In her new book,  Writing for the Design Mind, author, designer and educator Natalia Ilyin offers clear, concise, and humorous writing tips, techniques and strategies to people who have spent their lives mastering design rather than learning to write. It helps designers approach writing in the same ways they approach designing - teaching skills and methods through encouragement, practical exercises and visual advice. Writing well is a skill, like any other, and with this book you can learn to do it with confidence. Ilyin  is Professor of Design at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she teaches design history and criticism, design for social activism, and transition design.

Edgar Award Nominee and Indies Next List author  Ben Guterson returns to discuss his new middle-grade reader,  The Secrets of Winterhouse. In Book 2 of this enchanting urban fantasy middle-grade series set in a magical hotel, Elizabeth and Freddy dig deeper into the mystery surrounding Riley S. Granger, a hotel guest who left behind odd artifacts. The two friends follow a trail of clues, inadvertently attracting the attention of a suspicious new hotel guest. The clock is ticking as Elizabeth and Freddy struggle to figure out whether she is merely a pawn or a player in the plot to revive the spirit of the evil Gracella Winters. If that wasn't enough, Elizabeth suspects she is coming into her own magic ability - and she's fearful it might lead her right into Gracella's web.

Join local contributing author,  Elizabeth Coplan, along with many other local writers, as they read from  Grief Dialogues: Stories on Love and Loss.  Sharon Stanley will open the topic of writing through grief. Food, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages will add to the event atmosphere. The book harnesses the power of words to give us an unobstructed view of grief. Personal accounts of love and loss craft a powerful collection of individual stories by over 60 authors and takes readers into the innermost lives of everyday people dealing with dying, death and grief.  Readers at the event will include Bainbride Island residents  Jenny Coates, Ann Lovejoy, Florrie Munat, and Susan Johnson , Gig Harbor resident  Mike Cordley ,  Paul Boardman  from Seattle, and  Gwen Goodkin  from California.

The Sound and the Glory  is a thrilling and comprehensive look at the Seattle Sounders franchise and its storied run for the MLS Cup. A sensation from the start, the Sounders attracted crowds bigger than any other soccer team in the Western Hemisphere. Despite this, Seattle had yet to actually win the league. In order to reach the ambitious goals that the club set for itself, the Sounders needed the jolt of a championship. Written by  Matt Pentz, the award-winning beat reporter who covered the Seattle Sounders' historic run to their first MLS Cup championship, this account details the team's early popularity and subsequent uphill battle to victory.