Book Briefs

The Country Music Television cable network plans to premiere the new series "Top Secret Recipe" featuring Las Vegas cookbook author Todd Wilbur at 9 p.m. Friday.

Wilbur plans to spend each episode trying to recreate the secret recipe of an iconic American brand in three days. For more information visit cmt.com.

Senior Memoir workshop planned

Life Stories Nevada, a University of Nevada Cooperative Extension program designed to help seniors 50 or older record their memoirs, is sponsoring free four-week memoir workshops.

Sun City MacDonald Ranch plans to host a workshop from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays through Oct. 28 in its clubhouse at 2020 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway. The facility can be reached at 270-7000. To register, call the location or the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension at 940-5423. For more information about the program, visit lifestoriesnevada.org.

‘Strawberries, Stilettos and Steam’ signing scheduled

Imani True plans to sign copies of "Strawberries, Stilettos and Steam," a book of erotic stories she wrote with Dreama Sky, at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Outdoor Columnist’s guide selected as book of month

Jamba Juice’s Book of the Month is View Outdoors columnist Deborah Wall’s "Base Camp Las Vegas: Hiking the Western States."

From noon to 2 p.m. Friday she plans to visit the 1500 N. Green Valley Parkway location.

From noon to 2 p.m. Saturday she plans to visit the 2546 E. Craig Road location. From noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 she plans to visit the 5905 S. Eastern Ave. location.

For more information about the book, visit basecamplasvegashikes.com.

Readings in the Pumpkin Patch scheduled for Saturday

Readings in the Pumpkin Patch, a children’s book event tied to the Vegas Valley Book Festival, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Gilcrease Orchard, 7800 Tenaya Way. Children’s authors/illustrators Doug Ducharme, Frank Fiorello, Lesli Gillette, Kevin Janison, Nathaniel J. Reed and Brenda L. Tuttle are slated to participate. Local artists Keith Conlley, Shan Michael Evans and Wendy Jean Armitage plan to help kids make their own books.

For more information about this event or the upcoming festival, visit the vegasvalleybookfestival.org or call 229-5431.

Author plans to sign ‘Conversations for Paco’

Dr. James Lenhart plans to celebrate the release of his novel "Conversations for Paco" with a book signing from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Marché Bacchus, 2620 Regatta Drive. For more information, visit jameslenhart.net.

‘Crit’ and coffee on October’s menu

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s Book of the Month is Andrew Kiraly’s novel "Crit." Kiraly is scheduled to meet readers from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 15 at the 2220 Village Walk Drive location at The District at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson. From noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 he’s scheduled to visit the 10834 W. Charleston Blvd. location.

For more information, visit critbook.com.

Book Boutique schedules event

Wayne Fabiano is set to sign his novel "A Distinguished Collection of Dark Tales" from noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 15 at Book Boutique, 19 W. Pacific Ave. in Henderson. For more information, call 697-0001.

Comic compilation to benefit festival

"Tales from Fremont Street" explores the lives of suspects in a murder in six stories written and drawn by Las Vegas-based talent, including Evan Dent, The Fillbach Brothers, Ed Hawkins, Jarret Keene, Victor Moya, Pj Perez, Deryl Skelton, F. Andrew Taylor and Warren Wucinich, wrapped in a cover painted by Jska Priebe and designed by Dylan Todd.

The 48-page, black-and-white comic book anthology is scheduled to debut at the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival on Nov. 5, with all proceeds benefiting the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation’s support of the festival.

To sneak a peek at the book, visit vegasvalleycomicbookfestival.org.

Ozzy Osbourne to sign book at Las Vegas bookstore

Ozzy Osbourne is scheduled to make an appearance to promote his new book, "Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy: Advice from Rock’s Ultimate Survivor," at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 20 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. The bookstore plans to hand out event wristbands starting at 9 a.m. Oct. 19. In order to receive a wristband, readers must present an original receipt from Barnes & Noble with the book listed on it. For more information, call the store at 631-1775.

Local authors to speak at historians conference

Local authors have been tapped to present workshops at the 17th annual Association of Personal Historians Conference scheduled for Oct. 16-20 at Harrah’s Las Vegas, 3475 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Historian/author Michael Green is set to share stories about the families who built Las Vegas, and Oksana Marafioti, author of the upcoming memoir "American Gypsy," plans to speak on the road to finishing a personal history. Other speakers lined up include documentary filmmaker Benjamin Patton and Nikki Silva from National Public Radio’s "Hidden Kitchens."

For more information about the conference, visit tinyurl.com/aph-workshops.

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. The seminars are set for 3 p.m. Sunday , 4:45 p.m. Oct. 11, 3 p.m. Nov. 20 and 4:45 p.m. Nov. 22.

For more information, call 507-6100.

Author shares tips on braving layoffs

"Career Strategies for Success" author PJ Sheldon plans to share tips to avoid being blindsided by a layoff during a Career Connections series workshop scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 15 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway in Henderson. Registration is required. To register, call 207-4261 or visit mypubliclibrary.com

Lunch Lady author to visit Henderson

Jarrett Krosoczka, Children’s Choice award winning author and illustrator of the Lunch Lady graphic novel series, as well as the books "Punk Farm" and "Baghead," plans to talk about his evolution from a self-professed "goofy kid" to an acclaimed children’s author and illustrator from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Gibson Library at 100 W. Lake Mead Parkway in Henderson.

Books will be available for purchase and signing during the APPLE Partnership Celebration of Reading event. Reservations are required for the free reading. Visit mypubliclibrary.com to reserve a spot.

‘Friendly Fallout’ author to speak

Ann Ronald, author of "Friendly Fallout 1953," is scheduled to speak from 9 to 11 a.m. Oct. 22 at the Heritage Park Library, 300 S. Racetrack Road in Henderson.

Local author plans meet-and-greet

Meet Vicki-Ann Bush, author of the book "The Queen of IT," from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the lobby of the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway in Henderson.

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 Oct. 29 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

Lecture series to include book events

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, University Forum Lecture Series event schedule is online at liberalarts.unlv.edu/calendar.html. Highlights of the free series include "Emerald Isle Escapade: A Literary Jaunt of Ireland," scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26, and "Dylan Thomas at Age Nineteen: A One-Man Play," scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15. Most of the lectures are hosted by the Barrick Museum on the 4505 S. Maryland Parkway campus.

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."

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.

Sign up for updates about Vegas Valley book festival

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, the Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival and "Feasting on Words: The Literature and Food Fair" featuring Rick Moonen and other chefs and cookbook authors.

Panels are set to focus on fiction about Las Vegas and the history of women in the casino workforce. Free writing workshops will cover topics such as poetry, memoir, science fiction/fantasy and travel writing.

For updates, visit the website or call 229-5431.