Guest Contributor

The fest asked attendees to use the hashtag "#whatareyoureading", so we asked festival-goers that very question.

Those lucky enough to walk past or be near the University of Southern California stage during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Saturday experienced not only music, but the spoken word stylings of poet-professor Javon Johnson. And it was not your typical performance.

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is nothing without authors and their work. With more than 400 authors taking part in readings and panel discussions there are opportunities for attendees to immerse themselves in all things literature. To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of author events worth checking out Saturday and Sunday.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted in favor of tearing down the 700-unit Jordan Downs housing project in Watts and rebuilding it as a mixed-income "urban village" community with new park and retail space.

Castro was a social studies teacher in different schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He was a central figure in the 1968 East L.A. Chicano Blowouts.

Get out so you can catch improv, 14th century fashion or a roller derby show.

Pollution, much like love, knows no borders, which is why the City of Los Angeles is exploring legal action against a Vernon battery recycler that released high levels of arsenic emissions and increased the cancer risk in surrounding neighborhoods.

Get out so you can celebrate the Thai New Year, listen to music at Walt Disney Concert Hall or catch an experimental film.

Get out so you can try beer, see a Brazilian thriller, revert to childhood and get in a pillow fight or test your knowledge of "The Simpsons."

The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the 2013 season at home April 1, showing off the newly renovated Dodger Stadium and hosting their archrival, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants.