Reading Las Vegas to offer few frills but many thrills

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The month of April will make you laugh all the way to the library, if Reading Las Vegas: A Sure Bet organizers get their way.

The ninth annual adult reading incentive program will include authors known to spin a phrase while tickling the funny bone, program co-chairwoman Leah Ciminelli said.

The monthlong program also will include writing workshops, a murder mystery event and a book festival. Absent from this year's festivities will be prizes, giveaways and the popular Reading Las Vegas tote bag due to budget cuts within the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Jennifer Schember, adult services coordinator, said this year's theme, For the Love of Reading, emphasizes getting back to the basics of reading, without the frills of prizes and other incentives.

"We're going to mostly focus on the celebration of reading," she said.

Schember said programs are filling up fast and encouraged visitors to plan ahead when attending events.

All programs are free and open to the public. Events include:

* Famed humorist David Sedaris is set to be on hand for a question-and-answer session, book sale and signing at 8 p.m. April 30 at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road.

Sedaris has sold more than 7 million copies of his books, which include humorous family anecdotes and warped short stories.

Seats are limited, and wristbands will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the library box office beginning at 6 p.m. The limit is one per person.

* Graphic novelists Harvey Pekar and Alison Bechdel are scheduled at the Clark County Library at 7 p.m. April 24. "Titans of the Graphic Novel: An Evening with Harvey Pekar and Alison Bechdel" will include a book sale and signing with the authors.

Pekar wrote and self-published the autobiographical American Splendor comics, which adapted into the 2003 feature film. Bechdel is the author of "Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic," a graphic memoir of her childhood and complex relationship with her father, and the syndicated strip "Dykes to Watch Out For."

* April 8 is the planned launch of a comic visual art competition called The Rubber Chicken Celebrates the Arts, which will run through June. A reception will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. April 14 at the West Charleston Library, 6301 W. Charleston Blvd.

The competition features the creations of library district staff members by showcasing their creativity and humor through the visual arts by using a 3-D rubber chicken in the finished art piece.

* The Full House Players Improv Troupe are set to make audiences laugh in four events anchored by performers playing improvisational games based on audience suggestions. Afterward, participants are invited take part in an improv workshop with writer, actor and improv comedian Glenn Heath and his fellow players. The events are set for 1 p.m. April 18 at the Summerlin Library, 1771 Inner Circle Drive; 4 p.m. April 18 at the Enterprise Library, 25 E. Shelbourne Ave.; 1 p.m. April 24 at the Centennial Hills Library, 6711 N. Buffalo Drive; and 4 p.m. April 24 at the Sunrise Library, 5400 Harris Ave.

* Author, painter and Hollywood icon Tony Curtis is scheduled to return to the festival to discuss his new book "The Making of Some Like It Hot" at 2 p.m. April 18 at the Clark County Library.

A book signing will follow. The limit is one item per person, plus items purchased on site. Seats are limited, and wristbands will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 1 p.m. at the box office. The limit is one per person.

Curtis' artwork also will be displayed in the library gallery from April 6 through June 12 at the Clark County Library.

* Author Kim Russell is set to showcase, through humor, her experiences of "the tumultuous journey of balancing growing old gracefully with weight gain, retirement shortfalls, career changes and other half-truths" at 7 p.m. April 9 at the West Charleston Library.

* Writing workshops with Linda Weaver Clark are set for 6 p.m. Monday at the Sahara West Library, 9600 W. Sahara Ave.; 2 p.m. April 11 at the Laughlin Library, 2840 S. Needles Highway; 6 p.m. April 14 at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center, 15 W. Mesquite Blvd.; and April 19 at the Las Vegas Library, 833 Las Vegas Blvd. North.

* Andrew Gross, New York Times best-selling author of "The Blue Zone," "The Dark Tide" and Don't Look Twice," and co-author of five No. 1 bestsellers with James Patterson, is scheduled to discuss the writing process and his new book, "Reckless: A Novel," at 7 p.m. April 26 at the Clark County Library.

* Bing Crosby's niece, Carolyn Schneider, who has written two books about her childhood growing up with her famous uncle, is slated to be featured at a question-and-answer session, book sale and signing at 6:30 p.m. April 28 at the Clark County Library.

A screening of the Bing Crosby movie "Here Comes the Groom" is scheduled for 4 p.m.

* Hone your sleuthing skills by gathering clues from suspects to solve the murder of Wally Magic Fingers during "Murder on the Strip," scheduled for 7 p.m. April 17 at the Spring Valley Library, 4280 S. Jones Blvd.

The event is for adults ages 18 and older; registration is required. Call 507-3821.

* Enjoy Mardi Gras Mambo, a concert of New Orleans-inspired jazz, set for 2 p.m. April 11 at the Clark County Library.

* The Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater is scheduled to focus on comedy in dance, with excerpts from "Somewhere in the Corners of My Mind" and a section from the ballet "Rhythm 101," at 1 p.m. April 10 at the West Las Vegas Library, 951 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

* The Reading Las Vegas Book Festival and Used Book Sale, a staple of Reading Las Vegas, is planned from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 10 at the Clark County Library.

An afternoon of writing workshops, book clubs and writing groups, a local author mixer and a used book sale also are planned. The book sale will feature gently used items that were formerly part of the library collection, including children's titles, adult titles, foreign language releases, fiction, nonfiction and more.

Reading Las Vegas is sponsored in part by the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Foundation, the Nevada Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, the federal Recovery Act and Stephens Press, owned by Stephens Media, which owns View Neighborhood Newspapers.

For more information, visit www.lvccld.org or call 507-6025.

Contact Centennial and Southeast View reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@viewnews.com or 477-3839.