Maybe it's just us but for some reason we read more in the summer than in the winter. It goes against expectations, sure, but something about the summer is just lazier than the winter. And as our ghostly white skin betrays, we hate sun, so it isn't all beach reading. Local bookstores are being helpful by providing a good slate of upcoming author events and we've picked a few faves below. Who are you going to see and what are you going to read this summer? Let us know in the comments.

Cody's Books -
We'll start with the soon-to-close Telegraph Ave location.

Wednesday, June 7 - 7:30 p.m.
Nando Parrado talks about his experience as a member of the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes. Yeah, you know the one. He's written a book about it called Miracle in the Andes. Even the excerpt gives us the chills. We've always loved this story and think seeing him tell it in person would be a great experience.

Friday, June 9 - 7:30 p.m.
We saw JPOD at the bookstore the other day and, well, it seemed ... uh... long...? We haven't read Coupland since Life After God, though we did have a very surreal time in October 1995 driving from Las Vegas to Hoover Dam listening to Matthew Perry read Microserfs via books on tape and we're big fans of the Souvenir of Canada (2 also). So that probably makes us Coupland fans and we expect we'll be there to see him and will read the book.

On to the Fourth Street Cody's where we're going with a cooking theme (and way more events after the jump) ...

Image of Ben Fong-Torres. He's listed after the jump.

Sunday, June 11 - 7:00 p.m.
Bill Buford reads from and talks about HEAT: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany which is an obscenely long title but an interesting sounding read.

Friday, June 16 - 7:00 p.m.
Anthony Bourdain. We'll just admit right up we're insane for Bourdain. We saw him a couple of years ago and he gave us some great advice for scoring free drinks in Paris - "Say you hate Bush and love jazz." That time we were at the signing for Les Halles Cookbook which is covered in remnants of the kitchen experiences it gave us, as it were. We were charmed by him in person (and are watching his TV show now as we write this) then and expect to be again.

A quick zip over to the San Francisco Cody's for...

Thursday, June 8 - 6:00 p.m.
Tom Zoellner, author of The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit and Desire. We have thoughts about diamonds and want to see what Zoellner's come up with.

What Fast Food Nation is to the all-American meal, journalist Tom Zoellner's new book is to America's favorite gemstone. Zoellner's journey began with his own broken engagement and dilemma on what to do with the diamond ring he bought for his girlfriend. He wanted to know exactly where diamonds came from and how they became love's ultimate talisman.

On to The Booksmith on Haight, we're picking a couple of rock'n roll author events to bookend the month:

Thursday, June 1 - 7:00 p.m.
Ben Fong-Torres with Becoming Almost Famous: My Back Pages in Music, Writing, and Life.

Wednesday, June 28 - 7:00 p.m.
Chuck Klosterman with Killing Yourself to Live.

Book Passage in Corte Madera has an impressive slate of events for June, with two big names standing out for us:

Friday, June 9 - 7:00 p.m.
John Updike with Terrorist. Well, that's a straightforward title...

Tuesday, June 13 - 7:00 p.m.
Lorraine Bracco with her memoir On the Couch. She was excellent, we thought, on the Top Chef season finale.

Book Passage's Ferry Building location is hosting:

Thursday, June 8 - 1:00 p.m.
Sean Wilsey with The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup. This is so totally the year we get into the World Cup and can talk intelligently about it.

Hitting our local independent - Kepler's (look for the interview coming soon!) for our summer spy thriller reads:

Thursday, June 1 - 7:30 p.m.
Barry Eisler talking about The Last Assassin.

Friday, June 9 - 7:30 p.m.
Robert "Bob" Baer with Blow the House Down.

The Books Inc. location in the Stanford Shopping Center has two events on our calendar:

Wednesday, May 31 - 7:30 p.m.
Curtis Sittenfeld presenting The Man of My Dreams (we wish!).

Tuesday, June 20 - 7:30 p.m.
Jeffrey Deaver bringing the seventh Lincoln Rhyme novel, The Cold Moon.

City Lights hosts a group of authors:

Thursday, June 15 - 7:00 p.m.

A reading and discussion celebrating the release of Let Me Tell You Where I've Been: New Writing by Women of the Iranian Diaspora, edited by Persis Karim with a foreword by Al Young, published by University of Arkansas Press.

Appearing will be editor Persis Karim with Parissa Milani, Esther Kamkar, Mahru Elahi, Sanaz Nikaein, and Farnoosh Seifoddini.

Last but not least, check out the Alexander Bookstore for:

Monday, June 26 - 12:30 p.m.
Kathleen Cleaver editor of Target Zero, a collection of essays from her ex-husband Eldridge Cleaver.