Jack Nisbet shows images and discusses his latest book, 'David Douglas, a Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest.' -- From 1825 to 1834, David Douglas made the first systematic collections of flora and fauna over many parts of the greater Pacific Northwest. Despite his early death, colleagues in Great Britain attached the Douglas name to more than 80 different species, including the iconic timber tree of the region. -- 'David Douglas, a Naturalist at Work' is an illustrated collection of essays that examines various aspects of Douglas' career, demonstrating the connections between his work in the Pacific Northwest of the 19th century and the modern landscape. This volume is the companion book to a major museum exhibit at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture in Spokane. -- Nisbet is a teacher, naturalist, and nonfiction writer. His award-winning books include the essay collection 'Visible Bones,' winner of the 2004 Washington State Book Award; the short stories of 'Purple Flat Top,' and treatments of explorers David Thompson ('Sources of the River') and David Douglas ('The Collector').

Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Flagrantly manic and terrified that medications would cause her to lose creativity and her livelihood, she began a years-long struggle to find mental stability while retaining her passion and creativity. -- Searching to make sense of the popular concept of the crazy artist, Forney finds inspiration from the lives and work of other artists and writers who suffered from mood disorders, including: Vincent van Gogh, Georgia O’Keeffe, William Styron and Sylvia Plath. She analyzes the clinical aspects of bipolar disorder as she struggles with the strengths and limitations of a parade of medications and treatments. -- Forney's graphic memoir provides a visceral glimpse into the effects of a mood disorder on the artist’s work. Her story seeks the answer to this question: If there's a correlation between creativity and mood disorders, is an artist's bipolar disorder a curse... or a gift? -- "Ellen's work has always been hilarious and sharp, but 'Marbles' has an emotional resonance that shows new depth as an artist and a writer. This is an extremely personal, brave, and rewarding book.” Dan Savage, syndicated columnist and author. -- Forney grew up in Philadelphia and has lived in Seattle since 1989. She created the Eisner-nominated comic books 'I Love Led Zeppelin' and 'Monkey Food' and collaborated with Sherman Alexie on the National Book Award-winning novel 'The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.' She has been teaching comics at Cornish College of the Arts since 2002.

Washington Center for the Book and Jack Straw Productions presents readings by 12 literary artists, selected for the program by curator Shawn Wong. -- The purpose of the Jack Straw Writers Program is to introduce local writers to the medium of recorded audio, encourage the creation of new literary work and provide new venues for the writer and their work. The program was created in 1997. Each year, a single curator selects 12 writers/writing teams out of dozens of applicants based on artistic excellence, diversity of literary genres and a cohesive grouping of writers. The 2012 participants are: Kathleen Alcalá, Stacey Bennetts, Kaia Chessen, Gabriela Denise Frank, Sharon Hashimoto, Lacey Jane Henson, Carol Light, Sally Neumann, Claudia Rowe, Johanna Stoberock, Mitsu Sundvall, and Nick Wong.

Seattle Times' food writer Nancy Leson leads a discussion on how to run a successful restaurant with five local chefs and restaurateurs. How do you turn a passion for food into a profit? Listen in as our panel of five local restaurateur discuss their experiences. The panel includes: Tom Douglas of Etta's, Dahlia Lounge, Serious Pie and many other eateries; Ethan Stowell of How to Cook a Wolf, Tavolata, Anchovies and Olives, and Staple and Fancy; Maria Hines of Tilth and Golden Beetle; Donna Moodie of Marjorie; and Zak Melang of Matador.

Gary Stroutsos will share time-honored songs on his traditional American Indian flutes. -- The event also includes a screening of the film 'Remembering the Songs,' which offers a glimpse of the music-makers of the Diné, Zuni and Salish communities. This 30-minute film features Zuni song keeper Fernando Cellicion; friend and mentor to Stroutsos, Navajo flute maker Paul Thompson; and Lucy Vanderburg, daughter of Jerome Vandenburg, one of the last Salish men who made and played traditional flutes. -- Stroutsos' influences span Rock, Jazz, Latin, West African, Indian and Zen, in addition to his work with American Indian cultures throughout the West. He has more than 30 recordings to his credit, along with the soundtracks for several films including the Ken Burns PBS documentary, 'Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery.'

Seattle-based system dynamics and complex system architecture author, A-P Hurd, discusses a concrete action plan for a carbon-efficient city. -- 'The Carbon Efficient City' is Hurd's vision of a path through neighborhoods, new buildings, upgraded buildings, bicycle networks and transit systems that might produce carbon efficient cities. The book describes an economic and regulatory environment in which the DNA of sustainable buildings and cities can be successfully expressed. -- Hurd is a Seattle-based real estate developer and University of Washington faculty member in the College of Built Environments. She has worked on environmental policy initiatives such as local government efforts to meet GHG targets for development and transportation-related emissions.

This week's featured story is: 'Confession' by Algernon Blackwood. To a shell-shocked veteran of the Great War, the Foggy London streets teem with phantoms ... and worse. -- Love a good story? Come to the scene of the crime, the edge of adventure and timeless realms of wonder. Sit back, relax and escape from the everyday as we bring you gripping short stories expertly read and well-calculated to keep you in suspense!

Join the creative team of local custom publisher ShinShinChez and chefs Tamara Murphy and John Howie for a lively conversation about the journey of creating a cookbook. The authors, photographer, food stylist, copy editor and entire creative team will share their story from idea to printed book and beyond. -- Tamara Murphy travels the country to share the importance of local, sustainable food. She opened Terra Plata, with its earth-to-plate concept, in October 2011 -- the culmination of years of working with our region’s local growers. She is also the owner of Elliott Bay Café. Murphy has created events to promote and raise funds for local family farms. She is a James Beard Award winner and was also one of Food and Wine magazine's career picks for Ten Best New Chefs in America. -- John Howie was the opening chef at Palisade, which during his 10-year tenure became a premier special-occasion dining spot. In March 2002, he opened the first of five award-winning restaurants, Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar in Bellevue, the culmination of his dream to showcase the best of the Pacific Northwest in both quality and preparation. His restaurants, widely praised nationally, also include Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar in Seattle, Sport Restaurant and Bar, Adriatic Grill and John Howie Steak.

A movie studio comes to town to film a big-budget Western featuring Thad Perry, a movie star with a history of substance abuse and a reputation for getting into trouble. The mayor hires Chet the Dog and Bernie, his private investigator companion, to keep an eye on Perry. -- The detective team discovers that Perry has a mysterious connection to the town, and the only people who might know what it is keep turning up dead before they can talk. Worst of all, Perry is a self-proclaimed cat person, and his feline friend Brando takes an instant dislike to Chet. -- Spencer Quinn (the pen name of crime thriller writer Peter Abraham) is the author of four previous books, all of them New York Times bestsellers. He lives on Cape Cod with his dog, Audrey.

By the age of 21, Lionel Asbo (self-named after the English acronym for anti-social behavior order) is a petty criminal and thug who raises pit bulls and terrorizes his seedy Liverpool neighborhood. Desmond Pepperdine, Lionel’s orphaned teenaged nephew (smart, bookish and half black) lives with him. While in a London prison for starting a brawl at a wedding, Lionel learns he has just won the National Lottery. He becomes a multimillionaire, living large in luxury and becoming a favorite target of the tabloids. Des is anxiously protecting a family secret. -- "Amis' phenomenal vim and versatility, anchoring roots in English literature, and gift for satire power this hilariously Dickensian, nerve-racking, crafty, bull's eye tale of a monster and a mensch ... This deliciously shivery, sly, and taunting page-turner provokes a fresh assessment of the poverty of place, mind, and spirit and the wondrous blossoming of against-all-odds goodness." (Booklist starred review) -- Martin Amis is the author of 12 previous novels, the memoir "Experience," two collections of stories and six of nonfiction, most recently "The Second Plane." He now lives in Brooklyn.