The Week @ Book Passage

Among Bay Area bookstores, Book Passage in Corte Madera has one of the most active schedules going of author events, readings, classes and other literary happenings. In fact, it’s not uncommon for more than one or two author talks to take place at the store on just about any given day. Additionally, many of these events have a local connection. Looking at the week, here are three events Patch.com readers won’t want to miss.

Cara Black reads from Murder at the Lanterne Rouge
-- Wednesday, March 7 at 7:00 pm

The latest book in Cara Black’s bestselling Aimée Leduc series is Murder at the Lanterne Rouge (Soho Crime). As the author’s many fans know, the acclaimed series is set in Paris, and it’s the next best thing to a trip to the City of Lights. “So authentic you can practically smell the fresh baguettes and coffee,” states bestselling author Val McDermid. “Transcendently, seductively, irresistibly French” adds Alan Furst. “Wry, complex, sophisticated, intensely Parisian.... One of the very best heroines in crime fiction today,” writes Lee Child.

Cara Black is the author of eleven previous books in the Aimée Leduc series, all of which are available from Soho Crime. She's a San Francisco Library Laureate, and a Macavity and three-time Anthony award-nominee. Black lives in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco with her husband and son, and visits Paris frequently.

Richard Blair discusses California Dreaming
-- Friday, March 9 at 7:00 pm

For over forty years, Inverness photographer Richard Blair has traveled the state observing its beauty as well as the relics that mark its history. The result is California Dreaming (Color & Light Editions), a book for lovers of large format black and white photography. San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker says, "Were I forced, upon moving out of state, to choose one book by which to remember California's landscape and the photography it has inspired, Inverness camera ace Richard Blair's would be the one."

Richard Blair got an early start in landscape photography when he was park photographer in Yosemite in the early 1970’s. Since then he has explored the state extensively and recorded his travels with large format photography. His work was included recently in an exhibit on Bali at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

Carol Edgarian reads from Three Stages of Amazement
-- Saturday, March 10 at 11:00 am

Join Book Passage for coffee or tea as Carol Edgarian talks about her recent novel, Three Stages of Amazement (Scribner). Set in San Francisco, Three Stages of Amazement takes readers on a spellbinding journey across a landscape of national unease, when the fragility of one marriage reflects the tenuous state of the American Dream. Lena Rusch and her husband, Charlie Pepper, still believe they can have it all — love, sex, marriage, children, career. But when life delivers surprises and tests, they must face, for the first time in their lives, real limitation.

Carol Edgarian is the author of the bestselling novel Rise the Euphrates and co-editor of The Writer's Life: Intimate Thoughts on Work, Love, Inspiration, and Fame. She is the co-founder, editor, and publisher of Narrative, an online literary magazine she runs with her husband, writer Tom Jenks. They live in San Francisco.

MORE INFO: Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., in Corte Madera. Call (415) 927-0960 or visit www.bookpassage.com for details.