Featured Events in Ravenna in June 2025 (July Updated)

Third Place Books is pleased to welcome music writer and cultural critic Jeff Weiss to our Ravenna store for a conversation about his new book, Waiting for Britney Spears: A True Story, Allegedly. Speaking firsthand from Weiss's youthful experience as a tabloid reporter, the book tracks Britney's rise to it-girl status and subsequent fall from grace with both sardonic humor and genuine care. KEXP's Martin Douglas and writer, comedian, cultural critic, and activist Lindy Westjoin in conversation. This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book! When you RSVP to one of our free events during the month of June, you can add a donation to TheQueerTransProject, a Black-led, trans-led nonprofit organization dedicated to providing life-changing gender-affirming resources, uplifting trans voices, and building power for our communities. Through their Build-a-Queer Kit program, QTP has distributed over $500,000 worth of free gender-affirming items to trans people in all 50 states. Their Flight Assistance Program has covered over 125,000 miles so far, ensuring that those seeking gender-affirming care can get there safely. Tickets:This event is free to attend. Registration is recommended in advance. About Waiting for Britney Spears. . .America, 2003: A country at war, its shiny veneer beginning to crack. Von Dutch and The Simple Life dominate. And on the cover of every magazine, a twenty-one-year-old pop star named Britney Spears. Tracking her every move for a third-tier gossip rag in Los Angeles was an unknown young writer taking whatever job he could while pursuing his distant literary dreams. He'd instead become an eyewitness to the slow tragedy of a changing nation, represented in spirit by “the coy it-girl at the end of history.” Years later, after finally establishing himself as a celebrated journalist, Jeff Weiss presents Waiting for Britney Spears, a gonzo, nostalgic, and “allegedly true” recounting of his years as a tabloid spy in the lurid underbelly of Los Angeles. Weiss follows America’s sweetheart through Vegas superclubs and Malibu car chases, annulled marriages and soul-crushing legal battles, all the way to Britney’s infamous 2007 VMA performance. As Weiss lives through the chaos leading to Britney’s conservatorship, he observes, with peerless style, cringe-inducing fashion waves, destructive celebrity surveillance, and a country whose decline is embodied by the devastating downturn of its former golden child. With the narrative flair that established him as a singular chronicler of modern pop culture, Weiss goes for broke in Waiting for Britney Spears, a descent into a neon hall of mirrors reflecting our obsession with fame, morality, and the mystery of what really happened to the last great pop star. Jeff Weiss is a music writer and cultural critic whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, FADER, and many other outlets. A former columnist for LA Weekly, he is the cofounder of The LAnd magazine and the founder of the pioneering hip-hop blog Passion of the Weiss, along with its record label, POW Recordings. He lives in Los Angeles. About Third Place BooksFounded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events. Information Source: Third Place Books | eventbrite

Experience a guided tour and live drawing session at the Cripta Rasponi and the Suspended Gardens of the Palazzo della Provincia in Ravenna. Immerse yourself in the historical atmosphere of this unique location on June 15, 2025, located at 7 Piazza San Francesco, 48121 Ravenna. Explore the fascinating architecture and lush greenery while honing your drawing skills under expert guidance. Don't miss this opportunity to delve into the rich cultural heritage of Ravenna through this exclusive event.

Third Place Books is pleased to welcome Annie Hartnett to our Ravenna store for a celebration of her new novel The Road to Tender Hearts, which follows a sixty-three-year-old lottery winner and his ragtag accomplices on a cross-country quest to reunite with his high school sweetheart. Annie will be joined in conversation by local author Elise Hooper. This event is free and open to the public. For important updates, RSVP is highly recommended in advance. This event will include a public signing and time for audience Q&A. Sustain our author series by purchasing a copy of the featured book! When you RSVP to one of our free events during the month of June, we invite you to add a donation to The Queer Trans Project, a Black-led, trans-led nonprofit organization dedicated to providing life-changing gender-affirming resources, uplifting trans voices, and building power for our communities. Having trouble registering? See Eventbrite's troubleshooting FAQ here. About The Road to Tender Hearts. . .A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death—by the beloved author ofRabbit CakeandUnlikely Animals. At sixty-three years old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left—he’s had three heart attacks already. But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back. Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who’s adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there’s one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home. This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for—a fresh shot at love and parenting—but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it. Annie Hartnettis the author of Unlikely Animals, which won the Julia Ward Howe Prize for fiction and was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is also the author of Rabbit Cake, a finalist for the New England Book Award and a Kirkus Reviews best book of the year. Hartnett has been awarded fellowships and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and the Associates of the Boston Public Library. Along with writer Tessa Fontaine, she co-runs the Accountability Workshops for writers, helping them commit to routines and embrace the long, slow, joyful, terrible process of doing the work. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, daughter, and dog. A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. The Library of Lost Dollhouses is inspired by a dollhouse that's been in her family for five generations. Elise lives in Seattle with her husband and two daughters. About Third Place BooksFounded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events. Information Source: Third Place Books | eventbrite