Book Briefs for July 24-31

Green Valley Library's Meet the Author program to feature Jonathan Sturak

Local writer Jonathan Sturak, author of "A Smudge of Gray: A Novel" and "Clouded Rainbow," is scheduled to meet with readers and sign copies of his books from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway, as part of the library's Meet the Author program. For more information, visit sturak.com.

Sci-fi author schedules visit

R.J. Archer, author of the sci-fi series Seeds of Civilization and Parallel Ops, is scheduled to sign books at 1 p.m. Saturday at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

Las Vegas wins contest and is added to bestselling author's tour

Bestselling suspense author Lisa Jackson hosted a Straight To The Heart Of Your Town contest to see which city should be added to her book tour, and Las Vegas won. Jackson is scheduled to sign books, such as her newest "You Don't Want to Know" to be sold a day before its official release date, at 6 p.m. Aug. 6 at the 8915 W. Charleston Blvd. Barnes & Noble. Jackson's friend, author Nancy Bush, is scheduled to sign books, too. For more on Jackson, visit lisajackson.com.

'Nevada's Lost City' signing scheduled

Dena M. Sedar, curator and archaeologist at the Lost City Museum in Overton, is scheduled to sign "Nevada's Lost City," an Images of America series book about the ancient pueblo structures unearthed in Overton, at 1 p.m. Aug. 18 at the 567 N. Stephanie St., Henderson, Barnes & Noble.

Bookstore schedules Entangled Publishing event

The 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble plans an Entangled Publishing author event at 7 p.m. Aug. 1. Authors scheduled to sign books include: Jennifer L. Armentrout, Melissa Bourbon, Anne B. Harrison, Annie Seaton, Bronwen Evans and Kate Evangelista.

Authors to be featured at Bellagio

"The World of Las Vegas Dining" authors Laury and John Bakie are set to be featured during the book and food chat event "The Book and The Bakies" from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturdays in the Tutto store at the Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South. For details, visit theworldof lasvegasdining.com.

Henderson Writers Group meets Mondays

The Henderson Writers Group meets from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. Mondays 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.

'You Can't Make This Up' signing set

Local author Stu Michaels is scheduled to sign his memoir "You Can't Make This Up" at 1 p.m. Aug. 4 at the 567 N. Stephanie St. Barnes & Noble.

Local author slated to sign cookbook

Local author Paula Garriott is scheduled to sign copies of the cookbook she wrote with Steven W. Siler, "Signature Tastes of Las Vegas," at 1 p.m. Aug. 11 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

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.

Performers to promote 'West Side Story' collective memoir

Performers who appeared in the classic movie musical "West Side Story" and contributed to the collective memoir "Our Story Jets and Sharks Then and Now" are scheduled to visit the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble at 1 p.m. Aug. 4.

Barnes & Noble to host writing group

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

Festival to host FLASH! Short, Short Fiction Contest

Clark County writers are invited to participate in FLASH! The Short, Short Fiction Contest, a pre-festival event of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. Cash prizes of $500, $250 and $100 are planned. Writers can register online at vegasvalleybookfestival.org through Aug. 17. The project is limited to the first 20 to apply. There is no fee to participate.

The hands-on competition is slated for 2 to 4 p.m Sept. 8 in the large conference room at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Entrants will have 90 minutes to complete a maximum 500-word short story based on a theme provided at the event. Writers may bring their own laptops and discs/jump drives. Legible hand-written copies will also be accepted.

A panel of four judges will determine the winners, which will be announced at a later date. Winning stories will be posted on the festival website and read at the festival on Nov. 3, and the first-place story will be published in Las Vegas CityLife. For more information, call Brian Rouff at 837-8996 or Suzanne Scott at 507-3459 or visit vegasvalleybookfestival.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.

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 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.