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Reading: Camille Virginia: The Offline Dating Method

Annie Bloom's Books 7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR, United States

Annie Bloom's welcomes Portland author Camille Virginia. The modern dating process is a mess - but it hasn't changed your innate desire for love and human connection. So rather than add to the exhausting narrative about the perils of digital dating, author Camille Virginia created a refreshing and powerful solution for it. In The Offline Dating Method, Virginia draws upon her transformation from a shy girl with social anxiety to a confident woman who's been asked out by nearly 300 men (from the Denver airport to the greeting card aisle of a drug store) without ever going online or using a dating app. Combining her own experiences with five years of teaching thousands of women across 100 different countries how to get the same results…

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Free

E.J. Koh in Conversation With Mary Szybist

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

The Magical Language of Others (Tin House) is a powerful, aching love story in letters, from mother to daughter. After living in America for over a decade, Eun Ji Koh’s parents return to South Korea for work, leaving 15-year-old Koh and her brother behind in California. Her mother writes letters, in Korean, over the years, seeking forgiveness and love – letters Koh cannot fully understand until she finds them years later in a box. Koh fearlessly grapples with forgiveness, reconciliation, legacy, and intergenerational trauma, arriving at insights that are essential reading for anyone who has ever had to balance love, longing, heartbreak, and joy. The Magical Language of Others weaves a profound tale of hard-won selfhood and our deep bonds to family, place, and language,…

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Free

I’m Not Surprised.

Chapel Theatre 4107 SE Harrison St, Milwaukie, OR, United States

Hey, champ! Thanks for checking out Telltale. This is a monthly curated storytelling event for people that like to get vulnerable and take no shit. We are into genuine connection, laughter, heartbreak, poignant moments, and community building. We are now in our third season, and we are very excited for all the shows coming up this year. At Telltale, you can expect 8-10 performers sharing something with you, in the way that feels right to them--so there will be a mix of comedy, stories, music, essays, and more. Your evening will likely include honesty, swear words, enthusiasm, resistance, alcohol if that floats your boat, excellent pizza, dark humor, and some rad raffle prizes. You might make a new friend. You know how hard it is…

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$8

Nonfiction Book Club

Books Around the Corner 40 NW 2nd Street, Gresham, OR, United States

The Books Around the Corner Nonfiction Book Club will be led by a community member and meets monthly on the second Friday of every month at 6PM starting in January. We would like to extend an invitation to all of our nonfiction loving customers (RSVP is not required). This book club will only continue if we have a community leader monthly and at least four members. Our book discussions aim to bring people together to talk about books in a safe and inviting atmosphere. Our meetings are lovely and inclusive; we invite you to attend. Come and enjoy a lively discussion about the chosen book with other readers. Join us on January 10th for our first Nonfiction Book Club. We will discuss Will My Cat…

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Free

The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth

Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton, OR, United States

Fake news posts and Twitter trolls were just the beginning. What will happen when misinformation moves from our social media feeds into our everyday lives? Despite Samuel Woolley's warnings as early as 2013, the problem of online disinformation stormed our political process in 2016 and has only worsened since. Yet as Woolley shows in his urgent new book, The Reality Game (PublicAffairs), it may pale in comparison to what's to come: human-like automated voice systems, machine learning, "deepfake" AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, and more. In deeply researched stories, Woolley describes this future and imagines its profound impact on our politics.

Free

Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

Entering the academy at the dawn of the women’s rights movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the first generation of feminist academics had a difficult journey. With few female role models, they had to forge their own path and prove that feminist scholarship was a legitimate enterprise. In her compelling memoir, Living When Everything Changed (Rutgers), Mary Kay Thompson Tetreault describes how a Catholic girl from small-town Nebraska discovered her callings as a feminist, as an academic, and as a university administrator. She recounts her experiences at three very different schools: Lewis & Clark College, Cal State Fullerton, and Portland State University.

Free

Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns, and Moonage Daydreams

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

Inspired by the one and only superhero, extraterrestrial, and rock-and-roll deity in history, Michael and Laurie Allred’s Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns, and Moonage Daydreams (Insight) is the original graphic memoir of the great Ziggy Stardust! In life, David Bowie was one of the most magnetic icons of modern pop culture, seducing generations of fans with both his music and his counterculture persona. In death, the cult of Bowie has only intensified. The Allreds will be joined in conversation by Ben Saunders, director of the University of Oregon’s Comics and Cartoon Studies program.

Free

Seeing It Through: A Visual Manifestation of the Black Panther Party’s Legacy in Portland

Collins Gallery 801 SW 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, United States

This exhibition is open during Central Library's hours of operation. Black history is far more than the Civil Rights era. In response to the racism that marginalized and harmed Black Portlanders, the Portland Black Panther Party formed its Portland Chapter in 1969. Their goal was to build equity for the oppressed in our city. This exhibition features artwork by Elijah Hasan and the HeArt Gallery that responds to the legacy of the Black Panthers' Ten-Point Program. Opening reception on Saturday, January 11, 3-5 pm. Explore the legacy of the Portland Black Panther Party through art, music and storytelling featuring Kent Ford. Light refreshments will be served.

Free

Longreads Club: Who was Qassem Suleimani?

Rose City Book Pub 1329 NE Fremont, Portland, OR, United States

READ THE ARTICLE: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/the-shadow-commander If you are paywalled, here is a cached version: http://archive.is/lJuYA In 2013, the New Yorker published a lengthy profile on Qassem Suleimani, the Iranian commander who was killed last week by an American drone, during his involvement in Syria's civil war. Although older than articles that we typically read, this piece has suddenly become very timely and useful for understanding what's going to happen in the months ahead. 10,580 words, about 45 minutes If you prefer to listen to the article, you can create a Text-To-Speech mp3 for free here: http://www.fromtexttospeech.com. The TTS is a robotic voice, but many people get used to it fairly quickly. The Longreads Club gets together every other week to discuss a long-form article focused on…

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Free

Chris Duffin

Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside Street, Portland, OR, United States

The world may know Chris Duffin as "The Mad Scientist of Strength," but you wouldn't have ever guessed that if you saw the scrawny kid skinning rattlesnakes and chasing dragonflies in the early ’80s. The story of his unconventional life will take you from gripping tales of murder, trauma, heartbreak, and survival deep in the Pacific Northwest wilderness all the way to an idealization of the self-made man – still flawed, but never broken. In Duffin’s The Eagle and the Dragon (Lioncrest), you'll follow one man's journey into the darkness of his own heart and witness the transformation of alcoholism, pain, and defeat into vision, character, and victory.

Free
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