Blog Profile / Jacket Copy

Naomi Hirahara on her Japanese American sleuth, Mas Arai [Video]

Edgar Award-winning author Naomi Hirahara published her first Mas Arai mystery in 2004; the series starring the Japanese American gardener and crime solver is now on its fifth novel, "Strawberry Yellow." She visited our video booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books to talk with staff writer Carolyn Kellogg about the character and its connection to her heritage.

Harry Potter to flatten Gibson Amphitheatre, Curious George playland

Universal Studios in Hollywood will raze the 41-year-old Gibson Amphitheatre to make way for its coming Harry Potter attraction, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Like the Wizarding World in Orlando, the Hollywood Harry Potter will be a theme park based on J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" books and the films made from them.

Jonathan Evison on hitting bottom and becoming a writer [video]

Bestselling novelist Jonathan Evison dropped by our video booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books to talk with L.A. Times columnist Robin Abcarian about "The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving," his novel that has just been released in paperback. 

Author Salman Rushdie sold 'Midnight's Children' rights for $1

Judith Freeman on the influence of Raymond Chandler [Video]

At the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on Sunday, I got a chance to sit down with novelist and nonfiction writer Judith Freeman to discuss the lure of Southern California as a literary landscape, and also the influence of Raymond Chandler on the city and its cultural life.

Bob Hicok's relentless vision marks 'Elegy Owed'

Bob Hicok is one of my favorite poets. Partly, it’s the movement of his lines, which are both conversational and utterly unexpected, almost as if he (or we) are joining a conversation that extends beyond the framework of the poem. “My...Show More Summary

Daniel Handler on the ups and downs of being Lemony Snicket [Video]

Daniel Handler dropped by our video booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books before  appearing  live with children's book illustrator Jon Klassen, collaborator on the new children's book "The Dark."

Janet Fitch on the writers she admires and her next book [video]

Janet Fitch's first novel, "White Oleander," hit big when it was picked by Oprah for her book club. Before that happened, she was just another aspiring writer in this big city.

Kelly Oxford on which depraved, funny books she likes

At the L.A. Times Festival of Books, Kelly Oxford sat down with Times columnist Robin Abcarian to talk about her book “Everything Is Perfect When You're a Liar,” the Twitter star's first collection of humorous essays.

Truman Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' manuscript up for auction

A manuscript of Truman Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" is being auctioned online by R.R. Auctions this week. The manuscript includes Capote's handwritten edits, including one of the most significant: He changes the main character's name to Holly Golightly.

World Book Night has arrived, at a neighborhood near you

Take a walk in certain corners of Southern California this evening and you might find someone trying to give you a book. It will be free. And it will also be a very good book.

George W. Bush Presidential Library opens this week, chads and all

President Obama and all four living ex-presidents will attend the official dedication of the George W. Bush Presidential Library on Thursday on the campus of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. 

Jonathan Lethem on his upcoming novel, 'Dissident Gardens' [video]

Writer Jonathan Lethem took some time to join us in our secret video booth at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. He gave us a preview of his next novel, "Dissident Gardens," which will be coming to bookstores in September.

Margaret Atwood on literary Los Angeles and writing serially [video]

Behind the scenes at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, book critic David Ulin talked to Margaret Atwood about Los Angeles, literature and what it's like to write a serial novel. Atwood, who had been awarded the Innovators Prize at the L.A. Times book awards Friday night, spoke to a full crowd at the festival on Saturday.

Mohsin Hamid on 'Filthy Rich' and 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'

Join us for a live video chat  April 23 at 10 a.m. with Mohsin Hamid, author of the novels "How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia" and "The Reluctant Fundamentalist," which was shortlisted for the 2007 Man Booker prize.

E.L. Konigsburg, 'Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler' author, dies at 83

Award-winning children's author E.L. Konigsburg died Friday in Falls Church, Va., after suffering a stroke a week before, the Associated Press reported Sunday night.  She was 83 years old.

Melissa de la Cruz, Maureen Johnson talk YA -- and ghosts

Authors Melissa de la Cruz, Maureen Johnson, Katherine Marsh and Lisa McMann were confronted with difficult questions that asked them to discuss the themes in their work, examine young adult as a genre and defend whether there is anything...Show More Summary

Immigrant stories: 'To be an American is an intellectual idea'

At the "Immigrant Stories" panel at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Sunday, authors explored their fictional works that were based on real immigration patterns that have crossed the American landscape.

Ringwald and Semple talk novels in their post-Hollywood lives

Jamaica Kincaid strives to write 'the history of people like me'

In her long and illustrious career, Jamaica Kincaid has tackled many genres of literature. So best believe her when she says that her 2013 work "See Now Then" is a novel and a work of fiction. Period.