Book Briefs for April 24-May 1

Romantic thriller author plans launch

Local author Ni'cola Mitchell plans to launch her new romantic thriller, "A Cold Piece," with a discussion and signing at 6 p.m. today in the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Mitchell is also the author of "Twisted," "Between the Sheets," "The Appetizer: When You're Not His Main Course" and "Over & Over Again." For more information, visit nicolacmitchell.com.

Club CSI series author plans visit

Meet David Lewman, author of the Club CSI series, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Windmill Library, 7060 W. Windmill Lane. The event is recommended for readers 8 or older. For more information, call 507-6041 or visit lvccld.org.

'Lords of Las Vegas' events planned

Veteran author Kurt Divich plans to speak about his first work of fiction, "Lords of Las Vegas," from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday in room D-101 at the College of Southern Nevada's Charleston campus, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd.

Divich also plans a book launch event from 5 to 8 p.m. May 8 at the Three Angry Wives Irish pub, 8820 W. Charleston Blvd., No. 105, which is featured in the book that follows two young men battling greed, adultery and each other in the cauldron of Las Vegas politics. For more on the author, visit lordsoflasvegas.com.

Libraries plan middle school Poetry Jam

Middle school students are set to perform original poetry in the seventh annual Poetry Jam scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd., and 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Whitney Library, 5175 E. Tropicana Ave., Visit lvccld.org.

Food critic to visit senior facility

"Personal Favorites: The Chefs of Las Vegas" author Heidi Knapp Rinella is set to talk about the restaurant scene followed by chef Mayra Trabulse of Pura Vida Bakery & Bystro demonstrating vegan cooking at a free, all-ages event from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Heritage Park Senior Facility library, 300 S. Racetrack Road, Henderson. Seating is limited. Register at mypubliclibrary.org.

Tony Hsieh to speak to entrepreneurs

The Young Entrepreneurs of Southern Nevada plan to host a question-and-answer session featuring "Delivering Happiness" author Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday at in the auditorium of the Marjorie Barrick Museum, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. The event is free. Call 895-3904 for more information.

Politician plans book signing

Dennis Ball, author of the political book "America 2000: Foundations for Generations!," is scheduled to sign books at noon Saturday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Seniors invited to memoir workshops

LifeStories Nevada plans to sponsor three free four-week memoir-writing workshops for seniors 50 or older. The first is scheduled from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Thursdays May 3-24 at the Heritage Park Senior Facility, 300 S. Racetrack Road in Henderson. The second is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to noon Tuesdays May 22-June 12 at the Centennial Hills Active Adult Center, 6601 N. Buffalo Drive. The third is scheduled from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Tuesdays May 22-June 12 at the Barbara Greenspun WomensCare Center West, 7220 S. Cimarron Road. Online registration is available for the Henderson class at cityofhenderson.com/parks. The class code is 191057-80. To register for the other classes, contact Jean Norman at 940-5423, email normanj@unce.unr.edu or visit lifestoriesnevada.org.

BMI magazine releases spring edition

Witness, the Black Mountain Institute's literary magazine, has released it s spring 2012 edition titled "Disaster." Featuring work from David H. Wells, Hugh Fox, Marisa Handler, Colleen Kinder, Sarah Blake, Robert Shuster and others, the online edition can be accessed at witness.blackmountaininstitute.org. The magazine plans to accept submissions for its 2013 online Summer and Fall issues Sept. 1 through Dec. 1.

Young adult authors plan appearance

Lindsey Leavitt, local author of the teen novels "The Royal Treatment," "Princess For Hire" and "Sean Griswold's Head," is scheduled to make an appearance at 7 p.m. May 3 at the 2191 N Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information on the author, visit lindseyleavitt.com.

Leavitt is set to be joined by "Everneath" author Brodi Ashton and Bree Despain, author of "Savage Grace," the latest book in the Dark Divine series. Visit brodiashton.blogspot.com and breedespain.com for details.

Camp to raise funds through cookbook

A new cookbook has been launched to raise funds for Camp to Belong, a nonprofit dedicated to camps that reunite siblings who were separated in foster care. For more information, visit camptobelong.org.

Sorority to sponsor Youth Writing Workshop

Youths 14 to 18 are invited to participate in a short story workshop scheduled from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 5 at the West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd. Mignon M. Brown is scheduled to facilitate the workshop sponsored by the Las Vegas alumnae chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Space is limited, and students must register at lasvegasalumnaedst.org. Students are invited to present one of their own short stories. Prizes are planned for the top two stories. For more information, call 507-3989.

Signing set for 'Defying Evil'

Local author Ben Wood plans to sign copies of his book "Defying Evil: How the Italian Army Saved Croatian Jews During the Holocaust" at 1 p.m. May 5 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Math professor to meet with readers

Professor of mathematics Satish C. Bhatnagar plans to meet with the public and sign copies of his books "Scattered Matherticles" and "Vectors in History" from 12:30 to 5 p.m. May 5 at the lobby of the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.

Lee Ann Krusemark to speak at Las Vegas Writers Group meeting

Local author/journalist/public relations professional Lee Ann Krusemark is scheduled to speak about establishing credibility with publishers at a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group scheduled at 7 p.m. May 17 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. A $5 meeting fee is charged. For more information on the group, visit meetup.com/las-vegas-writers.

Carr Chat series to feature Victoria Dahl

Local author Robyn Carr plans a conversation with Victoria Dahl, author of The Donovan Brothers Brewery Series, from noon to 1 p.m. May 18 at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway, as part of the Carr Chat series. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.

Las Vegas Romance writers to welcome Heather Jeffers

Heather Jeffers is scheduled to share public speaking tips at the Las Vegas Romance Writers meeting scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon May 19 in the Wengert Room at NV Energy, 6226 W. Sahara Ave. The public is welcome. For more information, visit lasvegasrwa.org. For more on Jeffers, visit hbennettbooks.com.

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 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 details, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

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 "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."

Free Read to Me program offers 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 opens 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.