ForeWord Review honors "Banktown"

"Banktown: The Rise and Struggles of Charlotte's Big Banks" has been named a finalist in ForeWord Review's 2010 Book of the Year awards.

Written by Charlotte Observer banking reporter Rick Rothacker and published by Winston-Salem's John F. Blair, "Banktown" describes how the nation's financial crisis played out at Charlotte's biggest banks, Bank of America and Wachovia.

ForeWord's Book of the Year awards honor books from small and independent publishers. "Banktown" is among 13 finalists in the business and economics category. Winners will be announced in June.

Davidson College alum pens young adult novel

After graduating from Davidson College with an English degree in 2005, Gwendolyn Heasley earned a master's in journalism and landed in New York with big plans for an exciting journalism career.

Then the recession happened. With no journalism jobs to be found, Heasley decided to use the crummy economy to her advantage. It became the backdrop for her new young-adult novel, "Where I Belong" (HarperCollins; $8.99.)

Manhattanite Corrinne Corcoran is shopping at Barney's when her mother messages her to come home for a family meeting. Turns out Dad has lots his job -- and the family's savings. While he heads to Dubai to take a lower-paying job, the rest of the family relocates to a small Texas town to live with grandparents. The book, says Relate magazine, is "one good thing to come out of the last few years of economic downturn."

Heasley's now at work on a second novel. She'll sign copies of "Where I Belong" at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road.

Regina, you've won "Journal of a UFO Investigator"

Yes, Regina, the odds were good in this book giveaway. You've won "Journal of a UFO Investigator," the debut novel by David Halperin. Email me your mailing address, and I'll send it to you. Thanks for reading!

Tickets still available for Queens' Book and Author events

Three popular N.C. writers with recent novels will visit Queens University of Charlotte next week for the Friends of the Library's 40th annual Book and Author events:

• Asheville's Sarah Addison Allen. Her New York Times bestselling novels include "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" and "Garden Spells." She has new book, "The Peach Keepers."
• Raleigh's Angela Davis-Gardner, author of "Plum Wine." She also has a new novel, "Butterfly's Child." Davis-Gardner, who was born in Charlotte, is a professor emerita at N.C. State University.


• Chapel Hill's Minrose Gwin. Her 2010 debut novel, "The Queen of Palmyra," won strong reviews. A UNC Chapel Hill English professor, she also has a memoir, "Snow."

The three authors will speak at a dinner, 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, and at a luncheon on Wednesday, March 15. A luncheon reception begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $55 for the dinner , $40 for the luncheon.

For tickets: 704-688-2708 or email fol@queens.edu.

"Journal of a UFO Investigator" author visits Charlotte. Win a copy of his book.

When teenager Danny Shapiro forms a club called The UFO Investigators, strange things begin happening. That's the intriguing premise of "Journal of a UFO Investigator," the debut novel from David Halperin, a retired UNC Chapel Hill religion professor.

Here's an interesting Q&A with the author from Raleigh's News & Observer.

Halperin will sign books at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 12, at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road.

And I'm giving away a copy. Enter to win by posting a comment on this blog with your name or some way to identify you -- not just "anonymous."
Then, make sure to check back on Thursday, March 10, when I'll randomly select a winner.

Tomorrow is National Grammar Day. Watch your apostrophes.

I don't know who declared Friday, March 4, National Grammar Day, but I kind of like it.
I'm one of those people who cringe at the misplaced apostrophe, the use of "affect" for "effect" and other grammatical malpractice.
In honor of the day, let's all check our spelling and hang our commas by clauses with care. Also, check out these 10 grammar myths.

"The Surrendered" author at Park Road Books

Chang-rae Lee, one of The New Yorker's 20 best writers under 40, will sign copies of his latest novel, "The Surrendered," at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Road, 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 8.

Now in paperback, "The Surrendered" tells the story of three people whose lives collide at a Korean orphanage following the Korean War.

The New York Times calls the novel "a gripping and fiercely imagined work."

Lee, whose books include "A Gesture Life" and "Aloft," won the Hemingway Foundation /PEN Award for First Fiction for "Native Speaker." He teaches creative writing at Princeton University.