From time to time, LAist will take a look at the many book-to-film projects underway in Hollywood. We'll explore the books we love and why we're over-the-moon excited or just plain worried about the film projects that bear their name. The Lovely Bones -- When we first examined the books-to-film projects underway in Hollywood, we were on regular IMBD watch for casting updates about Alice Sebold's novel-about-to-be-film The Lovely Bones directed by Peter Jackson. So......

A Word or 21: Mark Burnett can't come up with anything new other than Pirate Master - and you thought Survivor had gone down the tubes. Tonight - Thursday - May 31, 2007 Orioles @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) Dodgers @ Nationals (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Pirate Master (CBS, 8:00 p.m.) Series premiere! Reality show set up to piggyback on a movie not produced by this network - lawsuit anyone? 2007 Scripps National Spelling......

There's always more gossip than content going around the Internet about author Zadie Smith, whether it's Vogue mis-identifying someone else as her in a photo (the insulting inaccuracy was ridiculed via Maud and the Old Hag) or the Rake raking up her rap preferences. Smith has something that stands above the gossip, though - one of the best writing talents in generations, and now another book to prove it. For the uninitiated (as if!),......