Mis/Translation, enquiring if poetry can still matter today. There will be a multimedia performance and reading by writers and artists Sandra Beasley, Rand Richards Cooper, Sean Thomas Dougherty, Alena Hairston, Karla Kelsey, Steve Langan, Hermine Meinhard, Terese Svoboda, Peter Yumi and Jonathan Zalben.

FYI: It’s 10% off all month at Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café, so go take advantage of it.

Monday, May 5, 7:00pm
Housing Works Used Bookstore & Café (126 Crosby Street)
Art & Activism: Writers on Politics

Writers Stephen Elliott (Sex for America, Happy Baby), Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City), and Janice Erlbaum (Have You Found Her) will gather at Housing Works tonight to read some of their more political work, and talk bout what it means to be a writer and an activist.

Tuesday, May 6, 7:00pm
BookCourt (163 Court Street, Brooklyn)
Fiona Maazel, Last Last Chance

There’s substance abuse, a widespread plague, and a quiet Viking. Sound good? Yeah. Maazel’s sense of humor is…unique, and her voice is too. Check out her website for the book here, and be sure to check out the movies.