Tis the season for curling up with a good book. With new releases scheduled for the holiday season, it’s also a great time to hear authors discuss their work in person. With a hat tip to Local News Matters’ compendious calendar of book events around the Bay Area, here’s our round-up of December events a short hop from Piedmont, with something for all ages and reading tastes.
Wednesday, Dec. 6
Allison Landa: The local author, a writing coach, speaks about her memoir “Bearded Lady,” in which she describes how she overcame her battle with congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a rare condition causing extreme hairiness.
6:30 p.m., North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley
Thursday, Dec. 7
California Noir Panel: Writers and editors Shanthi Sekaran, Aya DeLeon, Owen Hill, Michael Lukas David, Summer Brenner, J.M. Curet, and Barry Gifford, contributors to the Bay Area-based “Noir” anthologies published by Akashic Books, read and share details about their work. The anthology series includes collections centered around Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Cruz.
7 p.m., Books Inc., 1344 Park St., Alameda
Saturday, Dec. 9
Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen: Advance tickets are sold out but day-of standing room seats will be available for “An Afternoon With Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen” presented by Berkeley children’s bookseller (and toy store) Mr. Mopps. Hear more about the creative duo’s newest book, “How Does Santa Go Down the Chimney?” The event will also feature live drawing and read-alouds from Barnett and Klassen’s earlier collaborations; bring any of their books with you or buy from the (limited) range available onsite and the authors will sign them.
Doors open 2:30 p.m.; event begins 3 p.m., BFUU Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St., Berkeley
Sunday, Dec. 10
Skinner and Way$hak: Award-winning Oakland comic book retailer Cape & Cowl celebrates its eighth birthday with special guests Skinner and Way$hak. A store-exclusive variant cover to Creepshow Holiday Special #1, releasing Dec. 6 and featuring both artists will be available on the day and by preorder.
Store hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Cape & Cowl, 1601 Clay St., Oakland
Tuesday, Dec. 12
Alexis Soloski: The New York writer and former theater critic speaks with San Francisco Chronicle theater critic Lily Janiak about “Here in the Dark,” her debut suspense novel about a young critic “drawn into a dangerous game that blurs the lines between reality and performance.”
5:30 p.m., Book Passage, One Ferry Building, San Francisco
Michael Mann: The scientist, professor and author “The New Climate War” discusses his new volume, “Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis,” which describes what may happen if humans fail to act in ways that promote conditions on the planet that allow us to thrive.
6 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Thursday, Dec. 14
Sacha Lam: The author discusses their award-winning “When the Angels Left the Old Country,” a young adult historical queer fairy tale about an angel and a demon who immigrate from their tiny shtetl to New York.
6:30 p.m., North Berkeley Library, 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley
Sam Wasson: The author of “The Path to Paradise: A Francis Ford Coppola Story” appears to promote what’s described as “the definitive account of Coppola’s decades-long dream to reinvent American filmmaking, if not the entire world, through his production company, American Zoetrope.”
6 p.m., Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Saturday, Dec. 16
Viola Buitoni: The native Roman, raised-in-the-Umbrian countryside cooking instructor and food writer discusses her new cookbook, “Italy by Ingredient: Artisanal Foods, Modern Recipes.” Buitoni’s talk is preceded by an 11 a.m. demonstration.
Noon, Book Passage, One Ferry Building, San Francisco
Wednesday, Dec. 20
Eddie Muller: Noir City film festival has immersed Bay Area audiences in celebrated film noir classics and little-known archival gems since 2003. Festival founder Eddie Muller will be Grand Lake Theatre signing copies of “Kid Noir: Kitty Feral and the Case of the Marshmallow Monkey,” “Eddie Muller’s NOIR BAR: Cocktails Inspired by the World of Film Noir,” and “Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir” before and after a screening of the 1949 feature “Cover Up.” Noir City opens at the Grand Lake on Jan. 19, 2024. As part of “Noir City Xmas” Walden Pond Books will host a pop-up bookstore in the theater mezzanine.
Pre-show book signing 6:30 p.m.; film screening 7:30 p.m., Grand Lake Theatre, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland.