For science-loving, world-exploring young adventurers...

National Geographic presents Explorer Academy with the help of actual National Geographic Explorer Erika Bergman — scientist, submersible pilot, and steamship engineer!

Erika will share her adventures and open up a world of wonder with this new book series that J.J. Abrams, director and screenwriter of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Lost, calls "A fun, exciting, and action-packed ride that kids will love." and LeVar Burton, host of Reading Rainbow says "is sure to awaken readers' inner adventurer and curiosity about the world around them!

You will get the chance to meet Bergman-- a virtual reality engineer and an enthusiastic ocean explorer who received a National Geographic grant in 2013 for her "Classrooms Under the Sea" expedition to live stream video from submersibles. Erika will join author Trudi Trueit, who has written more than 100 books for young readers. Trudi has been a TV news reporter and weather forecaster, but knew her calling was in writing.

Come find out about life as an explorer and about National Geographic’s buzzworthy newest series based on the research and adventures of National Geographic’s leading scientists, photographers and journalists, focusing on geography, history, space, STEM, exploration and world cultures. Steeped in fact and real-world investigation, this series embodies National Geographic’s explorers and how they interact with the world.

Join the National Geographic adventure!

Cages, walls, asylum and shattered dignity. What is the state of human rights at our southern border, especially for young migrants? Two powerful local investigators with decades of experience bring this conversation o Kepler’s. 

Author Lauren Markham and Senior Human Rights Researcher Clara Long will discuss rights and immigration at our Southern border. In partnership with Human Rights Watch, this conversation will be moderated by KALW’s Hana Baba of CrossCurrents.

Markham’s startlingly intimate portrait of two migrant El Salvadorian brothers, who fled to Oakland by coyote to escape gang violence at home, has been broadly praised. Rebecca Solnit calls The Far Away Brothers a “movingly written” meditation on “the caprices and brutalities of immigration policy.” It is a story of young people in our own community whose only support is each other, whose lives include the quotidian concerns of young men with teenage crushes against the backdrop of antagonistic immigration law and crushing coyote debt.

"It has some of the pleasures of a novel— but all the force of bitter truth.”

Long, a graduate of both Harvard and Stanford, contextualizes Markham’s close-lens narrative portrait with her work investigating detainee deaths, mistreatment of asylum seekers, and more at our southern border.

How do we take notice, and shape this period of international change? That story begins with firsthand accounts from those who are engaged in human rights issues on the frontlines. The next chapter will be written by those who take the time to listen.

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Produced in partnership with Human Rights Watch, the Silicon Valley Committee. HRW defends the rights of people worldwide, scrupulously investigating abuses and pressuring those with power in order to secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all.

One of the news media's most qualified voices examines critical information battlegrounds: old media vs. new, documented veracity vs. clickbait.

Jill Abramson follows four companies— The New York Times, The Washington Post, BuzzFeed, and VICE— over a decade of disruption and radical adjustment. The two venerable newspapers wrestle the challenge of an aging readership; the two upstarts confront a ballooning but fickle audience of millennials.

She profiles the defenders of the legacy presses and the larger-than-life characters behind the new speed-driven media competitors. Those players include Jeff Bezos and Marty Baron (The Washington Post), Arthur Sulzberger and Dean Baquet (The New York Times), Jonah Peretti (BuzzFeed), and Shane Smith (VICE) as well as their reporters and anxious readers.

What does all this portend for the discriminating news consumer? Join us for a This Is Now conversation featuring former Executive Editor of the New York Times and Harvard lecturer, Jill Abramson.

"The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." -Muriel Rukeyser

Reading starts at 7:30 pm.
Light refreshments and conversation at 7:00 pm.

Join us for our quarterly reading series, Story is the Thing, where stunning, emerging voices can be heard alongside works from contemporary local masters.

Reading starts at 7:30 pm. Light refreshments and conversation at 7:00 pm.

Jeanne Althouse
Flash fiction by Jeanne Althouse has appeared in numerous literary journals. Her most recent flash story collection, Boys in the Bank, published by Red Bird Chapbooks, came out in November 2018. Her story “Big Lies” was a finalist in the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction contest and “Goran Holds his Breath” was nominated by Shenandoah for the Pushcart Prize.

Jamel Brinkley
Jamel Brinkley is the author of A Lucky Man: Stories (Graywolf Press/A Public Space Books), a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in fiction and recipient of the 2019 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His writing has appeared, or is forthcoming, in The Best American Short Stories 2018, A Public Space, Ploughshares, Gulf Coast, The Threepenny Review, Glimmer Train, American Short Fiction, Tin House, and other places. A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he's currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow in Fiction at Stanford University.

Tsun Yuan Chen
Tsun Yuan Chen is a retired Head and Neck Surgeon, born in Mainland China, studied in Taiwan and Tokyo, before arriving on these shores. He now divides his time between San Francisco, Umbria and Provence with his life partner, at home everywhere and nowhere, making alienation a fine art of his life, while maintaining an esprit from the East.

Andrea Donderi
Andrea Donderi grew up in Montreal and arrived in California via Toronto, Chicago, and Bloomington, Indiana. She recently moved from a ramshackle backyard cottage on the peninsula to a house with chickens in Oakland. Andrea writes manuals for the guts of the Internet as well as essays and fiction.

David Wystan Owen
D. Wystan Owen is the author of Other People's Love Affairs: Stories (Algonquin Books), an Amazon "Best Fiction & Literature of 2018" selection. His work has appeared in A Public Space, LitHub, The Threepenny Review, The American Scholar, and elsewhere. A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he now lives in Northern California where he serves as publisher of The Bare Life Review.

Kathy Wang
Kathy Wang grew up in Northern California and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Harvard Business School. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two children.

It was a simple test. Yet, the course of her life changed forever.

Dani Shapiro, the award-winning author of bestselling novels like Hourglass, Devotion, and more, grappled with the self-shattering results of a simple DNA test.

On TLC and in heart-warming ads, DNA testing is nothing more than a high-tech family tree for the digital age, an over-the-counter science experiment to deepen our own personal understanding ourselves. But millions of Americans are finding a different experience.

In this intimate and heart-wrenching new memoir from one of the great writers of our time, comes the true story of how Dani Shapiro discovered that her father was not truly her biological father. Her Jewish identity, relationship to her family and to herself—they all underwent seismic change in a heartbeat. Upending a lifetime of secrets and untold stories, this innocuous decision left Shapiro grappling with results no one could have ever prepared her for. Inheritance is a tour de force of what family truly means, raw and emotionally realized.

Join us for a powerful and peerless evening, as Dani opens this profound chapter of her life in conversation with fellow writer and family historian Elizabeth Rosner of Survivor Café.

These two stunning Jewish-American authors describe a selfhood built against the backdrop of history, secrets, and the often-unknown stories of those who came before us.

The warnings are coming from inside the house.

Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and Roger McNamee are denizens of the same enchanted world: Silicon Valley's inner circle. And they used to all be on the same page, each playing their part growing Facebook into an internet phenomenon— until it hit unprecedented reach and influence. Then they weren't on the same page any more.

McNamee was an early and enthusiastic adopter of Facebook, as both a musician and an investor. But he grew disenchanted as he watched the negatives pile up: privacy issues. Screen addiction. Disinformation and political manipulation. Even spying. Digging into the technology and psychology involved, he grew more alarmed at "business models that drive companies to maximize attention at all costs".

Now Roger McNamee has teamed with others from the tech world to challenge our new normal - to persuade us that internet titans Facebook and Google present an urgent existential threat to users and society. Does his new book Zucked make a persuasive case?

Join us for an evening of This Is Now with Angie Coiro to find out.

Future Forward and the Remarkable Life of Patrick J. McGovern 

Join us for a momentous evening of reunion and celebration at the West Coast launch of Glenn Rifkin’s book, Future Forward, an homage to the late Patrick J. McGovern (1937-2014). This special event features a biographical exploration and panel moderated by celebrated journalist John Markoff, formerly of the New York Times and a current affiliate researcher at Stanford's Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences.

Our panel takes a closer look at the impact of a visionary entrepreneur who forever changed the face of Valley, ushering in a monumental shift towards data during those early days of tech.

In 1964, in a small grey house in Massachusetts, the MIT graduate founded the International Data Group, which would spawn a revolution in understanding around information technology. The ripple effects of McGovern’s life and passions extend well past IDG—from the publications and institutions that followed (CIO, Computerworld, PCWorld, Macworld, the Dummies series), to the prodigious patronage of neuroscience research at MIT, Peking University, and others.

McGovern moved with an incredible force of presence, vibrancy, unprecedented insight, generosity and remarkable kindness. We’re excited to come together honoring his contribution in this one-of-a-kind evening.

Reserve early—seats are limited. This special Literary Foundation evening includes an in-depth conversation, signing, and post-event reception. We will hear from Patrick J. McGovern III, director of the McGovern Foundation, and Glenn Rifkin, author of the recent book Future Forward, who can speak to the private person and public figure.

Don’t miss this chance to dive into the story of that transformative era.

Leigh Bardugo is hitting the road in support of her next adventure in the Grishaverse, King of Scars, and Kepler’s Literary Foundation is lucky enough to be one of the hosts! We could not be more thrilled.

Exciting news: we’re partnering with Macmillan to host a Grishaverse fan meet-up an hour before Leigh arrives! The fan meet-up will include trivia/games, a themed King of Scars photo backdrop (so come in costume!), exclusive fan-meet-up-only moments, and more!

Once Leigh arrives, she’ll host a 30 minute Q&A followed by a book signing. Leigh will personalize copies of King of Scars purchased from Kepler’s and also sign up to two additional titles. You’ll also be able to grab a quick photo with her, so have your cameras ready to go!

Fan meet-up will start at 6.00 PM

Q&A and signing will start at 7.00 PM

Leigh Bardugo is a #1 New York Times–bestselling author of fantasy novels and the creator of the Grishaverse. With over two million copies sold, her Grishaverse spans the Shadow and Bone Trilogy, the Six of Crows Duology, The Language of Thorns, and now, King of Scars—with more to come. Her other works include Wonder Woman: Warbringer and coming later this year, Ninth House. Leigh was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Los Angeles, graduated from Yale University, and has worked in advertising, journalism, and even makeup and special effects. These days, she lives and writes in Hollywood, where she can occasionally be heard singing with her band.

We are counting down the days.

Join award winning author and teacher Yogacharya O’Brian for a 90 minute workshop exploring transformative insights into the links between ancient Vedic tradition, the philosophy of yoga, and prosperity in today’s rigorously fast-paced society.

Author of the newly released book The Jewel of Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga, Yogacharya O'Brian explores what the four universal aims of life drawn from the Vedas can offer us today as we seek not only a prosperous life but one that has heart and meaning. The four aims of life—to live with higher purpose, to prosper, to enjoy life, and to realize true freedom—provide a brilliant context for living with dynamic balance, prosperity, and the joy that accompanies it. Learn how to cultivate equanimity as you embrace your inherent tendency to thrive.

Yogacharya Ellen Grace O’Brian is a spiritual teacher, poet, writer, founding acharya and spiritual director of Center for Spiritual Enlightenment—a Kriya Yoga Meditation Center in San Jose, California. Her recently published works include Living for the Sake of the Soul, inspiration for spiritual practice and The Moon Reminded Me an award-winning poetry collection. Ordained to teach in 1982 by Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, her message is “engaged enlightenment” – an invitation to live an awakened, creatively inspired, and fulfilled life, now. This workshop is drawn from her latest book, The Jewel Abundance: Finding Prosperity through the Ancient Wisdom of Yoga, recently published by New World Library. www.ellengraceobrian.com and www.csecenter.org

We are delighted to welcome Shannon Messenger back with Flashback, the unforgettable seventh book in the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series, in which Sophie must let the past and present blur together, because the deadliest secrets are always the ones that get erased.

Sophie Foster doesn’t know what—or whom—to believe. And in a game with this many players, the worst mistake can be focusing on the wrong threat. But when the Neverseen prove that Sophie’s far more vulnerable than she ever imagined, she realizes it’s time to change the rules. Her powerful abilities can only protect her so far. To face down ruthless enemies, she must learn to fight. Unfortunately, battle training can’t help a beloved friend who’s facing a whole different danger—where the only solution involves one of the biggest risks Sophie and her friends have ever taken. And the distraction might be exactly what the villains have been waiting for.

Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. 

Shannon will be in conversation with Tamara Ireland Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Click'd, Every Last Word, Time Between Us, and Time After Time.

We could not be more excited.

Please note: You must have copy of Flashback purchased from Kepler’s to enter the signing line.

Shannon will sign and personalize all copies of Flashback purchased as part of a Premier ticket or purchased onsite the night of the event. These attendees will be allowed to bring one backlist title from home for signing.

Shannon will also sign copies of backlist titles purchased onsite from Kepler’s the night of the event, but remember you must have purchased a copy of Flashback from Kepler's to enter the signing line.

Despite its unicorns, the start-up world is earning a reputation for burning-out and burning through employees.

In his new book Lab Rats: How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us, acclaimed journalist Dan Lyons searches for answers. Someone somewhere must be doing it right.

As he documented in his New York Times bestselling book Disrupted: My Misadventure in the Start-Up Bubble, the frontier world of tech is rife with fad-chasing venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and "wantrapreneurs," bloggers and brogrammers, social climbers and sociopaths. Every year, companies churn through a new stock of big-eyed idealists, hungry for a quick buck. As the demands on employees grow increasingly more intense, the rewards grow opaquer.

Traveling to workplaces across America, Lyons finds four key factors for how the social contract between employee and employer was broken. Ultimately, the powerhouse former Forbes editor offers a vision for what the workplace could be: “an approach to work and business that puts people first, profitably [that] serves customers, and makes the world a little bit better in the process.”

Escape the grind and discover a new vision for what work can be!

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts
500 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041

Named one of the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest, Barbara Kingsolver sits solidly in the firmament of great fiction writers working today.

She won the National Humanities Medal in 2000 (the same year as Toni Morrison) and the Orange Prize in 2010. Translators have brought her work to print in more than two dozen languages. Not to be forgotten, her iconic novel, The Poisonwood Bible, was a finalist for that year’s Pulitzer Prize. A long list of accolades, from the James Beard Award to the high honor of being an Oprah Book Club pick, follow after and support the simple fact that Kingsolver is a Titan of American fiction

She isn’t done yet. With her highly-anticipated new novel, Unsheltered, Kingsolver returns to the form she knows best, telling the story of two families caught in a quest to uphold the truth while the world around them quakes beneath the shifting forces of cultural-upheaval.

Get your seats today for an evening with a literary legend as she discusses an all-too-timely story of surviving in America and the resiliency of the human spirit.

At its core, leadership is a form of service. Employing empathy, collaboration, humility, innovation, and curiosity, great leaders don’t measure success in bottom lines. They measure it by the communities they build and the people they surround themselves with.

Dr. John Hennessy, the tenth President of Stanford University, Chair of the Board of Alphabet and Director of the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, reflects on the lessons learned from decades leading – and in so doing, serving -- some of world’s most influential organizations.

Join Dr. Hennessy when he sits down with Alphabet CFO, Ruth Porat – named one of the 25 most powerful women in the world by Forbes Magazine – for an in depth conversation on the power and importance of leadership.

We could not be more excited: Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, two of our favorite authors who met-cute through their agents, are visiting with a book they have co-written in which two boys meet-cute in a New York City post office.  Join us as we celebrate their highly anticipated new novel What If It’s Us.

Becky Albertalli is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (now the hit film Love, Simon), Leah on the Offbeat and The Upside of Unrequited. Adam Silvera is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of They Both Die At the End. More Happy Than Not, and History Is All You Left Me. They have created a funny and heartfelt collaboration about two very different boys who can't decide if the universe is pushing them together or pulling them apart.

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it's that the universe can deliver a show-stopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn't be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend's things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.

It doesn’t get better than this fresh, clever love story. Don’t miss this.
 

“This riveting, courageous memoir ought to be
mandatory reading for every American.”

—Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas boarded an airplane in the Philippines one summer when he was 12 years old. The next Fall, he enrolled for sixth grade in Mountain View, California.

One of a silent minority of undocumented citizens seeking harbor and a better life in the United States, Vargas has lived an American Dream. Bound between two worlds and two languages Vargas fell in love at an early age with culture and words. Ultimately, his passion and ambition landed him at the Washington Post, fueling a distinguished career in journalism. In 2008, he was a part of the Post staff awarded the Pulitzer Prize. He was 28.

As sentiment over undocumented immigrants rises from controversy to outright hostility, Vargas has not kept silent. Giving voice to millions of immigrants pursuing the dream of a better life for themselves and their children, Vargas protested the deportation of children, becoming the feature of New York Times Magazine story in 2011 and making the cover of TimeMagazine in 2012.

Join one of the most important and outspoken journalists of our time as he shares his new book: Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen with #1 New York Times bestselling author Sabaa Tahir.

“l cried reading this book, realizing more fully what my parents endured.” —Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins

“This book couldn’t be more timely and more necessary.” —Dave Eggers, New York Times bestselling author of What Is the Whatand The Monk of Mokha

“As advocate for the forgotten and the ignored, Mary Robinson has not only shone a light on human suffering, but illuminated a better future for our world.”

―Barack Obama

Holding the arm of her first grandchild, something occurred to Mary Robinson. Before his fiftieth birthday, nine billion people would share the planet with him. What kind of planet would it be?

In an instant, the faceless, shadowy menace of climate change became real. One of the most important voices on the International stage, Mary Robinson -- the former president of Ireland and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights -- bound herself to a single mission: to leave her grandson the best possible world.

Her work has been transformative. She founded the Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice. She served in two capacities as the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Change. She continues today to be one of the most dynamic climate activists in the world. From Mongolia to East Biloxi, Robinson’s work has touched lives the world over, reifying the countless local and international efforts for green, sustainable energy and combatting the tangled, nefarious web of hazards to our planet's future.

Award-winning journalist and radio host, Angie Coiro, sits down for a special This is Now with Mary Robinson.

Chris Hedges hasn't given up on America. That may not be the immediate impression from his reporting, nor from his books, where he describes "the opioid crisis, the retreat into gambling to cope with economic distress, the pornification of culture, the rise of magical thinking, the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides." But grasping the unvarnished reality is essential to fixing everything that's gone wrong both nationally and worldwide. Hedges' work, from his contribution to the New York Time's 2002 Pulitzer Prize to his most recent book America: The Farewell Tour urges us not to compromise as we assess today's political and societal realities. And he says that neither mainstream political party addresses our systemic problems - nor can they, until our country's "corporate coup d’état" is reversed.

Chris Hedges served as a foreign correspondent for nearly two decades for The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and National Public Radio. His bestselling books include American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacyand the Triumph of Spectacle, and War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Hedges is a Senior Fellow at The Nation Institute and writes an online column for the web site Truthdig.

CAN REASON SAVE US?

Experience a live taping of Philosophy Talk radio, and see how much fun thinking can be!

To an optimist, things are constantly getting better: disease and extreme poverty are down; life expectancy, literacy, and equality are up; and it’s all thanks to the glory of human reason. But a pessimist would point to the continuing presence of injustice, oppression, and war, and the dangers of global warming and nuclear annihilation. So who's right? Are we really living in an age of progress? And can reason really save us?

Join the live audience at Kepler's Books to record a new episode of Philosophy Talk, the nationally syndicated public radio show. Host philosophers Ken Taylor and Josh Landy will welcome renowned cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress. In addition to thought-provoking conversation, audience questions, and laughter, the show will feature Roving Philosophical Reporter Liza Veale, satirist and Sixty Second Philosopher Ian Shoales, and musical guest Tiffany Austin.

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Philosophy Talk is a nationally syndicated radio show that celebrates the value of the examined life. Each week the show's philosopher-hosts invite you to join them and a guest expert in conversation on a wide variety of issues ranging from popular culture to our most deeply-held beliefs about science, morality, and the human condition. Philosophy Talk challenges listeners to identify and question their assumptions and to think about things in new ways. The program is dedicated to modeling and promoting reasoned conversation driven by human curiosity. Philosophy Talk is accessible, intellectually stimulating, and most of all, fun.

Philosophy Talk is produced by KALW on behalf of Stanford University, as part of its Humanities Outreach Initiative. You can find Philosophy Talk on the web at www.philosophytalk.org.

NB: This event will be held at the Menlo-Atherton Performing Arts Center at 555 Middlefield Rd., Atherton, CA.

Dr. Dan Siegel’s work has been nothing short of game-changing.

His books, like Mindsight, Parenting from the Inside Out, and The Whole-Brain Child, offer unprecedented insight into the complexity of our children’s minds. Shedding the unapproachable jargon of dense neuroscience, Siegel illustrates, in clear and illuminating prose, the logic of how we think and why we develop certain patterns of intuition over others. For decades, his work has made our minds and the minds of our children accessible to us as they have never been before.

Now, he turns his attention to mindfulness. Introducing, "The Wheel of Awareness", Siegel presents a potentially life-changing tool to support anyone, at any level of meditation, in cultivating more focus, presence, and peace in their day-to-day life. Endorsed by everyone from Deepak Chopra to Goldie Hawn and from Arianna Huffington to Sharon Salzberg, Siegel's most recent work promises to reshape the way we come to meditation.

One of the most engaging speaker’s on any subject, join Siegel as he presents his new book: Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence.

Meet Ibtihaj Muhammad, Olympic fencer, the first Muslim American woman in hijab to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games and the first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games, winning bronze in the women's sabre team event. Named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, she serves as a sports ambassador for the U.S. State Department, cofounded Athletes for Impact and the clothing company Louella, and inspired the first hijabi Barbie in her likeness.

In both the youth edition (which includes advice for young readers and is abridged especially for younger readers) and adult edition of her new book Proud, Ibtihaj tells her moving all-American tale of how she overcame obstacles and racism on the way to following her dream.

Come to hear Ibtihaj share stories from her unforgettable and inspiring tale of perseverance. Raised by a police officer and an elementary school teacher in New Jersey with five siblings, Ibtihaj sought out sports as a means to fund college - and fencing was one of the only sports in which she could participate in modest dress. She was fast, hardworking, and devoted to her faith. But in a sport most popular with privileged young white people, Ibtihaj often felt out of place. Rivals and teammates (as well as coaches and officials) pointed out her differences, insisting she would never succeed. Yet Ibtihaj powered on, rising above bigotry and other struggles on the path to success.

Both editions of Proud share Muhammad’s motivating journey from a young outsider to a national hero. Her story is a relatable, memorable tale of hard work, determination, and self-reliance. 

This event is for all ages. Come and be inspired.
 

With 23 New York Times bestsellers and 21 million copies of his books in print, Terry Brooks is one of America’s most celebrated authors. Join us, as we welcome the distinguished author of Shannara in conversation with Tad Williams!

Adapted for TV, a well of inspiration to countless fantasy and science-fiction authors ranging from Patrick Rothfuss to Karen Russell, the Four Lands remain one of the most enduring and beloved worlds in literature. Today, over forty years after the release of The Sword of Shannara, mega-bestselling author Terry Brooks returns to the iconic series. The Fall of Shannara, a four-part, standalone new series, introduces an unforgettable coda to his iconic saga.

Celebrate the release of volume two of this hotly-anticipated series: The Skaar Invasion as he takes to the Kepler's stage alongside Tad Williams.

“The Sword of Shannara is an unforgettable and wildly entertaining epic, animated by Terry Brooks’s cosmically generative imagination and storytelling joy.”—Karen Russell, New York Times bestselling author of Swamplandia!

Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen. He resides in western Massachusetts.

Precisions, that abstract idea of exact measurement – the thing that makes our ball point pens work and space shuttles to launch into the stratosphere – the keystone of the industrial age and the magic of the digital age, had an exact date of birth. Simon Winchester who has written biographies of oceans, geological forces, and the world’s great scientists, returns to the Kepler’s stage for an evening on the engineers who created the modern world. A blend of history, science, and graceful personal narrative, join Winchester as he discusses his new book, The Perfectionists.

This absurdly outrageous, sarcastically satiric, and always entertaining New York Times bestselling author and Bay Area local presents his newest novel Noir. The perfect night out for anyone who is craving A LOT of laughter.

Join one of the Bay Area’s biggest, most wisecracking fiction writers - author of Lamb, Fluke, The Stupidest Angel, A Dirty Job, You Suck, and Fool (among numerous others) - as he takes readers from the peaks of Mount Ranier, through the deserts of New Mexico, and all the way to the bustling, braggadocious streets of 1947 San Francisco on an outrageous detective story you will never forget.

Zany, hilarious, and everything we have come to expect from one of the Bay Area's biggest stars, this might just be the finest, most gut-busting night of mystery you'll attend this year.

Kishore Hari, Director of the Bay Area Science Festival, and Carlo Rovelli, internationally bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Reality is Not What it Seems, blur the lines between science and humanity with an exciting evening discussing what continues to puzzle physicists and philosophers alike: our perceptions of the flow of time.

Join us for an evening exploration of time. We are used to thinking of time as something that passes in a one way flow. But what exactly is time? Did you know that time passes faster in the mountains than it does at sea level. That In a physics laboratory, a clock on a table and another on the ground run at different speeds. Which one tells the correct time? In his newest book, The Order of Time, Rovelli claims that this question is meaningless and there is no one correct time. He says that times are legion: that there is a different time for every point in space. But how can that be? And what does that mean for our sense of history and future?

This scientific study of time by Rovelli was plotted in part while he was rereading Proust. Thanks to Stephen Hawking (among others) who have ushered in new metaphors for space and the perception of time, the way regular people interact with the culture of science has been altered forever. Hawking came about in an era when physics was used for bomb building and spaceship launches, and ushered us to an era where physics could be used for philosophy and poetry, all three of which Rovelli is a master of.

Known for his generous open nature, you won't want to miss an event with the man who says about himself: “I’m Italian"... "you can ask me whatever you want.”

Kepler's Literary Foundation is proud to introduce the Bay Area literary world's newest star: Anna Yen, author of Sophia of Silicon Valley. Yen's vibrant, witty, and electrifying prose bursts with all the makings of a bestseller. Based on her experiences working for Silicon Valley's top maestros, this exciting debut, exudes the frenetic, 'move fast and break things' essence of the real life day-to-day for the Valley's most ambitious while balancing a delightful avidity for finding the moments of subtle humor and self-effacing candor that only someone who has lived a life among the Valley's ultra-determined can portray.

Documentary filmmaker, Michael Whalen moderates an exclusive conversation between Yen and director of Crazy Rich Asians (the movie adaptation of the bestselling book which is due to release August 17, 2018) Jon M. Chu on the cut-throat and furiously inventive cultures of the technology and entertainment industries.

Get your tickets now for one the most anticipated books of the summer!

**Tickets include complimentary wine and hors-d'oeuvres**

Anna Yen has worked at a wide range of tech companies. She spearheaded investor relations for industry leaders such as Tesla Motors, Market Watch, and Pixar Animations Studios, and reported directly to some of Silicon Valley's most respected leaders (including Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and Larry Kramer.) She has co-founded several tech start-ups and is currently Managing Director at Ellipsis, an investor relations firm. She lives in San Francisco.

Jon M. Chu is known for his visually stunning work in projects across genre, medium and budget. Whether telling a story through the language of dance in the Step Up films, music in the Justin Bieber documentaries, action in the G.I. JOE film, magic in Now You See Me 2 or culture in his latest film Crazy Rich Asians, Chu’s signature style is bursting with energy and the definition of fun, pop culture entertainment.

Michael Whalen has produced over 100 hours of documentary programming for television since 1994. His writing, producing and directing credits include work for A&E, The Discovery Channel, MTV, NBC, TLC, and more. His independent documentary films include: “Another first Step” (winner of the CINE Golden Eagle Award) “A Question of Habit” (PBS) and “Gringos at the Gate” (ESPN), “The Farm & The Chef.”

Admit it: in this new world of bilious political warfare, you've said at least one thing you regret. Incivility is catching.

Long-time political commentator Sally Kohn found herself doing the same thing. She stopped to wonder: where does civic ugliness come from - and what does it cost? When we're all emotionally invested in our points of view, can it be stemmed?

She took on a worldwide trek to find out. She's talked to scientists and researches, terrorists, trolls, and hate groups. She has success stories of people who walked away from hate. From all those avenues, she derives workable steps to getting ahead of the damage incivility can wreak.

Sally Kohn is a familiar face from Fox and CNN. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, New York Magazine, USA Today, and Time. She also works as a communications consultant and was previously a campaign strategist for the Center for Community Change, a fellow at the Ford Foundation, and a strategic advisor to the Social Justice Infrastructure Funders, as well as a fellow at the National Gay and Lesbian task Force Policy Institute. She joins our in-house journalist for an evening installment of This Is Now with Angie Coiro.

“Sick of the anger, division and hate in our world? Sally Kohn’s book is uplifting, funny, and full of inspiring solutions.” —Van Jones

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Timesbestselling Maisie Dobbs series, which includes In This Grave Hour, Journey to Munich, A Dangerous Place, Leaving Everything Most Loved, Elegy for Eddie, and eight other novels. Her standalone novel, The Care and Management of Lies, was also a New York Times bestseller and a Dayton Literary Peace Prize finalist. Originally from the United Kingdom, she now lives in California.

In To Die But Once, Jacqueline Winspear, the creators of one of the most memorable characters in all of literature, Maisie Dobbs, leads her assiduous heroine from the countryside of rural Hampshire to the web of wartime. As she crosses paths with powerful men and precarious environs, Maisie unravels a daunting new case with a final confrontation readers will hardly believe!