Events: M. Evelina Galang on Wednesday, Books and Brews at Cafe Hollander with kathy Flanigan and Jim Higgins on Thursday, Jennifer Chiaverini at the Lynden next Monday

Wednesday, December 13, 7 pm, at Boswell:
M. Evelina Galang, author of Lolas' House: Filipino Women Living with War, in conversation with WUWM's Bonnie North,

Boswell welcomes M. Evelina Galang, who directs the MFA creative writing program at University of Miami and is a core faculty and board member of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation (Vona). she is the author of several books and editor of Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images. This evening she will be talking about her book Lolas' House with Bonnie North, cohost of Lake Effect, aired on 89.7, WUWM.

Galang has been researching and documenting the lives of surviving Filipino comfort women since 1999. During World War II more than one thousand Filipinas were kidnapped by the Imperial Japanese Army. Lolas' House tells the stories of sixteen surviving Filipino "comfort women."

M. Evelina Galang enters into the lives of the women at a community center in metro Manila. She accompanies them to the sites of their abduction and protests with them at the gates of the Japanese embassy. Each woman gives her testimony, Lolas' House is also a book of witness, of survival, and of the female body. Intensely personal and globally political, it is the legacy of Lolas' House to the world. (Photo credit Jenny Abreu)

Our thanks to the Philippine Cultural and Civic Center for helping get the word out about this event. They have been serving the Filipino community in Southeast Wisconsin since 2000.

Thursday, December 14, 7 pm, at Café Hollander, 2608 N Downer Ave, second floor:
Holiday Books and Brews with Kathy Flanigan, author of Beer Lover’s Wisconsin: Best Breweries, Brewpubs, and Beer Barsand Jim Higgins, author of Wisconsin Literary Luminaries: From Laura Ingalls Wilder to Ayad Akhtar

Join us for a Holiday Celebration with books and brews. Wisconsin authors Kathy Flanigan and Jim Higgins will be joining us to dole out book recommendations and a great beer to pair with them. Don’t miss out on this exciting holiday extravaganza! Impress your friends and family with knowledge of Wisconsin authors and local craft beers.

Kathy Flanigan is a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and TapMilwaukee.com, for which she covers the region's craft-beer community. Jim Higgins is the arts and books editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he has reported since 1983. Higgins is a two-time winner of the Sentinel staff-voted award for humor writing. In other words, should be a fun evening!

Beer Lover's Wisconsin features breweries, brewpubs, and beer bars statewide for those seeking the best beers the Badger State has to offer - from bitter, citrusy IPAs to rich, complex stouts. Written by a beer expert, the book covers the entire beer experience for the local enthusiast and the traveling author alike, including information on brewery and beer profiles with tasting notes, must-visit brewpubs and beer bars, top annual festivals and events, and city pub crawl itineraries with maps.

And in Wisconsin Literary Luminaries, Higgins explores how Aldo Leopold and Lorine Niedecker drew on their close observations of the natural world. Contrast the distinct novels that Jane Hamilton and Larry Watson set on Wisconsin apple orchards. Delve into Thornton Wilder's enduringly popular Our Town and the wild fiction of Ellen Raskin and Cordwainer Smith, who wrote like no one else. From the humble Ingalls family cabin in the woods to Ayad Akhtar's multicultural conflicts, the Badger State's stories and imagery have long inspired.

This event is free and we'll have some books for sale at the event. You'll only have to cross the street to shop more. The bar is open at Hollander, and if you want to eat, that's fine too. We'd love to do more of these events in a nearby bar setting, so if you like the idea, please come out and show your support.

Monday, December 18, 7 pm Reception, 7:30 start, at Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2145 W Brown Deer Rd in River Hills:
A ticketed evening with Jennifer Chiaverini, author of Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace

The Women's Speaker Series at the Lynden Sculpture Garden presents Jennifer Chiaverini, author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker, Fates and Traitors, and the beloved books in the Elm Creek Quilt Series. Her new novel, Enchantress of Numbers, delves into the world of Ada Lovlace, the mother of computing.

Tickets are $30/$25 for members and includes admission to the event,  an autographed copy of Enchantress of Numbers, and light refreshments from MKE Localicious . Please register online at: www.lyndensculpturegarden.org/calendar/jenniferchiaverini or call (414) 446-8794.

Patti Rhule reviewed Enchantress of Numbers in the Journal Sentinel, with the review originally appearing in USA Today. She wrote: "As with Chiaverini’s Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, Enchantress heralds a woman whose contributions are relatively overlooked in history. Ada Byron King was a pioneering mathematician whom some consider the first computer programmer. She overcame her unwanted celebrity as the daughter of English Romance poet Lord Byron — and the strictures on 19th century womanhood — to forge a career.

We've hosted Chiaverini for almost every book since Boswell has been open and she always pleases her audiences with fascinating insights into the characters historical context. What a great match for the Women's Speaker Series, produced by Milwaukee Reads! Just remember, this event is ticketed.