AlphaBirds — the fun, fast word game we make — is having its first-ever live event this month.
We’re holding it at Village Well in Culver City, November 22nd at 6:30pm.
Come have a drink and learn to play our game. Space is limited, so do get a ticket in advance.
Not in the LA area? AlphaBirds is also available through our store and on Amazon.
On Saturday, I hosted a group of local authors to celebrate [Chevalier’s Books](https://www.chevaliersbooks.com), LA’s oldest independent bookstore, which recently reopened for pick-up orders.
Chevalier’s is our neighborhood bookstore, hosting many of our launch parties — including Arlo Finch — so we’re excited to see its doors semi-open.
The theme for our Zoom conversation was “summer reading.” We gave our picks for kids, teens and adults, with special focus on books about understanding race in America.
Guests include Stuart Gibbs, Leslie Margolis, Aline Brosh McKenna, Thomas Lennon, Sarah Mlynowski, Julie Buxbaum, Kayla Cagan and Julia Claiborne Johnson.
You can see their reading lists on [Chevalier’s site](https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/local-authors-060620), with links to order directly from Chevalier’s or bookshop.org.
My picks are below, along with a few additions I made as we were recording.
Support your local indie bookstore! Like Chevalier’s, many are partially open, and can easily get any book you’re looking for.
### Young Readers:
– [Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780786819881) by Mo Willems
– [Raccoon Sick Day](https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781732761612) by C.E. Miller
– [Hair Love](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780525553366) by Matthew Cherry
### Middle Grade:
– [My Side of the Mountain](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780142401118) by Jean Craighead George
– [The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9781400032716) by Mark Haddon
– [Marvel Encyclopedia](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9781465478900) by Stan Lee (DK)
– [Incredible Cross-Sections](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9781465483898) by Stephen Biesty
### YA:
– [Dune](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780441172719) by Frank Herbert
– [Pride and Prejudice](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780141439518) by Jane Austen
– [Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780393354324) by Jared Diamond
– [Things to Make and Do in the Fourth Dimension](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780374535636) by Matt Parker
### Adults:
– [Their Eyes Were Watching God](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780061120060) by Zora Neale Hurston
– [The Autobiography of Malcolm X](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780345350688) as told to Alex Haley
– [Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780525510543) by Jia Tolentino
– [Free-Range Chickens](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780812977110) by Simon Rich
– [Station Eleven](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780804172448) by Emily St John Mandel
– [Atrocities: The 100 Deadliest Episodes in Human History](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9780393345230) by Matthew White
– [The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency](https://bookshop.org/books/the-hardest-job-in-the-world-the-american-presidency/9781984854513) by John Dickerson
– [Raising White Kids](https://bookshop.org/a/2114/9781501878077) by Jennifer Harvey
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, please come to the launch event for Arlo Finch in the Lake of the Moon. I’ll be signing books and answering questions about the series. I may even be allowed to share some cool news.
The LA event is at:
Chevalier’s Books on Larchmont
Saturday, February 9th at 12:30
[website](https://www.chevaliersbooks.com/john-august-2019)
You can also [order the book online](https://read.macmillan.com/mcpg/arlo-finch/) or purchase it at many US bookstores.
First week sales are a wonderful thing, because they help more readers discover the book. So does sharing it on social media (#arlofinch) and leaving a [review on GoodReads](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31180257-arlo-finch-in-the-valley-of-fire). (The review page for book two is [pretty light](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39073390-arlo-finch-in-the-lake-of-the-moon?ac=1&from_search=true) because it just came out today.)
As I post this, I’m in St. Louis, where I just finished two days of school visits. Tonight, I fly to Seattle, for two more days of school visits and a live Scriptnotes. Then it’s a day in San Francisco before heading home.
The second half of the tour comes in April, when I’ll be headed up and down the East Coast for events at schools and bookstores. For more details, you can check out my [Arlo Finch](https://johnaugust.com/arlo-finch) page.
We’re bringing in a new person to help us update some of our older Mac and iOS apps. Maybe that’s you!
Requirements:
– Experience with Mac and iOS development (either professionally or on your own)
– Familiarity with web APIs
– Proficiency in Swift
– Ability to read (and understand) Objective-C
For the right candidate, it should be an interesting assignment. You’ll be rewriting existing Objective-C code as Swift, and bringing a 2019 perspective (and technology) to previously-solved problems. You’ll be working beside Nima Yousefi, who coded Highland, ((Fun fact: Highland 2 is almost entirely Swift, except for some very low-level stuff dealing with PDFs which goes all the way back to the original Highland.)) Weekend Read and a lot of other useful apps for writers. He’ll show you the ropes and help guide you through the process.
This is a contract gig, maybe 40 hours of work altogether, but there’s always the possibility of future projects. We’re looking for someone in Los Angeles who’s available on Tuesday and Friday afternoons for some in-person discussion.
The right person might be transitioning from another field, a college student, or someone on a gap year. You can look at this as an educational experience, intern-like, but definitely paid. If you’re a hobbyist coder considering becoming an indie app developer, it would be a good introduction. That’s how Nima got started.
Interested? [Drop us a note](mailto:assistant@johnaugust.com) to introduce yourself and your work. Please include links to stuff we can check out, especially Github and sample code.