Five Book Events Today, Chiaverini Launch, Italian Times, Blank Book Spinner

1. Jim Higgins of the Journal Sentinel makes note of Wednesday, February 23, when there are five high-profile book-related events in metro Milwaukee.

2. Jennifer Chiaverini's launch at the Sunset Playhouse was hitchless with more than double our last event in the store, despite the not-perfect weather. I would suggest to SP folks to put a sign on Elm Grove Road, as several of our customers couldn't find it. Or maybe change the address to Wall Street, which seems to be where the parking lot connects. Great facility, wonderful crowd, I'd definitely consider coming back there to see a show.

3. Hey, we advertised in the Italian Times for our three upcoming Italophile events including:

--Thursday, March 31, 7 pm--Lawrence Baldassaro, talking about Beyond DiMaggio: Italian Americans in Baseball

--Tuesday, April 5, 11 am--The Friends of the Milwaukee Public Library Literary Lunch with Donna Leon, discussing her new book, Drawing Conclusions. Tickets at 414-286-8720 or email friends@mpl.org.

--Wednesday, April 6, 7 pm--Paolo Giordano, author of The Solitude of Prime Numbers, reading in Italian with Angela Damiani reading the English.

More to come on this, but we just got our tear sheet!

4. And yes, the bane of my life for big events, our blank book spinner that is made for crossworld puzzles, is finally getting replace. But first we have to put it together.