Callie Miller

The LA Times has nominated five books in each of nine different categories for the 2007 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. In the weeks leading up to the Festival of Books where the winners will be announced, LAist will take a quick look at each category and will wax poetic on a few favorites (or least favorites) along the way. Black Swan Green by David Mitchell - A smaller tome than Mitchell's fans are used...

While gathering information for our weekly book event listings, LAist couldn't help but notice the title of Suze Orman's new book, which she'll discuss on Friday night at Vroman's in Pasadena: Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny. The heart of Orman's sage advice for women is "Get your own account in your own name." She has even made arrangements with Ameritrade to give every woman $100 if they make 12...

Ruby, the 46-year-old African elephant who has been a mainstay at the LA Zoo for years, is retiring. In an announcement today, LA Zoo officials and Mayor Villaraigosa said that while the decision was a difficult one, it is the right one for Ruby. She will be transferred to PAWS (Performing Animal Welfare Society), a non-profit 2,300 acre sanctuary for captive wildlife located in San Andreas. Though zoo visitors are saddened to see Ruby go,...

Monday Paul Rusebagina presents An Ordinary Man: An Autobiography 7:30pm @ Beverly Hills Hotel Alison Weir discusses Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey 7pm @ Vroman's Alix Ohlin on Why Mysteries Matter: Detectives, Literature, and Life 7pm @ Central Library Tuesday Alex Espinoza presents Still Water Saints 7pm @ Vroman's Daniel Mason signs A Far Country 7pm @ Dutton's Erin Vincent signs Grief Girl 7pm @ Book Soup Wednesday Brian Frazer presents...

We don't know about you, but Sunday mornings are about sleeping in, getting breakfast late, then scurrying back home to read the LA Times from the comfort of your unmade bed. When you read the Times on Sunday, there are many things you get - Comics, Current, Parade, West. Those trifles we could take or leave. Really. What gets us going is the blessed, blessed Book Review section. We have come to count on...

Monday Paul Cummins signs Two Americas, Two Educations 7pm @ Dutton's Tuesday Daniel Alarcon presents Lost City Radio 7:30 pm @ Skylight Books Jane Hirshfield reads poetry from After 7pm @ Hammer Museum Catherine Allgor presents A Perfect Union 7pm @ Vroman's Brian Doherty Radicals for Capitalism 7pm @ Book Soup Tara Ison presents The List 7pm @ Borders Century City Wednesday Dinaw Mengestu signs The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears 7pm @ Dutton's...

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...

The delicious, outstanding, mind-altering Magritte show at LACMA is over on Sunday, March 4th. John Baldessari has done a bang-up job presenting Magritte's work in a new context, free from the apple/bowler hat, ceci n'est pas une pipe cliches his work so often calls to mind. We'd normally say something like: run, don't walk to the show. It's that good. You only have six days to make it happen so you need to hustle....

Monday Barbara Hambly presents Patriot Hearts: A Novel of Founding Mothers 7pm @ Vroman's Tess Gallagher reads from Dear Ghosts 7:30pm @ Geffen Playhouse Tuesday George Hass presents Forcing Nature: Trees in Los Angeles 7pm @ Book Soup Margaret MacMillan presents Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World 7pm @ Central Library T Cooper & Chris Abani present their latest books 7:30pm @ Skylight Books Caille Millner presents The Golden Road: Notes...

Monday Allen Rucker presents The Best Seat in the House 7pm @ Vroman's David Mamet & Howard Norton sign their new books 7pm @ Dutton's Brentwood Tuesday Sam Sheridan presents A Fighter's Heart 7pm @ Book Soup Bich Minh Nguyen presents Stealing Buddha's Dinner 7pm @ Vroman's Rafe Esquith discusses Teaching Shakespeare 7pm @ Central Library Wednesday John M. Wieskopf presents The Ascendancy 7:30pm @ Barnes & Noble Third Street Promenade Kate Jacobs signs...