Sacramento County Historical Society Presents Images of America, Mather Field by James Scott and Tom Tolley Tuesday, January 24, 7:00 PM Sierra Sacramento Valley Medical Society Building, 5380 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento Join us on January 24th at 7:00 pm, as historians James Scott and Tom Tolley present a history of Mather Field from prehistory to closure and introduce their book: Images of America, Mather Field. Born from America’s need to train aviators for the Great War, Mather Field has sat sentinel to the east of Sacramento for nearly a century. Overnight, the base transformed a lonely domain of cattle and vineyards into an aerie where fledgling “man-birds” were taught to fly and kil

This weekend, Fairytale Town was transformed into a menagerie of creative writing and reading. Fairytale Town hosted the 11th Annual ScholarShare Children's Book Festival this past Saturday and Sunday. Arts and literacy organizations were on hand, most of them providing information to parents and interesting literacy activities for children. Mother Goose Stage was the centerpiece of the day. Authors and presenters sat in a giant and rather royal-looking throne at the center of the stage and the children crowded around. The weekend’s events included readings by eleven different authors including Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi. Trevor Wyatt was the MC and resident magici

Floppy discs, VCRs, phonebooks and payphones – what were once considered staples of everyday life have slowly faded into the background as new technologies flourished. Are books – tangible, printed and bound pages of text – next to be added to the list of obsolete and fading trends? After hearing the news of the Borders bookstore chain selling to a liquidator, which means the closure of all its 399 stores, The Sacramento Press went out to the streets of downtown Sacramento to ask people how they felt about this decision. Robin Louie, 62, a retired homemaker from Roseville, said she thinks that the situation is terrible. “We had a really big Borders and a Barnes and Noble across from th

A new “boutique” Goodwill store has opened its doors on L and 16th Streets, offering area shoppers a well organized, eco-friendly retail experience and deals on merchandise like books, lamps, shoes and purses. Store manager Noelle McCrea said the L Street location is unique in that its stock is handpicked from Goodwill locations across the country. While other Goodwills accept and sell most all donations, a “boutique” Goodwill strives to feature name brands, high-quality and vintage goods. Clothing is centrally located and sectioned into garment-specific, labeled racks, like: women’s plus size tops, long sleeve knit tops, lingerie, men’s jackets and men’s dress shirts. The women’s sect

  Sunday evening Patrick Mulvaney couldn’t be found in the Mulvaney’s B&L kitchen. Instead, the chef and restaurateur was at Time Tested Books with Shawn Harrison, executive director of Soil Born Farms, discussing local agriculture as part of The Sacramento Living Library series. The series is presented by Midtown Monthly and Time Tested Books. Tim Foster, editor of Midtown Monthly, moderated the talk. Harrison began the conversation with the historical context of Sacramento’s agriculture addressing the question: Why it is the way it is? “Farmers were unable to sell their crops in Sacramento because there was not a huge demand for those crops so they went elsewhere,” said Harrison. Mu

Meet Liz Franklin at ONCE UPON A SHELF USED BOOKS on Saturday, January 29 @ 2:30. Once Upon A Shelf is located at 7753 Roseville Road, Suite C, Sacramento. On the corner of Antelope and Roseville Roads. Call for more information @ 745-1200. Take a peak what's in store: If you’ve ever wondered about how much time and money you’ve lost because you can’t remember where you put things, you’ll probably think that Liz Franklin was heaven sent to be your guardian angel. She’s on a one-woman crusade to make people laugh their way out of chaos to achieve new levels of organized perfection. Liz Franklin is a 27-year veteran of office organizing and she’s been called in to do rescue and damage

On Tuesday, the Sacramento Area Peace Action showed the PBS documentary “Paperback Dreams” for its fourth Tuesday film this month. Only seven people showed up to this month’s showing, which is abnormal, according to David Kimble, who regularly attends. (good info) SAPA’s fourth Tuesday films are at 909 12th St. in the first-floor conference room. The showings are free and open to the public. SAPA has been showing films on the fourth Tuesday of the month for free the past seven years. The next film will be “Not Just a Game: Power, Politics & American Sports” on Jan. 25. “Paperback Dreams” tells the story of two Bay Area independent bookstores, Cody’s Books and Kepler’s Books. The film doc

Dave Eggers spoke about his book, “Zeitoun,” at the Crest Theatre Wednesday in the feature event of the sixth-annual One Book Sacramento: Connecting Our Communities. In her opening remarks, Sacramento Public Library Director Rivkah Sass mentioned the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina (Aug. 29) and the flood threat to the Sacramento region as reasons the library selected “Zeitoun.” Eggers took the stage in hiking boots and a pinstripe jacket. He was joined by interviewer Joseph Palermo, associate professor of American history at Sacramento State. Palermo has written two books on Robert F. Kennedy and blogs at The Huffington Post. “Zeitoun” narrates the story of Abdulrahman Zeitoun,

Are you a fan of Jane Austen or of great literature in general? Then don’t miss the unique opportunity to study Austen’s novels this fall at the Central Library branch of the Sacramento Public Library in downtown Sacramento. Grab a copy of “Emma,” download the study questions from the library’s website, and join in the fun this Sunday. The wildly popular 12-part series How Austentatious! began in June and continues through November. Each month, presenters discuss one of Austen’s novels over the span of two meetings. Remaining for the fall are “Mansfield Park” in September, “Northanger Abbey” in October, and “Persuasion” in November. The series will conclude with a birthday tea in honor

Conference rooms filled to fire capacity were a sign of the success of the first Northern California Storybook and Literature Festival held at the Maidu Community Center and Maidu Branch Library in Roseville on Saturday. The festival brought together local published and aspiring authors, writing groups and literary agents as well as book lovers young and old. The brainchild of event coordinator and library specialist Jamie Finley of the Roseville Library, the project began with the desire among library staff to host local authors. “It seemed like a natural thing to do - bring the community in to listen and meet someone who has published a work that may be found within our walls,” Finley w

A used bookstore called Book Monkey closed in Midtown last week. The store closed July 1 after little more than three months in business at 1330 21st St. Sales were not as good as owner Kevin Standfield expected. The store never opened the wine bar that was part of the original concept to draw customers in. "We're making enough money, barely, to pay the bills, but not enough to make it worth it being there," he said. Standfield opened the store as an offshoot of his Sacramento company, Holt Concannon, which sells consigned books for individuals and charities, including churches, through Amazon.com. Those books are sold under the online bookseller Book Quest in Sacramento. He sells book

 The world’s most popular reggae singer came to Sacramento Sunday and played a show in front of 4,000 ecstatic fans.   This, in and of itself, doesn't seem like it would be all that noteworthy.  Big stars play shows in Sacramento, if not all the time, at least semi-frequently.  I mean, John Mayer is coming to the Sleep Train Amphitheater in August, right?  And Carrie Underwood is coming to Arco in a couple of weeks.   But Matisyahu, the Jewish reggae artist whose album, "Bright Side of Life," has been at the top of Billboard’s reggae charts for six weeks, didn't play at Arco for $45 a seat, or Raley Field for 35 bucks a pop, or even Harlow's for 18 a ducat.  He played for free, on the

A new bookstore concept is coming to Midtown. Entrepreneur Kevin Standfield and a partner are turning a former office space into a used bookstore and wine bar at 1330 21st St. The establishment will also sell cheese, beer, dessert and coffee. "My two favorite things in the world are to sip port and read a book," Standfield said. "I like the idea of our customers being able to sit down and hang out and read a book." To come up with a name, Standfield stuck with a theme he likes. He's calling it Book Monkey, like the Yogurt Monkey shop he and a partner opened on Fair Oaks Boulevard. "I'm in a monkey thing right now. I don't know why," he said. Boxes of books sat under plastic Wednesday

 "A university town is only as strong as its independent bookstores.  They assist in the exchange of intellectual thoughts." - Kim Tanzer                 "The independent bookstore - you know we're almost dinosaurs." - Carl Kroch                It was a beautiful morning.  My girlfriend Jess and I decided to take a bike ride around the neighborhood.  We didn't have any particular place to go, so we went down to Butch and Nellie's, our local coffee shop, to grab a cup of joe and discuss the nature of our ride.  My first thought was the California Railroad Museum, but the little woman wasn't feeling that.  Thus ended the charade that our ultimate destination would be anything besides lunc

Tuesday night's regular Sacramento County Historical Society monthly meeting will not feature beer, but copies of Sacramento’s Breweries will be available for sale, and author Ed Carroll will sign books and give a brief talk on Sacramento brewery history. In addition to the Golden Notes signing, the meeting will also feature James Scott and Tom Tolley, presenting their new book Sacramento’s Alkali Flat by Arcadia Publishing. They will also give a brief talk on their book, will have copies for sale and be present for signing. SCHS members can pick up their free copy of Sacramento’s Breweries early at this event; for non-members, copies cost $15. Sacramento’s Breweries, by historian Ed Car

Sunday, January 17th, 2010, marked the last book signing and presentation by an author at Amicus Books Literary Arts Center and Community Bookstore, located in the older part of Marysville, California, on 413 D Street. Author Michael Don Hubbartt presented his newly published book, The Sutter Buttes (Arcadia Publishing, 2010), to a large turn-out in spite of the weather forecast of a major storm. Mr. Hubbartt offered a comprehensive history of the Sutter Buttes, known as the world's smallest mountain range, a familiar landmark to residents of the Sacramento Valley. Since its inception in 2005, Amicus Books' primary purpose was as a community literary arts center serving readers, writers,

Behind every good book is a writer with something to say and a talent for saying it. Booksellers like Peter Keat know this. They make a living finding these people and making their voices more accessible on the shelves of bookstores. But not all the great stories are written down. Starting this month, Keat and his tiny staff at Time Tested Books are offering a series of monthly talks and lectures from Sacramento's living and breathing cultural icons, thinkers and experts — and people who have just led intriguing lives. The free series, which will be held every third Sunday, is called the Sacramento Living Library "We wanted to straddle the line between books and people," Keat said, sta

By The Celebrities Psychic NANCY BRADLEY Disembodied voices in an empty room. Glasses clinking when no one is there. A few years ago, David Mintz, then owner/manager of Rivendell Books at 352 Main Street, Placerville, California, heart of the gold rush country, made an astonishing find. His store was haunted. What started as an ordinary day would prove fateful. This particular cloudy winter morning he stepped from his car as he always did, and walked the few steps to the front door of his business. It was there he crossed the threshold to the unknown. As he fumbled to put the key in the lock to open the store for the day, he heard voices. Startled, he carefully and silently removed the key

The Arden Dimick Library open book club has announced a fall theme for foodies – reading about eating, cooking and sharing food. Recent slow food events in Sacramento have illustrated the region’s deep interest in sustainable food issues. Michael Pollan’s California Lectures event sold out. The Crest Theater continues to be pestered by callers looking for opening night of sustainable food documentary Food Inc. Local foodie websites like Vanilla Garlic and Poor Girl Eats Well garner huge audiences and serious praise. With that in mind, this summer may be the perfect time to read about food, preparing you to take part in the book club discussions this fall. September 20, the club will discu

This is a great week for book-minded Sacramentans, with plenty of literary events taking place in libraries, movie theaters, community centers and museums.  Read on. Monday, June 29, 7:30 p.m. Poetry reading -- Dorine Jennette and Valerie Fioravanti. Sacramento Poetry Center. Hosted by Frank Graham Dixon. Davis resident Jennette has published poems, essays, and reviews in The Journal, Ninth Letter, Coconut, Court Green, Memorious, Puerto del Sol, and the Georgia Review. She has a poetry collection, Grace by Degrees, coming out in 2010. Valerie Fioravanti writes fiction, essays, and prose poems. Her story collection, The Brooklyn Shuffle, was a finalist for the Tartt First Book Award. Her