January author and action figure: Nancy Pearl joins the Northwest Passages Book Club

The Spokesman-Review’s Northwest Passages Book Club welcomes author, librarian and NPR commentator Nancy Pearl on Jan. 20.

Pearl, the only librarian with her own action figure and the author of the novel, “George and Lizzie,” will be on stage in conversation with Sharma Shields, a Spokane author and Washington State Book Award winner.

Join us for a 7 p.m. community book club forum on Saturday, Jan. 20, at the Spokesman building, 999 W. Riverside Ave. Admission is free, but tickets are required; find them at www.spokane7tickets.com.

VIP tickets also are available for a 5:30 p.m. reception with Pearl and Shields. VIP tickets cost $40 and include a copy of Pearl’s “George and Lizzie,” a glass of wine at the adjacent Terra Blanca Winery Tasting Room and a reserved seat at the book club event.

Pearl is a best-selling author, literary critic and radio and television personality. Her television show, “Book Lust with Nancy Pearl,” features interviews with authors, poets and other literary figures. This fall she published her first novel, “George and Lizzie,” a story about the scars of childhood and an imperfect marriage at its defining moments.

“Librarian Nancy Pearl knows lust,” says the Washington Post. “(Her book) ‘Book Lust’ followed by ‘More Book Lust’ and ‘Book Lust to Go’ have fanned the flames of a red-hot passion for reading everywhere. And now Pearl has taken all of her knowledge about what makes an enticing book and plowed it into her own debut novel.”

Pearl is the creator of the internationally recognized program “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” and was the inspiration for the Archee McPhee “Librarian Action Figure.” Her honors include the 2011 Librarian of the Year Award from Library Journal and the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.

She joins the Spokesman’s Northwest Passages Book Club on Jan. 20 in conversation with Shields, author of a short story collection, “Favorite Monster,” and a novel, “The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac.” A public services specialist at the Spokane Valley and North Spokane libraries, Shields serves on the board for the Friends of the Spokane County Library District and also on the programming committee for Spark Central, a community center in the Kendall Yards neighborhood. Henry Holt will publish her next novel, “The Cassandra,” in 2019.