Callie Miller

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...

Tired of the usual Mother's Day rituals that involve gifts and brunch and possibly awkward moments? Nucleus, our favorite little gallery in Alhambra, is your saving grace. La Femme opens tomorrow night and is billed as a visual celebration of mothers, daughters and sisters. The show features work from over 20 female artists including Adolie Day, Aline Yamada, Amy Sol, Catherine Campbell, Christine Hwang, Clio Chiang, Elizabeth Ito, Julie West, Junko Mizuno, Kendra Binney and...

New York author, media maven and baker extraordinaire Felicia Sullivan is in town this week to read from and sign her Brooklyn-based memoir of family addiction, recovery and hope in The Sky Isn't Visible from Here. Sullivan will be reading tonight @ Pi Restaurant next door to Book Soup at 7pm and tomorrow @ Vroman's at 4pm. Your book is an intensely personal look at your life. The reader not only sees your mother struggle...

New Mural near La Brea & Melrose. Learn more about the artwork here | Photo by bumblebee via Flickr Monday Mark Sarvas discusses and signs Harry, Revised 7pm @ Vroman's Mike Farrell presents Just Call Me Mike 7pm @ Book Soup Tuesday Brian May presents Bang! The Complete History of the Universe 4pm @ Book Soup Millard Kaufman discusses Bowl of Cherries 7pm @ Central Library Adam Novak presents The Non-Pro 7pm @ Book...

The LA Times Festival of Books offered something for everyone this weekend. The many panels, author interviews and signing booths were exciting for bookish nerds like us. If you weren't into the bookish side of the book festival, however, there was plenty to whet your appetite. Literally. The food court was full of smoked meats and organic treats and live music could be enjoyed from many open plazas on the UCLA campus. There was even...

Some of our favorite independent bookstores in LA (Skylight Books, Vroman's, Diesel, Book Soup) have been targeted by scammers claiming to be some of our favorite writers. Here's how it works: a would-be writer calls a bookstore (impersonating a writer who has a scheduled store appearance in the next few hours or days), complains of car trouble, and asks to have cash wired to them immediately to avert their made-up crisis. These pranksters have impersonated...

Colorful milk crates on Formosa Ave. | Photo by pink_fish13 via Flickr Monday Keith Gessen presents All the Sad Young Literary Men 5:30pm @ Vroman's Tobias Wolff discusses Our Story Begins: New and Selected Stories with David Ulin 7pm @ Central Library Christophe Blain presents Isaac the Pirate 7pm @ Book Soup Baron R. Birtcher presents Angels Fall 7pm @ Vroman's John Landis signs his John Landis 7pm @ Borders, Santa Monica Tuesday Lydia...

It was a lovely evening of bookish folks gathered about to celebrate books and to kick-off the LA Times Festival of Books which begins today and runs through tomorrow afternoon. The awards ceremony for the Book Prizes was short and sweet, the acceptance speeches were both funny and poignant and the after-party had a full chocolate buffet, complete with ice sculptures. What more could you ask for? Ah, the winners. Here are the winners of...

Pinkberry Pinkberry, the most hated and revered fro-yo chain. Are you pinkberry or are you stinkberry? Are you good for me or bad? There's been so much Pinkberry news lately, it's tough to keep track of it all. Here's the timeline of events:Pinkberry becomes wildly popular - so popular, many begin to wonder about its oddly addictive qualities and the big question finally gets asked: just what the hell is this I'm eating?Pinkberry is slapped...

Bright Lights at Griffith Observatory | Photo by androog via Flickr Monday Marya Hornbacher discusses and signs Madness: A Bipolar Life 7pm @ Vroman's Tom Leopold & Bob Sand present Milt & Marty: The Longest Lasting & Least Successful Comedy Writing Duo in Show Biz History 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, 3rd Street Promenade Neil Atkinson signs Boxcar Poetry Review 7:30pm @ Village Books Eric Mabius signs Ugly Betty: The Book 7:30pm @ Barnes...