Book briefs

Poker star to sign books

Meet Annie Duke, co-author of "Decide to Play Great Poker: A Strategy Guide to No-Limit Texas Hold Em," written with John Vorhaus, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the 3860 S. Maryland Parkway Barnes & Noble. For more information about the book, visit annieduke.com.

Celebrate 'Crit' with a bash at Artifice

A book-launch party to celebrate the publication of local author Andrew Kiraly's novel "Crit" is scheduled at 7 p.m. Friday at the downtown bar Artifice, 1025 First St., Suite A.

"This book-launch party will be one to remember -- and not just because Crit is such a highly anticipated novel," wrote Carolyn Hayes-Uber, president of CityLife Books, in a press release. "We'll also reveal the finalists and the winner of the band-name contest, which drew more interest than we could have imagined."

The winner's band name will appear in the book, and the winner also will receive a signed copy and dinner with Kiraly.

"With nearly 400 entries in the contest, it was insanely tough to pick just one winning band name," Kiraly said. "I'm amazed at the contestants' creativity, and I must confess I had more than a few laugh-out-loud moments as I was poring over the entries."

For more information about the book, visit critbook.com.

Parenting author plans appearance

Local author Ron Mackey is set to sign copies of his book "Parenting: The Bottom Line" at 1 p.m. Sunday at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

For more information about the book, an exploration into child discipline dilemmas by an alternative sentencing domestic violence contract instructor, visit ronmackeyauthor.com.

Ni'cola Mitchell to visit bookstore

Novelist Ni'cola Mitchell is set to sign her books at 4 p.m. Saturday at the 3860 S. Maryland Parkway Barnes & Noble.

Sisters in Crime to meet Sunday

The Sisters in Crime Las Vegas mystery writers group is set to meet at 3 p.m. Sunday at the 3860 S. Maryland Parkway Barnes & Noble. For more information, visit sistersincrimesnv.com.

BMI names 2011-12 fellows

The Black Mountain Institute has a new batch of Bennett Fellows set to take residence at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the fall. Las Vegas-raised Charles Bock, author of the highly acclaimed first novel "Beautiful Children," has been selected as the Diana L. Bennett Fellow. Kelle Groom, author of three poetry collections and the memoir "I Wore the Ocean in the Shape of a Girl," has been selected as the Kluge Fellow, in partnership with the Library of Congress. Author/media artist Kris Saknussemm, whose first novel, "Zanesville," is a science fiction cult classic, has been selected as the Gallagher Fellow.

For more information, visit black
mountaininstitute.org.

Send literature activists off in style
at poetry launch July 12

Fans and friends are invited to celebrate the launch of Joshua Kryah's "We Are Starved," a book in the Mountain West Poetry Series, and his pending move to follow Black Mountain Institute assistant director Amber Withycombe in her new endeavor as director of development and advancement for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs at George Mason University.

Readings and roastings honoring the couple are planned during an event from 8 to 11 p.m. July 12 at Don't Tell Mama, a piano bar at 517 Fremont St.

Actor to sign books at film festival

Actor Michael Madsen -- most notably recognized for starring roles in "Reservoir Dogs," "Kill Bill," "Sin City," "Donnie Brasco" and "Free Willy" -- plans to sign copies of his poetry books "American Badass," "Signs of Life" and "Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen" from 7 to 8:45 p.m. July 16 at the Tempo Lounge inside the Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Road. The signing, part of the annual Las Vegas Film Festival, is free and open to the public. Madsen also is set to be featured in an award presentation and an interview following a free screening of the film "Vice" set to begin at 4:15 p.m. July 16 in the Hilton Theater. For more information, visit 13handsonline.com.

Book signing Event planned for 'Potpourri For and About Women'

JoAnn Oppenheimer is set to promote her book "Potpourri For and About Women" from 1 to 4 p.m. July 16 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble. For more information about the anthology, visit authorjoannoppenheimer.com.

'The Orbiter' author to sign books

Patrick Cristobal plans to sign his science fiction novel "The Orbiter" at 1 p.m. July 30 at the 2191 N. Rainbow Blvd. Barnes & Noble.

Summer reading program Under Way

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District's Summer Reading Program is under way and set to continue through Aug. 6. The free program offers toddlers, children, teens and their families the opportunity to share reading time together and attend guest programs while keeping track of their reading successes.

Children from birth to age 5 can join the Rubber Ducky Reading Club, with a duck toy and board books as rewards for prereading activities. Kids in kindergarten through grade 5 can participate in One World, Many Stories, with free books from the library's used bookstore and children's museum admission as the carrot to keep kids reading. You Are Here, the program for teens, rewards readers with free used books and a chance to win a Target gift card. For more information on the program, stop by any library branch, visit lvccld.org or call 734-7323.

Extension program to teach free
memoir workshop for seniors

Life Stories Nevada, a University of Nevada Cooperative Extension program designed to help seniors 50 or older record their memoirs, is sponsoring free four-week memoir workshops.

A class is scheduled to finish this week from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Willows clubhouse, 3250 S. Town Center Drive.

The Heritage Park Senior Facility at 300 S. Racetrack Road in Henderson plans to host a Life Stories Nevada workshop from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Thursdays from Sept. 1-22.

To register, call 940-5423.

For more information about the program, visit lifestoriesnevada.org.

Henderson libraries summer reading program under way

Henderson Libraries Summer Reading Program is under way. The program is designed to take people of all ages -- children, teens and adults -- on a literary trip around the world. The kids program follows a One World, Many Stories theme, the teen theme is You Are Here and adults can participate in Novel Destinations, a program that rewards reading with prizes donated by local businesses. Adults also are invited to participate in writing and photography competitions.

For details on program events, drop by any Henderson library, visit mypubliclibrary.com or call 492-6581.

North Las Vegas Library Summer Reading Club Under Way

Discover how much fun reading can be by signing up for the Summer Reading Club at any North Las Vegas library. This year's program, designed to take readers around the literary world, is set to continue through July 31. Call or visit any North Las Vegas library for details. The North Las Vegas Library, 2300 Civic Center Drive, can be reached at 633-1070. The Aliante Library, 2400 W. Deer Springs Way, can be reached at 839-2980. The Alexander Library, 1755 W. Alexander Road, can be reached at 633-2880.

View outdoors columnist schedules events for 'Base Camp Las Vegas'

View outdoors columnist Deborah Wall plans to speak and sign copies of her book "Base Camp Las Vegas: Hiking the Southwest States" at 1 p.m. July 30 at the Green Valley Library, 2797 N. Green Valley Parkway; and at 2 p.m. Aug. 13 for readers 50 or older at the Heritage Park Senior Facility, 300 S. Racetrack Road.

For more information about the book, visit basecamplasvegashikes.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.

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.

Share poems at Human Experience

Polish up a poem or two and try them out live 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 or to view the events online as they happen, visit lasvegaspoets.org.

Access recorded Book programs online through library district

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."

Northwest-area borders offers
writers group on Tuesdays

Borders bookstore hosts a free writers group at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays at 2190 N. Rainbow Blvd.

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 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.

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 Saxby's Coffee Lounge, 72 W. Horizon Ridge Parkway, on the first, third and occasional fifth Mondays.

Visit hendersonwritersgroup.com for more details.

Meetings are open to the public.

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.

National Senior poets laureate
competition deadline approaching

Entries are being accepted for regional winners in the 19th annual National Senior Poets Laureate Poetry Competition for American poets 50 or older. The submission deadline is Thursday. State senior poets laureate are expected to be named in July, and the National Senior Poet Laureate is scheduled to be announced Sept. 1.

For more information, visit amykitchenerfdn.org.