Book Briefs for Feb. 4-10, 2014

AUTHOR TO DISCUSS DEATH VALLEY HISTORY

Char Miller, professor of environmental analysis at Pomona College, plans to discuss Death Valley’s history in a free University Forum lecture at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4 in the Marjorie Barrick Museum at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. In his illustrated talk, Miller plans to explore Death Valley’s past and some of its contemporary dilemmas drawn from “Death Valley National Park: A History,” co-authored with the late UNLV professor Hal Rothman.

For more information, visit unlv.edu.

NEWT AND CALLISTA GINGRICH TO VISIT LAS VEGAS ON BOOK TOUR

Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista’s book tour plans a stop in Las Vegas at noon Feb. 4 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. He will be signing copies of his policy book “Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America’s Fate.” She will be signing copies of her children’s book “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”

For more information, visit gingrichproductions.com.

SUN CITY MACDONALD RANCH LITERARY GUILD PLANS EVENTS

The Sun City MacDonald Ranch Literary Guild plans a literary event featuring Robin Skone-Palmer, author of “Beyond the Spotlight: On the Road With Phyllis Diller,” at 2 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Desert Willow Community Center, 2020 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway.

At 2 p.m. March 9, the group plans to host an event featuring David L. Berger, author of “Case Book of a Private Investigator.” Admission is free, and guests receive a 20 percent discount in the center’s restaurant the day of the event.

NEW SERIES TO FEATURE POP-UP! POETRY

Pop-Up! Poetry: A Las Vegas Poetry Feature Series is set to present poets reading at 7 p.m. every First Friday in the Nevada Humanities offices at Art Square, 1025 S. First St. Upcoming poets to be featured include: Nathan Say on Feb. 7, Andrew Clark Hall on March 7, Vogue R. on April 4, A.J. Moyer on May 2 and Harry Fagel on June 6. The series is part of Las Vegas Poets Organizations’ celebration of 10 years of service to the community. For more information, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

EMERGING WRITERS SERIES TO FEATURE LENI ZUMAS

Novelist Leni Zumas is scheduled to speak as part of the Black Mountain Institute’s Emerging Writers Series at 7 p.m. Feb. 11 at Greenspun Hall Auditorium at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

Zumas is the author of “Farewell Navigator” and “The Listeners,” a finalist for the Oregon Book Award.

For more information, visit blackmountaininstitute.org.

LAS VEGAS ROMANCE WRITERS PLAN CONFERENCE FEB. 15

Budding writers are invited to learn the business of writing from experienced authors — from first idea, through character creation and plot development, to polishing and submission to agents and publishers during the Las Vegas Romance Writers annual Conference In-A-Day scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 15 at The Learning Village, 727 Fremont St. The conference is $20 for Las Vegas Romance Writers members and $35 for nonmembers. The fee includes lunch. Advance registration is required. For more information, visit lvrwa.org.

PJ SHELDON TO SIGN ‘FEATHERS AND GIFTS’

Local author PJ Sheldon is scheduled to sign copies of her book “Feathers and Gifts” at 11 a.m. Feb. 8 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

MAC KING TO SWAP SHOW TICKETS FOR BOOKS TO TAKE ON LITERACY TOUR

Comedy-magician Mac King is swapping show tickets for books to give to kids in at-risk schools during his Magical Literacy Tour Nevada Reading Week visits scheduled for March 4-7. Donate three new or gently used books and get two tickets to King’s show at Harrah’s Las Vegas. Book drive partners include:

• The Las Vegas Wranglers plan book collections during home games Feb. 8 and 9. Donors there are also slated to receive a voucher to be traded in for a $1 ticket to any home game this season. Sky Zone Las Vegas, 7440 Dean Martin Drive, plans to collect books throughout February. Donors there are also to receive a buy-one-get-one 60-minute jump pass.
• Grimaldi’s Pizzeria plans to collect books throughout February. Donors there are also to receive a $5-off card for the pizzeria. For locations, visit grimaldispizzeria.com.
• Galaxy Cannery Luxury+ Theatre, 2121 E. Craig Road, and Galaxy Green Valley Luxury+ Theatre, 4500 E. Sunset Road, plan to collect books throughout February. Donors there are also to be given a free large popcorn.
• Book donations can also be taken to Preferred Public Relations, 2630 S. Jones Blvd., throughout February.

All donation perks are limited to one per person. King has been collecting books and touring schools since 2011. In that time, he has collected more than 7,500 books. For more information, visit mackingshow.com.

LECTURE SERIES TO WELCOME GOOGLE ENGINEER RAY KURZWEIL

The UNLV Barrick Lecture Series plans to present a lecture by inventor, entrepreneur and author Ray Kurzweil at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. Kurzweil, who serves as director of engineering at Google, invented the first print-to-speech machine for the blind amongst other technology. His talk is titled “The Acceleration of Technology in the 21st Century: the Impact on Business, the Economy and Society.” Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are limited to two per person and may be available at the UNLV Performing Arts Center box office off Cottage Grove Avenue at South Maryland Parkway. For more information, call 702-895-2787 or visit unlv.edu.

MEMOIR-WRITING WORKSHOPS SLATED

An ongoing series of free four-week memoir-writing workshops is scheduled at noon Wednesdays and at 10 a.m. Fridays at the Las Vegas FamilySearch Library, 509 S. Ninth St. Four-week sessions are set to begin the first week of every month. For more information, call 702-382-9695.

LOCAL AUTHOR TO SIGN CHILDREN’S BOOKS

Local author Paula Jones is set to sign copies of her books “Clark the Shark” and “Dalton’s Dream” at 1 p.m. Feb. 15 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

BARNES & NOBLE TO HOST WRITING GROUP

The 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble hosts a writing critique group at 5:15 p.m. the fourth Monday of each month. The group is limited to the first 20 participants per meeting. Sign up at meetup.com/las-vegas-creative-writing-class.

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 Coffeehouse inside Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St. For more information, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

AUTHOR PLANS SIGNING FOR MEDICAL THRILLER

Local author Sean Dow is set to sign copies of his medical thriller “Debridement” at 1 p.m. Feb. 15 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

SIGNING SET FOR ‘WHY I’M RIGHT’

Jeff Adler is slated to sign copies of his book “Why I’m Right: An Average Guy’s View on Politics” at 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

LOCAL AUTHOR SHARES ‘ZULU DREAMS’

Local author Richman Bongani Mahlangu plans a signing for his book “Zulu Dreams: From Apartheid To The Ivy League” at 1 p.m. Feb. 22 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble. The book traces the author’s path from growing up in South Africa during apartheid to escaping poverty through tennis and pursing higher education for himself and then his sons. For more on the book, visit zuludreams.com.

ART CENTER HOSTS POETS CORNER

The West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd., hosts poets corner readings with Keith Brantley at 7 p.m. the first and third Friday of each month. For more information, contact the center at 702-229-4800.

ALIANTE LIBRARY TO HOST WRITERS CLUB

The Aliante Library Writers Club is scheduled to meet from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month at the Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Road. For more information, contact facilitator Glory Wade at glorywadewriter@gmail.com.

EBOOK COACH TO SPEAK TO WRITERS GROUP

Ebook consultant Peggy Richardson is scheduled to speak during a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group scheduled at 7 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. The meeting fee is $5. For more information, visit meetup.com/lasvegas-writers. For more on Richardson, visit her blog at wizardofebooks.com.

‘THE AVIATOR’S WIFE’ AUTHOR TO VISIT

Melanie Benjamin is set to discuss her novel “The Aviator’s Wife,” which follows the story of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, during a free program scheduled at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. For more information, visit lvccld.org.

BESTSELLING AUTHOR TO SIGN ‘NIGHT BROKEN’

Patricia Briggs, New York Times bestselling author of “Frost Burned” is set to sign copies of her the newest novel in her Mercy Thompson series “Night Broken” at 7 p.m. March 14 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

FREE READ TO ME PROGRAM OFFERED

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 702-240-2665. 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 Coffeehouse in Emergency Arts, 520 Fremont St. The library is 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.

HENDERSON WRITERS GROUP MEETINGS SET

The Henderson Writers Group meets from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays in room C-2 at Community Lutheran Church, 3720 E. Tropicana Ave. Meetings are typically canceled on holidays. For more information, visit hendersonwritersgroup.

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.

ACCESS RECORDED BOOK PROGRAMS ONLINE

Too busy to get out to book programs? The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District has started posting videos and podcasts of many of its programs online. Selections available 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 blackmountaininstitute.org and select “multimedia.”

BLACK MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE TO POSTPONE CONVERSATION WITH GERALDINE BROOKS AND STEPHEN GREENBLATT

The Black Mountain Institute-sponsored conversation scheduled with literary historian Stephen Greenblatt and historical novelist Geraldine Brooks originally set for 7 p.m. March 13 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway is to be delayed. Black Mountain Institute officials said they hope to reschedule the event in the fall. For more information, visit blackmountaininstitute.org.

POET LYNN XU PLANS UNLV VISIT

Poet Lynn Xu is scheduled to speak as part of the Black Mountain Institute Emerging Writers Series at 7 p.m. April 8 in Greenspun Hall Auditorium at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

The Shanghai-born poet is the author of the collection “Debts & Lessons” and the chapbook “June.” She is an editor at Canarium Books.

For more information, visit blackmountaininstitute.org.

UNLV PROFESSOR’S VERSE DRAMA TO DEBUT

A debut performance of “O, Heart,” a verse drama by local poet Claudia Keelan, is scheduled for 7 p.m. April 24 in the UNLV Student Union Theatre, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. Keelan, whose books include “Refinery” and “Utopic,” is a creative writing and English professor at UNLV and the editor of Interim magazine.

For more information, visit blackmountaininstitute.org.