NEW MEXICO BOOK NOTES

Poet explores the ties between people and places

AT BOOKWORKS: Poet Gregory Louis Candela will read from “Shallow Rooted Heart” at 3 p.m. today. Candela ponders the heart’s attachments to landscapes, to the human beings who inhabit them, to memories of place, especially the expanses of the Southwest, but widening to encompass his travels.

Anita Amstutz will discuss “Soul Tending: Journey into the Heart of Sabbath” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27.

Betty Moffett will sign and discuss “Coming Clean,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29. Bud Russo will talk about “Heroes and Villains of New Mexico: A Collection of True Stories” at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30.

Some of these tales are about genuine heroes. Some are about dastardly villains. Others you’ll have to decide for yourself: hero or villain? They are Spanish colonials, Mexicans and Anglos all the way to the present.

Bookworks is located at 4022 Rio Grande NW. Call 344-8139.

AT COLLECTED WORKS: Hampton Sides

will discuss “On Desperate Ground” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29.

On Oct. 15, 1950, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the United Nation troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim

Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war.

As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic — and harrowing — operations in American military history, and one of the classic battles of all time.

Collected Works is located at 202 Galisteo St., Santa Fe. Call 505-988-4226.

AT TREASURE HOUSE BOOKS & GIFTS:

Anne Leonard will sign her memoir “Travels with Cats” at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1.

Treasure House Books & Gifts is located at 2012 South Plaza NW in Old Town. Call 242-7204.