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Sharp-minded readers unite! Literary Arts has concocted another series of Delve Readers' Seminars, where locals can dissect, criticize and fawn over works in illuminating discussions led by, ahem, "experienced guides." Think Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë with hand-holding from PSU prof and poet Susan McKee Reese; untangling Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow with scholar Christopher Zinn; making The Invisible Man, er, visible with Reed College's Pancho Savery. The most useful workshop? Arguably, that'd be the "Season of Authors" seminar (October-April) with Zinn again, which takes on books from authors reading during this year's Portland Arts and Lectures series, from Colson Whitehead to Marjane Satrapi and Stephen Sondheim. Genuis! For a full seminar list and schedule, visit literary-arts.org. Delve seminars cost $150 a person. Registration (online or call 227-2583) required.

Wednesday Sept. 12

Laura Moriarty

In the fifth grade, my Mom made me wear a floppy hat à la Blossom Russo for picture day and I didn't speak to her for weeks. In The Rest of Her Life, Moriarity writes about mothers and daughters and why, despite all our love and connection, sometimes we just really, really want to kill each other. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 228-4651. 7 pm. Free.

Vicki León

If there's anything that could make me even remotely interested in ancient Greece and Rome, it would be a book called Working IX to V: Orgy Planners, Funeral Clowns, and Other Prized Professions of the Ancient World. By the author who brought us the Uppity Women series. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

Thursday Sept. 13

Ursula K. Le Guin

See review. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 228-4651. ?7 pm. Free.

Nell Freudenberger & Ben Fountain

In Dissident, Freudenberger writes about a political activist living in LA who is sucked into the lives of the wealthy. Fountain's Brief Encounters with Che Guevara is composed of short stories about Americans living abroad. Will the activist date Paris Hilton? Did any of the traveling U.S tourists actually meet Che Guevara? The suspense is killing me. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free.

Friday Sept. 14

Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint lives and writes from a land of fairies and magic and purple unicorns. He'll be debuting his new work, Little (Grrl) Lost, a novel for younger readers about a girl who encounters a runaway punk "little person," and Promises to Keep, an "urban fantasy" novel for readers young at heart. Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd., Beaverton, 228-4651. 7 pm. Free.

Steve Almond

For lovers of diatribes comes Not That You Asked: Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions, new essays from New York Times bestselling author Almond. Bring your soapbox and voluble glibness. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St., 228-4651. 7:30 pm. Free?

Monday Sept. 17

Keiko Takemiya

Any literary press release that mentions The Dark Crystal or The Neverending Story immediately leaves me giddy and lightheaded, and Takemiya's mentions both. Hot damn! Female mangaka (comic artist) Takemiya's Andromeda Stories tells the saga of royal twins separated at birth who must come together to save their peaceful empire, which has been taken over by machines. Sold! Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 238-1668. 7:30 pm. Free.

Pat Graham

See music feature. Ace Hotel, 1022 SW Stark St. 7:30 pm. Free.

Tuesday Sept. 18

Marvin Bell

Marvin Bell is a poet and author who made popular the "dead man poem." The "insider who thinks like an outsider" will be reading from his latest collection, Mars Being Red. Lewis & Clark College, Manor House, Armstrong Lounge, 0615 SW Palatine Hill Road, 768-7000. 7 pm. Free.