Book Briefs for June 4-10, 2013
FIERCE READS 2013 SUMMER TOUR
PLANS LAS VEGAS STOP
Authors Leigh Bardugo, Jessica Brody, Anna Banks and Emmy Laybourne are scheduled to visit at 7 p.m. June 5 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble as part of the Fierce Reads 2013 Summer Tour. For more information about the tour, visit macteenbooks.com.
SUN CITY MACDONALD RANCH plans event
The Sun City MacDonald Ranch Literary Guild plans to welcome Henderson best-selling romance author Robyn Carr, who is scheduled to meet with the group at 2 p.m. June 9 at the Desert Willow Community Center, 2020 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway. The event is free and open to the public, and the on-site Willows restaurant is slated to offer a 20 percent discount to attendees on the day of the event.
The guild plans to take the summer off and return with events featuring Beverly Washburn, author of the memoir “Reel Tears,” scheduled for Sept. 8; and Jazzin Jeanne Brei, author of “House Party Tonight” a biography of saxophonist Don Hill, for Oct. 13.
Event slated for authors of biography
Victoria Kilbury met Nabila working out at a Las Vegas gym. The two exchanged stories and talked about Nabila’s life in Saudi Arabia, a society where women had no rights. They could not attend school, pursue careers unless sanctioned by the government, drive cars or choose their husbands. Wishing to remain anonymous, Nabila asked Kilbury to help her write her life story. Nabila and Kilbury are slated to speak about the resulting book “Disenchanted: One Woman’s Journey for Independence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” from 7 to 9 p.m. June 11 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.
For more information about the book, visit disenchantedjourney.stephenspress.com.
Stephens Press to cease publishing
Stephens Press will cease publishing activities in 2013, according to its president, Carolyn Hayes Uber.
The publisher affiliated with Stephens Media, the parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and View, is in the process of notifying authors and corporate/institutional sponsors, making arrangements for inventory and arranging for an orderly transition of copyright and publication rights back to authors.
“We are also completing projects that were in our pipeline, including the Nevada 150 Sesquicentennial book that will be out early next year,” Uber wrote in a May 21 post on her Working Titlez blog at networkedblogs.com/LsU4O.
Author shares veteran experiences
Q. Jarone Batson is scheduled to sign the book “The Life Experiences of a World War II, Korea, and Vietnam Black American Army Veteran” at 1 p.m. June 15 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
LAS VEGAS WRITERS PLAN PROGRAM FEATURING Oksana Marafioti
Oksana Marafioti, author of the memoir “American Gypsy,” is set to speak on memoir writing during a meeting of the Las Vegas Writers Group scheduled for 7 p.m. June 20 at the Tap House, 5589 W. Charleston Blvd. A meeting fee of $5 is charged. For more information, visit meetup.com/las-vegas-writers.
Signing set for ‘Current Assets’
Arlene Alleman is scheduled to sign her book “Current Assets” at 2 p.m. June 21 at the 8915 W. Charleston Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
‘Time Squares’ author plans appearance
Dennis Goode is slated to sign copies of his book “Time Squares” at 1 p.m. June 22 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
Oz book author event slated
Roger Baum, great-grandson of “Wizard of Oz” author L. Frank Baum, is slated to sign copies of his books, which expand on the Oz legends, at 1 p.m. June 29 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
Writer shares keys to ‘Marital Bliss’
Jim Hamilton is scheduled to sign copies of his self improvement book “It’s All About Her: A Man’s Guide to Marital Bliss” at 1 p.m. July 6 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.
Author schedules career workshop
PJ Sheldon, author of “You’re HIRED!” and “Career Strategies for Success,” is slated to offer a free career workshop at 10 a.m. June 15 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.
Library to host Date My Book
Bring your favorite book and a smile to Date My Book, an event featuring speed dating with a literary twist, scheduled from 1 to 3 p.m. June 15 at the Gibson Library, 100 W. Lake Mead Parkway. For more information, call 702-565-8402.
Jonathan Sturak releases new thriller
Jonathan Sturak is set to mingle with readers and talk about his new thriller “Vegas Was Her Name” as part of the Reader Meet the Author series from 1 to 3 p.m. June 15 in the rotunda of the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.
Christene Houston to meet
readers at Green Valley Library
Christene Houston, author of “A Heart So Broken,” is scheduled to be featured as part of the Reader Meet the Author series at 1:30 p.m. June 22 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.org.
Local author series
to feature Moniru Ravanipur
Moniru Ravanipur was among 17 activists in Iran to face trial for anti-Iranian propaganda for participation in the “Iran After the Elections” conference in Berlin in 2000. In 2006, copies of her work were stripped from bookstore shelves in Iran in a countrywide police action.
Ravanipur, author of “The Gypsy by Fire,” “Satan’s Stones,” “Heart of Steel” and “The Drowned,” is slated to participate in the READ Local Author series meeting readers from 2:20 to 4:30 p.m. June 26 in the lobby of the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway. For more information, visit mypubliclibrary.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.
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 glorywade
writer@gmail.com.
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 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.”
SUMMERLIN LIBRARY OFFERS
READERS AND WRITERS WORKSHOP SERIES
A readers and writers workshop series sponsored by poet, editor and writer Barbara Miller is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month at the Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive. For more information, call 702-507-3866.
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. Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com for more information.
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 meetup.com/las-vegas-creative-writing-class.
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 702-240-2665.
Both databases are frequently updated with fresh stories. Parents and teachers can download lesson plans for each book on the website.
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 details, visit lasvegaspoets.org.
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.
BROWSE RARE BOOKS IN NEW APP
Searching for rare books? Now there’s an app for that. Bauman Rare Books, which has a shop in The Palazzo, 3325 Las Vegas Blvd. South, has launched an app available on iTunes that allows readers to see new acquisitions, browse catalogs, view videos, make purchases and manage their personal accounts and share items via Twitter and Facebook. If you have $65,000 to spend on a first-edition “The Catcher in the Rye” signed by J.D. Salinger, the app has you covered. The catalog can also be perused at baumanrarebooks.com.
