Tampa Book Buzz

november fun for book lovers

As always, there are some interesting and fun events for book lovers and readers in the Tampa Bay area this month.  Here’s a sample:

• November 2-12 (except for November 11) – Tampa Bay Jewish Book Fair and Bazaar — Features a large selection of fiction and non-fiction, including Jewish studies, religion, Kabbalah, cooking and humor.  Held at the Tampa Jewish Community Center, 13009 Community Campus Drive.
• November 9 — University of Tampa professor Martha Serpas will be at Inkwood Books reading from her latest book of poetry The Dirty Side of the Storm.
• November 11 — Author Scott Taylor Hartzell (Remembering St. Petersburg Vol. 2: More Sunshine City Stories) will be at Haslam’s Bookstore.
• November 12 — The Florida Collectibles and Vintage Antiques Show  at the St. Pete Colliseum — 15,000 square feet of old Florida books and postcards; tinted photographs from Barnhill and Harris; old Florida art; vintage Florida license plates and roadside signs; kitschy roadside attraction souvenirs; Florida Highwaymen art exhibit and sale; Seminole Indian collectibles and more.  Authors scheduled to appear include Charlie Carlson, Scott Taylor Hartzell, Tim Dorsey, Ken Breslauer, R. Wayne Ayers, William Moriarty, Larry Roberts and Kelly Reynolds.
• November 16 — Rene Syler, host of CBS’ The Early Show, will serve as keynote speaker for the Second Annual Griot Drum Awards and Scholarship Banquet of the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists.
• November 20 — Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder is speaking at USF.

(cross-posted at Sticks of Fire)

reading guide for the time traveler’s wife

ReadingGuides.com has some reading guide questions and links to reviews of The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  Click here.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is the TBB Online Book Club pick for this month.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com for more info.

tampa bay jewish book month celebration

The Tampa Jewish Community Center is celebrating National Jewish Book Month by hosting the Tampa Bay Jewish Book Month Celebration, a series of author appearances and book fairs held at several locations in the Tampa Bay area over the next two weeks.  Local events include:

Thursday, November 2, 5:00-10:00 p.m. – Tampa Bay Jewish Book Fair and Bazaar, Tampa Jewish Community Center, 13009 Community Center Drive, Tampa. Free and open to the public.

Thursday, November 2, 6:30 p.m. — Special dinner with guest speaker Tova Mirvis, author of national best-seller The Ladies Auxiliary and The Outside World. Tampa Jewish Community Center, 13009 Community Center Drive, Tampa. RSVP required; call 813-264-9000 or click here.

Now through Sunday, November 12 (excluding November 11) — Jewish Book Fair at the Tampa JCC, 13009 Community Campus Drive, Tampa.  Features a wonderful array of fiction and non-fiction books from a wide selection of authors and variety of topics, including Jewish studies, religion, philosophy, Kabbalah, children’s books, cooking, humor, and history. Book fair open during JCC business hours, Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Sunday, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Sunday, November 12, 1:00-4:00 p.m. — Community discussion about Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine and the convergence of Jewish and Japanese culture. Carrollwood Barnes and Noble, 11802 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa. During the months of October and November, the entire community - schools, book clubs, families - is encouraged to read this year’s selection, Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine. Lecturer Kazuko Goodman will offer her perspectives on understanding the Holocaust through the eyes of the Japanese. The community-wide book reading program is inspired by the national One Book, One Community initiative.

Visit www.jewishtampabay.com for more info.

kimberly llewellyn and alfie thompson in clearwater tomorrow

There’s a book signing event at the Barnes and Noble in Clearwater tomorrow:

Kimberly Llewellyn (Tulle Little, Tulle Late)

Alfie Thompson (Lights, Camera, Fiction:A Movie Lover’s Guide to Writing a Novel)

Barnes and Noble

Corner of US Highway 19 and Sunset Point in Clearwater

2:00 - 3:30 pm Saturday, October 28th

book buzz:access:tampa bay by eric sturm

Access:Tampa Bay by Eric Sturm

Let’s play Six Degrees of Eric Sturm:

I write for the popular local blog Sticks of Fire, which has recently partnered with journalistic powerhouse Tampa Gold, for which Eric Sturm publishes a weekly event calendar.  Three degrees.

I recently received a copy of Bottles from the Deep:Patent Medicines, Bitters, and Other Bottles from the Wreck of the Steamship Republic by local author Ellen C. Gerth, who works with Eric Sturm. Two degrees.

I met Eric Sturm at the South Tampa Barnes and Noble store back in May, when he attended a panel discussion in which I participated.  One degree.

Everyone in town can “know” Eric Sturm within six degrees or less, given his involvement in numerous organizations, clubs and groups.  Sturm shares his wealth of knowledge — and his enjoyment of socializing — in his book Access:Tampa Bay (The networking guide to professional and personal rewards in Tampa Bay).  In his introduction, Sturm explains the reason for connecting with these groups and clubs:

Social capital is simply the value of your social network…a form of currency used to find friends, mentors, upwards mobility, relationships and fulfillment in the ways you want.

Whether you’re looking for a cause to make your life’s devotion or simply something new to do on the weekend, you’ll find it in Access:Tampa Bay.  Sturm separates his listings into 20 categories: groups, pure networking, chambers of commerce, professional associations, charities, krewes, coffee/wife, activity groups, information, art, dance, music, venues, sports, guides, media, blogs, government, resources, and late additions.

Some of the resources I’ve never heard of before reading Sturm’s book include: the St. Petersburg Shell Club, the Artillery, Tampa Bay Tango, Tampa Baby Zone, Florida Speakers and the Tampa Bay Sports and Social Club.

Pick up a copy of Access:Tampa Bay soon and get busy networking, making new friends and having fun.  And when you meet Eric Sturm at one of these events, please tell him I said hello.

Book Buzz Barometer: A

Sturm’s website is www.tampaoptions.com.

great opening lines:the dead beat by marilyn johnson

People have been slipping out of this world in occupational clusters, I’ve noticed, for years.  Four journalists passed their deadline one day, and their obits filled a whole corner of the paper.  What news sent them over the edge?  How often do you see two great old actresses take their bows, or two major-league strike out together?  Often enough to spook.  Some days sculptors are called, some days pioneer cartoonists.  A New York Times editor threw up his hands on June 13, 2004, and ran two almost perfectly parallel stories under one headline: WINNERS OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR FROM TWO ERAS DIE; BOTH MEN SAVED FELLOW MARINES.

      —-The Dead Beat:Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasure of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson

did you know…

…that Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, loves Mary Roach’s book Stiff (a book that I love too!)?

…that Niffenegger once spent fourteen years creating a visual book and teaches a bookmaking class?

…that she is also an artist?

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is October’s reading selection for the TBB Online Book Club.  The Tampa Book Buzz Online Book Club is housed at Target’s Bookmarked website.  Each month we pick a book to read and discuss on the Bookmarked site.  During the month, I’ll post tidbits about the author and/or the book here.  At the end of the month, I’ll tell you what I thought of the book and hopefully you’ll do the same.  Email me at tampafilmfan (at) aol.com for more info.

book buzz:no coincidence by ann baker

No Coincidence by Ann Baker, ISBN #0976431505 

Morgan McGhee is an attractive blond who works at the 911 Communications Center in Tampa. Married — happily as far as anyone knows — to the handsome, successful City Director of Finance, Morgan’s life is changed irrevocably one night when her husband Greg is shot right in front of her in their own home. The assasination puts her on the run for her life, confused, accused and immersed in Tampa’s criminal underworld.

It’s no coincidence that author Ann Baker is able to write such convincing 911 Communications Center scenes, given her background as a Law Enforcement Officer, Traffic Homicide Investigator and Law Enforcement Dispatcher. Baker’s references to corruption within the offices of local city government make for interesting reading, especially to anyone who’s lived in the Tampa Bay area for any length of time.

The weakness of No Coincidence, however, is with its characters. Morgan, the story’s protagonist, becomes involved with the man who rescued her after her husband’s murder, but discovers that this mystery man might not be as safe as he appears. Without giving away any important plot points, all I can say is that I found the romantic relationship between Morgan and her rescuer unbelievable and quite frankly, creepy. It’s distracting to have a main character as gullible and unlikable as I found Morgan to be.

No Coincidence is the first in a series of Morgan McGhee mystery novels that Baker has planned. I hope that in future books, Baker writes less unbelievable and far-fetched romances and instead plays to her strength by writing solid, intriguing murder mysteries.

Book Buzz Barometer: C-

Baker’s website is www.authorsden.com/annbaker.

robin morgan in st. pete october 18

When I was in college, I stumbled upon Robin Morgan’s funny, moving, feminist memoir Sisterhood is Powerful and found my life changed forever.  I was thrilled to discover that she’ll be at Eckerd College in St. Pete tomorrow night.  Here’s the email I received:

A COLLEGE PROGRAM SERIES (CPS) EVENT

On Wednesday, October 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Fox Hall at Eckerd College (St. Petersburg, FL), join us for another College Program Series event:

“Women, the Elections and Fighting Words” - ROBIN MORGAN, poet, political theorist, feminist activist, journalist, editor and author.

Robin Morgan has published more than 20 books, including the now-classic anthologies Sisterhood Is Powerful and Sisterhood Is Global with the recent Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women’s Anthology for A New Millennium. Recent books include her long-awaited novel on the Inquisition, The Burning Time, (Melville House Books, March 2006), and Fighting Words: A Tool Kit for Combating the Religious Right (Nation Books, September 2006). 

Founder of The Sisterhood Is Global Institute, and, recently, co-founder and board member of The Women’s Media Center, Robin has co-founded and serves on the boards of many women’s organizations in the US and abroad. In 1990, as Ms. editor-in-chief, she relaunched the magazine as an international, award-winning, ad-free bimonthly, resigning in late 1993 to become Consulting Global Editor. Read more: http://www.eckerd.edu/news/index.php?f=detail&id=1821.

Sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center. Part of the Presidential Events Series. 

mitch albom event at local starbucks october 26

Back in August, Starbucks announced that books will be integrated into its entertainment offerings. This month, Starbucks is promoting reading and literacy by selling and encouraging discussion of Mitch Albom’s new book For One More Day.  On October 26 at 7 p.m., the Starbucks on South Howard Avenue is participating in Book Break, Starbucks’ nationwide discussion day centering on For One More Day. A local teacher will lead the discussion and all book lovers are invited to attend.

With Albom’s encouragement — and reflective of Starbucks’ long-standing with the organization — Starbucks is contributing $1 per copy of For One More Day sold, with a minimum contribution of $50,000, to benefit Jumpstart in support of literacy.  Jumpstart is a national non-profit early education organization that ensures at-risk preschoolers enter kindergarten with the foundation of skills necessary for their future successes in school and life.

Customers who purchase For One More Day at Starbucks will receive a discussion guide bookmark. For more info on Albom’s new book, click here. Visit www.starbucksbookbreak.com for more info on Starbucks’ Book Break program, to take part in an online discussion or to order a copy of Albom’s book.