Monday William Shatner presents Star Trek: The Academy - Collision Course 7pm @ Book Soup Janet Fitch presents Paint it Black 7pm @ Vroman's Robin Maxwell presents Mademoiselle Boleyn 7pm @ Dutton's Memorial Reading for Mutanabbi Street with Chris Abani, Beau Beausoleil, Laila Lalami, Suzanne Lummis, Majid Naficy, Marisela Norte, Sholeh Wolpe & Terry Wolverton 7pm @ Centraly Library Tuesday Judith Freeman presents The Long Embrace 7pm @ Dutton's Anthony Hernandez signs Waiting, Sitting,......

Monday Diane Lefer discusses and signs California Transit 7pm @ Vroman's Chuck Barris presents The Big Question 7pm @ Book Soup Chris Abani & Al Young read their work 7:30pm @ Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater Tuesday Jonathan Cohn discusses Sick: The Untold Story of America's Healthcare Crisis 5pm @ Center for Healthy Communities, Yosemite Hall Reyna Grande presents Across a Hundred Mountains 7pm @ Book Soup Nicole Mones signs The Last Chinese Chef 7pm......

Monday Barbara Hambly presents Patriot Hearts: A Novel of Founding Mothers 7pm @ Vroman’s Tess Gallagher reads from Dear Ghosts 7:30pm @ Geffen Playhouse Tuesday George Hass presents Forcing Nature: Trees in Los Angeles 7pm @ Book Soup Margaret MacMillan presents Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World 7pm @ Central Library T Cooper & Chris Abani present their latest books 7:30pm @ Skylight Books Caille Millner presents The Golden Road: Notes......

While we try to keep our lit event listings strictly...listings...we can't help but notice that a very slow week in book readings, signings and author events has resulted in a proliferation of erotic, sexy and just plain porn star events. What are the chances this has to do with the most over-hyped flower holiday of the year? Rather high, we'd guess. Monday Chris Abani presents Virgin of Flames 7pm @ Vroman’s Tuesday Gayle Brandeis......

Monday Calvin Trillin discusses About Alice 7pm @ Vroman’s Norah Vincent presents Self Made Man 7pm @ Borders Century City Tuesday David Ulin, LA Times book editor, talks with Calvin Trillin 7pm @ Central Library Rachel Ballon signs The Writer’s Portable Therapist 7pm @ Dutton’s Brentwood Deborah Eisenberg presents Twilight of the Superheroes 7pm @ Hammer Museum Wednesday Chris Abani presents The Virgin of Flames 7pm @ EsoWon Books Felicity Huffman & Patricia Wolf......

Moderator: Janet Fitch Panelists: (from left to right) Chris Abani, Steve Erickson, Michelle Huneven, Jim Krusoe Two transplants (Abani from Nigeria and Krusoe from the midwest) and two natives (Erickson, Huneven) take on what it means to be a writer in Los Angeles. Erickson and Huneven were on a similar panel last year. We culled a few of this year's best (and lamest) quips. The high points: Chris Abani says, "The idea of being......