Book Notes: Give the gift of reading
Just a reminder: Books make excellent Christmas presents.
You can customize them to every taste. And you can write an inscription on the title page that your descendants might stumble across a century from now.
And you might want to throw your business to one of our great independent bookstores, such as Auntie’s Bookstore, 401 W. Main Ave. (new and used), 2nd Look Books, 2829 E. 29th Ave. (used) and, one of my recently discovered favorites, MonkeyBoy Books, 123 S. Wall St. (used). These are the three I am most familiar with, but there are other fine independent bookstores scattered throughout our region.
Local independent bookstores such as Auntie’s sustain our literary culture through readings, book clubs and other events.
One of my favorite holiday sights has always been: Auntie’s, crowded with shoppers.
This is not to say that the chains might not have their advantages.
ead on …
A Get Lit! fundraiser
Today might be a good day to shop for books at any Barnes & Noble store, including both Spokane locations at Northtown and at Market Pointe near the Valley Mall.
That’s because a percentage of every purchase made today will benefit Spokane’s premier literary festival, Get Lit!
Here’s what you need to do: Go to the Get Lit! website at www.ewu.edu/getlit and look for the words “Get Involved.” Click on that and you can print out a voucher for the Barnes & Noble Bookfair that you can present with your purchase at any Barnes & Noble. A portion of the sale will then go to sustain Get Lit! programs.
You can also do this online by going to BN.com/bookfairs today through Thursday and using the Get Lit! Bookfair ID number at checkout.
Children’s books
A few locally produced children’s books have crossed the transom recently:
• “The Goosie’s New Pond,” by Spokane author Aunt Kimmie Bebo (and Satellite Diner manager). It’s about some geese who must decide whether to stay in their old pond or move to a new pond. In the end, it’s a story about not being afraid of change. The whimsical illustrations are by J.R. Battell, who also illustrated Aunt Kimmie’s first book, “Magic Sprinkles.”
Aunt Kimmie will be signing books at Auntie’s Bookstore today, 1 to 3 p.m.
• “The Land of Starry Night,” by Sandpoint pediatrician Robin Helm and Sandpoint illustrator Gail Lyster . This is a wonderfully poetic and magical book told by a child who scrambles up a moonbeam to visit the land of the Starry Night, but, in the end, decides to return to home and Earth.
Helm and Lyster will sign books at Auntie’s Bookstore on Dec. 18, to 3 p.m.
• “Postcards from Mr. Pish: A Cross-Country Journal, Volume 2,” by Chewelah author K.S. Brooks. It follows the adventures of the traveling Jack Russell terrier, who travels from Stevens County all the way to the East Coast, with full color photographs. It’s the second in the Mr. Pish series, published by Cambridge Books.
Real-life PI stories
“The Private Dick Diaries: Rules of Repo,” by North Idaho author C.J. Vertefuille in conjunction with real-life Hayden, Idaho, private investigators Erin Jenkins and Phil Thompson, is now on shelves.
It’s billed as a “novel,” but it is apparently based on stories of real repos gone wrong. It is intended as the first in a series about private-investigation subjects.
The author (or authors) will be reading from the book at Auntie’s Bookstore, Wednesday at 7 p.m.