Books

Books are, as holiday gifts go, some of the best things to give, and not just because they make you, the giver, look smart. (Though that’s clearly a plus.) They also carry meaning: you don’t just give someone any old book—you choose it for them specifically, because of their interests or because you and the recipient share some interest. Or, you know, location.With that in mind, here are ten great literary choices for Colorado gift-giving this year: from the poetic to the prosaic, from fiction to non, from the comic to works of sincere depth…they’re all books on the Mile-High scale of sublime.

Books make great gifts for the holidays. It helps, of course, to find books that address your particular recipient’s passions and obsessions — and while you’re at it, why not throw in a few titles by local authors?

Author Chris Meehan has been wandering around the wilderness since he was four. On Thursday, December 8, he’ll find himself at Baker Wine & Spirits, 440 Broadway, at a whiskey-tasting and book signing for his new guide, Climbing Colorado’s Fourteeners: From the Easiest Hikes to the Most Challenging Climbs. We…

Josh Viola — the award-winning author of The Bane of Yoto and founder of Hex Publishers — will roll out his latest science fiction anthology, Cyber World: Tales of Humanity’s Tomorrow, at a launch party and book signing at 7 p.m. Thursday, November 10, at the Tattered Cover in LoDo, 1628 16th…

The alley between Champa and Curtis streets is closed. A sign on a barrier warns that only people making deliveries or employees of local businesses are allowed, that trespassing is prohibited under penalty of law — part of the ongoing police effort to keep the homeless from setting up camp…

Calling all poets, spoken-word artists, emcees and writers: Applications are now being accepted for the Denver Youth Poet Laureate, with anyone between the ages of fourteen and twenty who lives in the seven-county metro area (and plans to say here for at least a year) eligible. The title includes a…

Just in time for Halloween, two novels dealing with eerie Colorado themes are haunting local bookstores. One is a fictionalized channeling of one of the state’s most celebrated and puzzling historical figures, while the other is a semi-comic mystery dealing with seances, Riverside Cemetery, cab driving and other scary topics. …

Used book stores come and go in this town. In recent years, more have been going than coming, thanks to keen competition from online outlets and the growing popularity of Nooks and Kindles. So it’s an occasion for celebration when two antiquarian bookshops — one an old friend, the other…

This is a success story. This is Field of Dreams for book lovers. It’s the tale of two bibliophiles and their devotion to the intersection of the printed word and the land, a devotion that led to amassing an eclectic, comprehensive collection that starts with nature and man’s relation to…

Go West, young readers, with Ron Hansen’s retelling of the Billy the Kid legend — or engage in a little Denver-style fun from Suspect Press and City Stacks. Where will you be turning pages this week? Ron Hansen, The Kid Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue 7 p.m. Thursday, October 20 Award-winning…

Grab a cocktail or a cup of coffee, and settle into a seat in Union Station’s 100-year-old Great Hall on Wednesday, October 5, for a presentation by the authors of Found, the 2016 anthology from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers.  “Some things are better off lost,” explains Denver-based writer and artist…

Meet a lauded graphic novelist or a Colorado-style sci-fi genius, hobnob with Nicholas Sparks, take part in a big-city writing project or chill with Latino poets. It’s all in a week’s work on the local word scene. Gene Luen Yang, Secret Coders Tattered Cover Colfax Avenue 6 p.m. Monday, October…

The glory days of daily newspapers are receding in the rearview mirror, leaving behind legendary tales of the writers who honed their craft as reporters and editors. There are many modern examples of Colorado journalism greats – sportswriter Rick Reilly, network broadcaster Harry Smith, award-winning cartoonists Paul Conrad, Pat Oliphant and Mike Keefe —…

Fairy tales and poetry transform the literary landscape in Denver this week. Here’s where to get a piece of the magic. Marisa Silver, Little Nothing Tattered Cover Aspen Grove 7 p.m. Thursday, September 22 Free If you favor twisted fairy tales and stories of magical transformation, some of them not…

This week in the local literary world, you can learn how cities are planning for the future from developer Jonathan Rose, follow text as it weaves its way into the new-media universe with a powerful lineup at Counterpath, listen to American feminist legend Gloria Steinem reflect on her life —…

Erik Storey, the Colorado author who scored a six-figure advance for his first thriller, Nothing Short of Dying, along with a sequel starring adventurer Clyde Barr, has been compared to mega-best-selling thriller writer Lee Child, creator of the Jack Reacher series. In fact, Child’s agent negotiated the deal for the book,…

Whether you’re a reader, a writer or a really good listener, words and stories will jump off the page this week in unexpected ways. Denver’s literary scene is just diverse that way. Here’s where to find your fancy. Mark Beauregard, The Whale: A Love Story Tattered Cover LoDo 7 p.m…

Nothing Short of Dying, the first thriller by Erik Storey, the focus of this week’s “Storey Time,” was just released this week and is already garnering rave reviews. In a state eager for more literary stars, Storey could soon shoot to the top — not just as a Colorado author, but…

Need some summer reading? While you wait for the release of Nothing Short of Dying, the new book by Colorado author Erik Storey, try an offering from his ten (current) favorite thriller authors. Here’s his description of what to expect from each one: Steve Berry: If you love thrillers infused…

Denver’s slam poetry scene is booming, and it promises to explode next year, when the National Poetry Slam Championships come to Denver for the first time next August.  Last year local poet Suzi Q. Smith, the executive director of Poetry Slam Inc., revealed that Denver had been named an anchor…

At the rest stop off Interstate 70’s Exit 90 — near the banks of the Colorado River, just before you enter the sleepy town of Rifle — a legendary drug-cartel enforcer known as Chopo drew his last breath, felled by a bullet in the neck.  “Over there is where Chopo…