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08/31/11--13:56: Austin Teen Book Festival coming Oct. 1 (chan 2557600)

Scott Westerfeld, Heather Brewer and Texas writer Rosemary Clement-Moore are just three of the dozens of writers of young adult literature appearing at the Austin Teen Book Festival (ATBF), coming Oct. 1 to the Palmer Event Center.

Sponsored by the Austin Public Library Friends Foundation, the ATBF gathers YA authors from all over the country to celebrate teens and reading. Other participating writers include Jenny Han, Coe Booth, David Levithan and local authors such as Cynthia Leitich-Smith, Margo Rabb, and Varian Johnson.




09/08/11--06:00: Author lineup for Texas Book Festival 2011 (chan 2557600)

Authors for the 16th annual Texas Book Festival:

Acheson, Hugh. “A New Turn in the South.”

Akers, Monte. “The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure.”

Alexander, Jill S. “Paradise.”

Anderson, Jessica Lee. “Calli.”

Asher, Jay. “Thirteen Reasons Why.”

Baker, T. Lindsay. “Gangster Tour of Texas.”

Banks, Russell. “Lost Memory of Skin: A Novel.”

Barnett, Mac. “Mustache!”

Barson, Michael. “Agonizing Love: The Golden Era of Romance Comics.”

Barton, Chris. “Can I See Your I.D.?: True Stories of False Identities.”

Bay, Austin. “Ataturk: Lessons in Leadership…”

Beeman, Cynthia J. “History Ahead: Stories Beyond the Texas Roadside Markers.”

Berryhill, Michael. “The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case That Shook the Texas Prison System.”

Bill, Frank. “Crimes in Southern Indiana: Stories.”

Bird, Sarah. “The Gap Year.”

Borowitz, Andy. “The 50 Funniest American Writers…”

Brands, H.W. “The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield.”

Bray, Libba. “Beauty Queens.”

Bresenhan, Karoline. “Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011.”

Brinkley, Douglas. “The Quiet World: Saving Alaska’s Wilderness Kingdom, 1879-1960.”

Brower, Sam. “Prophet’s Prey: My Seven-Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs…”

Brown, Alton. “Good Eats 3.”

Browning, Domique. “Slow Love: How I lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas & Found Happiness.”

Bullock Prado, Gesine. “Sugar Baby: Confections, Candies, Cakes & Other Delicious…”

Burckhardt, Marc. “When Bob Met Woody: The Story of the Young Bob Dylan.”

Bush, William S. “Who Gets a Childhood? Race and Juvenile Justice in Twentieth-Century Texas.”

Call, Wendy. “No Word for Welcome: The Mexican Village Faces the Global Economy.”

Caro, Ina. “Paris to the Past: Traveling Through French History by Train.”

Casey, Nell. “The Journals of Spalding Gray.”

Charleson, Susannah. “Scent of the Missing: Love & Partnership with a Search-and-Rescue Dog.”

Christelow, Eileen. “Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed.”

Clark, Marcia. “Guilt by Association.”

Clark, Roy Peter. “Help! For Writers: 210 Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces.”

Clement-Moore, Rosemary. “Texas Gothic.”

Cline, Ernest. “Ready Player One.”

Coben, Harlan. Shelter: “A Mickey Bolitar Novel.”

Coel, Margaret. “The Perfect Suspect: A Catherine McLeod Mystery.”

Cole, Tyson. “Uchi: The Cookbook.”

Cortez, Sarah. “You Don’t Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens.”

Cronin, Doreen. “M.O.M. (Mom Operating Manual)”

Crosby, Jeff. “Weiner Wolf.”

Cullerton, Brenda. “The Craigslist Murders.”

Dashner, James. “The Death Cure: The Maze Runner Trilogy.”

Davis, David. “The Green Mother Goose: Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time.”

Deb, Siddhartha. “The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India.”

Deen, Paula. “Paula Deen’s Southern Cooking Bible: The New Classic Guide to Delicious Dishes with More Than 300 Recipes.”

Dessen, Sarah. “What Happened to Goodbye.”

DiCamillo, Kate. “Bink and Gollie.”

Dingus, Rick. “Llano Estacado: An Island in the Sky.”

Duff, Gerald. “Home Truths: A Deep East Texas Memory.”

Eagleman, David. “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain.”

Eckstut, Arielle. “The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published …”

Edwards, Bob. “A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio.”

Engelhardt, Elizabeth S.D. “ A Mess of Greens: Southern Gender and Southern Food.”

Erwin, Will. “Texas State Cemetery.”

Evans, James H. “Crazy from the Heat: A Chronicle of Twenty Years in the Big Bend.”

Fain, Lisa. “The Homesick Texan Cookbook.”

Farrell, John A. “Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned.”

Fenberg, Steven. “Unprecedented Power: Jesse Jones, Capitalism, and the Common Good.”

Fisher, William M. “The Defeat of Grandfather Devil.”

Foose, Martha Hall. “A Southerly Course: Recipes and Stories from Close to Home.”

Frazee, Marla. “Stars.”

Frederick, Heather Vogel. “Home for the Holidays: The Mother-Daughter Book Club.”

Freeman, Doug. “The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology.”

Frost, Susan Toomey. “Timeless Mexico: The Photographs of Hugo Brehme

Furman, Laura. “The Mother Who Stayed: Stories.”

Gantos, Jack . “Dead End in Norvelt.”

Garcia, Kami. “Beautiful Chaos: A Beautiful Creatures Novel.”

Ghosh, Amitav. “River of Smoke: A Novel.”

Gidwitz, Adam. “A Tale Dark & Grimm.”

Gilb, Dagoberto. “Before the End, After the Beginning: Stories.”

Glusker, Susannah Joel. “Avant-Garde Art & Artists in Mexico: Anita Brenner’s Journals of the Roaring Twenties.”

Godiwalla, Nina. “Suits: A Woman on Wall Street.”

Goldfield, David. “America Aflame: How the Civil War Created a Nation.”

Gordon, Jaimy. “Lords of Misrule.”

Graeber, David. “Debt: The First 5,000 Years.”

Graham, Don. “State of Minds: Texas Culture and Its Discontents.”

Graves, Keith. “The Orphan of Awkward Falls.”

Gregory, Philippa. “The Lady of the Rivers: The Cousins’ War; The Women of the Cousins’ War…”

Grillo, Ioan. “El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency.”

Grossman, Lev. “The Magician King.”

Guinn, Jeff. “The Last Gunfight: The Real Story of the Shootout at the O.K. Corral…”

Hamilton, Gabrielle. “Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef.”

Hancock, Butch. “If I Was a Highway,”

Harbach, Chad. “The Art of Fielding: A Novel.”

Harrigan, Stephen. “Remember Ben Clayton.”

Hatfield, Thomas M. “Rudder: From Leader to Legend.”

Hinojosa-Smith, Rolando. “A Voice of My Own: Essays and Stories.”

Hollinghurst, Alan. “The Stranger’s Child: A Novel.”

Holt, K.A. “Brains for Lunch: A Zombie Novel in Haiku?!”

Hopkins, Ellen. “Perfect (YA); Triangles: A Novel.”

Hornfischer, Jim. “Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal.”

Hosford, Kate. “Big Bouffant.”

Inskeep, Steve. “Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi.”

Isay, Jane. “Walking on Eggshells: Navigating the Delicate Relationship Between Adult Children and Parents.”

Jacobs, Sally H. “The Other Barack: The Bold and Reckless Life of President Obama’s Father.”

Jenkins, Emily. “Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences…”

Johnson, Craig. “Hell Is Empty: A Walt Longmire Mystery.”

Johnson, Donna. “Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir.”

Johnson, Mary. “An Unquenchable Thirst: Following Mother Theresa…”

Johnson, Mat . “Pym.”

Jordan, Hillary. “When She Woke.”

Jordan, Jonathan W. “Brothers-Rivals-Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership…”

Kalil, Susie. “Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary, Paintings and Works on Paper.”

Kaye, Jordan. “How to Booze: Exquisite Cocktails and Unsound Advice.”

Klosterman, Chuck. “The Visible Man: A Novel.”

Kasper, Lynne Rossetto. “The Splendid Table’s How to Eat Weekends…”

Kilmer-Purcell, Josh. “The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook.”

Koryta, Michael. “The Cypress House; The Ridge.”

Knudsen, Michelle. “Argus.”

Kurzweil, Allen. “Potato Chip Science: 29 Incredible Experiments.”

Lambert, Louis. “Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook.”

Lansdale, Joe R. “Devil Red: A Hap and Leonard Novel; YA title: All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky.”

Larson, Jeanette. “Hummingbirds: Facts and Folklore from the Americas.”

Lauren, Jillian. “Pretty: A Novel.”

Lauterbach, Preston. “The Chitlin’ Circuit: And The Road to Rock and Roll.”

Lehmann, Chris. “Rich People Things: Real Life Secrets of the Predator Class.”

Lehrer, Jim. “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain.”

Levithan, David. “Every You, Every Me.”

Liss, David. “he Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel.”

Loeb, Lisa. “Lisa Loeb’s Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs.”

Longmire, Sylvia. “Cartel.”

Lopez, Rhonda Lashley. “Don’t Make Me Go to Town: Ranchwomen of the Texas Hill Country.

Loving, Jerome. “Mark Twain: The Adventures of Samuel L. Clemens.”

Luna, James. “The Runaway Piggy / El cochinito fugitive.”

Lyga, Barry. “Mangaman.”

Machart, Bruce. “Men in the Making.”

MacNeal, Noel. “10-Minute Puppets.”

Mansbach, Adam. “Go the * to Sleep.”

Martin, Jeff. “The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books.”

Martínez, Alberto A. “Science Secrets: The Truth About Darwin’s Finches, Einstein’s Wife, and Other Myths.”

Matthews, Sherry. “We Were Not Orphans: Stories from the Waco State Home.”

McGarr, Kathryn J. “The Whole Damn Deal: Robert Strauss and the Art of Politics.”

McGilligan, Patrick. “Nicholas Ray: The Glorious Failure of an American Director.”

McWhirter, Cameron. “Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America.”

Millard, Candice. “The Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine & the Murder of a President.”

Mitchard, Jaquelyn. “Second Nature.”

Morgan, Robert. “Lions of the West: Heroes and Villains of the Westward Expansion.”

Morgenstern, Erin. “The Night Circus.”

Moses, Shelia. “Joseph’s Grace.”

Mullen, Thomas. “The Revisionists.”

Needham, Hal. “Stuntman!: My Car-Crashing, Plane-Jumping, Bone-Breaking, Death-Defying Hollywood Life.”

Nelson, Kadir. “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans.

Newton, Jim. “Eisenhower: The White House Years.”

Niven, Jennifer. “Velva Jean Learns to Drive.”

O’Brien, Michael. “Hard Ground.”

O’ Connor, Kevin. “The Best Homes from This Old House.”

O’Rourke, Meghan. “The Long Goodbye: A Memoir.”

Oppel, Kenneth. “This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.”

Orlean, Susan. “Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend.”

Palahniuk, Chuck. “Damned.”

Peck, Jan. “The Green Mother Goose: Saving the World One Rhyme at a Time.”

Pells, Richard. “Modernist America: Art, Music, Movies, & the Globalization of American Culture.”

Pennebaker, James W. “The Secret Life of Pronouns: What Our Words Say About Us.”

Pennebaker, Ruth. “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough.”

Perrotta, Tom. “The Leftovers.”

Petrow, Steven. “Steven Petrow’s Guide to Gay & Lesbian Manners.”

Pollock, Donald Ray. “The Devil All the Time.”

Post, Peggy. “Emily Post’s Etiquette, 18th Edition.”

Powell, Austin. “The Austin Chronicle Music Anthology.”

Priest, Dana. “Top Secret America: The Rise of the New American Security State.”

Prud’homme, Alex. “The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Fresh Water in the Twenty-First Century.”

Puentes, Nancy O’Bryant. “Lone Stars III: A Legacy of Texas Quilts, 1986-2011.”

Raffles, Hugh. “Insectopedia.”

Reichs, Kathy. “Seizure: A Virals Novel.”

Reichs, Kerry. “Leaving Unknown: A Novel.

Rice, David. “Heart-Shaped Cookies and Other Stories.”

Riddlesperger Jr., James. “Lonestar Leaders: Power and Personality in the Texas Congressional Delegation.”

Ridge, Brent. “The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook.”

Rivas, Spelile. “No Time for Monsters/No hay tiempo para monstrous.”

Rhodes-Pitts, Sharifa. “Harlem Is Nowhere: A Journey to the Mecca of Black America.”

Rodriguez, Artemio. “The Defeat of Grandfather Devil.”

Romero, Mary. “The Maid’s Daughter: Living Inside and Outside the American Dream.”

Rosen, Michael J. “My Dog!”

Russell, Karen. “Swamplandia!”

Sachar, Louis. “The Cardturner.”

Saldaña Jr., René. “The Lemon Tree Caper: A Mickey Rangel Mystery…”

Saltzberg, Barney. “Beautiful Oops.”

Sanchez, Alex. “Bait .”

Saylor, Steven. “Empire.”

Scanlon, Liz Garton. “Noodle & Lou.”

Schiff, Stacy. “Cleopatra: A Life.”

Schmidt, John R. “The Unraveling: Pakistan in the Age of Jihad.”

Schreiber, Joe. “Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick.”

Scieszka, Casey. “To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story.”

Scieszka, Jon. “SPACEHEADZ: SPHDZ Book #3!”

Scott, Elaine. “Space, Stars, and the Beginning of Time: What the Hubble Telescope Saw.”

Shannon, Molly. “Tilly the Trickster.”

Shea, Bob. “Dinosaur vs. the Library.”

Sierra, Judy. “ZooZical.”

Smith, C.W. “Steplings: A Novel.”

Smith, Clete Barrett. “Aliens on Vacation.”

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. “Tantalize: Kieron’s Story.”

Smith, Dominic. “Bright and Distant Shores: A Novel.”

Sobel, Dava. “A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos.”

Srinivasan, Divya. “Little Owl’s Night.”

Stead, Rebecca. “When You Reach Me.”

Steiner, Frederick. “Design for a Vulnerable Planet.”

Sterry, David Henry. “Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.”

Stevens, Taylor. “The Informationist.”

Stohl, Margaret. “Beautiful Chaos: A Beautiful Creatures Novel.”

Stokes, David R. “The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial That Captivated America.”

Styron, Alexandra. “Reading My Father: A Memoir.”

Sweets, Ellen. “Stirring It Up with Molly Ivins: A Memoir with Recipes.”

Swift, Edward. “The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint: A Novel.”

Tillman, Nancy. “The Crown on Your Head.”

Tobar, Héctor. “The Barbarian Nurseries: A Novel.”

Torres, Justin. “We The Animals.”

Troncoso, Sergio. “Crossing Borders: Personal Essays; From This Wicked Patch of Dust.”

Unferth, Deb Olin. “Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War.”

Utley, Dan K. “History Ahead: Stories Beyond the Texas Roadside Markers.”

Ventura, Michael. “If I Was a Highway.”

Waldman, Amy. “The Submission.”

Walker, Jason. “Texas State Cemetery.”

Ward, Amanda Eyre. “Close Your Eyes.”

Weinberg, Steven.. “To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People, One True Story.”

Wiesinger, Chris. “Heirloom Bulbs for Today.”

Welch, William C. “Heirloom Gardening in the South.”

Wells, Rosemary. “Love Waves.”

Wendelboe, C.M. “Death Along the Spirit Road.”

Wickenden, Dorothy. “Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West.”

Whitehead, Colson. “Zone One: A Novel.”

Whittemore, Jo. “Odd Girl In.”

Whorff, John. “Kayaking the Texas Coast.”

Wilkinson, Andy. “Llano Estacado: An Island in the Sky.”

Williams, Juan. “Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate.”

Willis, Virginia. “Basic to Brilliant, Y’all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company.”

Wilson, Daniel H. “Robopocalypse: A Novel.”

Wingfield, Jenny. “The Homecoming of Samuel Lake.”

Winkler, Adam. “Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America.”

Wolitzer, Meg. “The Uncoupling; The Fingertips of Duncan Dorfman.”

Wolman, Baron. “Every Picture Tells a Story - Baron Wolman, The Rolling Stone Years.”

Woodrell, Daniel. “The Outlaw Album: Stories.”

Wright, Robin. “Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World.”

Wright, Lawrence. “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.”

Yañez, Richard. “Cross Over Water.”

Yu, Charles. “How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe.”

Zelinsky, Paul. “Toys Come Home: Being the Early Experiences …”

Zepeda, Gwendolyn. “I Kick the Ball/Pateo el balón.”

Ziegler, Jennifer. “Sass & Serendipity.”

Zogby, James. “Arab Voices: What They Are Saying to Us, and Why It Matters.”




09/14/11--11:41: Chuck Palahniuk, Jim Uhls,Tom Perrotta to appear on joint AFF/TBF panels (chan 2557600)

Authors such as Chuck Palahniuk, Jim Uhls, Kathy Reichs, Ernest Cline and Tom Perrotta are all slated to appear on panels about the relationship between prose and the screen co-sponsored by the Austin Film Festival and Texas Book Festival on Oct. 22.

“Fight Club” (the movie) screenwriter Jim Uhls and “Fight Club” (the novel) author Chuck Palahniuk will discuss adapting the novel in a “Script-to-Screen” panel.

“Bones” writer/producer Hart Hanson will join novelist and forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs to discuss “the Collaboration Process”

Authors/screenwriters Ernest Cline, Tom Perrotta and Jenny Wingfield will all discuss their moving work from the page to the screen.

Film passes can be purchased here.




09/15/11--15:00: Jonathan Franzen and Lev Grossman in conversation Oct. 14 (chan 2557600)

Award-winning novelist Jonathan Franzen sits down to chat with Time Magazine senior writer and book critic Lev Grossman Oct. 14 at at Bass Concert Hall.

Franzen’s 2001 novel “The Corrections” won the National Book Award, while his most recent “Freedom,” won the 2011 John Gardner Prize for fiction and the Heartland Prize.

Tickets are $34 to $38 and are on sale now.

A limited number of $10 student tickets/discounted tickets are available for UT faculty & staff, seniors and military. Tickets can be purchased at the Bass Concert Hall Box Office, most H-E-B stores and all Texas Box Office outlets, online at TexasPerformingArts.org, or by calling (512) 477-6060 or (800) 982-BEVO.




09/20/11--10:24: New hours for Faulk Central Library (chan 2557600)

The Faulk Central Library located at 800 Guadalupe St., also known as the main branch pf the Austin Public Library, is reducing its operating hours, opening an hour later and closing an hour earlier Monday through Thursday.

As of Oct. 3, the new hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.




09/22/11--08:35: Carolyn McBride signs "Fireflies in a Jar: Stories of Growing Up in Austin, 1938 - 1956" Saturday (chan 2557600)

Austin native Carolyn Bock McBride will be signing her book “Fireflies in a Jar: Stories of Growing Up in Austin, 1938 - 1956” from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 2810 Bowman Ave., the the home built in 1935 by her parents, Caroline and Carl Edward Bock.

McBride will sign books and share personal anecdotes of old Austin, including pieces on Tarrytown, the Austin Symphony, St. Martin’s Lutheran Church and more.




10/07/11--13:14: Texas Book Festival needs volunteers! (chan 2557600)

The Texas Book Festival is in need of volunteers. It takes a whole mess of volunteers to make the thing run, so if you’re in the mood to help out, sign up here




10/11/11--13:46: Jewish Book Fair announces lineup (chan 2557600)

The 28th annual Austin Jewish Book Fair kicks off Nov. 3, with appearances by Melissa Fay Greene, Martin Fletcher and Joe Gelman.

The annual Book Lovers Luncheon starts at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 3 with an appearance by Greene, author of “No Biking in the House Without a Helmet,” which deals with her parenting experiences.

The program continues at 10 a.m. Nov. 6 with Martin Fletcher, long-time NBC News Middle East correspondent and Tel Aviv Bureau Chief. During a bagel breakfast, the journalist-turned-author will discuss his first foray into fiction, “The List: A Novel.” The book follows an expecting couple as they flee Austria at the close of the World War II to start again in London.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, Rabbi Jamie Korngold of Boulder, Colo. will discuss her new book, “The God Upgrade: Finding Your 21st-Century Spirituality in Judaism’s 5,000-Year-Old Tradition.” Also on Sunday, Joe Gelman, will talk about “Confidential: The Life of Secret Agent Turned Holywood Tycoon- Arnon Milchan.” Gelman’s book focuses on the experiences of Milchan, who produced more than 100 movies, including “Pretty Woman,” but who also had another life as an Israeli secret agent.

Alick Isaacs will talk at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 about his latest book, “A Prophetic Peace: Judaism, Religion and Politics.”

At 7 p.m. on Nov. 8, Sharon Pomerantz will talk about first novel, “Rich Boy,” and Michael David Lukas will introduce his debut novel, “The Oracle of Stamboul.”

The fair continues at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 with Alicia Oltuski, who will discuss her memoir, “Precious Objects: A Story of Diamonds, Family and a Way of Life.” Also, Adina Hoffman, film critic and professor, and Peter Cole, poet and translator, will discuss “Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza.”

At 7 p.m. Nov. 10, Steven Levy will discuss “In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes our Lives.”

And the festival closes at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 with Jonathan Spyer, who will talk about “Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.” Also appearing will be Joseph Braude, who will discuss “The Honored Dead: A Story of Friendship, Murder and the Search for Truth in the Arab World.”

For more complete Austin Jewish Book Fair author and schedule information and to register for ticketed events, visit www.shalomaustin.org/bookfair or call (512) 735-8076.

The Jewish Book Fair will be held at the JCC Community Hall, 7300 Hart Lane.




10/18/11--09:17: Deborah Akers, 1949 -- 2011 (chan 2557600)

The Reader would like to note the passing of Austin poet Deborah Akers, who died on Oct. 12 at the age of 62.

“Deb was a good friend to countless poets and a creative influence on Austin poetry,” said Austin Poetry Society president Elzy Cogswell.

She served on the board of directors for both the Austin poetry journal Borderlands and the Austin International Poetry Festival. For the latter, she was the longtime editor of the youth anthology, Diverse Youth. “Deb also initiated and hosted many poetry reading venues,” Cogswell said. “Austin is known for its active poetry community, and we are all mourning her loss. Her spirit continues in each of us who have been influenced by her work.” No services are planned.




10/20/11--07:59: Hamilton Book Awards announced (chan 2557600)

A UT scholar of early Christian history has won the the University Co-op’s Hamilton Book Award for a volume on how the gospel stories of Jesus changed over time.

UT professor L. Michael White took the $10,000 grand prize for “Scripting Jesus: The Gospels in Rewrite” (Harper Collins), which argues that the gospels were perhaps tailored to the particular audience to whom Jesus was speaking and reflect the various authors.

The Hamilton Book Awards, named after former Co-op Board chair and UT law professor Robert W. Hamilton, are given to UT faculty for outstanding scholarship and creative works published during the previous academic year.

White is the award’s first two-time grand prize winner.

He won first in 2006 for “From Jesus to Christianity: How Four Generations of Visionaries & Storytellers Created the New Testament and Christian Faith,” also published by Harper Collins.

The Co-op presented several other awards at its annual awards dinner Wednesday night.

Four winners took home $3,000 runner-up prizes.

History professor Richard Graham won for “Feeding the City: From Street Market to Liberal Reform in Salvador, Brazil, 1780-1860” (UT Press), biology professor David M. Hillis for “Principles of Life” (Sinauer Associates and W. H. Freeman), law professor Inga Markovits for “Music in the Hispanic Caribbean” (Yale University Press) and history professor Karl H. Miller for “Segregating Sound: Inventing Folk and Pop Music in the Age of Jim Crow” (Duke University Press).

Asian Studies professor and former department chair J. Patrick Olivelle won the $10,000 Career Research Excellence award, McDonald Observatory scientists Barbara E. McArthur and George “Fritz” Benedict were awarded the $5,000 Best Research Paper award.

Theater professor Steven Dietz won the new $5,000 Creative Research award, for which faculty in the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Communication, and the School of Architecture are eligible.




10/23/11--10:21: Bibliophiles pack Capitol for Texas Book Festival (chan 2557600)

Here is the link to our Sunday story on the Texas Book Festival.




10/24/11--18:13: Texas Book Festival: Pitchapalooza panel (chan 2557600)

There are certain words not to use when pitching a book idea to an editor.

Don’t say “I’m going to tell you a story.” Don’t ask the editor to “imagine this.” Do talk about your main character and throw in some dialogue or something funny. Do be able to pitch your book in one minute because that is about all the time you might get.

This was the advice that the authors and agents on the panel called “Pitchapalooza,” gave to the audience Saturday. A handful of people randomly chosen from the audience presented their book ideas and were only given one minute to do it. Their judges were David Henry Sterry and Arielle Eckstut, the authors of “The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published,” Laura Castro, a visiting scholar at the UT School of Law who is writing a book; Carol Dawson, the author of four books and Bill Crawford, the author of 12 books.

The book ideas that various members of the audience presented to the panel included one about a man who was a personal assistant to Andy Warhol, another man who literally visits hell while getting a divorce and a book for children about how musical instruments are made with some gross facts thrown in to catch the readers’ attention such as how some strings were made out of animal parts. There was even a book idea by a 13 year old girl about a child whose best friend is kidnapped.

The judges chose a winner named - special education teacher Amy Teague. She said she wanted to write about a boy suffering from some mental issues himself who was the only one that knew his “perfect” sister was a shape shifter.

“That’s a great subject for a book,” said Sterry. Eckstut also suggested that Teague provide more details about her main character when she pitched the book.

Crawford suggested to potential writers that think about books they could write in serials. “That’s what is selling,” he said.




10/25/11--10:17: Texas Book Festival: What You Didn't Learn in Seventh Grade History (chan 2557600)

Here’s something you probably didn’t learn in seventh grade Texas history.

In 1928 when oil was struck in Monahans there were no pipelines to transport it so workers built a gigantic tank that leaked so later someone tried to fill the big hole left behind with a lake which also leaked and now the crater-like gouge in the earth has become a museum, said Cynthia Beeman.

Beeman, Dan Utley and Monte Akers were the three authors speaking Saturday in a panel called “What You Didn’t Learn in 7th grade Texas History Class.”

Beeman and Utley are the authors of a book called “History Ahead: Stories Beyond the Texas Roadside Markers.” Akers wrote “The Accidental Historian: Tales of Trash and Treasure.” All of the authors spoke to a packed room about how often history classes in schools didn’t address local stories.

Utley said during a budget crunch in the 1930s the local schools cut music from the curriculum in Schulenburg and a man who worked for a utility company and had no musical students offered to teach the students for free. He helped form a band and an orchestra and hundreds of his former students still remember him, Utley said. Akers said a chapter in his book mentions a male survivor of the Alamo that few people knew about who died in the 1850s in Texas. Warnells survivors who died in the 1850s. His goal, Akers said, was to present history as fact and “history as fun.”




10/25/11--12:25: About 35,000 attend Texas Book Festival, with new lit crawl (chan 2557600)

Here is the link to the Monday story about the Texas Book Festival.




11/01/11--12:14: Michael Dickman reads at Texas State Nov. 10 (chan 2557600)

Poet and former Michener Center fellow Michel Dickman will read at The Wittliff Collections (Alkek Library, 7th floor) at Texas State University 3:30 Nov. 10 and at the Katherine Anne Porter Literary Center (508 Center St., Kyle) at 7:30 Nov. 11/ 7:30PM

Dickman’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, The American Poetry Review, Field, Tin House and elsewhere. His first collection is “The End of the West (2009, Copper Canyon). His second, “Flies,” appeared in May, also from Copper Canyon. “Flies” was chosen to receive the 2010 James Laughlin Award.

Both readings are free and open to the public.




11/02/11--10:21: Former Austinite Blackwood wins Whiting (chan 2557600)

Scott Blackwood, a former Austin resident who now teaches in Chicago, has won a $50,000 Whiting Writers’ Award for fiction.

The awards, given to emerging writers, have been given annually since 1985.

Blackwood, who received his master’s of fine arts in creative writing from Texas State University, is the author of 2009’s acclaimed “We Agreed to Meet Just Here.” He directs the creative writing program at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Other awards went to Ryan Call, “The Weather Stations”; Don Mee Choi, “The Morning News Is Exciting”; Paul Clemens, “Made in Detroit”; Eduardo C. Corral, “Slow Lightning”; Amy Herzog, “After the Revolution”; Shane McCrae, “Mule”; Daniel Orozco, “Orientation”; Teddy Wayne, “Kapitoil”; and Kerri Webster, “We Do Not Eat Our Hearts Alone.”




11/27/11--21:27: Paolini's 'Inheritance' goes on sale (chan 2557600)

Austin fans of writer Christopher Paolini need to take note today. His fourth and final book in his The Inheritance Cycle, “Inheritance,” goes on sale today. And you might want to get an early jump on his upcoming visits to BookPeople and at the HEB in Round Rock by buying a copy now.

The first three novels in the series, “Eragon” (2003), “Eldest” (2005), and “Brisingr” (2008), have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.

Paolini kicks off his 18-city tour, which includes Austin, in New York City tonight.

Paolini’s first event in the Austin area will come at 5 p.m. Nov. 17, when he’ll appear at the HEB in Round Rock, 1700 East Palm Valley Blvd.

And at 2 p.m. Nov. 19, he’ll appear at BookPeople, which will host variuos events including face-painting, food, entertainment and other activities. When you purchase your book from BookPeople, you will receive a ticket for the signing line. These tickets are required to join the signing line at the event. Sales started at 9 this morning.




12/10/11--03:36: Book fair on Saturday (chan 2557600)

Humanities Texas is hosting a holiday book fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday at the historic Byrne-Reed House.

Twenty authors will sign copies of their latest books, which can be purchased at discounted prices. Proceeds will benefit the Bastrop Public Library.

The authors include: University of Texas historian H.W. Brands; Texas Monthly editor Jake Silverstein; Steven Fenberg, whose latest is “Unprecedented Power”; Stephen Harrigan; James W. Riddlesperger Jr.; Don Graham; Susan Toomey Frost; Jeremi Suri; novelist Oscar Casares; military historian Thomas M. Hatfield; Rhonda Lashley Lopez; Michael O’Brien; Norma E. Cantu; Austin Bay; Will Erwin and Jason Walker, authors of “Texas State Cemetery”; James W. Pennebaker; Ruth Pennebaker; biographer Manuel F. Medrano; and L. Michael White;

Parking is free in the lot of St. Martin’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, at the northwest corner of 15th and Rio Grande streets. The Byrne-Reed House is near 14th and Rio Grande.




12/20/11--15:11: Pre-orders for e-version of new Pelecanos novel priced at 99 cents (chan 2557600)

“What It Was,” the next book from crime fiction savant (and one-time writer on “The Wire”) George Pelecanos will be published on January 23, 2012, in three formats: a 99-cent ebook, a $9.99 trade paperback, and a limited-edition, signed and slip-cased hardcover for $35. The e-book price of 99 cents applies to pre-orders and purchases made within one month of publication; after that the e-book price will be $4.99.

This is a common practice in the music industry, in which new albums — usually on one of the few remaining major labels — will be heavily discounted on services such as Amazon to goose early sales, but it is rare in the publishing world.

A piece on my favorite books of the past year, a list on which Pelecanos’s last book makes a cameo appearance, can be found here, along with a photo of my enormously fat head.




01/10/12--06:26: Ransom Center hosts David Foster Wallace Symposium April 5, 6 (chan 2557600)

The Harry Ransom Center, will hosts a symposium on the work of the late David Foster Wallace the evening of April 5 and all day April 6. Writers, editors, journalists and critics will gather to discuss Wallace’s life and work in panel discussions on such topics as “Editors on Wallace” and “A Life through the Archive.”

Moderators and participants include Wallace’s literary agent Bonnie Nadell, editor Michael Pietsch of Little, Brown and Company and Los Angeles Times book critic David Ulin.

Registration is limited and opens Jan. 23 at 11 a.m. CST. Participants must register online. The $55 registration fee includes access to all events on the schedule.

All symposium events will be webcast live at http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/webcast.




01/14/12--19:24: Texas Book Festival Executive Director to retire in March (chan 2557600)

The Texas Book Festival (TBF) announced Thursday that Executive Director Heidi Marquez Smith will retire at the end of March 2012. Smith is only the third executive director to lead the non-profit since its founding in 1995.

“Well, it was a very bittersweet decision, but I wanted more flexibility with my time,” Smith said Thursday. “I love my job and I will continue to be involved, but I think there’s still plenty I can do without being in the office all the time.”

“She’s just been really valuable in her position,” said TBF board chairman Ron Weiss. “She was a great choice to succeed Mary Herman and she brought a lot of new ideas. We have a big job ahead of us.” Weiss said. Smith will likely continue working with the organization as a consultant.

“There is plenty of work to do between now and the end of March,” Smith said. “We are in the middle of updating the website and we’re thinking of changing the name so people understand we are a year-round organization.”

A search committee of TBF board members already is considering candidates for Smith’s replacement. Interested parties can submit their inquiries regarding the position to jobs@texasbookfestival.org.




01/23/12--07:34: It is hard to imagine this is real but.... (chan 2557600)

Here’s Cormac McCarthy on Twitter.

(Verification or debunking forthcoming, one hopes.)




01/23/12--07:49: Newberry and Caldecott winners announced (chan 2557600)

Jack Gantos’ “Dead End in Norvelt” picked up the John Newbery Medal for the best children’s book of 2011, while Chris Raschka’s “A Ball for Daisy” won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustrated story, the American Library Association (ALA) announced Monday.

Austin author Ernest Cline took one of 10 Alex prizes (best adult books that appeal to teen audiences) for “Ready Player One” (Crown Publishers).

Two Newbery Honor Books also were named: “Inside Out & Back Again,” written by Thanhha Lai and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, and “Breaking Stalin’s Nose,” written and illustrated by Eugene Yelchin, and published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.

Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named: “Blackout,” illustrated and written by John Rocco, and published by Disney · Hyperion Book, “Grandpa Green” illustrated and written by Lane Smith, and published by Roaring Brook Press and “Me … Jane,” illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell, and published by Little, Brown and Company.

John Corey Whaley’s “Where Things Come Back” (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) took the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults.

Kadir Nelson, author and illustrator of “Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans” (Balzer + Bray), won the Coretta Scott King (Author) Book Award , an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Shane W. Evans, illustrator and author of “Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom” (Roaring Brook Press) won the King Illustrator Book prize.

Susan Cooper, author of The Dark Is Rising Sequence, won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults.

Check out the ALA Web site for a full list of winners.




01/24/12--16:57: Mark Strand reading Thursday at UT. (chan 2557600)

Poetry lovers: A reminder that Pulitzer Prize-winning, former Poet Laureate Mark Strand reads at 7:30 p.m. at Avaya Auditorium (ACES 2.302 on the UT campus). The reading is free and open to the public.




02/09/12--00:22: Thriller writer Charlie Newton discusses "Start Shooting" Feb. 9 at Continental Club Gallery (chan 2557600)

Charlie Newton’s new novel “Start Shooting” is one of 2012’s early crime/noir standouts. The Texas Book Festival and Kirkus are bringing him to the Continental Club Gallery on Feb. 9 for a chat with Kirkus Reviews editor Mike Hejny.

Starts at 5:30 p.m. Seating is limited, RSVP required. Click here to RSVP.