Don’t miss these seven events hosted by independent Sacramento area bookstores

By Rinn Lee

Calling all Sacramento area bookworms! Local, independent bookstores are hosting several author signing events this October, where fans can ask questions about authors’ new releases and buy signed copies.

Wild Sisters Book Co., Ruby’s Books, and Time Tested Books are hosting seven authors in October.

Oct. 13 – Donna Lambo-Weidner

Ruby’s Books welcomes Donna Lambo-Weidner, who released her first picture book, “There Are No Dragons in this Book” on March 5, 2024, with illustrations from Carla Haslbauer.

“In this book you are guaranteed not to find any dragons,” the summary says. “Set in a community home with an ensemble of characters, both children and adults, Donna Lambo-Weidner’s debut picture book filled with humor (and dragons) encourages close observation and discovery.”

Born in Germany but raised in New York, Lambo-Weidner now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes her own experiences into children’s books.

Lambo-Weidner will be reading “There Are No Dragons in this Book” at Ruby’s Books on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 11:30 a.m.

Oct. 18 – Catharina Maura and Meagan Brandy

Romance authors Catharina Maura and Meagan Brandy will share the spotlight at Wild Sisters Book Co., with their respective books “Mine For a Moment” to be released Oct. 15, 2024 and “Promise Me Not,” released Oct. 1, 2024.

Maura’s “Mine For a Moment” is a spicy, angst-ridden contemporary romance that combines the boss, brother’s best friend and billionaire tropes into one man. The leading lady Serenity Adesina hopes to end up with Archer Harrison, who happens to be her billionaire boss and older brother’s best friend.

Brandy’s “Promise Me Not” is the sequel to “Say You Swear” and follows a college football player who has fallen in love with his friend’s little sister, a girl who is still in love with her late boyfriend and is pregnant with his son.

These two romance authors will be going back and forth about their new books at Wild Sisters Book Co. on Friday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 – Aaron Carnes

Aaron Carnes describes himself as a “music journalist with a soft spot for ska.” He will be at Time Tested Books for the reading and signing of the second edition of “In Defense of Ska,” set to release Oct. 29, 2024.

“In Defense of Ska” was first released in May 2024. This new, expanded edition includes interviews, essays and personal stories that dissect and celebrate ska, the musical genre.

Carnes will discuss “In Defense of Ska” with Keith Lowell Jensen at Time Tested Books on Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m.

Oct. 26 – Lenore Stutznegger

Ruby’s Books is throwing a release party with Lenore Stutznegger for her book “Black Ruins Rise” which is set to release Oct. 22, 2024.

The book of the hour is the sequel to “Blue Shadows Fall” and the second book in the planned Blue Shadows Trilogy. The young adult fantasy series follows 17-year-old Blue Haven, a seer who’s been having visions that could prove her and her village’s whole existence a lie.

The summary describes it as, “Set in a small, idyllic, post-apocalyptic town, this slow-burn romance features first love, super senses, and monsters that lurk in the dark shadows of the blue mountains.”

Stutznegger will be at Ruby’s books on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 11:30 a.m.