Book Briefs for Mar. 20
Independent bookstore
to celebrate grand opening
Le Book Nook, 3655 S. Durango Drive, No. 23, plans a grand opening celebration Saturday with author appearances and signings featuring John L. Smith and his daughter Amelia, authors of “Amelia’s Long Journey: Stories About a Brave Girl and Her Fight Against Cancer,” scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Betty Bunch, author of “High Heels and Headdresses: Memoir of a Vintage Vegas Showgirl,” from 1 to 3 p.m.; and Brian Hurlburt, author of “Las Vegas Country Club: Chronicle of an Icon,” from 3 to 5 p.m. For more information, visit lebooknook.com or call 240-0950.
Trifecta Gallery to host Neon Lit
Neon Lit, a monthly literary event presented by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas master of fine arts and doctorate programs, plans to present student readers and guests at 7 p.m. Friday at Trifecta Gallery in The Arts Factory, 107 E. Charleston Blvd. Doors are set to open at 6 p.m.
This month’s readers include fiction writer Becky Bosshart, poets Claudia Keelan, Kelli Anne Noftle, Mollie Bergeron, Justin Irizarry and Andrew Wessels. Fiction writer Ashley Siebels is set to serve as master of ceremonies. For more information, visit neonlit.org.
‘Cinderella Dream’ signing set
Jill Stacey is scheduled to sign copies of her book “Cinderella Dream: A Memoir About a Shattered Life Restored” at 11 a.m. Saturday at the 8515 W. Charleston Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
Historian to speak on Helen J. Stewart
Author and historian Carrie Townley Porter plans to discuss her book “Helen J. Stewart: First Lady of Las Vegas” from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. For more information, visit helenjstewart.com or lvccld.org.
Author series to feature Katie Salidas
Readers are invited to meet Katie Salidas, author of the Immortalis Series, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday in the lobby of the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway.
‘Will Cook For Sex’ signing planned
Rocky Fino, author of “Will Cook for Sex: A Guy’s Guide to Cooking” and “Will Mix for Sex: Twenty-one Cocktails to Set the Mood,” plans to sign books from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit rockyfinowillcook.com.
Alexander Waugh to speak about
his grandfather, Evelyn Waugh
Alexander Waugh sees positives and negatives in pursing a career as a writer in the shadow of his grandfather, British novelist Evelyn Waugh. He plans to share anecdotes and previously undisclosed information about his grandfather garnered over years searching for lost and hidden letters during a free lecture scheduled for
7:30 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. Alexander Waugh is the author of “Fathers and Sons: The Autobiography of a Family” and “The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War.” The lecture is sponsored by the UNLV Great Works Academic Certificate program, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Department of English. For more information, visit go.unlv.edu.
Local author plans Henderson bookstore appearance
Meet author Vicki-Ann Bush and learn about her children’s book “The Queen of It,” her e-book teen series The Dusk Chronicles and her picture book “Winslow Willow the Woodland Fairy” at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble in Henderson.
Library plans Spring Fling Book Fair
Dozens of regional authors are scheduled to meet readers and sign books at the fourth annual Spring Fling Book Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 7 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Select authors plan free lectures and workshops starting at 11:30 a.m. Admission is free.
For more information, visit lvccld.org or call 507-3458.
Las Vegas Writers Conference
scheduled for April 19-21
The Las Vegas Writers Conference is scheduled for April 19-21 at Sam’s Town, 5111 Boulder Highway. Registration for the full conference is $450 or $500 at the door. One-day registration also is available. For more information, visit
lasvegaswritersconference.com.
Author to sign books in Pahrump
Gary J. Miller plans to sign his book “Gary’s Low Fat, Low Carb, Low Calorie Cookbook” at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Pahrump Community Library, 701 S. East St.
Signing planned for ‘Delivering Hope’
Author Jennifer Holt plans to sign copies of her book “Delivering Hope” at 6 p.m. March 29 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit jenshopefulwriting.
blogspot.com.
SHARE POEMS AT HUMAN EXPERIENCE
Polish up a poem or two and try them out 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, visit lasvegaspoets.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.
Bookstore plans Women’s History Month author gathering
The 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble plans a group Women’s History Month book signing featuring Debra Gauthier, Trish Geran, Heidi Harris, Wendy Mazaros, Elaine McNamara and JoAnn Oppenheimer at 1 p.m. March 31. For more information, visit barnesandnoble.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 Saxbys Coffee Lounge, 72 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson, on the first, third and occasional fifth Mondays. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays. Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com for more information. Meetings are open to the public.
Active Adult Center Book Club
to discuss ‘Blood From a Stone’
The Centennial Hills Active Adult Center book club plans to discuss “Blood From a Stone” by Donna Leon April 4 and “The Single Thread” by Marie Bostwick May 2 at the center, 6601 N. Buffalo Drive.
The book club meets at 12:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month and is free for center members.
For more information, call 229-1702.
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.
ACCESS RECORDED BOOK PROGRAMS ONLINE
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.”
Author to lead free career workshop
The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District plans to offer a free career workshops led by PJ Sheldon, local author of “Career Strategies for Success.” “Navigating Interviews” is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. April 14 at the Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd. A book sale and signing is set to follow. For details, visit lvccld.org.
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, Kindles 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.
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.
Teen Writing Club plans meetings
A Teen Writing Club meets at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. The club schedules meetings every other month. For more information, call 207-4260.
