Book Notes: New York author reading for free at Get Lit!

It’s only five weeks until Get Lit!, Eastern Washington University’s annual literary event, and the calendar appears to be set.

Stress the word “appears.” Spokane author Jess Walter called the other day with an update.

According to Walter, “Motherless Brooklyn” author Jonathan Lethem will appear at CenterStage on April 21 following the scheduled 7:30 p.m. “Evening of Poetry” event at the Bing Crosby Theater. Lethem’s reading is set to begin at 10 p.m.

Thing is, says Walter, Lethem – who is on an author’s tour to promote his latest novel, “You Don’t Love Me Yet” – has agreed to appear for free. Most other Get Lit! events that feature name authors cost between $10 and $20 a ticket.

Lethem, 43, is a native New Yorker whose work has been a blend of science fiction (“Gun, with Occasional Music”) and mystery (“Motherless Brooklyn,” which boasts a protagonist with Tourette Syndrome). He was a 2005 MacArthur Fellowship winner.

Walter, the award-winning author of “Citizen Vince” and “The Zero,” will appear with another writer bearing Spokane credentials, Gonzaga Prep grad Timothy Egan, on April 19 at the Bing.

Egan’s book “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl” won the 2006 National Book Award for nonfiction.

The Walter-Egan event runs $20 (plus fees) for the general public.

For further information about Get Lit!, including the schedule as currently drawn, go to www.ewu.edu/getlit/schedule.html.

Page to screen

As part of Spokane Public Library’s ongoing Stanley Kubrick film series, the 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” will screen at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the downtown branch, 906 W. Main Ave.

“Dr. Strangelove” is loosely based on Peter George’s novel “Red Alert,” published in Britain as “Two Hours to Doom.”

The film is free and open to the public. Call (509) 444-5300.

Awards galore

Former Cheney author Laurie Carlson has been given an award by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her book “Thomas Edison for Kids: His Life and Ideas” (Chicago Review Press, 148 pages, $14.95 paper).

The literary review journal Booklist described the book as “a lively biography of one of the most creative and inventive minds in history, with 21 activity pages that students can use to replicate some of the simplest of Edison’s experiments.”

Carlson, the author of some 20 books, earned a Ph.D. in history at Eastern Washington University. She moved to Dallas, Ore., last fall to take a teaching position at nearby Western Oregon University.

You can obtain more information on Carlson at her Web site, www.lauriecarlson.com.

Let’s clarify

In The Spokesman-Review Book Club story that I wrote last week, I profiled the career – and significance – of Portland science-fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin.

In the story, I mentioned several awards – mostly Hugos and Nebulas – that Le Guin and other women sci-fi writers have won (including Spokane resident C.J. Cherryh).

The dates that I placed in parentheses behind each title were meant to reflect the year the book won the award, not the year the book was published. As one reader pointed out, “this would be as erroneous as saying Martin Scorsese won an Academy Award for directing his 2007 movie ‘The Departed’ (2006).”

I thought I’d made the distinction clear by context. It seems I hadn’t.

Book talk

“Auntie’s Morning Book Group (“A Thread of Grace,” by Maria Doria Russell), 11 a.m. Tuesday, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington. Call (509) 838-0206.

“Auntie’s Evening Book Group (“March,” by Geraldine Brooks), 7 p.m. Tuesday, Auntie’s Bookstore.

The reader board

“Cheryle Hart, Mary Kay Grossman (“The Feel-Good Diet”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Monday, Auntie’s Bookstore Liberty Cafe.

“Kelly Jones (“The Lost Madonna”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Auntie’s Bookstore Liberty Cafe.

“Ignite! Community Theatre, Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” reading, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore Liberty Cafe.