Years ago, I found a book called Sister Crazy, wedged in on an unassuming shelf in a used bookstore called The Cabin, in a small town called Three Rivers CA. Finding the book reminded me of when I was a kid and I used to root through the old books at my grandparents' house, or wander through the library during the summer. (Yes, I was a nerd, basically Hermione.) But it has since become my......

Friday was the 50th birthday of Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat. A few area schools honored the occasion with special events including the release of "THE SEUSS IS LOOSE!: Young Lil' Hats, Writing All That," at The Watts Learning Center charter school. Cabrillo Elementary in Hawthorne went all out for the good doc with a Read-a-Thon and a Green Eggs and Ham Cookoff, and the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library served birthday cake while hat-wearing......

As you continue to nurse your week-long Academy Award champagne hangover and try desperately to block all memory of the "sound effects choir" & Celine Dion's massacre of Ennio Morricone's work (just as Elina predicted!), it should come as a relief to you that while there are yet more awards on the horizon, these are of the bookish kind. The LA Times has announced their Book Awards Finalists. While it may take more work......