Saturday September 26th at 1pm
Local Author Showcase

Local authors are featured in this "book fair" formatted event. Meet the authors of an eclectic mix of memoir and fiction: Angela Heartsong, Kenneth Tingle, Dan Graffeo, Allen Farnham, Christopher Doyle, Eileen McGrath and Roxanne C. Michaud.

Saturday September 26th at 7pm
Book Release Party for Black is for Beginnings by Laurie Stolarz

The Blue is for Nightmare series that put a spell on over half a million readers gets a prequel - in graphic novel form! Black is for Beginnings (Flux, September 2009, ISBN 978-0738714387, $9.95) provides the backstory for Stacey and Jacob. Join us for this release party, meet author Laurie Stolarz, and win cool prizes!

Friday October 2nd at 7pm
Council on Aging Book Release Party - Personal Perspectives of a Changing Salem Volume II

The initial volume of the Council on Aging Writer's Group was a huge success, and they've followed up with this new book. The new volume is bigger than the first volume and has many more photographs, antique postcards and two special sections, World War II and Remembering Salemites. Please join the authors for refreshments and book signing at this Book Release Celebration!

Saturday October 3rd at 1pm
Chris Kullstroem and Monster Parties and Games and Making a Monstrous Halloween

Join author and major Halloween fan Chris Kullstroem to get the low-down on how to make this the most fun Halloween ever! Discover all-ages games based on monster movies and get tips on decorations, crafts, trips and more games and seasonal activities! Games, Q&A and book signing.

Saturday October 3rd at 3pm
John Goff and Salem's Witch House: A Touchstone to Antiquity at the Witch House

Though located on Massachusetts' scenic North Shore, Salem is often remembered for its less than picturesque history. The "Witch City," as it is internationally known, is home to numerous landmarks dedicated to the notorious trials of 1692. Of these, the Witch House is perhaps most significant; this former residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin, who ordered the execution of twenty men and women, is the town's only true historic tie to the trials. It was here that Corwin examined the unfortunate accused. There is, however, more to this ancient building than its most famous occupant. From wars and death to prosperity and progress, local author and respected historian John Goff searches beneath its beams and studs to find stories of those who called this place home. This book signing takes place at The Witch House, 310 1/2 Essex Street, Salem, MA, 978-744-8815.

Saturday October 3rd at 7pm
Hannah Tinti and The Good Thief

The Good Thief (Dial Press Trade Paperback, August 2009, ISBN 978-0385337465, $15.00), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year along with many other honors, is now out in paperback! Join Salem's own Hannah Tinti as she reads from an adventurous tale that has been compared to the work of Charles Dickins and Robert Louis Stevenson (pretty heady stuff!). Orphan Ren is adopted by a con-artist, and struggles, in Colonial New England, to find the truth about his past. The Boston Globe says "Reminds you why you fell in love with reading in the first place."!

Wednesday October 7th at 7pm
Michelle Zink brings The Prophecy of the Sisters

This YA crossover gothic pits twin sisters against one another as they struggle with the parts they play in an ancient prophecy that hastens Armageddon. Join Michelle to learn more about the book, and meet her 17 year-old son Kenneth, who wrote and performed the musical score for the book trailer. The Prophecy of the Sisters (Little, Brown Young Readers, August 2009, ISBN 9780316027427, $17.99) is the first book of a trilogy and will leave you excitedly awaiting the second book!

Thursday October 8th at 7pm
Acoustic roots music with David LaFleur

Blue Ridge Mountain musician LaFleur is back in town and makes a special return visit to Cornerstone for a cover-free show! With a rich tenor voice and a mastery of the guitar, dobro, mandolin, and dulcimer, LaFleur has been performing his unique mixture of folk, Appalachian, blues, and bluegrass for over 20 years, and has opened for such legends as Emmylou Harris and Tom Rush. Superb musicianship and an artful array of thoughtful and sometimes hilarious songs mixed with dynamic stage presence and dry wit keep LaFleur in high demand at concerts and festivals. Don't miss this show!

Friday October 9th at 7pm
Art Reception: David Provost

Join us as we welcome art and artist back to Cornerstone for the first time all year! Beverly artist David Provost displays oil on canvas nudes along with other bright and bold representations. All are welcome!

Saturday October 10th at 11am
Cornerstone presents Boston Ballet Story Time and Giselle

Join us and listen to the ghostly legend of Giselle, a peasant girl who saves the life of her true love from beyond the grave! Following the reading we will view costumes and props from Boston Ballet's production of Giselle, learn a peasant harvest dance and conclude the hour with a fun art activity. Come and let Giselle's story warm your heart! Note: This special event replaces Cornerstone's regular story Saturday

October 10th at 1pm
Roxie Zwicker and Haunted Cemeteries of New England

Join author Roxie Zwicker (Haunted Pubs of New England) as she invites the curious into some of the most fascinating burial grounds of New England in Haunted Cemeteries of New England: Stories, Stones, and Superstitions. Full of bone-chilling, mystical, and ghostly stories, the book offers a glimpse into the region's history and haunted past. Get ready to be spooked!

Saturday October 10th at 1pm
Meet author Brunonia Barry

Join Cornerstone on the Essex Street Mall for the Bizarre Bazaar, and meet author Brunonia Barry, who will be signing her bestselling book, The Lace Reader. This novel tells the haunting story of Towner Whitney, who comes from a line of women who can see the future in a piece of lace. Towner must unravel her family's past as she strives to find her missing aunt, and must overcome her own history, which prevents her from embracing her future.

Saturday October 10th at 3pm
Brunonia Barry and The Lace Reader

Local author Brunonia Barry reads from her bestselling (and set in Salem!) novel, The Lace Reader, which has been optioned for a thrilling Hollywood movie! Reading, followed by Q&A and book signing.

"Suspenseful and literary... surprisingly gritty for having 'lace' in the title..." New York Magazine
"Gripping...a marvelously bizarre cast of characters (living and dead) in a uniquely colorful town." Washington Post Book World
"The Lace Reader is a page-turner, and the ending is almost as shocking as the film 'The Sixth Sense.'" Salem Gazette

Thursday October 15th at 7pm
Ken Summers and Queer Hauntings: True Tales of Gay and Lesbian Ghosts

Queer Hauntings: True Tales of Gay and Lesbian Ghosts (Lethe Press, September 2009, ISBN 9781590212394, $15) is a collection of eerie locales worldwide with a queer bent, combining historical fact and unearthly encounters from across the United States, as well as around the globe. From haunted bars in New Orleans to a haunted theater in London, this guide encompasses the other side of the supernatural. The stories range from the serious to the light-hearted, and ghosts of legendary celebrities intermingle with ordinary individuals.

Saturday October 17th at 10:30am
CB Kids Halloween Party with Jean Marie Cochran and Jennifer Morris and On a Dark, Dark Night

Join Jean and Jennifer as they read On a Dark, Dark Night (Pleasant St. Press, September 2009, ISBN 978-1935025009, $16.95), a just-spooky-enough story about strange sounds in the night. Come in costume and stay for a craft and Halloween treats!

Saturday October 17th at 7pm
YA Halloween Event with Dan Waters, Tonya Hurley, and Megan Kelley Hall

Cornerstone's first ever young adult Halloween party features ghoulishly good, freakishly famous authors Dan Waters, Tonya Hurley, and Megan Kelley Hall. Come hear their tales of witchery, the undead, and the terminally adolescent! Come in costume and win prizes! Contests, giveaways and treats - oh my! All teens invited, but only the coolest of adults should dare enter.

Dan Waters is the author of Generation Dead (Hyperion Book CH, April 2009, ISBN 978-1423109228, $8.99) and its sequel, Kiss of Life (Hyperion Book CH, May 2009, ISBN 978-1423109235, $16.99), the story of "living impaired" teens at Oakdale High.

Tonya Hurley is the author of Ghostgirl (Little, Brown Young Readers, August 2008, ISBN 978-0316113571, $17.99) and its sequel, Ghostgirl: Homecoming (Little, Brown Young Readers, July 2009, ISBN 978-0316113595, $17.99), featuring Charlotte Usher, the girl who was just dyyyying to be popular! Check out the amazing 6' Ghostgirl cake on an October episode of Food Network's Ace of Cakes!

Megan Kelley Hall is the author of Sisters of Misery (Kensington, August 2008, ISBN 978-0758226792, $9.95) and its sequel The Lost Sister (Kensington, August 2009, ISBN 978-0758226808, $9.95) set in the nearby fictional town of Hawthorne, MA, where the evil of the Salem witch trials has not completely disappeared.

Thursday October 22nd at 7pm
Thursday's Theatre of Words and Music with Very Special Guests National Book Award Winner Julia Glass and Local Musician Julie Dougherty

Thursday's Theatre of Words & Music features established and emerging writers and artists to read/display/perform their work for the public at Cornerstone Books in Salem, MA on the fourth Thursday of every month at 7pm. An open mike will be held following featured writers/artists--artists are chosen by first-come-first-serve.

October's featured artists, our own Julie and Julia:

Julia Glass is the author of Three Junes, which won the National Book Award for Fiction, and the national bestsellers The Whole World Over, and I See You Everywhere. For all three of her books, she was awarded the 2009 Sense of Place Award. She has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Her short fiction has won several prizes, including the Tobias Wolff Award and the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society Medal for Best Novella; her essays have appeared in numerous anthologies.

Julie Dougherty has been singing since the mid-sixties, performing folk music at coffeehouses in the Boston area such as the Unicorn Coffeehouse and the King's Rook (where they were lucky enough to open up several times for the Kingston Trio in the 70's). Through the years, Julie has travelled much of the country singing Irish music, original folk-rock music, country-rock music and has made several trips to Nashville, where she placed two original songs with two major publishing firms. Julie also hosted a songwriting cable TV show, called Songwriters In The Round for three years which featured many fine songwriters including Noel Paul Stookey, Chris Smither, and Al Kooper. She has collaborated and performed with the funk band the Boston Horns and also explored some jazz and blues combinations. Julie is a fan of all kinds of music and loves singing in as many styles as she can. Her latest CD is available for purchase.

Saturday October 24th from 3-8:30pm
Katherine Howe and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane at The Witch House

Topping local and national bestseller lists, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (Voice, June 2009, ISBN 978-1401340902, $25.99) is the hot book of the season! Local author Hall brings the witch trials to life in a whole new way in the tale of a grad student unraveling family secrets in Salem and Marblehead. Finding a key and a scrap of paper reading only "Deliverance Dane while readying her grandmother's house for sale, Connie Goodwin begins a search for answers that leads her toward a mysterious book and important revelations about her family and the Salem witch trials. Meet Katherine Howe at the house of Judge Jonathan Corwin, local magistrate serving as judge during the witch trials of 1692, 310 1/2 Essex Street, Salem, MA, 978-744-8815.

Sunday October 25th at 1pm
Kathleen Kent and The Heretic's Daughter

The Heretic's Daughter (Pan Books, September 2009, ISBN 978-0316024495, $13.99) is a beautifully written novel that tells the story of Kent's ancestor Martha Carrier, who was hung as a witch in Salem. Set in Andover and Salem and based on true fact and family lore, The Heretic's Daughter is a novel as much about the strength of family and the complex relationship between mothers and daughters as it is an account of the Salem witchcraft trials. This thoroughly researched book is an excellent portrait of Puritan life, and puts a truly human face on one of American history's most shameful episodes. Reading and talk followed by Q&A and book signing.

Thursday October 29th at 7pm
Ethan Gilsdorf and Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms

Come in costume as your favorite alternative life form - or your favorite geek, whether wizard, elf, orc, or Bill Gates, and join this celebration of the intersection of fantasy and so-called "real life". In Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks (The Lyons Press, September 2009, ISBN 978-1599214801, $24.95), Gilsdorf examines the desire to escape, and the desire to belong. Reading and book signing, plus a prize for best costume!

"This book-part memoir and part insider's guide-is both poignant and hilarious, baffling and informative, disturbing and entertaining. It is a must read for anyone whose idea of a good night involves dragons, spaceships, or one-eyed monsters dripping with slime." -Jake Halpern, NPR Commentator and author of Fame Junkies

Thursday October 29th at 7pm
Erin Arvedlund and Too Good to be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff at the Salem Athenaeum

In early 2001, when Bernard Madoff was living luxuriously and reporting extraordinary returns from his secretive hedge fund, Barron's reporter Erin Arvenlund followed her suspicions and asked a simple question: how does he do it? Her article, the first to challenge Madoff in a major publication, was based on more than a hundred interviews. It quickly became water-cooler fodder around Wall Street, as it showed how unlikely it was that Madoff was making such astonishing returns without cheating. Despite the buzz generated by her article, the SEC turned a blind eye. When Madoff was arrested in late 2008, it was revealed that this pillar of Wall Street was indeed a con artist and had been running a $65 billion Ponzi scheme, the biggest in history. Arvedlund returned to her former subject to write the definitive book on the Madoff scandel, Too Good to be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff (Portfolio Hardcover, August 2009, ISBN 9781591842873, $25.95).

This event will be held at The Salem Athenaeum, 337 Essex Street, 978-744-2540. Admission $15, $10 for members, $5 for students.