Boston author (and former Somerville resident) TERRY KITCHEN (Next Big Thing) and Newton author ROB SIEGEL
(Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic) will be reading from their new books at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Avenue, Somerville on Thursday March 6. The reading begins at 7 PM and admission is free. As KITCHEN and SIEGEL are both also singer/songwriters, they may also perform a few songs during the reading. For more information call the Somerville Public Library at 617-623-5000 or visit http://www.somervillepubliclibrary.org.

TERRY KITCHEN is best known as an award-winning singer/songwriter, releasing ten CDs since the early 1990s. His new novel Next Big Thing is set in the 1980s Boston music scene, when Aerosmith, J. Geils and The Cars were all at their peak and some two thousand lesser-known bands, like Kitchen’s own ’80s group Loose Ties, were engaged in a nightly battle for existence and glory. At once disarmingly absurd and heartbreakingly real, Next Big Thing combines the gritty backstage vibe of Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments with the emotional thawing heart of Jay McInerney’s Bright Lights Big City, and every page crackles with the kinetic current of true rock’n’roll. For more information on TERRY KITCHEN visit http://www.terrykitchen.com.

For over 25 years ROB SIEGEL has written a monthly column called “The Hack Mechanic” for the BMW Car Club of America’s magazine Roundel. In his new book Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic, he shares his secrets to buying, fixing, and driving cool cars without risking the kids’ tuition money or destroying his marriage. And that’s something to brag about considering the dozens of cars, including twenty-five BMWs, that have passed through his garage over the past three decades. With a steady dose of irreverent humor, Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic blends car stories, DIY advice, and cautionary tales in a way that will resonate with the car-obsessed (and the people who love them).