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	Jason Berry, Michael Brown and Among Authors Visiting New Orleans By Suzanne Stouse The Times-Picayune June 19, 2011 http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2011/06/jason_berry_michael_brown_and.html Books to look for in bookstores this week and at the American Library Association convention opening Thursday in New Orleans. HARDBACK Render Unto Rome: The Secret Life of Money in the Catholic Church By Jason Berry (Crown, $25) A practicing Catholic, investigative journalist Berry calls the church one of history's great engines of charity even as he examines "the secrecy and deceit that run counter to its values." An "astonishing lack of accountability for the billions of dollars that run through the Catholic Church each year" is particularly noteworthy, he writes, in light of the abuse scandals that so far have seen the American church alone paying out nearly $2 billion to settle legal suits. Among the financial sins, according to Berry: The Vatican has never revealed its net worth -- and the value of its art, properties and stocks held through its bank "easily run into the tens of billions" (while the 108-acre sovereign state's budget is only $280 million). And the Vatican Bank -- where $30 million was impounded last year because of suspected money laundering -- is not listed on Vatican financial statements. Berry signs the book Wednesday, 5-7:30 p.m., Garden District Book Shop. Deadly Indifference: The Perfect (Political) Storm: Hurricane Katrina, the Bush White House, and Beyond By Michael D. Brown with Ted Schwarz (Taylor Trade, $24.95) Call it Brownie Points. The former FEMA director points at himself, for failing to be more forceful with President George W. Bush when Brown had the chance to call in the feds before Katrina, the storm that prompted the largest (and slowest) federal response to a natural disaster in U.S. history; and at Bush, for presenting a business-as-usual attitude after the hurricane struck, holding a birthday party for John McCain, then attending a baseball game in San Diego. Former Gov. Kathleen Blanco asked Bush early on for "everything you've got" as the storm passed, but Bush, Brown writes, "went to bed without acting." In the end, New Orleans readers may be uniquely qualified to decide if the book does a heckuva job. Brown signs it Friday, 6-7:30 p.m., Garden District Book Shop; and Saturday, 3-4:30 p.m., Maple Street Book Shop. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BOUND Strega Nona: Her Story Written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola (Penguin, $16.99, ages 4-8) DePaola's classic creation, his "Grandma Witch, " dispenses cures, comfort and pasta, ladled from a magic pot that's always full. The Newbery and Caldecott Honor recipient, who appears at ALA June 27, will sign books Saturday, 2:15 to 3:15 p.m., Maple Street Book Shop; and June 26, at noon, Octavia Books, site of 12 other young people's book signings by ALA-featured authors. DePaola also will discuss his upcoming "Strega Nona's Gift" at Octavia, where he will be joined by Richard Peck, author of the Newbery Medal-winning "A Year Down Yonder" and "Three Quarters Dead." (Peck also will sign books June 26 at 1 p.m., Maple Street Book Shop.) Another kid favorite at ALA: native author/illustrator/animator Mo Willems, an Emmy winner (for "Sesame Street") and Caldecott Honor winner, who will sign "Hooray for Amanda & Her Alligator!" and "Should I Share My Ice Cream?" Saturday, 3-5 p.m., Garden District Book Shop. I'd Know You Anywhere By Laura Lippman (William Morrow, $14.99) A death-row inmate fixed on making amends to a victim before dying haunts Lippman's 2010 book, just released in paperback. Now a middle-age wife and mother safe in the suburbs, Eliza Benedict was 15 years old when Walter Bowman kidnapped and held her hostage. Now he's in prison for raping and murdering someone else. Walter has put his sudden bid for reconciliation in a letter: "There was your photo, in a magazine. Of course, you are older now. Still, I'd know you anywhere." But he wants something more than forgiveness. Winner of the Edgar and numerous other crime fiction awards, part-time Orleanian Lippman ("What the Dead Know, " "Life Sentences, " the Tess Monaghan, P.I. books) will sign "I'd Know You Anywhere" during an event also featuring Tom Franklin's mystery "Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, " June 27, 6 p.m., Octavia Books. The Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book Written and illustrated by Jeff Kinney (Abrams, $12.95, ages 9-12) Get to it, kid: 60 new pages and 16 new full-color comic spreads to inspire your own bestseller. Widely credited for its ability to reform reluctant readers, Kinney's Wimpy Kid series this time makes the young and restless into authors, illustrators and stars of their own fabulous life stories. New York Times bestselling author and online game designer Kinney, named one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World, will sign books Friday, 4 p.m. (doors open at 3) at the Academy of the Sacred Heart, 4301 St. Charles Ave. To get in, Wimpy Kids of any age need bracelets, available at the Maple Street Book Shop, sponsors of the event. (Limit four bracelets per family.)
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