Books: IndyBlog, Colorado Springs Independent

Mecklenburg tackles book signing

Bryce Crawford — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:38:00 -0600

Former Denver Broncos linebacker Karl Mecklenburg retired in 1994, but he's never far from the public eye — or fans' hearts — due to his charity work. Well, now it's his wordsmithing that's bringing him around: At 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 5, the sack artist will sign, and talk about, his new book at the Chapel Hills Mall.…

Right-brainers converge: A view from the crowd at the Pikes Peak Writers Conference

Miguel Bustamante — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:02:30 -0600

Last Friday, the 21st annual Pikes Peak Writers' Conference kicked off at the Marriott Hotel. It was a three-day sojourn through the most pressing questions and dilemmas writers encounter while trying to break out as an artist.…

WWII vets to attend Barnes & Noble signing

Matthew Schniper — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:53:00 -0600

Voices of the Pacific: Untold Stories from the Marine Heroes of World War II, the latest novel to capture stories from those that served in the Pacific theater of World War II, was released in hardcover earlier this month.

Early reviews report an appreciation for allowing the subjects to speak for themselves — essentially in oral history format.…

Vegas slaying leads to e-book

Pam Zubeck — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:47:18 -0700

After his son, Erik, was killed by Las Vegas police in July 2010, Springs resident William Scott turned to his profession as a writer to convey his frustration and the pain of losing his son.

We told his story here, here and here, and now his book, The Permit, has been released.…

PPLD approved for $750,000 challenge grant

Matthew Grieson — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:37:11 -0700

At the beginning of Ray Oldenburg’s 1989 publication, The Great Good Place, he quotes Max Lerner talking about the “quest for community” in his 1957 writing, America as a Civilization. This “quest for community” is at the heart of a gracefully working society.…

Book news: Awards, writing conferences and even a video game

Kirsten Akens — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:48:12 -0700

Lots of book news in my inbox recently.

• According to Publisher's Weekly, author Marie Lu, to whom we introduced to you here in March, will launch a Facebook game in December called Cities of Legend.…

Booksigning: Doctors, Disease, and Dying in the Pikes Peak Region

Edie Adelstein — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:56:45 -0700

From the listings desk: People were so tough back in the day. Before OTC N-SAIDS, before modern psychotherapy, before much of anything, people just had to suffer.…

An online-only batch of Short Stories

Kirsten Akens — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:10:13 -0600

If you read this week's cover story on Jason Lewis, you might have noticed that the timing was inspired, in part, by Lewis' book release.

Typically when we run book-related stories, they show up as a Fine Print feature, with short book reviews attached.…

Black Cat Books now located in the Business of Art Center

Edie Adelstein — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:32:44 -0600

Today, the Business of Art Center announced that Black Cat Books, the Manitou Springs book store and wine bar owned by new BAC executive director Natalie Johnson, has moved out of its space in downtown Manitou and into the BAC.

Johnson opened Black Cat seven years ago, and in the past year or so merged it with the boutique clothing and accessories store safron of Manitou, which remains in the old location.…

Book review: Art Travel Guide

Edie Adelstein — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 17:50:18 -0600

It's hard not to be a bit skeptical of specialized travel guides, such as Art Travel Guide: Must-See Contemporary Art Sites Across the USA, released this May by Connie Terwilliger. How soon before this information is outdated?…

12 in ’12: Colorado Book Award winners

Jeff Koch — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 16:00:23 -0600

The Aspen Summer Words literary festival and retreat culminated today with the Colorado Book Awards ceremony, honoring the state's best in writing and illustration. A total of 169 entries were whittled down to just 12 winners — one for each category.…

Abby Murray: poet, professor, Army wife

Bryce Crawford — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 07:18:05 -0600

We first met Abby Murray in 2010, when we profiled her newly created Writers Reading series. The event has since moved locations several times, but later in the summer will undergo a bigger change: Murray will leave Colorado Springs to get her doctorate at Binghamton University in New York, and turn the now every-other-month event over to a fellow instructor at Pikes Peak Community College.…

War stories and other book notes

Kirsten Akens — Wed, 30 May 2012 16:29:40 -0600

A few book-related activities going on:

First up, on Saturday, June 2, photojournalist Steven Clevenger will host a signing and presentation on his book America's First Warriors: Native Americans and Iraq.

You can listen to a 2011 NPR interview with Clevenger, who's been covering wars for almost four decades, and see a slideshow of his work here.…

War and remembrance: A camouflaged memoir

Bill Forman — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:29:29 -0600

The phrase "Happy Memorial Day" — which today finds its way into newspaper headlines across the country, as well as websites from ESPN to perezhilton.com — can be seen as:

• a more specific variation on the theme, "Happy Three-Day Weekend";

• a reflexive symptom of Hallmark-fueled desensitization;

• or an expression of the indomitable spirit of the American people.

In any case, the holiday itself is an observance that dates back the American Civil War, a remembrance of those lost in the theater of war that remains all too real and all too relevant to this day.…

2012 All Pikes Peak Reads: The Year of the Flood

Claire Swinford — Tue, 01 May 2012 13:48:10 -0600

Care to join me in a spot of summer speed-reading?

This morning brought the announcement that The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood is the official pick for All Pikes Peak Reads 2012. The powerhouse author, famed for her engaging public appearances and devoted fan base, will be visiting Colorado Springs for the Sept. 14 kickoff of APPR.…

Space group lands Russian exhibit, teaching lab

Pam Zubeck — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 17:17:07 -0600

From the land of wheat and the Wizard of Oz comes help from the Kansas Cosmosphere & Space Center in Hutchinson, Kan., in helping the Springs-based Space Foundation get its visitors center project off to a good start.

The Cosmosphere is loaning a collection of 1970s-era Soviet space artifacts, which will be displayed at its headquarters at 4425 Arrowswest Drive.…

Big congrats to local author on RITA nom

Kirsten Akens — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:18:12 -0600

Sending out congratulations to local author Barbara O'Neal on her nod from the Romance Writers of America for her 2011 novel, How to Bake a Perfect Life. It's been selected by RWA as a RITA finalist for novel with strong romantic elements.…

Book review: Companion to Spanish Colonial Art at the Denver Art Museum

Edie Adelstein — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:54:43 -0700

At the Prado in Spain, little cigarette-machine-like vendors dispensing thin books dot its numerous galleries. For a few Euros, little volumes in your language of choice pop out for an instant primer on the artist or period you’re touring.…

Book review: Crazy Enough

Edie Adelstein — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:29:26 -0700

You want to know Storm Large. A Portland, Ore., rock legend, she’s tall, talented and inspiringly self-aware; in her brand-new memoir, Large describes her teenage years as a “turd in a punch bowl.” She was loud, obnoxious, slutty and druggy, and she’s the first to admit it.…

Give the library some love — it'll love you back

Kirsten Akens — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:38:09 -0700

Yesterday morning I heard an appalling statistic on the Willie and Val Show on KCCY-FM 96.9. According to its Nearly Impossible Trivia game, 50 percent of men and 60 percent of women have library cards, but rarely use them.…

Donate a CD, support a library

Bill Forman — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:37:29 -0700

Got tons of CDs you never listen to, taking up room that could be devoted to some other kind of clutter?

Beginning Jan. 2 and continuing through Feb. 13, all Pikes Peak Library District locations will have collection boxes where you can donate those Billy Idol and Blind Melon albums that seemed like such a good idea at the time.

The best part is that Independent Records will be donating $1 for each CD received in order to help support All Pikes Peak Reads community outreach programs.…

Bonus Short Stories: Damned, Best Food Writing 2011

Kirsten Akens — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:59:32 -0700

We reviewed a few more books this month than we could get into print, but wanted to make sure you heard about them, you know, in case you're still on the hunt for holiday gifts.

Damned
Chuck Palahniuk
Doubleday, $24.95/hardcover
Fight Club’s author has aggressively released almost a book a year for the last decade; reviews of Pygmy and Tell-All are in our archives here and here, as well as an interview on Snuff from May 2008.…

PPLD to purchase new facility

Edie Adelstein — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:18:09 -0700

According to a press release sent today, the Pikes Peak Library District will purchase a building near the Chapel Hills Mall once occupied by MCI. The 112,883 square-foot building will now house PPLD's Information Technology Department, Community Engagement and Outreach Office, Finance Department, Human Resources Office, Collection Management, and the PPLD Foundation, all of which were located in other libraries throughout the district.…

Indy Minute

Jack Ward — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:13:46 -0700

The Pikes Peak Center hosts Brule's Red Nativity, downtown Colorado Springs hosts parade-goers, and the Citadel Mall hosts some very special guests. Jack Ward has the latest holiday activities in this week's Indy Minute.…

Book review: Rossetti: Painter and Poet

Edie Adelstein — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:39:06 -0600

It’s funny how people have a “type.” Especially when the type is weirdly obvious and/or specific. (I’m thinking Ron Swanson’s Tammys from Parks and Recreation.)

Artists have types, too, naturally.…