With a dramatic departure from his bestselling Burke series, Andrew (Down Here) Vachss returns to Barbara’s to read from and sign his masterful new novel that is also an epic of postwar America. TWO TRAINS RUNNING is Vachss’s most ambitious, innovative, and explosive work yet, a galvanizing evocation of America in 1959—a moment in our history when the violent forces that would decide the country’s future were just beginning to roil beneath the surface.

DEEP WATER: A Sailor's Passage, is the compelling memoir of a modern-day gay sailor and his adventures and travels with Kevin, the young man who was his sailing partner, friend and lover. Deep Water delivers a true sense of the realities - both harsh and sublime - of a life under sail, from navigating through Hell Gate in the East River to struggling through dense fog in Cape Cod. Even more, it illustrates the bond between two men who sail together, love together, and care for each other through both the best and worst of times.

Paul Feig, Freaks and Geeks creator, and author of the hilarious Kick Me, takes us further down the road of growing up geeky - with a memoir that includes one chapter so mortifying he begs the reader to skip it. In SUPERSTUD: Or, How I Became a 24 Year Old Virgin, we see the great lengths Paul goes to to find love. Bravely picking up after his accidental discovery of self-gratification while climbing the ropes in grade school gym class, Paul now takes us through high school, college and young adulthood, on his neurotic road of sexual development and anguish.

What a perfect way to celebrate summer, French Women style! Barbara’s Bookstore invites you for an evening of champagne, prizes and fun as you come out to celebrate your independence from diets that don’t work and a lifestyle that gets you down. Join us as we hand around signed book plates from the author of FRENCH WOMEN DON'T GET FAT, draw for an amazing gift basket, enter you to win a trip for two to Paris to have dinner with Mirielle Guiliano, and have lovely, lovely snacks. For further information call 708.848.9140.

On July 16, 2005 at 12:01 am, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will magically appear on our shelves. There is so much going on at Barbara’s in celebration of Harry that we have a whole page dedicated to our Harry Potter Events! Wizards and muggles of all ages are encouraged to attend. There will be games, prizes, and most importantly, the pleasure of being among the first to find out who is the Half-Blood Prince.

Want to feel better about being stuck at home while your friends are on vacation? Barbara’s Bookstore and RDR publishing Troubled Travel writing contest winners (including UIC creative writing professor Gene Wildman) are coming, with some really, really terrible travel stories to tell. From nightmarish days at the beach to hellish times in exotic locations, I SHOULD HAVE GONE HOME has something dreadful for anyone who has ever left home.

The toughest, smartest detective to ever tap her heels on the streets of Chicago is Sara Paretsky’s brilliant creation V. I. Warshawski. Now she returns to her old South side neighborhood in FIRE SALE. When V.I. takes over coaching girls’ basketball at her former high school she faces an ill-equipped group of gangbangers, fundamentalists and teen moms who inevitably draw her into their family woes. When one of her team runs off with the scion of a powerful, possibly murderous, family she must find this would-be Romeo and Juliet before a particularly cruel killer finds them.

Read a review of Cherry Whip in the July 21st edition of TimeOut Chicago!

CHERRY WHIP is a seriocomic novel of quirky characters, illness, and love going wrong. This is a love letter to New York City, and the English language, told through the travails of a Japanese Lucky Jim who is forced to come to terms with becoming an adult, if he likes it or not. From the moment the deeply eccentric Hiroshi, a budding Japanese jazz genius, hits New York ground, New York starts hitting back with everything its got, leaving the disaster-prone musician struggling to recover before a high-profile gig that promises to make his career.

Local bestselling author Cara (Pink Slip Party) Lockwood comes back to Barbara’s Bookstore at Marshall Field’s to sign copies of her latest and funniest - DIXIELAND SUSHI. Jen Nakamura Taylor always felt a little different. With her hard-to-place looks she stood out in her Southern hometown. Now, living in Chicago, she juggles a crazy boss, and an inappropriate attraction, with style. But when her delicate balance is thrown off by a trip home for a wedding big enough to shock Scarlett O’Hara, she finally has a chance to make peace with her family, her past and herself.