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Summer literary events: Readings, appearances, poetry

It is an unusually busy summer for literary events in our area. From celebrations of James Joyce's "Ulysses" to appearances by Michael Smerconish, Janet Benton, John Meacham, and more, there's plenty for any book-lover – and most events are free.

Authors coming to local venues this summer include (clockwise from upper left:) Jon Meacham, Janet Benton, Michael Smerconish, Raquel Salas Rivera, Andrew McCarthy, and Miriam Seidel.
Authors coming to local venues this summer include (clockwise from upper left:) Jon Meacham, Janet Benton, Michael Smerconish, Raquel Salas Rivera, Andrew McCarthy, and Miriam Seidel. Read more(Clockwise from upper left:) Heidi Ross; Steve Ladner; Courtesy of Temple University Press; Tim Tai/ Staff; Brian Harkin; and Hannah Greenstein.

It is an unusually busy summer for literary events in our area. Here are only a few of the celebrations and big-name authors coming to your friendly local library or bookstore:

Andrew McCarthy and Adele Griffin (6 p.m. June 13, Doylestown Bookshop). McCarthy is a movie star and travel writer, and Griffin is a Philly native and two-time National Book Award finalist. Both have new novels, McCarthy's Just Fly Away and Griffin's Tell Me No Lies. (215-230-7610, doylestownbookshop.com)

Miriam Seidel, The Speed of Clouds (6 p.m. June 14, Penn Book Center). Philly writer with her first novel. (215-222-7600, pennbookcenter.com)

Bloomsday (11 a.m.-8 p.m. June 16, Rosenbach Museum and Library). On this day in 1904, Leopold Bloom walked the streets of Dublin in James Joyce's masterpiece, Ulysses. The Rosenbach Museum and Library hosts a daylong outdoor reading, featuring many Philadelphia celebs, plus music, food trucks, and a beer garden. (215-732-1600, rosenbach.org).

Michael Smerconish, Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns (7:30 p.m. June 19, Free Library of Philadelphia). Smerconish, a longtime Inquirer columnist, and a host on SiriusXM and CNN, collects his columns on the American scene. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org.)

Paul Offit, Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren't Your Best Source of Health Information (7:30 p.m. June 25, Free Library of Philadelphia). The title about says it all. The vaccine inventor, Penn professor, director of the Vaccine Education Center at CHOP, and science and health writer takes up arms against those who muck up our ways of learning the truth about health matters. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org).

Jon Meacham, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels (7:30 p.m. July 12, Free Library of Philadelphia). Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and cable news pundit whose new book sees the political turmoil of 2018 in the light of other turbulent times in this country. (215-567-4341, freelibrary.org).

Janet Benton (7:30 p.m. July 19, Open Book Bookstore). Author of the acclaimed novel Lili de Jong. (267-627-4888, openbookphilly.com).

Gwen Florio, Silent Hearts (7 p.m. Aug. 1, Main Point Books). The former Inquirer reporter with her first standalone, literary novel. (484-580-6978, mainpointbooks.com).