Share your summer, Top 10 book lists
As we wind down the school year, it’s time to consider summer-reading lists.
In that spirit, here are a couple of requests.
First, Susan Creed, managing librarian at the Spokane Public Library, is seeking out any lists that already exist. Those put out by teachers or college professors, for example.
If you have such a list, you can e-mail it to Creed at screed@spokanelibrary.org. The suggestions can be fiction, nonfiction, young-adult, children’s, self-help or any combination.
When we work up a manageable list, I’ll publicize it in this section and/or online.
The second? It’s more personal. I’m working on a books story with the hope that it can be something different.
I want readers to send me their Top 10 lists. They can be the top 10 books that moved you, that influenced you, that made you cry or laugh, that you recommend to friends, that you have to read before you die, that you think are the best compilations of words ever put on paper.
It’s up to you to define what you mean.
One of my editors even suggested that there be a list of the top 10 books for nonreaders. I suggested “Watchmen,” the graphic novel by Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons.
I began working up such a list and, as with top 10 movies, found that it’s nearly impossible. But it can be done, especially if you adopt a theme.
So get to it. Send your lists to danw@spokesman.com.
There’s no deadline, but the earlier the better.
Hitting print
Spokane writer Shawn Vestal placed a story in the spring issue (No. 23) of McSweeney’s, the literary journal founded by Dave Eggers (“A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”).
Besides being a reporter for The Spokesman-Review, Vestal is a Master of Fine Arts candidate in Eastern Washington University’s creative-writing program.
His story, titled “About As Fast As This Car Will Go,” is included in McSweeney’s along with work by such noted writers as Eggers, Ann Beattie (“Chilly Scenes of Winter”) and Roddy Doyle (“The Snapper”).
IPPY kay yay!
Carolyne Wright’s poetry collection “A Change of Maps” (Lost Horse Press, 112 pages, $18 paper) has been named a semifinalist in the Independent Publishers Book Awards competition for 2007.
The awards, nicknamed IPPYs and sponsored by Independent Publisher Online (www.independentpublisher.com/index.php), are given out in 65 categories.
Wright’s book, which was published by Sandpoint-based Lost Horse Press, is one of 10 poetry semifinalists.
Results will be announced Friday, and winners will be formally recognized June 1 in New York.
Conservative speaking
Douglas Wilson’s “Letter from a Christian Citizen,” which carries the subtitle “A Response to ‘Letter to a Christian Nation’ by Sam Harris,” is being marketed by the Conservative Book Club (www.conservativebookclub.com).
Wilson is minister of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho.
Harris’ book takes issue with the prevalence of religion as it applies to contemporary life, particularly the important role it seems to play in today’s politics. Wilson’s book rebuts those arguments in the form of a letter to Harris himself.
Summoning Smith
Portland-based young-adult author Roland Smith, whose novel “Zach’s Lie” is part of Shiloh Hills Elementary School’s curriculum, is set as the visiting author at this spring’s annual Mead Author Celebration.
Smith will visit four Mead School District elementary schools on Wednesday and/or Thursday: Brentwood, Colbert, Farwell and Shiloh Hills.
His works include “Zach’s Run,” which is the sequel to “Zach’s Lie,” and, most recently, the novel “Peak,” which follows the adventures of a 14-year-old boy trying to become the youngest to scale Mount Everest.
For more information on Smith, visit his Web site at www.rolandsmith.com.
Unless otherwise noted, all events listed are free and open to the public.
The reader board
“Swami Radhananda (“The Yoga of Healing”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Auntie’s Bookstore, Main Avenue and Washington Street. Call (509) 838-0206. Note: Swami Radhananda is the successor to Swami Sivananda Radha as spiritual director of the Yasodhara Ashram in Kootenay Bay, B.C. She will present Radha’s book “The Yoga of Healing.”
“Aryn Kyle (“The God of Animals: A Novel”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Auntie’s Bookstore.
“Stuart Dybek (“The Coast of Chicago”), reading, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Auntie’s Bookstore.