Janet Fabio
The Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries (FSL) frequently feature Arizona authors and topics at lectures and luncheons. Get ready for these events or learn more by reading books from the SaddleBrooke Community Libraries.
Interested in Tucson’s history and local attractions? Tom Heath’s book My Life on the Streetcar is available in the DesertView and SaddleBrooke One Libraries. Tom was the entertaining speaker at the FSL author lunch in November. The September and October lectures featured speakers from the Tucson Museum of Art and the Tucson Mission Garden. Upcoming lectures will feature talks on the Tucson Presidio and mariachi music. To learn more, the Southwest collection at the DesertView library offers a variety of books on Arizona and Tucson history, plus information on local attractions.
In March J.A. Jance will be the featured speaker at the FSL author lunch (watch for announcements closer to the date). If you are not already a fan of the various Jance fiction series, you may want to pick up one of her most recent books, Blessing of the Lost Girls or Collateral Damage, which continue two of her popular series. Our libraries carry many of Jance’s books in hardcover, as well as large print format, paperback, and audiobooks. Many of them are set in Arizona, and J.A. Jance used to live in Arizona.
At the Jan. 5 lecture, Arizona author and science journalist Melissa Sevigny provided a fascinating insight into her account of true adventure Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon. If you love history and/or strong women, look for this book in the Southwest collection in the DesertView Library.
Other recent lectures featured local authors Patrick Whitehurst and Leo Banks. Whitehurst writes nonfiction, and Banks writes mysteries set in Southern Arizona. SaddleBrooke author Venetia Lewis will speak at the February lecture. Her book Changing Woman: A Novel of the Camp Grant Massacre can be found in the Local Authors collection at the SaddleBrooke One Library. You can also find books by other SaddleBrooke authors in this collection.
Worlds Without End: Exoplanets, Habitability, and the Future of Humanity, by Chris Impey, Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, can be found at the DesertView Library. Though topics include the dizzying advances in astrobiology, searching for distant worlds, and life beyond Earth, the book is highly readable, even for those without a strong science background.
The DesertView Library also has most of the Arizona Highways publications. Check out the newest title, Summer Hiking Guide, to escape the heat this summer.
Creative works by SaddleBrooke residents who write books for children can be found in the Children’s Collection at DesertView Library.
To stay informed about all the events sponsored by the Friends of SaddleBrooke Libraries, visit sbfsl.org. Your membership provides the funds that allow our libraries to buy new books, DVDs, audiobooks, and large print books. To learn more about the libraries or to reserve books, see the library website sblibraries.com.