John Keeble to read from new collection
John Keeble, one of the region’s most respected authors, has a new collection of fiction out, “Nocturnal America” (University of Nebraska Press, $26.95).
These nine stories have already earned the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction from the University of Nebraska Press. They deal with what Booklist reviewer Carol Haggas called “the mundane and bizarre worlds that seem destined to collide in Keeble’s Pacific Northwest.”
Keeble is an English professor emeritus at Eastern Washington University. He will give a reading at Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave., on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
A new Kurt Cobain bio
Jeff Burlingame, a former Spokane resident, has released a new biography, “Kurt Cobain: Oh Well, Whatever, Nevermind” (Enslow Publishers, $27.93).
Burlingame, an Eastern Washington University alum, knew Cobain as a teenager; he’s the former arts and entertainment editor of the Daily World in Aberdeen, Wash., Cobain’s hometown. His book details Cobain’s early days in Aberdeen as well as his rise to stardom.
The author is also the co-founder of the nonprofit Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee, dedicated to memorializing Cobain in his hometown. Burlingame is donating a portion of the book’s proceeds to the cause.
Cherryh’s new ‘Fortress’
Local science fiction author C.J. Cherryh, winner of four Hugo Awards, has issued the latest in her popular “Fortress” series, “Fortress of Ice” (Eos, $24.95).
“Religious and ancient magical conflicts threaten the fragile peace of the divided kingdom of Ylesuin,” says a Publishers Weekly review.
Cherryh will read from the book on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.
Winter reading list
Susan Creed, the fiction specialist at the Spokane Public Library, has compiled a winter reading list, perfect for those evenings by the fireplace with a cup of tea.
Here’s a condensed version:
•”Love Walked In,” by Maria de los Santos, about a young coffee-shop owner looking for love and meaning, and an 11-year-old whose mentally disturbed mother disappears.
•”One Sunday Morning,” by Amy Ephron, about a 1926 New York society scandal.
•”The Best of Everything,” by Rona Jaffe, a fascinating 1958 character study about young women in a New York publishing firm.
•”Snow Flower and the Secret Fan,” by Lisa See, about two young girls in 19th-century China.
•”A Long Way Down,” by Nick Hornby, about four strangers who meet while preparing to commit suicide – and then change their minds.
•”The Dream Life of Sukhanov,” by Olga Grushin, a study of an art critic in Soviet Russia who begins to doubt every part of his life.
•”Gilead,” by Marilynne Robinson, the Pulitzer-winning novel about a remarkable family of plain-living Midwestern preachers.
Aguilar presentations
A regionwide Palouse book program, “What If Everybody Read the Same Book?” features author George Aguilar Sr. and his book about Indian traditions in the mid-Columbia, “When the River Ran Wild.” Aguilar lived most of those traditions himself.
Aguilar will make a number of presentations, beginning on Thursday at noon in the Terrell Library’s Quiet Study Lounge at Washington State University in Pullman., and at 4 p.m. that day at the Neill Public Library in Pullman.
He also will appear on Friday at 9:30 a.m. in the Palouse Library, and at noon the same day in the Colfax Library.
For more information, call the Whitman County Library at (509) 397-4366 or toll-free (877) 733-3375.
Book talk
•Auntie’s Morning Book Group (“Vanishing Acts” by Jodi Picoult), Tuesday, 11 a.m., Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington (838-0206).
•Auntie’s Evening Book Group (“Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger), Tuesday, 7 p.m., Auntie’s Bookstore.
•Auntie’s Youth Book Group (“The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 13)” by Lemony Snicket), Saturday, 2 p.m., Auntie’s Bookstore.
The reader board
•Bryan Davis, a Michigan author, will read from his young adult book, “Eye of the Oracle,” Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.
•Spokane science fiction author C.J. Cherryh will read from “Fortress of Ice,” Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.
•Florence Petheram, a local author, presents her inspiring book “Word: A Real Dog Locked in a Shelter for Eight Years” on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.
•Ann Pancake will read from “Given Ground,” her Bakeless Award-winning collection of short stories, Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Washington State University’s Museum of Art in Pullman.
•Local author John Keeble will read from “Nocturnal America” on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.