For those of you out there who actually read something other than gambling books (I've read two this year, which must be a record since I haven't read anything but magazines and websites for the last 5 years ? a sad realization for a girl who used to win every book-reading contest throughout grade school and junior high, and whose BFA in English and Classical literature is now best put to use editing other people's works), I've posted a link below to an article in today's LVRJ about Vegas-related books.

There's a brief human interest story about a showgirl-turned-author, but the rest of it is a list of recently or about-to-be published books whose author is local or takes place locally, both fiction and non, as well as a children's book written by a local author (kids should love it, since it's called "Deputy Dorkface," and anyone with kids knows how popular the "Captain Underpants" gross-out series is).

One in particular I'm looking forward to reading is "The Picasso Flop" (read the story for details). And, for anyone remotely interested, the books I've read this year are "The Lovely Bones" (to be made into a movie soon) and "Boomsday," a satire on extolling the virtues of voluntary suicide in order to make social security solvent. Not as elegant as Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," but a fun read nonetheless.

Bettie