‘Beekeeper’s‘ chosen for Spokane Is Reading

For five years now, October has been a time for Spokane to show some unity.

No, not politically. As if that’s ever going to happen.

But literarily? Yeah, that’s exactly what Spokane Is Reading has done for us.

Since 2002, Spokane Is Reading – a monthlong reading event sponsored by the Spokane County Library District, Spokane Public Library and Auntie’s Bookstore – has offered up a variety of books for regional book-lovers to read and discuss.

In 2002 there was “Plainsong,” Kent Haruf’s haunting tale of contemporary life in eastern Colorado. That was followed by “Cold Mountain,” Charles Frazier’s National Book Award-winning novel of the Civil War; “Ender’s Game,” Orson Scott Card’s sci-fi novel about the galaxy being defended by pre-adolescent military geniuses; and last year’s “The Girl in Hyacinth Blue,” Susan Vreeland’s study of a painting and the people who owned it.

For 2006 we have “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice,” Laurie R. King’s novel that pairs a teenage genius, Mary Russell, with the detective of all detectives, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes.

King (like all of the other authors except Frazier) will visit Spokane. She will give two public presentations on Oct. 19, at 1 p.m. at the North Spokane Library, 44 E. Hawthorne Road, and 7 p.m. at the Masonic Temple, 1108 W. Riverside Ave.

Unlike in past years, there won’t be a series of sponsored book discussions at area libraries. On Thursday, the Hastings Valley Readers Group will hold a 7 p.m. discussion of the novel at the store, 15312 E. Sprague Ave.; call (509) 624-0667.

And the Spokane County Library District will feature “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” as part of its Tea & Mystery Series (www.scld.org).

For more information, see www.spokaneisreading.org.

S-R Book Club

The Spokesman-Review Book Club is reading Seattle author Rebecca Brown’s 1995 novel “The Gifts of the Body” for October (see story on page D3).

Following that, we’ll tackle Gregg Olsen’s look at the 1972 Sunshine Mine disaster, “The Deep Dark: Disaster and Redemption in America’s Richest Silver Mine,” in November; Peter Chilson’s “Riding the Demon: On the Road in West Africa” for December; and we’ll ring in the new year with Montana author Deirdre McNamer’s 2000 novel “My Russian.”

Suggestions for the book club are always welcome. Remember that we read books written by Pacific Northwest authors, or focusing on the Northwest.

You can go on the club Web site (www.spokesmanreview.com/interactive/bookclub) and submit reviews of what we’re reading.

Crime time

Christy Leskovar’s “One Night in a Bad Inn” (Pictorial Histories, 594 pages, $24.95), much of which is set in Butte, tells the fact-based story of her maternal relatives.

Leskovar, a Butte native who grew up in Kennewick, will read from her book Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Auntie’s Bookstore.

Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public.

Book talk

•Gay & Lesbian Book Group (“Last Days of Summer,” by Steve Klug), 7 p.m. Wednesday, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. Call (509) 838-0206.

•Valley Readers Group (“The Beekeeper’s Apprentice,” by Laurie R. King), 7 p.m. Thursday, Valley Hastings, 15312 E. Sprague Ave. Call (509) 924-0667.

The reader board

•David Quammen (“The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution”), reading, 12:30 p.m. today, Auntie’s Bookstore.

•Lola Haskins (“Desire Lines, New and Selected Poems”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Washington State University Museum of Art, Pullman. Call (509) 335-7309.

•Christy Leskovar (“One Night in a Bad Inn”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Auntie’s Bookstore.

•Pamela Aidan (“Duty and Desire: A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore; signing, noon-1:15 p.m. Saturday, Costco, 5601 E. Sprague Ave. (509-842-0010.

•Meghan Nuttal Sayres (“Anahita’s Woven Riddle”), reading/slide show, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Spokane Community Building, 35 W. Main Ave.

•Toni Garman (“The Red Hat Society Cookbook”), signing/sampling, 1 p.m. Saturday, Valley Hastings.

•Cary Black (“Zen and the Art of Cooking Beer-Can Chicken”), signing/cooking event, 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Coeur d’Alene Hastings, 101 Best Ave., Coeur d’Alene. Call (208) 664-0464.