By Kathryn Reed

MEYERS — A hike gone wrong, the perfect birthday party, secrets from a hotel room.

All of these are wrapped into Janet Smith’s book “All of a Sudden Nothing Happened.” The Tahoe resident and Lake Tahoe Community College instructor read from her book of poetry on Friday at Bona Fide Books to a crowd that asked for an encore from this poet.

Though she jokes many of her poems are less than happy, feel-good works, many touch on the realities of life.

Janet Smith reads from her book of poems Aug. 20. Photos/Kathryn Reed

“You are invited” is about the perfect child’s birthday.

“When you are a kid your expectations are so big,” Smith told the nearly 40 people gathered to listen. “It’s never what you think.”

Despite what seems like a book of sadness, she did dedicate it to her parents.

Before reading “We hiked to a lake where I was unhappy” she said, “If you have a partner you hike with, you have been there.”

This was Bona Fide’s inaugural event. The publishing house is operated by Kim Wyatt. The offices on the street behind Getaway Café in Meyers are open for people to sit, read, exchange a book, get some writing done, commune with others.

Fire spinner Aleassa Anzelone.

To start and end the evening, fire spinners Aleassa Anzelone and Dalton Tutt dazzled the guests.

“All of Sudden Nothing Happened” ($15) is available at the college bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and will be at Bona Fide in September.