the bumper of my car

When you ask people what’s great about LA, they might say the weather or the beach or the sushi or art walk or the New Bev or Umami Burger… but they almost never say “the literary scene.”   Yknowhatimsayin?

Still, we read. Well, some of us do, anyway, and many of those some of us will be at LA Times’ Festival of Books this weekend. I’ll admit I’ve never been there myself (though other b.la’ers have). Somehow it always gets trumped by a work event or a trip or something. This year, though, may be the year for me. I would love, love, love to see Jennifer Egan on Saturday*, though given her recent award, that panel will no doubt be packed plus I have a time conflict with a three-year-old’s birthday party in Ventura (Does the J.Egan panel promise a bouncy house? I think not!). Read the rest of this entry →

It’s time again for LA Times Festival of Books. While all the stoners and cool kids will be baking in the sun at Coachella, the book worms, writers, and political geeks will spending the last weekend of April in the air conditioned halls of UCLA with our favorite authors.

On Saturday alone, panels will include Christoper Rice,  Robert Crais, T. Jefferson Parker, Joseph Wambaugh, Michael Connelly, Tommy Lasorda, Bill Plaschke, Gore Vidal, Jane Smiley, Arianna Huffington, Leonard Maltin, Peter Biskind, Kenneth Turan, Tom Hayden, Hugh Hewitt,  Dr. Laura Schelssinger, and more… thats just a handful of names I recognize.

[Saturday, April 26ths' schedule]   [Sunday, April 27th's schedule]
Note: these lineups aren’t 100% confirmed and are still being adjusted.

Its surprising that the Times isn’t featuring more bloggers this year – especially considering focus and attention their website has given to blogs lately – but I can’t complain too much: L.A. Now’s  Veronique de Turenne is interviewing Carolyn and Lisa See, The Homicide Report’s Jill Leovy is moderating a panel on inner city non-fiction, Carolyn Kellogg is moderating a panel with first time authors, and LA Observed’s Kevin Roderick has a panel called “California: The Great Experiment.”

Still, I’d love to see Tony Pierce in conversation with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Or Blog Downtown’s Eric Richardson moderating a panel on community journalism. Or Cindy Mosqueda and El Chavo! on Latino bloggers. (I could go on, but please leave similar suggestions in the comments).

The LA Times Festival of Books is also totally free, besides parking and food – but take the bus and pack a lunch (unlike Coachella the Fest will allow you to bring food onsite). Tickets, via Ticketmaster, will be made available at noon on Sunday, April 20th.