Tonight's happenings offer a variety of experiences, including going green, witnessing a light show, viewing a medley of art mediums, listening to tales of the biggest bitches in relationships and ogling a steamy "trip tease." Get out, get inspired and get back to your computer to tell us how it went. more ›

The Clean Plates guide to Los Angeles was released last week, and the timing is probably no coincidence; though they missed the "stocking stuffer" season, the book is poised to be prime fodder for any Angeleno embarking on a "new year, new you" kind of mission. more ›

After months of debate, Glendale Unified school board members finally reached a decision on whether or not Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" could be added to the curriculum for advanced placement students. District administrators, teachers, students and parents disputed the book for months, wrangling over the nonfiction novel's suitability for teenage readers. more ›

The openly gay WeHo duo plans to create "The Puppet Kama Sutra," a coffee table book and accompanying movie with a mission to "promote puppet sexuality in a healthy light," says today's press release. more ›

More Borders bookstores will soon be closing the chapter on their retail residencies in 28 more locations, including in Los Angeles at Sunset and Vine. The Hollywood location, an anchor at the mixed-use development, will join the Glendale, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, Valencia, and Oxnard locations in closing up shop for good in May, reports the Daily News. Currently the stores are in liquidation mode, and selling all their stock at a discount. more ›

Odds are, if you've gotten this far (that is, ten words under the headline and photo), you know who Michael Showalter is. If not, here's a the CliffsNotes: wrote and starred in cult classic Wet Hot American Summer, as well as The Baxter, Michael and Michael Have Issues, and the webseries The Michael Showalter Showalter. Of course, there's also Stella and The State. Of course. more ›

The birthplace of cruising and Grease-like fascination for all things with four-wheeled, Los Angeles has become synonymous with its cars and freeways. But what if the roads could become a little less congested and the commute a little less frustrating? more ›

It's been a rough year for libraries in L.A., thanks to budget cuts, but patrons still used the Los Angeles Public Library's 72 branch locations to check out books. I asked the LAPL what the most checked-out book was in 2010: Book borrowing Angelenos spent last year following Robert Langdon as he worked to untangle the mysteries of Freemasonary in Dan Brown's novel The Lost Symbol. more ›

One way to get to know the ins and outs of City Hall politics is to become a City Councilman. And one way to share the insights gained in the process is to write a book. Such is the career path of West Valley-area Councilman Greig Smith (CD 12), who is closing out his term with an "anecdotal" tome published last month called If City Hall's Walls Could Talk, as written up today by Encino Patch. more ›

Welcome to Los Angeles, known to many as the place where dreams come true. While we might be in line for a Frappucino next to Miley Cyrus one day, then seeing a paparazzi shot of a Twilight star pumping gas ("They pump their own gas!") on a glossy page of a gossip rag while waiting at the doctor's office, here we live in a curious world of celebrity, no matter how distant the proximity. more ›

This Halloween, Los Angeles will be the envy of many book lovers around the world as The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski (House of Leaves, Only Revolutions) makes its US debut at REDCAT. more ›

A new cookbook aims to turn crowd-sourced material into crowd-pleasing plates, and among those whose eats are included are ten Southern California-based food bloggers. Though collecting a community's recipes to compile in a publication is how many beloved cookbooks have come to be, The Best of Food Blogs Cookbook hails itself as the first to source the recipes from social media. more ›

This has to be the best thing since sliced bread. Los Angeles in Maps by L.A. City librarian Glen Creason will feature 70 "reproductions of seminal and historic documents," ranging from Spanish explorers' charts to the old streetcar system and beyond. more ›

Fold up your skinny jeans and ironic t-shirts, kids. While it doesn't get much more hipster than to be known for your Tumblr blog, comedian Joe Mande has turned his snark into payday with the release of his book Look At This Fucking Hipster. more ›

Long after his death, Andy Kaufman remains a polarizing man. Some folks (either at the time or now, out of a sense of bereaved duty) love the antics of Andy, while others steadfastly maintain his unfunny arrogance. Probably larger than any of these opposing camps, however, is the mass of folks who were, well... more confused than anything. For a lot of people, Andy Kaufman was (and remains) something that they just didn’t ‘get’, if for no other reason than they never felt like they were in on the joke. And that, at least, is clearly understandable. more ›

It's your day off. You're uninspired and under-funded (aka bored and broke). "But I live in Los Angeles!" you remind yourself. "There's got to be something I can do that won't break the bank." Art, music, museums, theatre, workshops, gardens, and more always seem to come with a price tag, unless you're totally in the know. Well, it's not too complicated to file yourself under the in-the-know column. Free L.A. is a publication that you can keep on your bookshelf to use when you need low-cost fun on the fly, or hand off to those out-of-town couch surfers you're hosting who would otherwise spend their vacation days fondling your remote control and eating you out of house and home. more ›

So many cultures can tell their stories through their food, and for Los Angeles, the same can be said for a landmark like the Original Farmers Market. Not only does the historic meeting place for farmers, cooks, foodies, locals, visitors, and shoppers alike offer delicious fresh produce and tantalizing eats and sweets, it also is a vital part of our city's history. more ›

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The thing about author Junot Diaz is, one minute he’s on the phone with you, rapping about meringue, Malcolm X, comic books, and how shit never gets done on time in the Dominican Republic – and the next minute, he’s winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. He describes himself as just another ordinary, poor immigrant kid from Jersey, but the book tells a different story: that of an author alive with passion for his roots, for language, and for the moments of silence, linguistic and cultural, that can bring a family together and also tear it apart. more ›

When a novelist first publishes relatively late in life, one wants to applaud his or her persistence, as well as the fact that the writer retains the stamina to turn out a sustained piece of work. One also hopes for the best, wanting to believe that the publisher recognized quality and not just a curiosity when accepting the manuscript. Of course, with examples like Penelope Fitzgerald and Harriet Doerr to pave the way, one... more ›

When's the last time a book made you cry? And I don't mean a slight welling in the tear ducts, I don't mean a sniffle here or there, I mean a REAL god damn cry, the leaky, sobbing, snotty kind of cry, the likes of which you haven't experienced since your fourth grade teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows aloud to the class and even the boys were sniveling into their t-shirts when... more ›

First off this LAist was running late this morning and left his camera at home. Since I had to go to the Grove straight from work to make it on time, there is no photo of the event. No photo of me planting John Amaechi a wet sloppy kiss. So sorry folks. Amaechi’s appearance at Barnes & Noble at the Grove concluded his whirlwind promotional tour for his memoir Man in the Middle which... more ›

Apparently the book didn't fit either. When even Bill O'Reilly said that the fictitious book and made-for-tv interview were in bad taste you knew there was trouble in sleezadise. Today Rupert Murdoch himself, a man so old he could drive a Buick through a serene Farmers Market crowd and get away with murder, canceled plans to publish the fiction by ReganBooks called "If I Did It", and the subsequent two-part interview of O.J. Simpson... more ›

We're not going to sit here and tell you how thought provoking or intellectually stimulating Michael Connelly's Echo Park is. Or how the soon-to-be top ten bestseller will change your life. Because, it won't do those two things. But we'll tell you this: there's nothing better than this fun and adventurous crime novel that winds you through the streets of modern day LA chasing serial killers, crooked cops, city attorneys and cute FBI agents.... more ›