* ** ** ** **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 2, 2009*

Information Contact:

lilla@readersbooks.com

Lilla Weinberger, co-owner

Readers’ Books

130 E. Napa Street

Sonoma, CA 95476

707-939-1779

_Calendar_

Thursday, January 8, 7:30 p.m. *Peter Laufer* and *Markos Kounalakis* will discuss their book /Hope Is a Tattered Flag: Voices of Reason and Change for the Post-Bush Era* */at Readers’ Books, 130 E. Napa St., Sonoma. For more information call 707-939-1779.

_Press Release_

On Thursday, January 8^th , at 7:30 p.m, Readers’ Books will present an evening with Peter Laufer and Markos Kounalakis, authors of /Hope Is a Tattered Flag: Voices of Reason and Change for the Post-Bush Era./

Laufer and Kounalakis host a nationally syndicated radio show—“Washington Monthly on the Radio”—and to produce this book they have carefully culled 48 interviews from the run-up to the 2008 presidential election. Some of the interviews are with inside the beltway pundits and political stars like Bill Richardson, but many of them are the words of governmental and civilian underlings—speechwriters, analysts, Army colonels, businessmen and artists, the people who do the actual work of the nation. These interviews cover the gamut of the current American experience and offer rich and rare insights into what’s likely to come in the Obama Administration.

Readers’ Books is located at 130 East Napa Street in Sonoma and the public is cordially invited. For more information on this event call 707-939-1779.

###

**

_Calendar_

Sunday, January 11, 3:00 p.m. *Tilar Mazzeo *will present her new book “The Widow Clicquot: The Story a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It/./.” at Andrews Hall, 276 E. Napa St., Sonoma. For more information call 707-939-1779.

_Press Release_

Readers’ Books will host a champagne reception and talk on Sunday, January 11, at 3 p.m. to celebrate the publication of Tilar J. Mazzeo’s book, “The Widow Clicquot: The Story a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled It.” The reception and talk will be held in Andrews Hall at the Sonoma Community Center, 276 East Napa Street, Sonoma.

Although Veuve Clicquot champagne is celebrated all over the world, until now very little was known about the woman who brought it to life. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin lived through and witnessed many of the dramatic events of the French Revolution. After her husband’s death she broke with convention and assumed the reins of his fledgling business. A daring and determined entrepreneur, it was Barbe-Nicole who arranged for secret deliveries of her champagne to Russia on one day and entertained Napoleon and Josephine on another. Often on the brink of financial ruin, she ultimately became one of the richest women of her time and through her product, her name lives on today.

Tilar J. Mazzeo is a cultural historian and biographer. She divides her time between California wine country and Maine, where she teaches at Colby College.

Andrews Hall is located at 276 East Napa Street, Sonoma. This event is co-sponsored by Readers’ Books and the Sonoma Community Center. A $10 donation is requested, which includes a glass of champagne. The public is invited. For more information call 707-939-1779.