If you live in the Bay Area, there are several upcoming book events worth checking out:

Saturday, December 11: Jen Leo will be reading from her new travel humor anthology, Whose Panties Are These?: More Misadventures from Funny Women on the Road, at Book Passage in Corte Madera. The event starts at 7 pm.

Sunday, December 12: Latin America expert Christopher Baker will show slides and talk about his book Cuba Classics: A Celebration of Vintage American Automobiles. This event is also at Book Passage, and begins at 4 pm.

Tuesday, December 14: Michael Shapiro will discuss A Sense of Place: Great Travel Writers Talk About Their Craft, Lives and Inspiration, and play audio clips of his interviews with 18 of the world’s leading travel writers. This event is at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library (1501 Tiburon Blvd in Tiburon), and begins at 7:30 pm.

Thursday, December 16th: Vagabonding.net diva Lavinia Spalding will be hosting a launch party for her cookbook/coffeetable book With a Measure of Grace: The Story and Recipes of a Small Town Restaurant. The book contains recipes from Hell’s Backbone Grill, a Buddhist-based, Zagat-rated restaurant in small-town Utah, which is run by Lavinia’s sister Blake. This event will be at G Bar, 488 Presidio Blvd, San Francisco, from 6-10 pm, and food from the book’s recipes will be served.