VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Borders Books & Music Opens Saturday

Bookstores are no longer temples in which quiet selection and hushed conversations are the norm. They are social centers--often with cafes and computer banks--where readings, musicals, slide shows and lectures are daily events. A new kid on the block, offering all of the above, has joined the scene. The 33,000-square-foot Borders Books & Music will open its doors Saturday at 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Founded in Michigan in 1971, the Borders chain will have 100 stores in operation, including one in Santa Barbara, by the end of this year.

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Alice Karle will read at 8 p.m tonight at Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura. Poets who wish to read following Karle’s performance should sign in at 7:30 p.m.

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Diane Reichick, associate editor of Verve Magazine, whose work has appeared in more than 100 publications, will read at 8 p.m. Friday at the Poetry Shop, 1321 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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Here’s what’s happening this week at Ventura Bookstore, 522 E. Main St.: Syndicated columnist John Krist, author of “50 Best Short Hikes in California Deserts,” will present a slide show and reading at 7 p.m. Friday. . . . John Borneman, editor of “Audubon’s Art and Nature,” will read and show slides at 2 p.m. Saturday. . . . Poet Elwyn Ellis will read from his new book, “Crabs,” at 7 p.m. Saturday. . . . Doyle Barnett will sign his “20 Communications Tips for Couples” at 2 p.m. Sunday. . . . Stockbrokers Steve Hurst and Andy Killion will discuss the strategies presented in “Beating the Dow” by Michael O’Higgins at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

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Events at Barnes & Noble, 4360 E. Main St., Ventura: Local author Margaret Brownley will sign her latest Western romance, “Petticoats and Pistols,” at 1 p.m. Saturday. . . . A free Windows 95 demonstration is scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. To register call 339-9170. . . . Winners of the Young Poets Competition will be honored at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Share a Thanksgiving breakfast and meet authors Janice Steinberg (“Death Crosses the Border”) and Martha Laurence (“Murder in Scorpio”) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

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Local children’s book author Carol Heyer will demonstrate book illustrating at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the Oxnard Library, 251 South A St.

UP THE COAST

Santa Barbara author Iris Chang will sign “Thread of the Silkworm” at 2 p.m. Saturday in Barnes & Noble, 829 State St. Her book traces the ironic journey of Tsien Hsue-shen, one of America’s top rocket scientists from allied space age pioneer to director of China’s nuclear program.

Information on literary events should be sent to Frances Halpern at least two weeks in advance. Write to her at 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or send faxes to 653-7576.