Three pocket-size bike books by Portland writers have made their debut in the past six months, and they're all worth checking out.

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The first, April Streeter's Women on Wheels was published last May by A Serious Press. It's a well-designed, dense primer city biking and though "women" is in the title, it's composed of practical advice and background info that's geared toward any rider.

Second up is journalist and zinester Elly Blue's Everyday Bicycling, a super relevant and straightforward city biking handbook that I would recommend gifting to someone who's just getting started biking. Blue lists out everything about traffic laws, gear, and getting around that most people have to learn the hard way, with plenty of focus on often-ignored topics like hauling kids by bike and fear of riding in the road. I've wanted a jargon-free, readable, honest city biking guide to exist for a long time and Blue's is it.

Streeter and Blue are teaming up for a joint reading tonight at Powell's on Hawthorne at 7:30pm. Get down there!

Not in tonight's event, but still worth a shout out is Hop in the Saddle by Lucy Burningham and Ellee Thalheimer. Hop in the Saddle is exactly the punny book you think it is: A guide to exploring Portland's beer scene by bike. While the book is filling a niche sure to be the butt of a Portlandia joke, it serves its stereotypical market well. Lots of Portland tourists head straight for the breweries and this is a fun, practical guide to sampling Portland's best beers whether you're a local or a visitor.