Reading Room

THURSDAY MAY 20

Jardine Libaire will read from her debut novel, “Here Kitty Kitty,” a stylish anti-Cinderella story about the (mis)adventures of a modern-day Holly Golightly. The author will be available to sign books and answer questions after the reading. Libaire holds an MFA from the University of Michigan and her stories have been published in Fiction and Chick Lit, an anthology edited by Cris Mazza. She lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. 7 p.m. at Housing Works Used Book Café.

Poet Donald Everett Axinn will conduct a bilingual reading of his new book “El Sueno Del Halcon.” After the reading, Axinn will sign copies of his new book 7 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Chelsea.

Author Robert Sullivan will discuss his newest book, “Rats.” While researching rats, Sullivan went to a disused, garbage-filled little alley in lower Manhattan to contemplate the city and its lesser-known inhabitants. While dispensing gruesomely fascinating rat facts and strangely entertaining rat-stories, Sullivan gets to know not just the beast but its friends and foes who have played their part in the centuries-old war between human city dweller and wild city rat. 6:30pm at Borders Columbus Circle

MONDAY MAY 24

Out Professionals and LYNX, the new Out Professionals Women’s Network present CNN’s Rose Arce will interview author and New York Times editor Luisita Lopez Torregrosa on her book “The Noise of Infinite Longing.” Torregrosa looks unsparingly at her parents’ ill-fated marriage, where her father ruled with alcohol-fueled rages, and at the prejudice she encounters as a Puerto Rican and a lesbian when she decides she wants to write and live in the U.S. 8-9:30 p.m. at LGBT Community Center. Tickets for non-members are $10 and OP Members $7.

Creative Visions Bookstore, in collaboration with Brown, Princeton and Yale’s queer organizations, present “Readings by Out Authors.” The authors include, Andrew Solomon, Tom Dolby, David Ebershoff and Philip Galanes. 6 p.m. at Therapy.

“If Trane Wuz Here” is an interdisciplinary performance piece which incorporates tap, saxophone, and poetry alongside the music of John Coltrane. Featuring Savion Glover, Matana Roberts, and Reg E. Gaines, the piece explores improvisations using Coltrane’s standards as “suggestions.” Afterwards Gaines will moderate a discussion on how Coltrane’s music has inspired the focus, discipline and attention to detail and craft. Reg E. Gaines is the author of numerous books and has been a featured performer on MTV. Tickets are $8, $7 for students and seniors, and $5 for members. 8 p.m. at the Poetry Project.

Author David L. Robb will read and discuss his book, “Operation Hollywood—How the Pentagon Shapes and Censors the Movies.” For more than fifty years producers and directors of war and action movies have been getting a great deal from America’s armed forces by receiving access to billions of dollars worth of military equipment and personnel for little or no cost. Although this arrangement considerably lowers a film’s budget, the cost in terms of intellectual freedom can be quite steep. 7 p.m. at Bluestockings.

TUESDAY MAY 25

Charlotte Bacon and Naama Goldstein will read from their most recent work. Bacon will read from her new novel, “There is Room For You,” set primarily in India, about the bonds between parents and children and the turbulence of suppressed family histories. Naama Goldstein will read from her debut short story collection, “The Place Will Comfort You.” 7 p.m. at Housing Works Used Book Café.

Vittoria Repetto, the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the Lower East Side hosts the Women’s Poetry Jam & Women’s Open Mike. The Jam will feature poets Paola Corso and Corie Feiner. Corso will read from her first book of poems, “Death By Renaissance,” which is set in her native Pittsburgh and draws from her working class, Italian American background. And Feiner (formerly Herman) fuses genuine poetic craft with a dynamic and down to earth street energy. Open mike follows the Jam and sign-up is at 7 p.m. (8min limit.) $3-$5 sliding scale donation. 7 p.m. at Bluestockings Book Café.