Callie Miller

Of all the things we expected Los Angeles to be known for...it wasn't "the best city in the country for booklovers." According to a study by Eventful.com, New York is the city for singles, San Diego is the city for pet lovers, and LA is, crazily, the best city for bookish types. We're also the best city for music events...but that's hardly a surprise. While we do love our books, we find it hard to...

Lisa Glatt, professor of creative writing at Cal State Long Beach, is on her way to the big time - and we couldn't be happier for her. Glatt's novel, A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That, has been optioned by Andrew Wagner. We're a big fan of Lisa's because whenever we see her at a local reading, she commands the room with her intense stories and mordant wit. It doesn't matter who she reads with,...

Only in Hollywood can a building's facelift earn it an award. Citysearch has dubbed The Wiltern as Los Angeles' Best Live Music Venue. Why? "Hollywood's historic music venue retains its classic Tinseltown charm after a first-rate facelift." The Wiltern's "facelift" wasn't just a barely noticeable nose job. It was a full-scale re-do. The 1931 building was completely renovated five years ago, bringing state-of-the art sound to the venue that desperately needed it. It can now...

My brother is a wine snob. What I love about him though, with all his tattoos and his refusal to wear anything other than shorts and flip-flops regardless of weather, is that he isn't a real snob. He knows good wine. He seeks it out. But he's all about finding the best wine at a great price. When he's in town, he wants to visit every wine bar, wine boutique and wine warehouse in LA....

Monday Keith Gessen & Chad Harbach discuss the latest issue of n+1 7pm @ Book Soup Jay Inslee & Bracken Hendricks presents Apollo's Fire 7pm @ Vroman's Jenna Bush signs Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope 7pm @ Barnes & Noble, The Grove Robert Hass presents Time & Materials 7pm @ Central Library Tuesday John Leake presents Entering Hades 7pm @ Book Soup Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg present Superbad: Seth's Drawings 7pm @...

Judith Freeman's just-out book, The Long Embrace: Raymond Chandler and The Woman He Loved is a must-read for any Angeleno worth their salt. Why? Not only does Freeman detail the fascinating life of Chandler, one of L.A.'s most famous writers, but she documents, researches and visits almost every one of the thirty-five homes he lived in during his life in Southern California. Twenty-four of those homes are in Los Angeles. Twenty-four! Chandler and his wife...

If you support independent anything, listen up: Village Books in Pacific Palisades is on the verge of closing. Thank you big box chains, for screwing with the independents again. How to help right away: Shop at Village Books this weekend for the 15% off sale. You know you've got holiday shopping to do and why not do it at Village Books? How to help after this weekend: If you are an author, have a signing...

Every week we round up all the bookish events happening in LA and we present them in the Get Your Lit On series Monday mornings. This Monday, an astute LAist reader asked us a very good question: What does it mean when a writer "presents" their book? We answered as fairly as we could, pointing out that most authors briefly introduce their book, read from it, answer questions about it and then sign it....

Monday Eliot Tiegel presents The Latinization of America 6:30pm @ Book Soup Judith Freeman discusses and signs The Long Embrace 7pm @ Vroman's Roz Chast discusses Theories of Everything 7pm @ Central Library Robert Kuttner in conversation with Arianna Huffington about The Squandering of America 8pm @ James Bridge Theater, UCLA Tuesday Cesar Millan presents Be the Pack Leader 7pm @ Borders, Pasadena Frank McCourt presents Angela and the Baby Jesus 7pm @ Borders,...

Another year - another turkey. Last year, on Thanksgiving weekend, my fiance and I were in the car with my brother and some dear friends, all dressed up to go do Patina "on the cheap" - apps and drinks only. (Still not cheap.) On our way there, a man screeched up in his car, rolled down the window, and started screaming at us. Screaming. Waving his arms and gesturing. He got out of his...