Image via Wikipedia

Michael Sims, Coffee & Crime Oct. 1

If you’ve ever wondered how E.B. White came to write the children’s classic Charlotte’s Web you’ll find all the answers at our Coffee & Crime author breakfast with Michael Sims on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 10 am.

Michael’s newest book, The Story of Charlotte’s Web, is a fascinating exploration of the eccentric life of E.B. White and the events that led this long-time writer for the New Yorker magazine to pen one of the enduring classics of children’s literature.

Tickets are $5 and available online here. You can follow Mystery Lovers Bookshop on Facebook here.

Related articles

• The tale of how a classic was spun (independent.co.uk)
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (Banned Books Week) (bookjourney.wordpress.com)
• Charlotte’s Web (tammycarterbronson.wordpress.com)

BoingBoing is a popular blog, that originally started as a zine in 1988, that covers interesting information from around the web.

The Pittsburgh Signs project started as a website and was turned into a book was founded by Pittsburghers – Jennifer Baron, Greg Langel, Elizabeth Perry and Mark Stroup and contains photos submitted by many others.  I just went way back to the IheartPGH archives and actually I think the Pittsburgh Signs Project was one of our first 15 posts back in September of 2005 you can check out that post here.

Here is a set of photos from Flickr tagged Pittsburgh Signs.

Check out the website at pittsburghsigns.org

The Pittsburgh Signs Project book is available for purchase from the Carnegie Mellon Bookstore here for $29.95. One of the comments on BoingBoing notes this book is listed on Amazon
for $125.  I just checked the CMU Bookstore site and they have the book in stock for $29.95).

Photographer: Shari Paglia, Spring 1999

One of our favorite signs was the Atari Sign along Penn Avenue.  The Atari repair sign was located near what is now Salt of the Earth.  Thankfully the Pittsburgh Signs Project has that documented.

Pittsburgh Signs Project Book Giveaway

Because we think this book is awesome – we are going to giveaway a copy.  To enter just leave a comment with a link to your favorite sign from the Pittsburgh Signs website or Flickr or upload a photo of your favorite sign to the comments below.

Next Wednesday, August 10, 2011. We will randomly select one entry to win a copy of the Pittsburgh Sign Project Book.  All comments must be posted by Midnight, Aug. 9, 2011 to enter.

This is hopefully good news for Pittsburgh.  Not so long ago, there were many a book shop to be found in the east end…

• Sq. Hill Bookshop (which is now Massage Envy on Forbes)
• Atlantic Booksellers (also on Forbes ave – but I am not sure what is there now)
• Pinocchio Books (a kids book store that was located in the basement of Shadyside Village on Aiken)
• Jay’s Book Stall (was located on Forbes in Oakland)
• Three Penny Books (was located at 1827 Murray Ave)

These little guys were replaced by bigger guys and we said hello to Barnes and Noble and most recently Borders in East Liberty.

The end of a book shop on Highland Ave

Maybe things are coming full circle and back to the little guys.  One of the things I have noticed over the past few years in Shadyside is that Walnut Street – which had become lined with national chains has seen some more independent shops return.  While Max and Erma’s closed – locally owned Elbow Room has moved to Walnut Street and expanded with a new restaurant in their old Ellsworth location.

And things are going well for the Big Idea Bookshop, which is moving to a bigger space in Bloomfield.  Thanks to Karen the Small Press Librarian for the heads up.  Check out Karen’s blog for more info about book shops.

Pop Up Shops

So maybe that means that Pittsburgh is ready for another independent bookshop.  One way to test the waters is with a “pop up shop.”   Pop up shops are popping up everywhere for every product imaginable.  Here is a post from The Thread Austin about a pop up popsicle shop.     John Morris just posted an interesting article about cities and pop up urbanism over on the blog DiggingPitt. Looking for more info on pop up shops – check out this post from Inc Magazine “How to Open a Pop-Up Store“.

The East End Book Exchange will test the Pittsburgh waters with their first pop-up shop at the Pittsburgh Public Market this Sunday.

East End Book Exchange debuts at the Pittsburgh Public Market
Sunday, July 31, 2011
10am-4pm
Facebook Event – http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=238837232805862

Lend some support by stopping by to say hello and to browse some books at their table at the Pittsburgh Public Market.

Can’t make it to the market? Visit their blog and follow East End Book Exchange on Facebook.

If you are a Pittsburgher and currently live here – this might not be so exciting for you.  But if you are new to town, or coming here for a visit – this is hopefully good news.  The 2nd Edition of Moon Pittsburgh, a travel guidebook has just been published.   And we are honored to report that IheartPGH is included in this book as a local blog.  The author of Moon Pittsburgh is Dan Eldridge, who does not currently live in Pittsburgh.  He did live here and was a writer for the Pittsburgh City Paper.  The first edition of Moon Pittsburgh was nominated for a Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Award.

Moon Pittsburgh, 2nd Ed. Powell’s Link | Amazon Link

Good guidebooks can be hard to find here are two that I have found helpful.  Thanks to the Access Las Vegas guidebook I have been to the first pawn shop in Las Vegas.  The Access Las Vegas book also led me to one of the most amazing off the strip dining establishments Carluccio’s Tivoli Gardens at the Liberache Museum.  This place was frozen in time and also held Liberace‘s mirrored piano in the bar area.

For starters, the restaurant was designed and built by Liberace. That fact alone should put the place on the “Vegas locations that need to be preserved” list.

“Liberace bought the shopping complex in the late 1970s,” Hosier said. “First he put the museum in, then in 1983 the restaurant.”

Back then, it was called “Liberace’s Tivoli Gardens, he liked the word Tivoli because backwards it spells,” I-lov-iT”

I know the Liberache museum closed last year (more on the closing from NYTimes here) and it looks like Carluccios has closed this location but reopened in another location.  This is especially sad for Pittsburghers because both the Liberache Museum and Carluccios were located just down the street from Noreen’s Lounge.  Noreen’s is a Steelers bar with an authentic Pittsburgh feel and connection.  I think owner is the niece of the late Pittsburgh mayor Bob O’Connor. I have been to Noreen’s – this place is Pittsburgh – not just because it is painted black and gold but it was just like walking into a bar in Pittsburgh.

And another amazing travel book to check out if you find yourself in Hawaii is Hawaii The Big Island Revealed by Andrew Doughty (Powell’s Link | Amazon Link
).  I read this entire book cover to cover.  Not only was it very well researched but it was incredibly interesting with lots of history and we would have never found What’s Shakin’ and the best smoothie ever .  A good friend of IheartPGH has lived Hawaii for years and this book had plenty of places she had not explored yet as well.

What's Shakin'

Are there any guidebooks that made your trip a success? Any that should be avoided?

Image by AxsDeny via Flickr

Well this is a whole lot of random fun wrapped into one event. The Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley is hosting this event to collect books and money for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund.

Penguin Bookshop Children’s Festival

Satruday, July 16 2011 10:00 am
Location: 420 Beaver St, Sewickley, Pennsylvania 15143-1502

With special guest Brett Kiesel of the Pittsburgh Steelers…

The Penguin Bookshop Children’s Festival is a celebration of summer reading, for, and by children in the greater Pittsburgh community. This event will be an effort to accumulate donated books geared towards teens for the Homeless Children’s Education Fund. Monetary donations will also be accepted.

The festival is a daylong family centered event which will include:

10:00-4:00 It’s a Penguin Party

Come anytime for a plethora of penguin activities featuring:

• Customers are encouraged to purchase titles appropriate for teens who are supported by the Homeless Children’s Educational Fund
• Penguin Publishing Group book based art and reading activities for characters such as Lady Bug Girl, Skippy Jon Jones, Spot and Froggy
• Painting tiles/squares to fit in a larger art piece, titled Kids Read, to be hung in the bookstore and raffled at our end-of-summer auction
• A visist from Smiley the Eat-n-Park mascot
• Complete scavenger hunt and choose a prize from the Penguin Bookshop Igloo

11:00-12:00 A visit with Elvis, a penguin from the National Aviary

Elvis is a South African penguin who lives at the National Aviary with his buddies, Sydney, Patrick, and Stanley. Today Elvis will visit and be on hand with a representative from the Aviary to answer your questions.

11:00-2:00 Brett Kiesel visits the Penguin Bookshop

Story time with Brett Kiesel of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who will read two of his most memorable children’s books.

12:00-1:00 An Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social: Make a Sundae on Saturday

Sewickley Patch will provide all the ingredients for awesome sundaes. Penguin Bookshop will serve complimentary advanced reading chapters from popular books series so that everyone can get the “scoop” on what’s next for their favorite characters.

Fleeting Pages is also putting Pittsburgh on the map – the idea has been covered on national blogs too – GalleyCat and The Consumerist.

You can help get the ball rolling on this project by supporting the Fleeting Pages Kickstarter Project here. They are also still accepting submissions of books and workshop ideas too. You can get all of the details at FleetingPages.com.

Image via Wikipedia

Yes, the Library with books – the actual Carnegie Library on Carson St. – which should not be confused with the bar named “The Library” which is also on Carson St.  just a block away.  The bar has drinks but not many books.

On May 20 you will be able to drink in the actual library library – for their Deconstruction Party.  A fundraiser to benefit the library and a chance to check out the acutal library building which is over 100 years old.

Late Night @ The Library: Deconstruction Party

Friday, May 20, 2011, 7 – 10 PM
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – South Side
2205 East Carson Street, 15203

Spend your Friday night at the library! Join CLP for our second Late Night @ the Library: Deconstruction Party, this time in the South Side. Check out this century old building (which was once a bomb shelter) and help us kick off the upcoming deconstruction with an evening of local cuisine, specialty drinks, an exclusive auction, dance party and more.

Proceeds benefit Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s renovation of CLP – South Side.

• Food and drinks from some of the South Side’s best eateries (3 drink tickets per guest)
• Music and dancing
• Antique Library furniture and memorabilia from the Library’s colorful history at an exclusive silent auction

After Party: Drink specials at The Library Restaurant and Bar (2302 East Carson Street)

The Allegheny County library system is, in this writer’s humble opinion, the greatest single asset the Pittsburgh region can boast of. The libraries are an inexhaustible source of entertainment, knowledge, and wisdom, and because all of the libraries are now connected and materials can be requested from any library within the system, travel expenditures are limited to the library that is most convenient for one to access.

I would estimate that 99% of the novels I have attempted to seek out are contained within the system. With non-fiction, excepting extremely “niche” and academic publications, the rate would be somewhat similar (as an example, although I could not locate Robert Carringer’s book on Orson Welles’ version of “The Magnificent Ambersons,” given that it is tailored for a very limited audience of film historians and Welles buffs, I was able to track down dozens of other books relating to Welles and the film in question).

Media is somewhat less easy to track down (as might be suspected), but one might be surprised at the obscure and otherwise hard-to-find titles that are contained within the library system. Back to Welles, although “Chimes At Midnight” and “The Magnificent Ambersons” were unavailable on DVD (both being foreign-only releases), I was able to find every other major Welles movie on DVD, some in their “deluxe” versions (three-disc editions of “Touch of Evil” and “Mr. Arkadin”). Given that most of Welles’ non-”Citizen Kane” work is all but unknown to the general public, this is a reassuring situation.

In general, the libraries seem to be very good at keeping up with new releases; if you don’t want to spend the $6.50 for a movie ticket and can wait the ten or so months it will take for the movie to be released on DVD, the library to acquire a copy (or 75), and one of those copies to make its way through the holding queue to you, this is an excellent way to save money.

Oakland Branch:

The main branch of the Carnegie library system, located in Oakland, is a monstrosity of a building. Spanning two floors and an almost ridiculous array of side wings, narrow hallways, and “submarine rooms” (i.e., rooms that are as compact as, well, a submarine), a map is almost required in order to navigate the building and to locate whatever text or media one may be pursuing.

Main’s collection is so massive that the Library of Congress filing system is used, making it something of a challenge for readers used to the more common Dewey Decimal System. In fact, casual browsing is extremely difficult at the Main branch, simply because the collection is so overwhelmingly large. That said, if specific titles or subsets of works are desired, the Main library is an invaluable resource. While other libraries may have, at best, a handful of texts on a given subject, the Main library might have an entire bookcase stuffed with relevant information.

The library even contains a Depository, which contains a wealth of journal articles and other academic resources; as one might expect, viewing these materials requires a bit more legwork than simply walking into the library and finding the appropriate shelf. Instead, a formal request must be filed.

Of course, with the online request system, the contents of the Main library are essentially accessible from any library within the Allegheny County system (save materials in the Depository and some other restricted materials). However, the ambience of the Main library is unique; the architecture, the reading areas, the winningly schizophrenic atmosphere as one traverses through different rooms (take a visit; you’ll understand). It can be entertaining to simply walk around the library, even if one doesn’t intend to pick up a book or flip through the endless drawers of CD’s. Simply being faced with that sheer volume of material can be inspiring, in an odd way.

Image by ragesoss via Flickr

Chritian Lander, author of the widely popular blog and book Stuff White People Like will be giving a free talk at CMU on Tuesday.

If you haven’t checked it out before – Stuff White People Like – is a list of things that has been called the preppie handbook for today’s generation.  It is fascinating and often totally hilarious.

I think this will be an interesting talk to hear about how a blog became so successful so quickly.

Here is a clip of Christian on Lopez Tonight:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Christian Lander Author of Stuff White People Like

will Speak at Carnegie Mellon University
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
McConomy Auditorium
Doors open at 6:40pm, presentation starts at 7pm
Free and Open to the Public

Here is his talk at Google from 2008:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Related articles

• #150: Christian Lander at BookPeople [Reading Preview] (austinist.com)
• Everybody Loves Ketchup (mawkishpulp.wordpress.com)
• A Tribute to My Favorite Blog As Well As My Favorite Beverage. (pjruddy.wordpress.com)
• Like Stuff White People Like, Only Useful and Intelligent (slog.thestranger.com)

Blogging Books About the Burgh

Check out the blog Books N’At – a blog that is all about books and the burgh.  Profiles of Pittsburgh authors and a calendar of literary events too. 

Small Press Festival

Nope, you didn’t miss it yet – keep an eye on the Small Press Festival for a date – the festival will be in September but date and location and TBD.

Here is a video about last years Small Press Festival from Keystone Edge.

Buy More Books

Living Social is a new email discount site that has just launched here in Pittsburgh. Today’s deal is a coupon for $30 of books from Joseph Beth Book Sellers for $15.  Click here to visit Living Social for the Joseph Beth deal.  (Full disclosure – this is our referral link – feel free to visit LivingSocial.com if you want to just visit with out giving us credit – also note that we have an affiliate link to LivingSocial and some other businesses in the sidebar and below the posts – clicking these links helps to support IheartPGH.)

Share your favorite Pittsburgh Related Book – win a $30 Joseph Beth Books Giveaway

To help you finish (or start) your summer reading – we will giveaway 1 $30 certificate to Joseph Beth Books.  If you are thinking of signing up for Living Social – please use our referral link.  (We will use the referral credits for more giveaways )

How to enter: Just leave a comment here with your favorite Pittsburgh related book and tell us how it is related to Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh author, set in Pittsburgh, photos about Pittsburgh.

When to enter: Leave a comment by Midnight, August 6, 2010.  We will drawn a winner from all of the entries.