Book briefs

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District’s Summer Reading Program is scheduled to begin Friday and continue through Aug.6. The free program offers toddlers, children, teens and their families the opportunity to share reading time together and attend guest programs while keeping track of their reading successes.

Children from birth to age 5 can join the Rubber Ducky Reading Club, with a duck toy and board books as rewards for prereading activities. Kids in kindergarten through grade 5 can participate in One World, Many Stories, with free books from the library’s used bookstore and children’s museum admission as the carrot to keep kids reading. You Are Here, the program for teens, rewards readers with free used books and a chance to win a Target gift card. For more information on the program, stop by any library branch, visit lvccld.org or call 734-7323.

Rick Harrison pens ‘Pawn Stars’ book

“This is a big, crazy world, and most of the time I feel like I’m at the epicenter,” Rick Harrison, “Pawn Stars” reality show star, writes in his new book.

Harrison is set to sign “License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver” at 7 p.m. Friday at the 6521 Las Vegas Blvd. South Borders in Town Square Las Vegas.

For more information about the book and its author, visit gspawn.com.

Food writers to talk about local scene

A panel of local food writers — Misty Yang (yelp.com), Brock Radke
(vegasfoodrestaurant.com), Jillian Plaster (frugalfoodielas
vegas.blogspot.com) and Al Mancini (seconddeadlysin.com) — is set to discuss the impact of the Internet and social media on food culture in Las Vegas, how the community’s perception of dining has changed and the effect of economics on the culinary industry during an event titled “The Language of Food” at 7 p.m. today at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

Authors to participate in group event

Authors Ted Pannell, Jay Wertz and Charles David are set to sign copies of their books during an event titled “War Stories Through the Ages,” scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

‘Appetizer’ author to visit bookstore

Ni’Cola Mitchell is set to sign copies of her books “Over & Over Again,” “Twisted” and “Appetizer: When You’re Not His Main Course” at 1 p.m. Sunday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

For more information about the author, visit nicolacmitchell.com.

‘Sammy the Semi’ signing set for Saturday

Celia Johnson is scheduled to sign and read from her children’s books “The Adventures of Sammy the Semi: Race Car Adventure” and “The Adventures of Sammy the Semi: Toy Store Adventure” from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Book Boutique, 19 W. Pacific Ave. in Henderson.

For more information, call 697-0001.

Sisters in Crime to host book discussion

The Sisters in Crime Southern Nevada chapter is trying something different than its usual guest speakers. The writing group plans to host a group discussion on Kate Carlisle’s book “Homicide in Hardcover at 3 p.m. Sunday at the 3860 S. Maryland Parkway Barnes & Noble.

For more information, visit sistersincrimesnv.com.

Henderson libraries to kick off summer reading program

Henderson Libraries are set to kick off a Summer Reading Program Saturday. The program is designed to take all ages — children, teens and adults — on a literary trip around the world. The kids program will follow a One World, Many Stories theme, the teen theme is You Are Here and adults can participate in Novel Destinations, a program that rewards reading with prizes donated by local businesses. Adults also are invited to participate in writing and photography competitions.

For details on program events, drop by any Henderson library, visit mypubliclibrary.com or call 492-6581.

North Las Vegas Library to kick off Summer Reading Club

Discover how much fun reading can be by signing up for the Summer Reading Club at any North Las Vegas library. This year’s program, designed to take readers around the literary world, is set to begin Thursday and continue through July 31. Call or drop by any North Las Vegas library for details. North Las Vegas Library, 2300 Civic Center Drive, can be reached at 633-1070. Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Way, can be reached at 839-2980. Alexander Library, 1755 W. Alexander Road, can be reached at 633-2880.

Count sheep with Alex Raffi

Join local author/illustrator Alex Raffi for a reading of his book “The Sheep Counting Dream” followed by a guided drawing activity from 2 to
2:45 p.m. June 17 at the Gibson Library, 100 W. Lake Mead Parkway, Henderson. For more information about the author, visit alexraffi.com.

Pool design book features world’s best water features

Las Vegans Mary Vail, Joe Vassallo and Virginia Martino recently released “International Award-Winning Pools, Spas, & Water Environments,” a book that showcases the most innovative designs of water-inspired applications from around the globe

More information on the book can be found on the publisher’s website at www.schifferbooks.com.

Ann Browning and Bishop Mangum
to sign works June 18

Author Ann Browning is set to sign copies of her new book “Six Days Till Sunday,” and local author Bishop W. Ralph Mangum is scheduled to join her with his book “Random Thoughts About God” at 1 p.m. June 18 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

View outdoors columnist schedules events for ‘Base Camp Las Vegas’

View outdoors columnist Deborah Wall plans to speak and sign copies of her book “Base Camp Las Vegas: Hiking the Southwest States” at 1 p.m. June 18 at the Gibson Library, 100 W. Lake Mead Parkway; at 6:30 p.m. July 18 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway; at 1 p.m. July 30 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway; and at 2 p.m. Aug. 13 for readers 50 or older at the Heritage Park Senior Facility, 300 S. Racetrack Road.

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

‘You Can’t Make This Up!’ signing set

Stu Michaels is set to sign copies of his new book “You Can’t Make This Up! Cops, Crooks, and Celebrities from Brooklyn to Las Vegas” from 5 to 7 p.m. June 22 at Addison’s Lounge in the Rampart Casino 221 N. Rampart Blvd. For more information about the book that follows Michaels’ adventures as a New York City detective and Las Vegas casino security boss, visit youcantmakethisupbook.com.

Bing Crosby’s niece to speak at Boulder City Library

Carolyn Schneider plans to talk about her famous uncle during a presentation on her book “Bing, On the Road to Elko” from 1 to 3 p.m. June 25 at the Boulder City Library, 701 Adams Blvd. For more information about the book, visit bingcrosbybooks.com.

‘Letters From Frank’ author to speak

Ingrid I. Holm-Garibay is set to speak about “Letters From Frank: An American Terrorist’s Life,” her chronicle of correspondence with Frank Darwin Alexander, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. June 27 at the Paseo Verde Library.

For more information on the book, visit ingridbooks.com.

Karin Slaughter to promote book
and cause at library event

Best-selling author Karin Slaughter is set to speak about her latest novel, “Fallen,” a tale of a policewoman willing to go to extreme lengths to save her family, at 7 p.m. June 28 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

In addition to talking about “Fallen,” Slaughter plans to promote her Save the Libraries fundraising initiative, savethelibraries.com, designed to help raise community awareness and support the needs of public libraries.

For more information, visit karinslaughter.com.

Library District on a paperless push

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District wants your email address.

On July 1, the district will discontinue the mailing of hold and overdue notices. After that date, notifications will only be provided electronically. But patrons can elect to receive notices electronically now.

Advantages include: a courtesy notice via email three days before your items will be overdue, prompt notices when held items are available and a library newsletter and events notices via email.

Email addresses can be submitted online at lvccld.org, at any library customer service desk or by phone at 507-3595.

Extension program to teach free
memoir workshop for seniors

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.

Next up, the Heritage Park Senior Facility at 300 S. Racetrack Road in Henderson plans to host a Life Stories Nevada workshop from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays from Sept. 6-27.

To register, call 940-5423.

For more information about the program, visit lifestoriesnevada.org.

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.

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.

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.”

Northwest-area borders offers
writers group on Tuesdays

Borders bookstore hosts a free writers group at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays at 2190 N. Rainbow Blvd.

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 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.

National Senior poets laureate
competition under way

Entries are being accepted for regional winners in the 19th annual National Senior Poets Laureate Poetry Competition for American poets 50 or older. The submission deadline is June 30. State senior poets laureate are expected to be named in July, and the National Senior Poet Laureate is set to be announced Sept. 1.

For more information, visit amykitchenerfdn.org.

Author starts internet food show

“Top of the Food Chain,” a weekly live Internet show hosted by Al Mancini, co-author of “Eating Las Vegas — The 50 Essential Restaurants,” can be found at vegasvideonetwork.com/our-shows/top-of-the-food-chain.

Mancini’s first episode, on wine and cheese pairing, aired live May 12. The show is set to continue to broadcast live at 4 p.m. Thursdays.

Local writer explores allergies
in ‘Eating Gavin’s Way’

Local author Theresa J. Gonsalves released the new book “Eating Gavin’s Way” April 15.

The tale, illustrated by Kathy Garren, follows the plight of Gavin Young, an 8-year-old allergic to oats, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy, wheat and red meat. The book is written to help children tackle their own allergies or understand peers with allergies.