Notes from my inbox

I've just gotten caught up on my email and discovered that there are some good events coming up, including two TONIGHT:

• New Hampshire author Guntis Goncarovs will be at the Fiske Free Library in Claremont on Thursday, July 9 at 6:00 PM to discuss his novel Convergence of Valor: The Men of the H.L. Hunley. Set in Charleston in 1864, Convergence of Valor is an historical adventure that follows the story of a German spy who becomes embroiled in the American Civil War when he stumbles upon an intriguing Confederate war machine. Books will be available for purchase the night of the program and will be signed by the author. For more information please call the library at 542-7017.
  
• Gibson's Bookstore in Concord will host Staycation Book Night with Chase Binder on Thursday, July 9, at 7 PM "Staying at home this year? No hikes up Kilimanjaro, no scuba diving in the Azores? Oh, well, maybe next year the economy will improve. In the meantime, join Chase Binder, travel writer for the Concord Monitor, as she discusses some of her favorite armchair travel books and travel memoirs. You can travel as far as your imagination can take you--and the trip is free! She will also be recommending the best resources for planning vacations closer to home--here in New Hampshire. The travel books recommended by Ms. Binder will be 20% off during the event."
  
• The email newsletter from WaterStreet Books included the news that Pulitzer-Prize winning author Richard Russo is coming to Exeter this August! Water Street Books will be hosting him at the Exeter Town Hall for an evening of conversation to celebrate the release of his new book, That Old Cape Magic. "Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. Ticket price includes a copy of the book ($25.95), a seat in the audience, and a chance to have the book (and all your other Richard Russo titles) signed by the man himself. A portion of the ticket sales also goes to The Exeter Historical Society, which does good and important work in a town with as much historical significance as Exeter. They need our help and support for their preservation work. Don't need two copies of the book in one family? They are offering a family ticket. If you buy one ticket at the regular price, you can purchase a second ticket at $10 for admission only." The newsletter also mentioned that Dan Brown has a new book coming out in September and that they are "absolutely thrilled" to be the official source for signed copies of The Lost Symbol, due out on September 15th, 2009.
  
• To celebrate the 60th year of the National Book Awards, the National Book Foundation will present a book-a-day blog on the Fiction winners from 1950 to 2008. The blog will run from July 7th to September 21st, starting with Nelson Algren’s The Man With the Golden Arm, ending with Peter Matthiessen’s Shadow Country, and including works by Ralph Ellison, Saul Bellow, Philip Roth, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and Alice McDermott. Discover lesser known but equally talented National Book Award Fiction Winners such as Conrad Richter, Wright Morris, and Robb Forman Dew. Then, on September 21st, you will have a chance to select The Best of the National Book Awards Fiction and win two tickets to the 2009 National Book Awards by visiting the Foundation’s web site at www.nationalbook.org, this is the first time in its history the Awards will open to a public vote.