Book Briefs

Stephen G. Brown, associate professor of English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, plans to take listeners on an “Emerald Isle Escapade: A Literary Jaunt of Ireland” during a free University Forum Lecture Series event scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Barrick Museum on the 4505 S. Maryland Parkway campus.

For more information, visit liberalarts.unlv.edu/calendar.html.

‘Fade Sag Crumble’ discussion planned

A discussion on the Las Vegas Writes book “Fade Sag Crumble: Ten Las Vegas Writers Confront Decay” is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. The book — with chapters by Stephen Bates, Deborah Coonts, Lynnette Curtis, Danielle Kelly, Jarrett Keene, Andrew Kiraly, Rick Lax, Matthew O’Brien, Steve Sebelius and Stacy J. Willis — was edited by Scott Dickensheets. Call 507-3400 or visit lvccld.org.

Photographer shares true story

“Feathers & Gifts” author PJ Sheldon is set to sign her true story about a life-changing photo assignment in the wilderness at noon Saturday at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

Holiday book signing planned

R. William Bennett plans to sign his novel “The Christmas Gift” and his new book “Jacob T. Marley” at 2 p.m. Friday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. The store is also set to host Ni’Cola Mitchell as she signs her books “Over and Over Again,” “Twisted” and “The Appetizer: When You’re Not His Main Course” at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Author to present ‘Halloween Misfits’

Local author Audrey Smith plans to read from her book, “Halloween Misfits” at 11 a.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Snooki scheduled to sign
‘Confessions of a Guidette’

Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is scheduled to sign her book “Confessions of a Guidette” at 2 p.m. Sunday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

UFC fighter to sign encyclopedia

UFC fighter Frank Mir is scheduled to sign copies of “UFC Encyclopedia,” a book compiled by Thomas Gerbasi, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 3860 S. Maryland Parkway Barnes & Noble.

Artists and authors team up
for Government center exhibit

“10 x 10: A Creative Exchange Between Visual Artists and Writers,” is scheduled to be on display in the Clark County Government Center Rotunda Gallery, 500 S. Grand Central Parkway, through Dec. 2. A reception featuring readings and performances is set for 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 4.

Artist/author teams participating in the exhibit include Noelle Garcia and nila northSun, David Sanchez Burr and Danielle Kelly, Jesse Smigel and Alissa Nutting, Jason Adkins and Becky Bosshart, Catherine Borg and T.R. Witcher, Shannon Eakins and Erica Anzalone, Andreana Donahue and Kathryn Kruse, Shan Michael Evans and Jeffrey Bennington, Grindley Troy Gillett and Dayvid Figler, Brent Sommerhauser and Maile Chapman, Sam Davis and Bliss Esposito and Erin Stellmon and Jarret Keene.

Vegas Valley book festival’s main events to begin next week

The Vegas Valley Book Festival is scheduled to kick off with a keynote presentation by “World War Z” author Max Brooks at 7 p.m. Nov. 3, at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road, and conclude with a reading by “A Thousand Acres” author Jane Smiley at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St.

The festival is expected to bring in more than 100 authors for panel discussions, readings, exhibitions and more. Most events are free. Highlights include the Children’s Book Festival and the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, set for Nov. 5, and “Feasting on Words: The Literature and Food Fair” featuring Rick Moonen and other chefs and cookbook authors scheduled for Nov. 6.

For updates, visit vegasvalleybookfestival.org or call 229-5431.

Henderson author plans signing

Henderson author Armida Lopez plans to sign her children’s book “Some Say” at 1 p.m. Nov. 2 at Pinkpeas Pregnancy & Parenting Care Center, 3920 W. Charleston Blvd., Suite J.

Sunrise Coffee Co. on sunset road
hosts open mic night Wednesdays

Sunrise Coffee Co. welcomes poets and poetry fans to participate in its open mic night starting at 7 p.m. every Wednesday at 3130 E. Sunset Road.

Free StoryCorps toolkit
helps collect memories

The national StoryCorps’ Memory Loss Initiative encourages people with memory loss to share their stories with loved ones and future generations. To make that task easier, a free step-by-step toolkit is available to download at storycorps.org/mli.

The Commemorate toolkit offers an individual reminiscence program that family members can initiate or memory loss care facilities can add to activities.

The initiative has collected more than 1,800 interviews with 180 partner organizations.

For more information, visit storycorps.org or call 646-723-7027.

Share poems at Human Experience

Polish up a poem or two and try them out live at Human Experience, a free spoken word event, from 7 to 9 p.m. Mondays in The Beat coffee shop at 520 Fremont St. inside Emergency Arts. For more information or to view the events online as they happen, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

Access recorded Book programs online through library district

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has started posting videocasts and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available so far include: “An Afternoon with Tony Curtis,” John L. Smith’s presentation “Amelia’s Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know,” “Batman” movie producer Michael Uslan’s presentation at the 2009 Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, Jami Carpenter’s “ABCs of Editing” workshop and Brian Rouff’s “Getting Published: A Long Strange Trip.” To access the programs, visit lvccld.org, select “Books, Movies & More” and then “Video and Podcasts.”

The Black Mountain Institute has offered recordings of its programming since 2006. To access recordings of a gamut of writers from E.L. Doctorow to Alissa Nutting, visit blackmountain
institute.org and select “multimedia.”

SHARPEN WRITING SKILLS DURING WORKSHOP SERIES

Author Maxwell Alexander Drake plans a series of free workshops to sharpen writing skills this fall at the Centennial Hills Library, 6711 N. Buffalo Drive. Remaining seminars are set for 3 p.m. Nov. 20 and 4:45 p.m. Nov. 22.

For more information, call 507-6100.

Free read to me program
offers stories online and by phone

Celebrity storytellers Oscar Goodman, Rita Rudner, Clint Holmes, Terry Fator, Carrot Top, The Scintas and others have donated their talents to the Clark County Education Association Community Foundation’s Read To Me program. Children can view more than 15 videos of celebrities reading books on the website at readtomelv.com. Stories also can be accessed by calling 240-2665.

Both databases are frequently updated with fresh stories. Parents and teachers can download lesson plans for each book on the website.

DOWNLOAD BOOKS and MORE
FROM YOUR PUBLIC LIBRARY

Virtual Branch websites make it easy to browse, check out and download digital books and more to a home computer for free. All patrons need is a valid library card and an Internet-connected PC.

Virtual Branch download websites feature a digital catalog of downloadable audio books, e-books, music and video titles.

Each site is meant to look and feel like the library’s main site, and it has many easy-to-use features similar to an online store.

Digital book downloads are borrowed just like print materials. Once patrons select the title or author they want, they follow the steps to check out and then download the title to their home computer.

Patrons can transfer most titles to portable media players, such as MP3 players, PDAs or smart phones.

Each title that is downloaded has a designated lending period. When the title expires, it is automatically returned to the Virtual Branch, so there are no late fees.

For more information, visit
search.overdrive.com.

Henderson Writers Group
meets Mondays

The Henderson Writers Group meets from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays. Meetings are at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 4550 S. Maryland Parkway on the second and fourth Mondays and at Saxby’s Coffee Lounge, 72 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, on the first, third and occasional fifth Mondays.

Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com for more details.

Meetings are open to the public.

Zine library open in Emergency Arts

Grab a cup of coffee and check out the independently crafted magazines at the Las Vegas Zine Library inside the Beat Cafe in Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St.

The library is still small, more of a collection on display for reference and on-site reading than a checkout repository. Contributions of zines are appreciated. For more information, visit lvzinelibrary.blogspot.com.

Local writers to read at Author to Author

Join Las Vegas writers John Getter, Micaela Fischer, Carrie Ann Lahain and Linda O’Connor as they read from their recent work and talk about the people, places, and events that have inspired them during Author to Author, a free Nevada Arts Council-sponsored event, scheduled at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 12 at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave.