Author Stephanie Barbé Hammer opens the Lopez Bookshop Literary Events season with a free reading at the Bookshop on Thursday, October 1 at 7 p.m. Ms. Hammer, who divides her time between Los Angeles and Whidbey Island, will read from her debut novel, “The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior.” “We’re excited to host Stephanie,” says Lopez Bookshop events coordinator, Iris Graville. “She’s not only a good writer of both poetry and prose, but she’s an entertaining reader.”

The Puppet Turners of Narrow Interior has been described as “a ‘fable-ous’ novel of secrets and heritage set in the eastern United States where strange characters converge to revitalize a small town and discover its history. Henry Holbein, the main player, is a simple man with a unique perspective that accidentally brings objects to life and inspires value within a community.” Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland, calls Ms. Hammer’s novel  “…a masterpiece of mash-up, a fever dream of crime fiction, steam punk, and academic farce… Funny, weird, and absolutely original.”

On Wednesday, October 7 at 7 p.m., Lopez Bookshop welcomes back Ana Maria Spagna with her new book, “Reclaimers.” Ms. Spagna, a masterful teller of true stories, lives in Stehekin, WA at the end of Lake Chelan. She’s the author of two essay collections (Now Go Home and Potluck:  Community on the Edge of Wilderness) and a memoir, Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus.

“Reclaimers” is the result of Ms. Spagna’s three years of nursing an old Buick up and down the West coast to record interviews and conduct research about the people, many of them wise women, who persevered for decades, with little hope of success, to restore natural places. She writes about Humbug Valley, a forest-hemmed meadow sacred to the Mountain Maidu tribe of the northern Sierra, that was in the grip of a utility company; Washington’s White Salmon River saddled with a fish-obstructing, inefficient dam; and the Timbisha Shoshone Homeland, unacknowledged within the boundaries of Death Valley National Park.

Lopez Bookshop is working on an eclectic lineup of poets, novelists, memoirists, and children’s authors to entertain and enlighten Lopez readers from now through next spring. Visit the shop’s website, www.lopezbookshop.com, and Facebook page for announcements of upcoming events.