Authors around the Bay offer an August bounty of events

Lara Love Hardin: In a conversation with former Santa Cruz Mayor Cynthia Chase, the author launches her memoir “The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing” in which describes how she went from soccer mom to drug addict to jailhouse influencer before embarking on a successful career as a ghostwriter.

7 p.m., Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz.

Andrea Pons: San Mateo libraries host the Mexican-born production manager and food stylist sharing her debut cookbook “Mamacita,” a tribute to her family and heritage; some events include demonstrations.

2 p.m. Aug. 2 at North Fair Oaks, 2510 Middlefield Road, Redwood City; 6 p.m. at Millbrae, 1 Library Ave., Millbrae.

ALSO: 6 p.m. Aug. 3 at East Palo Alto Library, 2415 University Ave., East Palo Alto and 1 p.m. Aug. 4 at Half Moon Bay, 620 Correas St., Half Moon Bay.

Anita Gail Jones: The Northern California artist-storyteller launches her debut novel “The Peach Seed,” a sweeping tale about a Georgia family’s tradition of giving carved peach seed monkeys to its male descendants, and how its contemporary descendants navigate the civil rights movement.

7 p.m., Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma.

ALSO: 3 p.m. Aug. 5 at Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera; 7 p.m. Aug. 9 at Green Apple Books, 1231 Ninth St., San Francisco; 6 p.m. Aug. 24 at Books By the Bay, 100 Bay St., Sausalito; and 6 p.m. Aug. 30 at Books Inc., 1344 Park St., Alameda.

Dick Bright: The Marin-based performer, bandleader, musician, collaborator, producer and impresario speaks about his new book detailing his 50-year career, “Workin’ For A Livin’-Makin’ it in the Music Business” with former Bay Area radio personality Celeste Perry.

1 p.m. Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera.

Joel Eis: The local activist and bookseller speaks about his memoir “Standin’ in a Hard Rain, the Making of a Revolutionary Life,” an account of major events (from the Freedom Riders in the South to People’s Park in Berkeley, and many more) by a “dedicated radical in the 1960s and beyond.”

7 p.m. Aug. 9 at Books Inc., 1491 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley.

ALSO: 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at Books Inc. Pruneyard, 1875 S. Bascom Ave., #600, Campbell.

John Ash: The Santa Rosa restaurateur, chef and two-time James Beard Award winner discusses and answers questions about his new cookbook “The Hog Island Book of Fish & Seafood: Culinary Treasures from Our Waters.”

7 p.m. Copperfield’s Books, 775 Village Court, Santa Rosa.

Kara H.L. Chen: The Taiwanese American writer, a Northern California resident, speaks about her debut young adult novel “Love & Resistance,” in which an Asian-American high teen joins a secret society in an attempt to stop bullying at their school.

3 p.m., Books Inc., 855 El Camino Real #7, Palo Alto.

Julia Park Tracey: The California writer speaks about “The Bereaved,” a work of historical fiction set in the 19th century based on her research into her grandfather’s past as an adopted child and revealing the dark side of the so-called Orphan Train, an American welfare program that transported children from Eastern cities to foster homes in the rural Midwest.

7 p.m., Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma.

Yael Goldstein-Love: The Berkeley author discusses her second novel “The Possibilities,” in which a new mother ventures into an alternate universe, with columnist-writer Vanessa Hua.

4 p.m., Berkeley Library North Branch, Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley.

Terry Winckler: The Alameda writer, an award-winning former newspaper editor, launches “Tule Town: A Memoir of Hellraising Redemption,” about his wild, transformative experiences as a liberal journalist in Porterville, a small farm town in California’s Central Valley.

2 p.m., Books Inc., 1344 Park St., Alameda; a performance at the nearby cafe The Local follows.

Reading on the Avenue Book Club: New York writer-activist Ashton Applewhite’s non-fiction “This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism,” which covers ways to combat age discrimination, is the selected title.

7 p.m., Willow Glen Branch Library, 1157 Minnesota Ave., San Jose.

Andrea Lankford: The former park ranger and author speaks about her new book, a true-crime adventure titled “Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail” which she wrote with assistance from intrepid, dedicated amateurs she encountered online.

1 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tama Vista Blvd., Corte Madera

Ana Homayoun: The San Francisco academic advisor, career development expert and author shares insights from “Erasing the Finish Line,” which offers tips for students to develop their own blueprint for success and challenges the notion of the sole importance of grades, test scores and college acceptance.

7 p.m., Books Inc., 3515 California St., San Francisco