Nic Kelman with “How to Pass as Human” at Book Soup
Join Nic Kelman as he discusses and signs “How to Pass as Human” which is an attempt on the part of the world’s first android to understand the irrational, unpredictable, eclectic creatures known as human beings. Written in the form of a field guide, complete with sketches, graphs, flowcharts, and other reference materials, Android Zero (aka “Zach”) has compiled a variety of useful information for future androids on how to pass undetected as human beings. Along the way, he also attempts to solve the mystery of his own creation with the help of Andrea, a human female who has taken an interest in him that may be more than friendly, and eventually leading him to “meet his maker” and discover the surprising purpose of his existence. (Dark Horse Books)
Where: Book Soup
Date: Monday the 14th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Website: http://www.booksoup.com/event/nic-kelman-discusses-and-signs-how-pass-human
Page Turners Book Club in Tarzana
This book club is for adults and seniors and the reading selection for this month is “Everything I Never Told You,” by Celeste Ng.
Where: Encino-Tarzana Branch of LAPL
Date: Monday, the 14th
Time: 3 pm
Address: 18231 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91356
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/encino-tarzana
Amber Tamblyn with Janet Fitch at Book Soup
Amber Tamblyn discusses and signs “Dark Sparkler” with special guest Janet Fitch.
The lives of more than twenty-five actresses lost before their time from Marilyn Monroe to Brittany Murphy explored in a haunting, provocative new work by an acclaimed poet and actress.
Amber Tamblyn is both an award-winning film and television actress and an acclaimed poet. As such she is deeply fascinated and intimately familiar with the toll exacted from young women whose lives are offered in sacrifice as starlets. The stories of these actresses, both famous and obscure-tragic stories of suicide, murder, obscurity, and other forms of death inspired this empathic and emotionally charged collection of new poetic work. Featuring subjects from Marilyn Monroe and Frances Farmer to Dana Plato and Brittany Murphy and paired with original artwork commissioned for the book by luminaries including David Lynch, Adrian Tomine, Marilyn Manson, and Marcel Dzama Dark Sparkler is a surprising and provocative collection from a young artist of wide-ranging talent, culminating in an extended, confessional epilogue of astonishing candor and poetic command. (Harper Perennial)
Where: Book Soup
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
Some Favorite Writers: Akhil Sharma
Molly Crabapple and Laila Lalami at Last Bookstore
Join us for an evening with New York-based writer and artist Molly Crabapple,as she discusses her new memoir, “Drawing Blood, “ with Laila Lalami, author of “The Moor’s Account, “ which was a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction finalist in 2015.
Called “an emblem of the way art can break out of the gilded gallery” by the New Republic, Crabapple has drawn in Guantanamo Bay, Abu Dhabi’s migrant labor camps, and with rebels in Syria. Here is a memoir that will change the way you think about art, sex, politics, and survival in our times.
Where: The Last Bookstore
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm
Address: 453 S. Spring St., Ground Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Website: http://lastbookstorela.com/events/molly-crabapple-in-conversation-with-laila-lalami/
Author Janet Tashjian at Pacoima Branch Library
Janet Tashjian, the author of “Einstein the Hamster” series and “My Life as a Book” series, will be talking about her books and how she creates them. Come win one of Ms. Tashjian’s books.
Where: Pacoima Branch Library
Date: Tuesday the 15th
Time: 4 pm – 5 pm
Address: l3605 Van Nuys Blvd., Pacoima, CA 91331
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/pacoima
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Chevalier’s
NBA all-star and bestselling author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be discussing his new book “Mycroft Holmes,” in a one-on-one conversation with Leslie Klinger, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Sherlock Holmes.
Where: Chevalier’s Books
Date: Wednesday the 16th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 126 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004
Website: http://chevaliersbooks.com/
Authors at Benjamin Franklin Branch Library
Authors Mario J. Becerra and Victor Huesca will discuss and read from their newly published work, “Haunted East Los Angeles.”
“Haunted East Los Angeles” invites you to take a tour of the most haunted locations in our incredible town. The book includes chapters on Evergreen Cemetary, Stevenson Middle School, Casa Del Mexicano, and Linda Vista Community Hospital. Tales of darkness, spirit children, Ouija boards, poltergeists, graveyard apparitions, death, and even love, fill the pages.
Where: Benjamin Franklin Branch Library
Date: Wednesday the 16th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2200 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/benjamin-franklin
“Under Milk Wood” at Beyond Baroque
Public Works’ Voices in the Well presents Dylan Thomas’s “Under Milk Wood” in which a narrator invites the audience to listen to the voices, dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional village of Llareggub.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Thursday the 17th
Time: 8 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
Pico Branch Book Group
Pico Branch Book Group meets the third Thursday of every month, and discusses a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. This group is open to all, and this week discusses “Mary Barton” by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Where: Pico Branch of Santa Monica Library
Date: Thursday the 17th
Time: 7 pm – 8 pm
Address: 2201 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90504
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=15879
Poetry Workshop at Westwood Branch Library
Join us for a free poetry workshop. Please bring at least one poem you have written with seven printed copies, and one poem you really like.
Where: Westwood Branch of LAPL
Date: Thursday the 17th
Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm
Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Website: http://www.lapl.org/branches/westwood
Fiction Showcase at Beyond Baroque
Writer and filmmaker Tim Kirk (Room 237, The Nightmare, and Director’s Commentary: Terror of Frankenstein) reads from his new book “Burnt” which follows three interwoven stories for nearly a century. It is imaginative, entertaining and full of twists and turns.
General Admission $10, Students and Seniors $6, Members Free.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Time: 8 pm
Date: Friday the 18th
Address: 681 Venice Blvd, Venice, CA 90291
Website: http://www.beyondbaroque.org/calendar.html
American Stories Book Group
Join us for book discussions that illustrate the diversity of voices that make up the American experience. This month’s selections: “A Christmas Memory,” by Truman Capote and “The Loudest Voice,” by Grace Paley.
Where: Pico Branch of Santa Monica Public Library
Date: Friday the 19th
Time: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Address: 2201 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Saturday Afternoon Poetry
Join us to hear featured poets published in SPECTRUM 2: THE GIFT and for the 2016 San Gabriel Valley Poetry Calendar Email a poem under 30 lines in length including stanza breaks to kingfisher1031@harter.net by December 12th).
Open Reading included in today’s program.
Where: Santa Catalina Branch Library
Date: Saturday the 19th
Time: 3 pm – 5 pm
Address: 999 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA
Website: http://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/
Ocean Park Pulitzer Prize Book Group
A monthly book discussion group for books that have won the Pulitzer Prize, meets the third Saturday of every month. December’s title is: “The Stories of John Cheever” by John Cheever. No registration required.
Where: Ocean Park Branch of Santa Monica Library
Date: Saturday, the 19th
Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm
Address: 2601 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405
Website: http://calendar.smgov.net/library/eventsignup.asp?ID=18578
Shades of Afrika Open Mic
Weekly Open Mic with Poetry hosrted by impacc and Shy.
$5 cover includes light refreshments.
Where: Shades of Afrika
Date: Saturday the 19th
Time: 8 pm – 10 pm
Address: 1001 E. 4th St., Long Beach, CA 90802
Website: http://www.localendar.com/public/CadenceCollective
Ross Altman’s Salute to Phil Ochs at Beyond Baroque
A Small Circle of Friends celebrate Phil Ochs 75th birthday with guest artists singing and reading, and a visual display of Broadside Magazine and the Phil Ochs documentary “There But For Fortune.”
Regular admission.
Where: Beyond Baroque
Date: Sunday, the 20th
Time: 7 pm
Address: 681 Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291
Los Angeles Literature 