Nam Le was recently in town to read from and sign The Boat, a wildly diverse and intense collection of short stories that did not immediately strike us a short stories and which prompted an interesting dialogue. While we make a point in our author interviews to ask questions that would be of interest to our readers, we found that in this case, we were compelled to ask some pointed questions about our own reading......

Tired of beach-going so early in the season and looking for a more cerebral way to enjoy the weekend in, say, air-conditioning? You're in luck. The Hammer Museum is the place to be on Sunday afternoon. The much-lauded Kara Walker exhibition, My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love, ends on Sunday and by all accounts, it's a show you don't want to miss. Doors open at 11am giving you plenty of time for......

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is always kicked off by a ceremony that awards one book in each key category with a Book Prize. The nominees in each category were just announced and we're both thrilled and a tad flummoxed by some of their picks, listed below. We're mostly pleased to see that the usual suspects, who have made up every other book awards list this year, are noticeably absent. This list doesn't......