Normal’s Books and Records New Facade Celebration, Sale, and Concert
Dec. 17
Have you seen Normal’s lately? Yeah, after about three months of gray plastic covering the front and a little more than seven months total of messing about, Normal’s has a whole new facade that’s brightly-colored and just like, immediately iconic. That’s not to say the area around Normal’s isn’t a bit of a mess because the city has been digging up the streets in Waverly for nearly a year. But hey, there’s nothing Normal’s can do about that. Nonetheless, celebrate the store’s new look, buy some shit, and shake your fist angrily at ripped up roads and big load machinery clanging all around. All used books, records, CDs, DVDs, and so on in the store are 20 percent off and it’s a whole day of live music, performance, and poetry featuring Smoke Bellow, Infinity Knives & Randi, Linda Franklin & Liz Downing, Elliot Swain, Wheatie Mattiasich accompanied by Steve Santillian, Justin Sanders, Peter Redgrave & Khristian Weeks, Mole Suit Choir, Blood On The Mercy Seat, and DJ Hummingbird Feeder. The place is an institution and, unlike a certain institutions, it isn’t resting on its rep or anything—it keeps delivering the goods (they also have one of the best and most useful and entertaining Instagrams @normals_books_records, where the stuff about to hit the shelves is helpfully previewed). 3 p.m., Normal’s Books and Records, 425 E. 31st St., (410) 243-6888, normals.com, free. (Brandon Soderberg)
Books Events: Dec. 13-20
Baltimore County Public Library Pikesville Branch, 1301 Reisterstown Road, (410) 887-1234, bcpl.info. Matthew A. Crenson, professor emeritus of political science at Johns Hopkins University and author of “Baltimore: A Political History.” Dec. 13, 2:30 p.m.
Enoch Pratt Free Library Central, 400 Cathedral St., prattlibrary.org. Former Federal prosecutor Paul Butler discusses his book, “Chokehold: Policing Black Men,” as part of the Brown Lecture Series. Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
Enoch Pratt Free Library Cherry Hill Branch, 606 Cherry Hill Road, (410) 396-1168, prattlibrary.org. Mental health and emotional wellness advocate Maxine Bigby Cunningham discusses her book “Power Walking: A Journey to Wholeness.” Dec. 16, 1 p.m.
Red Emma’s, 30 W. North Ave., (443) 602-7585, redemmas.org. Two books from Baltimore artists: Photographer Kyle Pompey’s “Perspective: Baltimore” and Aaron Maybin’s “Art-Activism: The Revolutionary Art, Poetry, & Reflections of Aaron Maybin.” Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m. Kristen Jeffers of the website the Black Urbanist. Dec. 14, 7:30 p.m.