The vermin are back this weekend as Jim Ruland's must-attend night of readings, Vermin on the Mount, features four indie writers tomorrow at 8pm @ Chinatown's Mountain Bar:Jim Krusoe, who teaches fiction at Santa Monica College, will read from his just-out Girl Factory which we highlighted not so long ago for its wacky incoroporation of LA yogurt culture.Sean Carswell, novelist, short story writer and publisher, will read from Train Wreck Girl.Tosh Berman, publisher of Tam......

A new view - up & out - from Watts Tower | Photo by Exquisitor via Flickr Monday David Wroblewski presents and signs The Story of Edgar Sawtelle 7pm @ Book Soup Rhys Bowen discusses and signs A Royal Pain 7pm @ Vroman's Joe Carducci presents and signs Enter Naomi: SST, L.A. and All That 7:30pm @ Family Tuesday Seth Greenland presents and signs Shining City 7pm @ Book Soup Jim Krusoe presents Girl......

Elephant in the Sky at Hollywood & Highland | Photo by huangjiahui via Flickr Monday Scott McClellan signs What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade Phyllis Gebauer discusses and signs Hot Widow 7pm @ Vroman's Marianne Wiggins signs The Shadow Catcher 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble, The Grove Salman Rushdie discusses The Enchantress of Florence with Carrie Fisher 7:30pm @ Writers......

Any Angeleno worth their salt knows this city can be both bright and happy or sinister and dark by quick turns or subtle steps or shameless spirals. There is much to celebrate about LA and much to shy away from - which makes it the ideal city-as-character in many a writer's novel. A few new books are out that feature LA and they're on our radar to check out this month. Latinos in Lotusland: An......