ART: Downtown’s Art Walk happens the second Thursday of each month. The Art walk is a monthly, self-guided tour of the art exhibition venues in Downtown Los Angeles, which includes commercial art galleries, public museums, and nonprofit arts venues. Museum of Contemporary Art on Grand Ave (MOCA), Los Angeles Public Library Grey Goose, LA Artcore Center are just some of the places on the Walk. 12-9 pm // Downtown Art Walk // Downtown Los......

As we’ve pointed out, it is awards season in Los Angeles in more ways than one. While the Academy Award debating will rage on for weeks, bookish types can ante up their betting losses or collect their winnings now – some awards have already been given. Los Angeles resident Susan Patron has won the 2007 John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature for her young adult novel The Higher Power......

You have four more hours to get yourself downtown to take a peek at what some of LA's best art galleries are currently offering. On the second Thursday of every month from noon to 9pm, museums, galleries, and nonprofit art venues participate in the Downtown Art Walk, staying open late for those who might not get a chance to stop by during the weekdays. What better way to take the edge off the workweek......

When LAist thinks of John Lithgow and food, some kind of a shiny extra-terrestrial pear pops into our head. We suggest you put that image out of your mind, however, if you're so inclined to see the former "3rd Rock from the Sun" star read aloud short-stories — about food — at this weekend's Food Fictions! at the Getty Center (Friday- Sunday, May 19-21). He's one of several actors who will be orating culinary-inspired......

MSN has a new article on ways you can go broke in real estate: for example, if the neighborhood changes for the worse instead of better, if a tenant moves out, or if your interest rates balloon. The Southern California real estate market has slowed down a little bit, but it's still tempting to feel that it might be easy to make money in real estate here. It's also good to remember that it......

The Fairfax Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library opened this morning. Located at 161 S. Gardner Street, just north of 3rd, the new branch boasts lots of parking, beautiful dark wood furniture, a phalanx of computers and a very large floor plan. It has one of the biggest footprints of the regional branches, with a central section full of tables, chairs and room for study groups. More space doesn't necessarily mean more books......

LAist loves books aplenty, and we also love free things. Combine these two loves and you get the Los Angeles Public Library; build a central branch the size of a mall, and you have geek heaven. But the free books to borrow service has a pricetag--like so many wonderful things--and LAPL's Library Store has a way for us to pitch in this month (aside from paying those overdue fees we know we have stored......

What's Los Angeles reading these days? Here's the Top 10 Titles requested from the Los Angeles Public Library system: 1) The Da Vinci code : a novel Brown, Dan, 1964 2003 2) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Rowling, J. K. 2003 3) The narrows : a novel Connelly, Michael, 1 2004 4) Angels & demons Brown, Dan, 1964 2000 5) "R" is for ricochet Grafton, Sue. 2004 6) * My life......

Once again the Los Angeles Unified School District has displayed a lousy vision for educating Los Angeles youth and managing the historic resources under their stewardship. After years of uncertainty and discussions between LAUSD, developers, and preservation advocates, yesterday’s 4-3 vote in favor of Superintendent Roy Romer’s plan made it official — most of the Ambassador Hotel will face the wrecking ball within a few years. It was clear that the Board members had......

Local author Mark Sarvas's literary blog, The Elegant Variation, reminds us that Los Angeles City Beat takes a short and shallow look at the L.A. Literary scene in two pieces: one on local readings and another on the two new LA-based literary journals (does 2 journals make a “scene”?) that focus (for the most part) on voices from Southern California. Apparently, we owe this bounty to McSweeney’s success. L.A.'s long-neglected literary scene is due......