DEAD AGAIN: Fictional hero Gray Napoleon spends a lot of time skirting the highways and byways of the Southwest, eating tacos and conversing with the natives; that is, when he isn't busy tracking down stolen corpses. So it would seem appropriate for you to prepare for a reading of his adventures, delivered in the honeyed tones of the author himself, by putting the top down (or at least the windows) and taking a leisurely drive to the Singing Wind Bookshop, 45 minutes southeast of Tucson off Interstate 10 (Exit 304 at Benson). Brian Andrew Laird, Tucson author and all-around nice guy, reads from his latest novel, To Bury the Dead (St. Martin's Press, $20.95) at 1 p.m. Sunday, April 6. See the City Week calendar for details; or call (520) 586-2425 for more information. Laird also makes a couple of local appearances, pen in hand, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at The Book Mark, 5001 E. Speedway (reading and signing); and 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 12, at Clues Unlimited (signing only), at Broadway and Country Club Road. Call The Book Mark at 881-6350, or Clues Unlimited at 326-8533, for information. LEAVENGOOD VIBRATIONS: Spring is in the air, granting us that brief but beautiful interlude between breezy and blistering. Recent forays in surrounding areas have revealed a scattering of wildflowers, and an abundance of brittle bush, globe mallow and penstemmon in full bloom. It's looking good for those anxious to strap on their adventure shoes and step off the beaten path. We went to the bookshelves to find the next best thing. It isn't new, but it's among the tried-and-true of outdoor reading: Betty Leavengood and Mike Liebert's Hiker's Guide to the Santa Rita Mountains (Pruett, $17.50). The 248-page paperback, published in 1994, remains up-to-date and easy to read, with detailed maps and descriptions of more than 37 hikes over a remarkable historical and physical landscape. Thoughtfully written by local authors who've logged decades of trailblazing in the Tucson area, it's a welcome addition to any backpack, and available from most local booksellers. BOWIE AND BEGO: This whole week is brimming with activity at The Book Mark, with a slew of readings and signings that'll knock you into the middle of next week. See the City Week listings for details. But adding to this weekend's excitement is a rumored appearance by far-out, rock-and-roll maven (and recent Tucson transplant) Angela Bowie. Okay, it's not rumor. It's confirmed. But you can bet that whatever happens will be off-the-cuff as Bowie, who authored an essay in pal Mark Bego's acclaimed biography George Strait: The Story of Country Music's Living Legend, joins the author in a signing from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 5. Call 881-6350 for information. CREATURE COMFORTS: Love those Chevron Techron ads with the little round car talking about horses' emissions? Yeah, so do we. It takes more than your run-of-the-mill commercial artist to make the petrol industry appear cute and cleaner than nature. In fact, it takes an Academy-Award winning animator and claymation innovator like Nick Park, of Wallace and Gromit fame. We're a little ambivalent about his using his exceptional talents to clean up the image of the oil industry, but we don't mind enthusing about Aardman Animations, a six-part compilation of animated shorts available for rental or purchase. The 1992 video, which we glimpsed last week at Borders Books and Music ($29.99), includes Park's hilarious Creature Comforts (which screened some months ago at The Loft cinema), a subversive series of interviews with English zoo animals commenting on accommodation, diet and, of course, the dreary London weather. Also included are War Story (by Peter Lord), Indent (by Richard Goleszowski), Next (by Barry Purves), Going Equipped (by Peter Lord) and State of the Art, directed by David Jeffcook, which is a documentary spanning the 20-year history of Aardman, complete with humorous highlights from all the studio's films. A must-see for animation lovers.

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