August Selection: Iona Iverson’s Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley.

Everyday Iona Iverson, a stylish, opinionated, larger-than-life magazine advice columnist, rides the train to work with her dog, Lulu. Every day she sees the same people and they never speak. Seasoned commuters never do. Then one morning, the man she calls Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader chokes on a grape right in front of her. This single event starts a chain reaction, and an eclectic group of people discovers that talking to strangers can teach you quite a bit about the world around you—and even more about yourself.

Where: Manhattan Beach Library, LACL

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

Participants will discuss A Sky Beyond the Storm (An Ember in the Ashes #1) (Paperback) by Sabaa Tahir.

A gorgeous, collectable look for this beloved and bestselling fantasy series that “glows, burns, and smolders.” (Huffington Post). The deluxe paperback editions each feature tip-ins with exclusive character art!

Picking up just a few months after A Reaper at the Gates left off…

The long-imprisoned jinn are on the attack, wreaking bloody havoc in villages and cities alike. But for the Nightbringer, vengeance on his human foes is just the beginning.

By his side, Commandant Keris Veturia declares herself Empress, and calls for the heads of any and all who defy her rule. At the top of the list? The Blood Shrike and her remaining family.

Laia of Serra, now allied with the Blood Shrike, struggles to recover from the loss of the two people most important to her. Determined to stop the approaching apocalypse, she throws herself into the destruction of the Nightbringer. In the process, she awakens an ancient power that could lead her to victory—or to an unimaginable doom.

And deep in the Waiting Place, the Soul Catcher seeks only to forget the life—and love—he left behind. Yet doing so means ignoring the trail of murder left by the Nightbringer and his jinn. To uphold his oath and protect the human world from the supernatural, the Soul Catcher must look beyond the borders of his own land. He must take on a mission that could save—or destroy—all that he knows.

Sabaa Tahir is a former newspaper editor who grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s eighteen-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, listening to thunderous indie rock, and playing guitar and piano badly. Her #1 New York Times bestselling novel, An Ember in the Ashes series, has been translated into more than thirty-five languages, and the first book in the series was named one of TIME’s 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time. Tahir’s most recent novel, All My Rage, won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry, and was an instant New York Times bestseller.

Visit Sabaa online at SabaaTahir.com and follow her on Instagram @SabaaTahir and TikTok @SabaaTahirAuthor.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/ya-adults-sky-beyond-storm

Robertson Readers Book Club: The Snow Child at Robertson Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us for book club at Robertson Branch. We will discuss the book and share other interesting books we have been reading. New members are welcome!

Print copies of each book will be available for checkout in the branch beginning three weeks prior to the book club meeting date, while supplies last.

Upcoming meeting:

August 11: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: 1719 S. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-readers-book-club-6

Book Talk: Walter Murch & Suddenly Something Clicked at Chevalier’s – In-Person Event

The legendary Academy Award-winning film editor and sound designer, Walter Murch, joins us to discuss his new book Suddenly Something Clicked! Joining him in conversation will be his wife, Muriel Murch, who is the author of Harvesting History—a companion piece to Suddenly Something Clicked, with insights into their marriage as they celebrate their 60th anniversary this August.

This braided Q&A structure will be moderated by filmmaker Randal Kleiser (Grease).

The event is free to attend, but RSVPs are highly encouraged.

The triple-Oscar winner of the Godfather films, Apocalypse Now and The English Patient presents a masterclass on movies and how they are made.

Highly lauded film editor, director, writer and sound designer Walter Murch reflects on the six decades of cinematic history he has been a considerable contributor to—and on what makes great films great.

Together with Francis Coppola and George Lucas, Murch abandoned Hollywood in 1969 and moved to San Francisco to create the Zoetrope studio. Their vision was of a new kind of cinema for a new generation of film-goers. Murch’s subsequent contributions in film editing rooms and sound-mixing theatres were responsible for ground-breaking technical and creative innovations.

In this book, Murch invites readers on a voyage of discovery through film, with a mixture of personal stories, meditations on his own creative tactics and strategies, and reminiscences from working on The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, Lucas’ American Graffiti, and Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient and The Talented Mr. Ripley.

Suddenly Something Clicked is a book that will change the way you watch movies.

Walter Murch is best known as the Sound Designer and Picture Editor of The Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, Julia and The English Patient. He has had a career in movies that stretches across fifty years, including his involvement in setting up Zeotrope studios with Francis Coppola and George Lucas in San Francisco in the late ’60s. He lives between California and London.

Where: Chevalier’s

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-08-11/book-talk-legendary-film-editor-and-sound-designer-walter-murch-discusses-his-new

Rupo Open Mic at Back to the Grind in Riverside – In-Person Event

RUPO Open Mic is every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.

Every Monday from 7 pm to 9 pm. Sign-ups are at 6:30 pm and in person only, $4 cash admission. See you then!

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Back to the Grind, Riverside

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

A fascinating behind-the-scenes account of the making of Bruce Springsteen’s ground-breaking album, Born to Run—one of the most iconic records in rock history. Tonight in Jungleland combines lush music writing with unprecedented inside access to Springsteen, his bandmates, and the full story behind every song…and coincides with the album’s 50th anniversary in August 2025.

From the opening piano notes of “Thunder Road,” to the final outro of “Jungleland”—with American anthems like “Born to Run” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” in between—Bruce Springsteen’s seminal album, Born to Run, established Springsteen as a creative force in rock and roll. With his back against the wall, he wrote what has been hailed as a perfect album, a defining moment, and a roadmap for what would become a legendary career.

Peter Ames Carlin, whose bestselling biography, Bruce, gave him rare access to Springsteen’s inner circle, now returns with the full story of the making of this epic album. Released in August, 1975, Born to Run now celebrates its 50th anniversary. Carlin reveals a treasure trove of untold stories, detailing the writing and recording of every song, as well as the intense and at times tortuous process that mimicked the fault lines in Springsteen’s psyche and career, even as it revealed the depth of his vision. A must-read for any music fan, Tonight in Jungleland takes us inside a hallowed creative process and lets us experience history.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/peter-ames-carlin-2025

At Skylight: Aisha Muharrar, with Laura Warrell, & Loved One, at Skylight – In-Person Event

Aisha Muharrar, in conversation with Laura Warrell, will discuss Loved One, a funny, wise, heartbreaking story about a woman journeying into the unknown in the wake of sudden loss.

When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at twenty-nine, thirty-year-old Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar—one of the departed indie rock musician’s dearest belongings—for reasons Julia can’t understand. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.

Aisha Muharrar is an Emmy Award–winning writer and producer who has worked on shows like Hacks, Parks and Recreation, and The Good Place. Born in Connecticut and raised on Long Island, Muharrar lives in Los Angeles with her family. Loved One is her first novel.

Laura Warrell is the author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Barnes & Noble Discover Prize and long listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Lit Hub, Oprah Daily, Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, and other publications. Laura has attended residencies at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Tin House Writer’s Workshop. She lives in Los Angeles and teaches at the low-residency MFA program at Pacific University.

Where: Skylight

Date: Monday, the 11^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-aisha-muharrar-presents-loved-one-w-laura-warrell

Continuing the Story Book Club: New Moon from the Twilight Saga at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Our next Continuing the Story: The Twilight Series Book Club meeting will discuss New Moon by Stephanie Meyers.

Join us each month as we discuss a new installment of the series. General Manager Taylor C. will lead this book club discussion.

Tickets available at website.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232 

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

Monday Night Fiction Workshop via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event

This free Monday Night Community Writing Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.

Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures at California State University Channel Islands, teaching courses on creative writing and contemporary African literatures. Raquel has published poetry in Africology and The Arrow; fiction in Enculturation, The Daily Palette, The Womanist, and Crux; and non-fiction in Little Village; and has done readings with the Ventura County Poetry project. Raquel is passionate about discussing everything related to the craft and social significance of literature!

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online event

Date: Monday the 11^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: Zoom Online Event (see site)

Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community and consider writing a story to share at our Valentine’s event on 2/7 for possible submission in Lit Angels Journal.

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

This fun and engaging weekly series, featuring stories, songs, and rhymes, travels to a different library location each week. Limited space; free tickets available. For ages 3 – 5.

Where: Montana Branch Library, SMPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Join us weekly on Zoom on Tuesday mornings at 11 am for the Virtual Book Club. In August we will be discussing When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi. For adults.

Please contact Marta Wiggins at mwiggins@library.lacounty.gov for your link to join.

Each week we read and discuss 1/4 of the book. Please see the weekly discussion breakdown below.

Week 2: August 12: Days 8 – 12 Pages: 88 – 161

Week 3: August 19: Days 13 – 20 Pages: 162 -242

Week 4: August 26: Days 21 -36,524 Pages: 243 to the end of the book.

The moon has turned into cheese. Now humanity has to deal with it. For some it’s an opportunity. For others it’s a moment to question their faith: In God, in science, in everything. Still others try to keep the world running in the face of absurdity and uncertainty. And then there are the billions looking to the sky and wondering how a thing that was always just there is now…something absolutely impossible. Astronauts and billionaires, comedians and bank executives, professors and presidents, teenagers and terminal patients at the end of their lives—over the length of an entire lunar cycle, each get their moment in the moonlight. To panic, to plan, to wonder and to pray, to laugh and to grieve.

Where: La Crescenta Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14176541

Virtual Book Club via Northridge Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for our monthly Zoom book club! We read and discuss a mix of fiction and nonfiction, and we vote on titles every few months.

RSVP:

Email eaaronson@lapl.org for Zoom and title information.

Where: Northridge Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Have the books you’ve read inspired you to write stories of your own? A writer’s group will form in fall, starting August 12th, to exchange chapters and short stories during meetings on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at Cellar Door Bookstore. Workshop sessions will be facilitated by Liam Corley, and all participants will contribute craft feedback. Liam is a speculative fiction writer who has also published books of poetry and scholarship.

The first two meetings:

Tuesday, August 12th from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Tuesday, August 26th from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 3 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/new-writing-workshop-cellar-door-bookstore

Kids Book Club: Adrift at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event

Participants will discuss Adrift by Tanya Guerrero.

From Tanya Guerrero, the author of All You Knead Is Love and How to Make Friends with the Sea, comes Adrift, an upper middle grade contemporary story of survival and grief about two biracial Filipino cousins whose resilience is tested when one of them is lost at sea.

Cousins Coral and Isa are so close that they’re practically siblings; their mothers are sisters, and the two girls grew up on the same small island. When Coral and her parents leave on a months-long sea voyage amid the islands of Indonesia, Isa is devastated that they’ll be kept apart, and the two vow to write to each other no matter what.

Then the unthinkable happens, and Coral’s boat capsizes at sea, where her parents vanish. Washed up on a deserted island, alone and wracked by grief, she must find the strength within to survive, and find her way back home. Meanwhile, Isa is still on Pebble Island, the only one holding out hope that her beloved cousin is still alive.

Told in alternating points of view, this is a powerful story of loss and hope, love and family—and the unexpected resilience of the human spirit.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-book-club-adrift

Virtual Book Launch: Elaine Castillo & Moderation: A Novel via Bel Canto Bookstore, KUBO LB – Online Event

Celebrate with Bel Canto and Kapwa Bookstores Collective a Virtual Book Launch with Elaine Castillo who will discuss her book Moderation: A Novel.

A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—​bringing Castillo’s trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love. Girlie Delmundo is the greatest content moderator in the world, and despite the setbacks of financial crises, climate catastrophe, and a global pandemic, she’s going places: she’s getting a promotion. Now thanks to her parent company Paragon’s purchase of Fairground—the world’s preeminent virtual reality content provider—she’s on the way to becoming an elite VR moderator, playing in the big leagues and, if her enthusiastic bosses are to be believed, moderating the next stage of human interaction. Despite the isolation that virtual reality requires from colleagues, friends, and family, the unbelievable perks of her new job mean she can solve a lot of her family’s problems with money and mobility. She doesn’t have to think about the childhood home they lost back in the Bay Area, or history at all—she can just pay any debts that come due. But when she meets William Cheung, Playground’s wry, reticent co-founder (now Chief Product Officer) and slowly unearths some of his secrets, and finds herself somehow falling in love, she’ll learn that history might be impossible to moderate and the future utterly impossible to control.

Named one of “30 of the planet’s most exciting young people” by the Financial Times, Elaine Castillo was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is the author of the award-winning novel America is Not the Heart and the acclaimed book of literary criticism How to Read Now. Her upcoming novel Moderation will be out July 3, 2025 (UK/Commonwealth) and August 5, 2025 (USA).

Please kindly RSVP to receive the meeting link.

Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO LB

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 5 pm – 6 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/elaine-castillo-virtual-book-launch-hosted-by-kapwa-bookstores-collective-tickets-1497214381519?aff=oddtdtcreator

August Brain Trust Workshop: Secrets in Boxes: Prose, Poetry and Ekphrasis via The Poetry Lab – Online Zoom Event

Secrets in Boxes is a 2-hour generative workshop led by Danielle Mitchell that considers prose poetry and ekphrasis, using the innovative art of Joseph Cornell as inspiration. Cornell, known for his intricate assemblage boxes, created poetic juxtapositions of everyday objects, inviting viewers to uncover hidden connections. In this workshop, you’ll explore how containment, juxtaposition, and exploration within Cornell’s art can inspire your prose poetry, generating new works that blend visual art and text in compelling ways. Perfect for poets seeking inspiration to write new prose poetry.

Danielle Mitchell is an intersectional feminist, poet, and teaching artist. She is host of The Poetry Lab Podcast and a 2023 artist grantee for the California Creative Corps. Danielle is the author of Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry, winner of the Clockwise Chapbook Prize. Her poems have appeared in journals such as Hayden’s Ferry Review, Vinyl, Four Way Review, Transom, Connotation Press, and others. She is a proud co-founder of The Poetry Lab and currently serves as the organization’s Executive Director.

Find her at imaginarydani.com.

Sliding scale; pay what you can fees.

Where: The Poetry Lab

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://www.thepoetrylab.com/register/p/2025/august

Poetry Open Mic via Westwood Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Share a poem you wrote or a poem you love. You are also welcome to just listen and enjoy.

RSVP:

To receive a Zoom invitation, please contact wwood@lapl.org.

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/poetry-open-mic-0

Book Talk: Gayle F. Wald, with Josh Kun, & This Is Rhythm at Central Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

In This is Rhythm, esteemed professor and author Gayle F. Wald tells the life story of Ella Jenkins, the Grammy-award winning legend of children’s music, whose deep catalog continues to be celebrated in classrooms and concerts of all kinds.

Wald will be joined by Josh Kun, author of Angel City Press’ Songs in the Key of Los Angeles and The Autograph Book of L.A.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 630 W. 6^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90071

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/rhythm-ella-jenkins-childrens-music-and-long-civil-rights-movement

Silver Lake Book Club: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store via Silver Lake Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us to discuss wonderful books, from new bestsellers to old favorites. The meetings are held in person, unless circumstances warrant a hybrid meeting with Zoom added.

August: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.

RSVP:

Starting August, this book club will move to online meetings only. For the Zoom link, contact silver@lapl.org.

Where: Silver Lake Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Our book:

August 12, 2025: Home Time by Campbell Whyte

RSVP:

This program meets via Google Meet. Email prncho@lapl.org for the meeting link.

Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/graphic-novel-comic-book-discussion-group

Graphic Novel & Comic Book Discussion Group: Colored Television at Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Please join the World Cultures Reading Circle in the Community Room of Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library.

Participants will discuss Colored Television by Danzy Senna. New members welcome!

Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-cultures-reading-circle-15

Book Club Tuesday: Counterfeit at Hollydale Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join participants to discuss Counterfeit by Kristin Chen. For adults.

Copies of the current title are available to check-out at the customer service desk while supplies last. New members are always welcome! For adults.

Where: Hollydale Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 12000 Garfield Ave., South Gate, CA 90280

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14148287

Malibu Library Speaker Series: Brian Muirhead at Malibu City Hall – In-Person Event

Brian Muirhead is a leader in the field of deep space exploration. He is Chief Architect for the Mars Sample Return campaign, JPL’s effort to study and develop the key technologies needed to return samples from the surface of Mars.

The Malibu Library Speaker Series presents Brian Muirhead at Malibu City Hall on Tuesday, August 12, at 7 pm.

Brian Muirhead is a leader in the field of deep space exploration. Currently, he is Chief Architect for the Mars Sample Return campaign, Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s effort to study and develop the key technologies needed to return samples from the surface of Mars, a goal never before attempted. He is an award-winning leadership innovator with deep experience leading high-performance teams. He led the team at the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory that built the Mars Pathfinder that landed on the red planet to worldwide acclaim on July 4, 1997.

Brian has delivered front-page results while solving problems that seemed impossible. A recipient of two of NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medals, Brian was the Chief Architect of NASA’s Constellation project, a program with the objective of establishing a permanent base on the moon and preparing for human exploration of Mars. He was Chief Engineer of the Mars Science Laboratory during the invention of the Sky Crane, which was used to land the rover “Curiosity” on Mars, and he was Chief Engineer of JPL.

Brian is the author of two books, Going to Mars and High Velocity Leadership.

RSVPs are required.

Where: Malibu City Hall

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 23825 Stuart Ranch Road, Malibu, CA

Witty, touching, and insightful, Playback revisits the 17-year-old Mari Caldwell of Shine Until Tomorrow, now 34, to tell the story of a woman obsessed with the past who must risk the future to learn to live in the present.

“Once upon a time there was a summer.”

That’s the way the bedtime story starts, the one Mari Caldwell tells her little girl. It’s also her secret story of waking up one day in San Francisco, 1967, having time-traveled to the tie-dyed Summer of Love.

But she was seventeen then. Now, at 34, where Mari once saw 60’s idealism, she now sees only disillusionment. Newly divorced and stuck in a settled-for career, Mari’s failed at giving her child the perfect family she’d envisioned. That weird weekend in the sixties— the rock band she crashed with, the musician she loved, the hit song he wrote for her— lives in the way-back of her mind. Did it even happen? She’s not so sure… Until it happens again.

Playback rewinds Mari’s life as she makes a second visit to Haight-Ashbury in 1967, now autumn. The band, Mari’s rival, and her first love all see the 17-year-old girl they met in June. But inside, adult Mari faces both tender and devastating choices. What if, regardless of how the times have a-changed, love changes everything after all? What if it even changes her?

Raised in Los Angeles, Carla Malden began her career working in motion picture production and development before becoming a screenwriter. Along with her father, Academy Award winning actor Karl Malden, she co-authored his critically acclaimed memoir When Do I Start?

Carla’s feature writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, highlighting the marvels and foibles of Southern California and Hollywood. She sits on the Board of the Geffen Playhouse. Her previous novels include Search Heartache, Shine Until Tomorrow, and My Two and Only.

Carla Malden lives in Brentwood with her husband and ten minutes (depending on traffic) from her daughter.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

Address: 225 26^th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-08-12/carla-malden-playback

Activism Book Club: Mutual Aid at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for the newest addition to the Village Well Book Club family, the Activism Book Club!

Each month, we’ll dive into a book that informs and directs us about the state of the world, and how we can put what we learn into practice. We’ll have guest speakers, workshops, volunteer activities, and discussions of how we can positively impact the community. We’re looking forward to building a community that’s more connected around our collective well-being.

Our inaugural selection is Mutual Aid by Dean Spade.

About the book:

Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world.

Around the globe, people are faced with a spiraling succession of crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, racist policing, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to—or actively engineer—each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support the vulnerable.

Survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid.

This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It provides a grassroots theory of mutual aid, describes how mutual aid is a crucial part of powerful movements for social justice, and offers concrete tools for organizing, such as how to work in groups, how to foster a collective decision-making process, how to prevent and address conflict, and how to deal with burnout.

Writing for those new to activism as well as those who have been in social movements for a long time, Dean Spade draws on years of organizing to offer a radical vision of community mobilization, social transformation, compassionate activism, and solidarity.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Read your poetry, fiction, spoken word, or lyrics.

Free event. 21+

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: The Aftermath Bar

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Address: 14537 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Fireproof charts Chef Curtis Duffy’s rise in spite of trauma, to being mentored by and recognized among the world’s top chefs. Amid childhood chaos in rural Ohio, a young Duffy first found refuge in home ec class, then at one of Columbus’s best restaurants, where he honed his skills. His passion ignited, Duffy was dead set on leaving Ohio and breaking the Duffy family curse.

But the tragic deaths of his parents jeopardized his promising trajectories. Summoning extraordinary fortitude, Duffy ate pain, graduated culinary school, and moved to Chicago to work in Chef Charlie Trotter’s kitchen—a hotbed of talent that produced prominent alumni such as Grant Achatz, Graham Elliot, and Homaro Cantu. Inspired by stellar peers and staging for Thomas Keller at the French Laundry, Duffy’s drive only grew.

His meteoric rise would cost him a marriage—the price of ambition, focus, and Grace restaurant. Grace earned three Michelin stars four years in a row, solidifying Duffy’s place as one of the world’s greatest culinary artists. But in a heartbreaking act of defiance, Duffy walked out after disputes with Grace’s owner.

Unstoppable, Duffy created Ever restaurant—a launch nearly derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Duffy persisted where many others would have resigned their craft, and Ever earned two Michelin stars from 2021-2024. Duffy was ranked one of the “50 Most Powerful People in American Fine Dining” in 2024 by the Robb Report.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/chef-curtis-duff-brian-slagel

Adult Book Group: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person & Online Zoom Hybrid Event

Join participants to discuss The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson.

Whether you loved it, hated it, or haven’t finished it, we want to see you at our Adult Book Club that has been going strong for 40+ years at America’s Oldest Children’s Bookstore!

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

A teenage girl breaks free from her father’s world of isolation to discover that her whole life is a lie in this “absorbing and well-crafted” (The Washington Post) novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Pretty Things and Watch Me Disappear.

Facilitated by Bobby Mccue.

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: pages, a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90042

From the James Beard Award-nominated author of Tacky, a boldly funny, warts-and-all tour of the bad habits that make Rax King who she is.

With the author’s trademark blend of irreverent humor and heartfelt honesty comes a new collection of personal essays unpacking bad behavior. Sloppy explores sobriety, begrudging self-improvement, and the habits we cling to with clenched fists.

In “Proud Alcoholic Stock,” King examines her parents’ unwavering dedication to 12 step programs and the texture her family history has lent to her own sobriety. “Shoplifting from Brandy Melville” is a lighthearted look at, what else?, shoplifting from Brandy Melville—one of her few remaining indulgences now that she doesn’t drink. King writes about her overspending and temper control issues as well as her poorly managed mental health. These seventeen essays capture the personal and generational vices that make us who we are. From being a crummy waitress to using uppers to force friendships, from obsessing over the Neopets forums to lying for no discernable reason, these essays approach bad habits with emotional intelligence, kindness and—most importantly—humor.

Rax King is the James Beard award-nominated author of Tacky and co-host of the podcast “Low Culture Boil.” Her writing can be found in Glamour, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, and elsewhere. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and toothless Pekingese.

Where: Skylight

Date: Tuesday the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027 

A scavenger trapped in a defunct undersea train tunnel struggles to escape as his air supply—and his sanity—dwindles in this debut psychological thriller.

The Transatlantic Train Tunnel, connecting New York and London, was meant to be the next Wonder of the World. But after the disastrous maiden voyage seven years ago, it’s generated nothing but protests, lawsuits, and bankruptcy. The only traffic the tunnel sees these days is scrappers harvesting its useless remains before it’s fully dismantled.

Not everyone is willing to take a tedious job one hundred and fifty feet below sea level, but Ben Breckenridge doesn’t have a choice. He needs the money, and the work will help quiet his anxieties. That is, until one of the bulkhead doors mysteriously locks, trapping him inside.

With limited air supply, Ben must race deeper into the tunnel to find a way out. Yet the farther he goes, the more his mind disintegrates. To survive, he’ll have to reckon with the monsters in his head. Only then will he be able to face the actual monster that’s now hunting him down.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Tuesday, the 12^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Shockie G is a spoken word poet with an official poetry website. She is featured on The Poets List, where you can watch her perform the poem “My Brother’s Keeper.”

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 12^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

The nation’s largest weekly spoken word Open Mic event is 26 years strong. DPL is a community space for every poet to be heard. They provide a platform to celebrate poetry while using it as the foundation for creativity, innovation, and expression across an array of media outlets.

$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 pm Free parking adjacent to the theater.

Masks are encouraged.

Where: Greenway Court Theatre

Date: Tuesday, the 12^th

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

Come write with us!

Many people believe that morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Join us for engaging discussions at our monthly Mystery Book Club meeting! Here’s our upcoming schedule:

August: World of Curiosities by Louise Penny

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 10:30 am

Address: 19036 Vanowen Street, Reseda, CA 91335

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-2

Kids Storytime at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event

Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime amongst the cozy bookstacks of Village Well!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

We will be discussing the book Look Behind You by Iris Johansen.

RSVP:

For more information contact Kathleen Larson at klarson@lapl.org. All are welcome.

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: 1300 N. Avalon Blvd., Wilmington, CA 90744

Copies are now available for check out in the branch. For questions, email: wirvng@lapl.org.

Where: Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time:12 pm

Address: 4117 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/washington-irving-adult-book-club-8

Wednesday Book Club: The Other Black Cake: A Novel at Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Please join the Wednesday Book Club in the Community Room to discuss Black Cake: A Novel by Charmaine Wilkerson. New members welcome!

Where: Westchester – Loyola Village Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time:12 pm

Address: 7114 W. Manchester Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/wednesday-book-club-23

Artesia Book Club: Very Cold People at Artesia Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us as we read Very Cold People by Sarah Manguso. For adults.

Books available for check-out at the library. New members are welcome.

Where: Artesia Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 1 pm – 2 pm

Address: 18801 Elaine Ave, Artesia, CA 90701

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14148017

Poets Café via KPFK 90.7 FM – Live On-Air Event

Poets Café celebrates Poetry. This program is a weekly half-hour literary arts discussion and reading program featuring guest authors and their works.

Poetry From Around the World is a segment of this series offered monthly on the 2^nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event (live)

Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/

Malibu Library Book Club: The End of the Affair at Malibu Library, LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join us as we read The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. For adults.

The End of the Affair shows the nuances, complexities, depths and strengths of love; how serious, dynamic, and mighty it is, while also showing how selfish it is. Join us to discuss this classic work by The Malibu Library Book Club is now available on Zoom. Participate from the comfort of home! Contact the librarian at cfischer@library.lacounty.gov or call 310.456.6438 to be added to Zoom participation.

Books available for check-out at the library. New members are welcome.

Where: Malibu Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 5 pm – 6:30 pm

Address: 18801 Elaine Ave, Artesia, CA 90701

We hope that these meetups will provide an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and spend time in community. Whether you’re self- published and new to the industry, or have trade tales to share from your experience in indie or major publishing—all authors are welcome here.

Our space is food, drink, and pet friendly, so feel free to bring your favorite refreshments and animal companions!

RSVP at website.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA, 91016

Where: Pacoima Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

From an Emmy Award-winning writer comes a funny, wise, heartbreaking story about a woman journeying into the unknown in the wake of sudden loss.

When her first-love-turned-close-friend, Gabe, dies unexpectedly at twenty-nine, thirty-year-old Julia is launched into an intercontinental quest to recover his lost possessions. Her journey takes her from Los Angeles to London and into the murky realm of the past. It also sets Julia on a collision course with the last woman he loved, a guarded, self-possessed florist and restaurateur named Elizabeth, who insists on withholding Gabe’s beloved guitar—one of the departed indie rock musician’s dearest belongings—for reasons Julia can’t understand. Both women, it turns out, have something to hide, and soon find themselves engaged in a complex dance of withholding and revelation.

An emotional mystery spanning years, continents, and relationship statuses, Loved One introduces Aisha Muharrar as a novelist intimately attuned to the intricacies of love, memory, and ambiguous loss. What happens when we admit that the deepest feelings never die? How do we reconcile various—and sometimes contradictory—truths about those closest to us? An engrossing and profoundly moving coming-of-age story with a powerful love at its heart,

Aisha Muharrar is an Emmy Award–winning writer and co-executive producer of the hit show Hacks. She was a writer for Parks and Recreation for six seasons and has also written for The Good Place. Born in Connecticut and raised on Long Island, Muharrar lives in Los Angeles with her family. Loved One is her first novel.

Aja Gabel is the author of the novels Lightbreakers and The Ensemble, both from Riverhead Books. Her prose can be found in The Cut, LA Times, BOMB, and elsewhere. She studied writing at Wesleyan University and the University of Virginia, and was a fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She currently lives and writes in Los Angeles, where she is also a screenwriter.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 6:30 pm

Address: 225 26^th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402

Website: https://dieselbookstore.com/event/2025-08-13/aisha-muharrar-loved-one

Poetry at DiPiazza’s Pizza, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Tamara Madison hosts Poetry at DiPiazza’s in Long Beach.

Today’s features:

Chris Hernandez is a former Marine, retired Texas NG soldier, longtime LEO, and writer. He’s a veteran of the battles of Macho Grande and Santo Poco, and a survivor of the Siege of Hamunaptra.

He’s also learning the dark, ancient arts of typewriter repair and film photography.

Rick Lupert has been involved with L.A. poetry since 1990. He is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, a Best of the Net Nominee, and the recipient of the 2014 Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center Distinguished Service Award and was a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets for 2 years.

His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals. He has hosted the long running Cobalt Café reading series in Canoga Park for almost 21 years (which launched again as a virtual series in 2020) and is regularly featured at venues throughout Southern California. The author has published eight free e-books, among other endeavors.

Where: DiPiazza’s

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 5205 Pacific Coast Hwy., Long Beach, CA 90804

Website: https://www.lbpoetry.com/

Wiseburn Library Book Club: The Guest List via Wiseburn Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a book discussion and light refreshments! This month, read The Guest List by Lucy Foley. Copies of the books are available at the library. For ages 18+.

Refreshments generously provided by the Friends of the Hawthorne and Wiseburn Libraries.

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty, and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

Where: Wiseburn Library, LAPL

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 6:45 pm – 7:45 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

A thrill-seeking young woman joins a radical theater troupe in this taut, suspenseful novel of art, seduction, and the deadly limits of liberation.

New York, 1972. A cloistered college student slips out of the dorms to attend a performance by a legendary experimental performance troupe. Within months, she has left campus life behind and joined the company, infatuated by its charismatic leader and his promises of absolute freedom.

California, 1997. A theater teacher at an exclusive private school receives an unsettling letter. With her job at risk and her past clawing at her carefully constructed present, what will she do to protect the life she has made?

Riveting and atmospheric, Flashout is a coruscating coming-of-age story and an immersive thriller exploring the enchantments and perils of art.

Alexis Soloski is a prize-winning New York Times culture reporter and a former lead theater critic at The Village Voice. She has taught at Barnard College and at Columbia University, where she earned her PhD in theater. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. Here in the Dark was her first novel.

Ivy Pochoda is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Wonder Valley, Visitation Street, These Women, and Sing Her Down which won the LA Times Book Prize. Her forthcoming novel, Ecstasy, will release on June 17, 2025. She won the 2018 Strand Critics Award for Best Novel and the Prix Page America in France and has been a finalist for the Edgar Award, among other awards. For many years, Ivy has led a creative writing workshop in Skid Row, Los Angeles where she helped found Skid Row Zine. She is currently a professor of creative writing at the University of California Riverside-Palm Desert low-residency MFA program. She lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

This dynamic open mic is the most accessible public program in the Palms Up Academy curriculum and manifests their mission statement in a physical (and digital) space.

Join them at the intersection of Historic Filipino town & The World: Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.

Where: SIPA HQ

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm; Open Mic at 8 pm)

Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.palmsupacademy.com

Inventing the Page for Writers on Writing at Skirball Cultural Center – In-Person Event

Sisters in Crime invites you to join us for Inventing the Page for Writers on Writing, with S J Rozan, Christopher Rice, and Robert Crais, with Gregg Hurwitz moderating.

Four Big Authors, One Big Night!

SJ Rozan, a native New Yorker, is the author of twenty novels and eight dozen short stories. Her work has won the Edgar, Shamus, Anthony, Nero, and Macavity awards for Best Novel and the Edgar for Best Short Story. She’s also the recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon Award and has received Life Achievement Awards from both the Private Eye Writers of America and the Short Mystery Fiction Society. SJ has served on the National Boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and is ex-President of the Private Eye Writers of America. She speaks, lectures, and teaches, and she runs a summer writing workshop at the Art Workshop International in Assisi, Italy. A former architect in a practice that focused on police stations, firehouses, and zoos, SJ Rozan lives in lower Manhattan.

Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 26 thrillers including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, comics for AWA (including the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), DC, and Marvel, and poetry. Currently, Gregg is working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he’s penned dozens of op eds and pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark, Salon, and others.

Christopher Rice is the recipient of the Lambda Literary Award and is the Amazon Charts and New York Times bestselling author of A Density of Souls; Bone Music, Blood Echo, and Blood Victory in the Burning Girl series; and Bram Stoker Award finalists The Heavens Rise and The Vines. An executive producer for television, he collaborated with his mother Anne Rice on the novel Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra and Ramses The Damned: The Reign of Osiris. Together with his best friend and producing partner, New York Times bestselling novelist Eric Shaw Quinn, Christopher runs the production company Dinner Partners. Among other projects, they produce the podcast and video network TDPS, which can be found at http://www.TheDinnerPartyShow.com. He lives in West Hollywood, California.

Robert Crais is the author of the best-selling Elvis Cole novels. A native of Louisiana, he grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River in a blue-collar family of oil refinery workers and police officers. After years of amateur film-making and writing short fiction, he journeyed to Hollywood in 1976 where he quickly found work writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice, as well as numerous series pilots and Movies-of-the-Week for the major networks. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on Hill Street Blues. On the death of his father in 1985, Crais was inspired to create Elvis Cole, using elements of his own life as the basis of the story. The resulting novel, The Monkey’s Raincoat, won the Anthony and Macavity Awards and was nominated for the Edgar Award. It has since been selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. The novels of Robert Crais have been published in 62 countries.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, $30 cost, guidelines, and details.

Where: Skirball Cultural Center

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Address: 2701 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90049

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inventing-the-page-for-writers-on-writing-tickets-1374500320459?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

Storytelling Event: The Hollywood Stories at Village Well Books & Coffee – in-Person Event

Join us for The Hollywood Stories, an evening of storytelling from folks in show business hosted by Patrick Stack.

In Patrick’s own words, “The Hollywood Stories is a show I have been producing on and off since 2010. It’s a lot like THE MOTH RADIO HOUR but instead of stories about random themes, these stories are about the crazy world of Show Business. All of the story tellers have spent some time toiling in the Entertainment Industry and their shared experiences are funny, sad, weird or inspirational. But they all have one thing in common… Show Biz.”

Note: Seats are first come, first serve.

About the participants:

Peggy Maltby Etra is a professional improviser/actor/VO artist/puppeteer. For the last 18 years she has performed in Puppet Up, an Adult Improv Puppet Show produced by the Jim Henson Company. She was a series regular on The Barbarian and The Troll, where she created and performed over ten characters. She has also appeared on Boston Legal and Seinfeld.

Jay Kogen (son of comedy writing legend Arnie Kogen) is a writer producer and director of television and movies including The Simpsons, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond, Malcolm In The Middle, Wendell & Vinnie, School of Rock, Nutty Professor, the Shrek & Austin Powers movies, Madagascar, and Kubo & the Two Strings. He’s won 4 Emmy Awards, a WGA Award, a Humanitas Award, and his now cult classic movie, The Wrong Guy, won the HBO Comedy Festival. He hosts the award-winning podcast Don’t Be Alone with Jay Kogen and occasionally does stand-up comedy around Los Angeles. He is also working on his autobiography.

Marieh is a film and television actress with over 20 years experience in the entertainment industry. Marieh was a series regular on NBC’s All About Us, recurred on FOX’s Boston Public and is best known for American Zoetrope’s horror film franchise, Jeepers Creepers 2 and The Invitation. In addition to other films and television, she made her theater debut in God of Carnage directed by Peter Allas and appeared in 100 Saints You Should Know directed by Amir M Korangy and starred in Dinner with Friends, directed by Peter Allas.

Roger Rose is an actor and voice over talent and was one of the very first VJ’s on VH-1. In addition to introducing Duran Duran to the world, he starred in Ski Patrol, voiced characters in Scooby-Doo, Rugrats, and Happy Feet. He is the in-show announcer for the Emmy Awards and can be seen on HBO in the documentary, Larry David. Twitter/Instagram:@therogerrose.

Phyllis Katz is an actor, writer, director, improviser, and teacher. She is a former member of Chicago’s Second City Touring Company, as well as a pioneer member, director, teacher, and current board member of The Groundlings Theatre. In addition to co-creating The Groundlings School, Phyllis designs and conducts improv, writing, character, musical improv, and corporate classes for clients as varied as Los Angeles Opera and Activision. She also has created and directed stage shows, most recently Opera Meets Improv, The Benefit to Buy Harper Scharfman Higher SAT Scores, and the popular spoof of personal essay shows, A Bunch of Losers Reading Their Essays. She has been a recurring instructor at The Screen Acting Studio, the Actors Comedy Studio, ArtCenter College of Design, Margie Haber Studios, and The-Collaborative. Her book, Hipwrecked, is available on Amazon, or she’ll be happy to read it to you over the phone, for a small fee.

Brent Huff is an actor, writer and director who just began his 8th season playing the comedic role of Smitty on the hit ABC television show The Rookie. Prior to The Rookie, he had recurring roles on Shameless, Pensacola: Wings of Gold, and Black Scorpion. Brent has appeared in over 60 feature films and has also enjoyed an expansive career as a voice actor. He has written and directed several award-winning feature films, including The Jackie Stiles Story, Cat City, It’s a Rockabilly World, Welcome to Paradise, Chasing Beauty, and 100 Mile Rule.

Becky Boxer is an accomplished voice and on-camera actor known for bringing depth, humor, and versatility to every role. Her voice credits include fan favorites like Regular Debbie in Fallout 76: Ghoul Within, Malphas in Devil May Cry 5, and Ingrid in Nikke: Goddess of Victory. On screen, Becky has appeared in multiple independent films and is always ready to deliver a memorable performance. Outside of her work, she is passionate about animal rescue, fitness, and has been known to show up with a game board or two.

2025 marked Tim Stack’s 45th year in the entertainment industry. He started out as an actor and joined the Groundlings in 1980. He found some success, and in addition to many guest star roles, he was a series regular on Reggie in ‘83, Our Time in ‘85, and Parker Lewis Can’t Lose in ‘89. He is also the voice of Lampy in the classic animated film The Brave Little Toaster. In 1994 he co-created and starred in the talk-show spoof, Nightstand With Dick Dietrick. In 2000 he partnered with FX and Howard Stern for Son of the Beach and has been a writer-producer on My Name Is Earl, Raising Hope, The Millers, Kirby Buckets, and a consulting producer on the Amazon’s Sprung.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. Hosted by Jessica Gallion aka “Yellawoman.”

• 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
• 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — TBA;
• 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.

Suggested: $10.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.

NOTE: See site for further details and any change in the schedule. Contact @_yellawoman. 

Where: The World Stage (use left rear entrance)

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Story Salon: Theme: 90 Second Stories at Art Parlor in Valley Village – In-Person Event

Join us for a night of storytelling, with the theme: 90 Second Stories!

Story Salon challenges you all to tell stories in 90 seconds! Can you do it? If you can, join us Wednesday 7/30!

Tickets can be purchased early with the link in bio or at storysalon.com

#storytelling #valleyvillage #storysalon #communitystories #LAthingstodo #northhollywood

Storytellers coming soon!

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 13^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 7 pm)

The West Coast’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered by Beyond Baroque on Zoom and welcomes new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Please be prepared to share one poem. This workshop will be hosted via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Please be prepared to share one poem.

Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. An instructive video is available on the site.

The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.

Jose Hernandaz Diaz is a 2017 NEA Fellow. He is the author of The Fire Eater (Texas Review Press, 2020) Bad Mexican, Bad American (Acre Books, 2024) The Parachutist (Sundress Publications, 2025) and Portrait of the Artist as a Brown Man (Red Hen Press, 2025). He has been published in Bennington Review, The Yale Review, The London Magazine, The Southern Review, Poetry Ireland Review, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2011, and in The Best American Poetry 2025. He has taught creative writing at the University of California at Riverside. Currently, he is the Visiting Writer in Residence at the University of Tennessee.

NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information. 

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry welcomes featured guest Lindsey Lavaughn.

Lindsey Lavaughn is an artist and poet whose work has been published in Threads Lit Mag and several other esteemed literary journals. As a dedicated womanist, Lindsey’s creative expressions delve into themes of identity, empowerment, and social justice, illuminating the lived experiences and inner worlds of marginalized voices. Through a blend of visual and written artistry, Lindsey invites you to explore the profound and often overlooked narratives that shape our collective humanity.

$5 cover fee, cash only.

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 13^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Let Francesca help you with all aspects of your writing!

Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community and consider writing a story to share at our Valentine’s event on 2/7 for possible submission in Lit Angels Journal.

About the instructor:

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Tuesdays & Thursdays @10AM | $15

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Torn apart by the losses of war and the dangerous secrets they uncover as Bletchley Park codebreakers, three estranged friends are reunited by a mysterious letter and its connection to a wartime betrayal.

Where: Lawndale Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 11 am – 12 am

Address: 14615 Burin Ave., Lawndale, CA 90260

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/saved-story-senior-writing-workshop-1

Mystery Book Club: Exiles at Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion of Exiles by author Jane Harper. For adults.

Summary provided by the publisher:

“Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is on his way to a small town deep in Southern Australian wine country for the christening of an old friend’s baby. But mystery follows him, even on vacation.

This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie’s disappearance. One year ago, at a busy town festival on a warm spring night, Kim safely tucked her sleeping baby into her stroller, then vanished into the crowd. No one has seen her since. When Kim’s older daughter makes a plea for anyone with information about her missing mom to come forward, Falk and his old buddy Raco can’t leave the case alone.”

Where: Culver City Julian Dixon Library, LACL

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Address: 4975 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14046572

Molly Olguin & The Sea Gives Up the Dead at Bel Canto Books Off-site at Cabrillo Marien Aquarium – In-Person Event

Molly Olguín will present and discuss The Sea Gives Up the Dead.

More information coming soon!

Where: Bel Canto Bookstore at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 6 pm

Participants will discuss at Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado.

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.

People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it’s hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn’t help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. Be quieter.

But there’s one person who’s always in Charlie’s corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So, when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing—he asked Amelia out first. So, is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her?

Because it’s time people did.

A sensitive, funny, and painfully honest coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships with our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/diverse-romance-book-club-fat-chance-charlie-vega

Sacred Lessons: Storytelling, Healing and Beloved Community at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore – In-Person Event

Sacred Lessons is an event of storytelling and healing and community featuring: author Mike De La Rocha, with Irene Franco Rubo & Raul Armenta.

Where: Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Emma Sloley, in conversation with Dahlia De La Vega, will discuss The Island of Last Things.

A SOARING, PROPULSIVE, AND UNFORGETTABLE novel about two zookeepers at the last zoo in the world.

Camille has always preferred animals to people. The wild has nearly disappeared, but as a zookeeper at the last zoo in the world, on Alcatraz Island, she spends her days caring for playful chimpanzees, gentle tree frogs, and a restless jaguar. Outside, resistance groups and brutal cartels fight to shape the world’s future, but Camille is safe within her routines. That is, until a new zookeeper, Sailor, arrives from Paris.

From their first meeting, Camille is drawn to Sailor, who seems to see something in Camille that no one has before. They bond over their shared passions and dream up ways to improve their lives. When Sailor whispers the story of an idyllic, secret sanctuary where wild animals roam free, Camille begins to imagine a new kind of life with Sailor by her side.

Sailor knows all too well the dangers beyond Alcatraz, but she increasingly chafes at the zoo’s rigid rules. She hatches a reckless plan to smuggle one of the most prized animals off the island to freedom and invites Camille to join her. The consequences if they fail would be catastrophic, and Sailor’s contacts at the sanctuary go dark just as the threats from the cartels grow more extreme. Camille must decide if she’s ready to risk everything for the promise of a better world.

Propulsive and fiercely hopeful, with a heart-stopping final twist, The Island of Last Things is an elegy for a disappearing world and a gorgeous vision for the future.

Emma Sloley is a two-time MacDowell fellow and Bread Loaf scholar. She is the author of the novels The Island of Last Things and Disaster’s Children, and her work has been published in Literary Hub, Catapult, Joyland, and many others.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Lee Tilghman is an author, blogger, farmer, speaker, and digital artist living and working in Brooklyn, New York. My forthcoming memoir, If You Don’t Like This I Will Die, will be released with Simon & Schuster in August 2025.

She founded Lee From America, a wellness platform that reached 2 million readers worldwide, inspiring young women to redefine self-care, reclaim their well-being, and rethink their relationships with themselves.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-1d877b29-9e7a-4c88-bce2-eecda018e80d

Special Author Event: Marc Reede & The Coffee Code at pages, a bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Marc Reede present his book The Coffee Code: How a Simple Meeting Over Coffee Can Introduce You to a World of Career Opportunities.

There will be an opportunity to mingle before the event from 6:30 to 7:00 in our courtyard, with food and wine provided.

The Coffee Code is the essential career guide for college seniors, grad students, and recent graduates—and it’s now available to help you relieve the stress of beginning your career after college. In The Coffee Code, author Marc Reede has taken business tips from his own 30+ career as a “lecture agent to the stars” and built a template for Career Readiness that is future-proof. Combining advice from his iconic sports and business clients as well as Marc’s own philosophies on Professional Development and Mentorship, college seniors and recent grads will learn actionable ways to set themselves apart and reduce the worry created by the competitive world of life after college. Key chapters include Creating Your Own Brand, Finding a Mentor, Building Your Network of Connections and Relationships, and Accepting Rejection and Failure.

Where: pages, a bookstore

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm (Doors/reception at 6:30 pm)

Address: 904 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2025-08-14/special-author-event-marc-reede

Book Event: Tre Johnson & Black Genius at Reparations Club – In-Person Event

Join us for a discussion on Black Genius with author Tre Johnson and moderator Van Lathan.

Black genius sits at the heart of the American story. In his probing essay collection, Black Genius, cultural critic Tre Johnson examines how Black American culture has, against all odds, been the lifeblood of American ingenuity. At times using his own personal and professional stories, Johnson surveys Black cities, communities, and schools with an ever-watchful eye of what transpires around Black mobility.

With a passion for complex storytelling and pulling from both pop culture and American history, Johnson weaves past and present making his case for the genius of innovation. As he examined his findings, Johnson couldn’t help but wonder about the brilliance of the every day. Specifically, the creativity of the 90’s graffiti-style airbrush tee, his aunties packed weekend bus trips to Atlantic city, and the razor-tongued, socially-sharp, profanity-laced monologues of comedian Dick Gregory.

Again and again, he asks us to ponder—are these not obvious examples of genius?

Chatty yet profound, Black Genius subverts expectations from the very first page with a blend of reportage, historical data, and pop culture as Johnson dives into his own family history seeking big answers to complex questions. Johnson’s signature wit and curiosity turns history into an amusing sequence of events.

Tre Johnson was born in Trenton, NJ, and now finds himself in Philadelphia, where he writes with a focus on race, culture, and politics. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, Vox, The New York Times, Slate, Vanity Fair, The Grio, and other outlets. He has appeared to provide media commentary on CNN Tonight with Don Lemon; CBS Morning Show; PBS NewsHour, NPR’s Morning Edition, and other programs. In addition to writing, Tre is a career educator, working both inside and outside the classroom as a teacher and leader.

Van Lathan Jr. is the cohost of the Ringer’s Higher Learning podcast and is best known as a former cohost and senior producer on TMZ Live. He is the Executive Producer for Two Distant Strangers, the 2021 Academy Award Winner for Best Live Action Short Film. He lives in Los Angeles.

Where: Reparations Club

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)

Address: 3054 South Victoria Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90016

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-event-black-genius-w-tre-johnson-tickets-1531469168509?aff=oddtdtcreator

Book Event: Ashley Jordan, with Guests, & Once Upon a Time in Dollywood at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Ashley Jordan, in conversation with Alanna Bennett, Myah Ariel, and Bookseller Binta, will present her new romance novel Once Upon a Time in Dollywood.

There will be a book signing to follow.

RSVP required, Ticketed event.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232 

Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles explores how generations of Japanese Americans in Southern California shaped, and were shaped by, local automobile cultures and industries: from desert lakebeds to concrete speedways, gas stations to design centers, souped-up import tuners to humble gardening trucks. Along the way, cars and trucks became literal and figurative vehicles for Japanese American self-expression, social mobility, community identity, and much more. Cruising J-Town is driven to explore how these diverse relationships between people and the world of cars have steered the Nikkei community’s American stories across the generations.

Oliver Wang is a professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach, and the curator of Cruising J-Town: Behind the Wheel of the Nikkei Community, produced by the Japanese American National Museum, and hosted at the Peter and Merle Mullin Gallery at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena in 2025. Oliver previously wrote Legions of Boom: Filipino American Mobile Disc Jockey Crews of the San Francisco Bay Area (Duke University Press, 2015) and has written about Asian American music, film, food, sports, and other arts/culture topics since the 1990s. He lives with his wife, Sharon Mizota, in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles.

Naomi Hirahara is a multi-award-winning author and journalist who was born and raised in Pasadena, California. She was a reporter and editor of The Rafu Shimpo during the culmination of the redress and reparations movement for Japanese Americans who were forcibly removed from their homes during World War II. She is the author and/or editor of several books including: Green Makers: Japanese American Gardeners in Southern California (2000), A Taste for Strawberries: The Independent Journey of Nisei Farmer Manabi Hirasaki (2003), A Scent of Flowers: The History of the Southern California Flower Market (2004), among many others. She is also a celebrated author of many mysteries and short stories. She lives in Pasadena.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Thursday the 14^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91101

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 am come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

About the instructor:

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is HOUSE OF HEARTS now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Our most popular story time is ready to delight and dazzle! This is also the prime time to see Pippi Longstocking, our bookstore cat in action.

There is a large FREE parking lot off Florencita Dr. as well as metered parking along Honolulu Ave. and Montrose Ave.

Free to attend.

NOTE: Free to attend.

Where: Once Upon a Time, Montrose

Date: Friday, the 15^th

Time: 9:30 am

Address: 2207 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020

¡Hora de cuentos bilingüe! Exponer a tus hjijos a varios idiomas es de gran beneficio para su aprendizaje y desarrollo, y qué mejor que hacerlo en esta divertida actividad en donde leeremos un maravilloso cuento en inglés y en español.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232

Sign-ups start at 5:30 with @rodharrison66

Music starts at 6 pm

Spoken word and poetry are welcome!

Where: The Den Café

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 6 pm (Doors at 5:30 pm)

Address: 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 9270

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Victor Suthammanont, with Liam O’Brien, & Hollow Spaces at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Victor Suthammanont, in conversation with Liam O’Brien, will discussHollow Spaces.

The only Asian American partner at a prestigious law firm sees his professional and personal life demolished when he is put on trial for murder. Three decades later, his children reunite to uncover the truth and try to salvage what remains of their family.

Thirty years ago, John Lo was acquitted of the murder of an employee he was having an affair with. The repercussions of that long-ago event still haunt his adult children. Brennan, a lawyer following in her father’s footsteps in more ways than one, has always maintained that the trial got it right. Hunter, a disgruntled war correspondent whose similarities to his father run more than skin-deep, believes their father got away with murder. Their opposing convictions have pushed them apart. Now, spurred by their mother’s failing health, the estranged siblings decide to reconcile their differences by reinvestigating the murder to come to a definitive conclusion.

Told in a dual timeline that moves between John’s perspective thirty years prior and Brennan and Hunter’s present-day investigation, Hollow Spaces is a moving portrait of a flawed man’s shocking fall from grace and a gripping exploration of race in corporate America, filial loyalty, ambition, and the fallout of a sensational trial for those caught in its wake.

Liam O’Brien is an accomplished actor, writer, director, and producer in the world of animation and games. He’s lent his voice to the worlds of Star Wars, Transformers, the Marvel universe, and beyond. He is also a founding member of “Critical Role (2015)”, the long-running, live-streamed RPG game on Twitch. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two children.

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Mallory Marlowe will present her novel Love at First Sighting.

Rebekah Faubion will present her novel The Sun and the Moon.

There will be a book signing to follow.

NOTE: Tickets include a $20 store credit towards purchase of the authors’ novels.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232 

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

At Skylight: Lio Min, with Clare Osongco, & The L.O.V.E. Club at Skylight – In-Person Event

Lio Min, in conversation with Clare Osongco, will discuss The L.O.V.E Club, an immersive novel following three estranged high schoolers who are pulled into a video game to pursue the disappearance of their friend.

Three years ago, Elle (the “E” in the self-proclaimed L.O.V.E. Club) disappeared from Calendula, an affluent Chinese American suburb in inland California. Soon afterward, Liberty and Vera (“L” and “V”) moved away, leaving O alone with her grief, abandonment, and confusion…until Liberty and Vera return for their senior year of high school.

Though the L.O.V.E. Club’s three remaining members once bonded as outcasts and gamers, they can’t pick up the pieces of their friendship. But the girls are drawn back to their old clubhouse, where they discover, loaded for them to play, a new game created by none other than the missing Elle.

One click, and Liberty, Vera, and O are ported into Morning Glory, an ever-evolving botanical fantasy coded with their lived experiences, complicated history, and repressed insecurities. Unbeknownst to the others, O can’t remember the events surrounding Elle’s disappearance—but within the game, Elle has sent O a cryptic hint about Morning Glory’s real nature.

While Liberty and Vera defeat increasingly sinister bosses, O grapples with the secret knowledge that her deepest wish, to reunite with Elle, might just come true. But as the girls progress through Morning Glory, O begins to wonder how well she actually knew any of her former best friends and if she’s ready to confront the hard truths—and dangerous revelations—about Elle in her returning memories.

Lio Min is the acclaimed author of Beating Heart Baby, a longtime music reporter, a MacDowell fellow, and a fullmetal optimist. The L.O.V.E. Club is their second novel. Min lives in Oakland, California, and writes toward the future.

Clare Osongco is a biracial Filipino American author living in Los Angeles who likes to write about falling in love, messy family relationships, and ghosts (real or figurative, sometimes both). She is the author of the young adult romance Midnights With You. Her adult rom com debut, UNFINISHED BUSINESS, is forthcoming from Dell in summer 2026. You can find her on Instagram at @clareosongco.

Where: Skylight

Date: Friday, the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Over the years that Chloé Caldwell had been married and hoping to conceive a child, she’d read everything she could find on infertility. But no memoir or message board reflected her experience; for one thing, most stories ended with in vitro fertilization, a baby, or both. She wanted to offer something different.

Broken by betrayal but freed from domesticity, Caldwell felt reawakened to long-buried desires, to her queer identity, to pleasure and possibility. She kept writing, making sense of her new reality as it took shape. With the candor, irreverence, and heart that have made Caldwell’s work beloved, Trying intimately captures a self in a continuous process of becoming—and the mysterious ways that writing informs that process.

Chloé Caldwell is the author of Women, the memoir The Red Zone, and the essay collections I’ll Tell You in Person and Legs Get Led Astray. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Bon Appétit, the Cut, Autostraddle, Longreads, and Nylon.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

While walk-in sign-ups are welcome on the night, if you’d like to be listed as a featured performer and guarantee your spot, you can apply at website.

Limited space so RSVP soon!

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

We’ve got all the homies from Ill anthology coming by & spitting on the mic. Come show them some love.

Where: Barrio Fuerza

Date: Friday the 15^th

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm; Open Mic sign-ups 7 pm – 8 pm.

Graphic novel fan or graphic novel curious? Join us as we read and discuss a new graphic novel or memoir on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 10 am PT | 1 pm ET.

Participants will read and discuss The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott by Zoe Thorogood.

An artist who gets her big break learns she’ll soon never be able to work again.

Learn more and RSVP at website!

Where: Bel Canto Books, Long Beach 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 10 am – 11 am

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Get Lit Free Poetry Club: Every Saturday, July through September 27^th – In-Person Teen Event

Get Lit Poetry Club is offered every Saturday through September 27^th, for teens ages 13 – 19.

Link in bio! Every Saturday starting July 19 from 10 am-1 pm, teens are invited to a free poetry club at the Get Lit office in Los Angeles. This weekly space offers hands-on training in the craft of poetry, performance, and editing.

Writers will receive one-on-one support to help polish their work, connect with a diverse and passionate community, and explore real-world opportunities to share their voice.

No experience needed, just a willingness to show up and speak your truth.

Where: Get Lit Office 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 10 am – 1 pm

Address: 672 S. La Fayette Park Pl. #10, Los Angeles, CA 90057

RSVP:

RSVP by emailing folbookclub@gmail.com

Where: Jefferson – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Branch Library, LAPL 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Address: 2211 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018

Meet ST Melia, author of the Boys of the Paddock series on Saturday August 16th, 2025, between 11 am – 1 pm.

About book 1, Racing Hearts:

Formula 1 racing was her nightmare. She wanted nothing to do with the sport. After the death of her legendary brother and best friend, she swore off anything that could relate to the sport. However, when money grew tight, Araceli Fernandez knew that she had to accept the job as a journalist for Alveni Racing. It wasn’t her first option, but after her plans of fleeing to America turned sour, she had no other choice but to take the position. Her only goal: stay as far away from the drivers as possible.

There was one problem however, the team’s number one driver wasn’t making the transition easy on her.

To Louis Maes, Araceli was a forbidden fruit he wanted to sink his teeth into and enjoy. The only thing stopping him is the fact that he has been watching her for five years. A drunken pact turned into reality when Alejandro, Araceli’s brother, and Louis’s teammate, died.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 312 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/book-signing-with-author-st-melia

Kids Storytime at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Kids Event

Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime amongst the cozy bookstacks of Village Well!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Your imagination can take you anywhere! Where do you want to go with your creative writing? Find out what your story is. Bring a short story, zine or poem to share, or listen to others. Writing prompts will be provided. This will be a safe place to learn and grow as a creative writer.

Where: Lake View Terrace Branch Library, LAPL 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm

Address: 12002 Osborne St. Jefferson St., Lake View Terrace, CA 91342

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/creative-writing-workshop-2

Meet the Author: Wendy Gorton & 50 Hikes with Kids: California atBel Canto KUBO, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Bel Canto Books is delighted to host an author meet and greet with Wendy Gorton, author of 50 Hikes with Kids: California at KUBO LB.

50 Hikes with Kids: California highlights the most kid-friendly trails in the Golden State. It offers all the basics—maps, length of hike, things to see along the trail—plus fun extras that will foster a curiosity about the region’s flora, fauna, and geology.

Spark a Love of Nature! California kids live in a magnificent natural playground, and 50 Hikes with Kids California helps them explore its beaches, deserts, mountains, and forests. Scavenger hunts for every hike make it fun for families to learn about the region’s geology, flora, and fauna. For successful adventures with even the youngest trekkers, award-winning author Wendy Gorton includes a detailed map, trustworthy and intuitive directions, a difficulty rating, restroom info, and places to grab a snack nearby for every trip.

Wendy Gorton is a dynamic educator, author, and consultant with a rich background in designing global educational programs and fostering creativity. She is particularly passionate about engaging children with nature, as seen in her popular 50 Hikes with Kids series, which encourages young adventurers to explore and learn through play in the great outdoors. Wendy also works on several impactful projects, such as consulting for Google’s Dynamic Learning Project and collaborating with global organizations like UNICEF to design educational programs. Wendy is now seeking support to promote her children’s books, looking for someone proactive to help with research and outreach to expand her books’ reach through partnerships and events.

Where: Bel Canto KUBO, Long Beach 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 12 pm – 1:30 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807

Copies of the authors’ books are available to checkout through the library.

Attendance is limited, and advance registration is required. Please register every individual in your party. This will be used to save your spots in the program. We cannot guarantee availability for any unregistered attendees.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 1 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 29001 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/14186187

Echo Park Rising Event: Outlaw Woman at Stories Books & Café + More – In-Person Event

Join us for a literary and music salon.

Celebrate the 14th year of Echo Park Rising.

2nd year of INDULGE SATURDAYS

Where: Stories Books & Café (& various locations)

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 1 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Kwesi is afraid of the water. When Nana Ruby confides that she is also afraid of swimming, they turn to the West African legend of Mami Wata to face their fear.

This touching intergenerational story teaches the importance of naming, acknowledging, and facing fears.

Kobina Commeh moved from Ghana to the United States as a teenager. He is an avid reader who loved to scribble sequels to books he enjoyed when he was six years old. He was inspired to write stories for children while raising his two daughters. He still scribbles in his spare time. This is his debut picture book. He hopes to change the narrative of Black people and swimming. He works as a foot doctor and lives with his family in Long Beach, CA.

Where: Bel Canto KUBO, Long Beach 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807

Some work is more suitable for adults and older teenagers. Both short scripts and excerpts from longer scripts will be performed, including the following:

Expiration Date by Sarah Hunter

Undecided by Pamela Meek

Five Little Words by Brandon Wilkins

The Wizard of Bras by Felix Racelis

Feet by Robert Daseler

An American Heart by Madge Storm Beletsky

This program was generously sponsored by the Friends of the Westwood Library.

RSVP:

To RSVP, please email wwood@lapl.org and include “August Library Reading” in the subject line.

Where: Westwood Branch Library, LAPL 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 1246 Glendon Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90024

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/where-wild-books-are-childrens-book-club-0

A Glimpse within the Audiobook Booth at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us in store on Saturday August 16th at 2 pm for live snippet readings and insights into the audiobook production process with @voiceofhel & @zackr.vo 🎙️

All are welcome to attend this FREE event, whether you’re an established or aspiring author or narrator, or an audiobook lover who wants to support local authors and get some behind-the-scenes insights 🎧

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 312 S. Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/a-glimpse-within-the-audiobook-booth

Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series and Open Mic at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Join us in person for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.

RSVP:

Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark Street, Studio City, CA 91604

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Lamanda Park Library

Date: Saturday, the 16^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 140 S. Altadena Dr., Pasadena, CA

Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/

Book Signing Event: Natalie Sierra, with Luis Aguirre, & Beyond the Grace of God at Café con Libros Press, Pomona – In-Person Event

Celebrate the release of Beyond the Grace of God with author Natalie Sierra and cover artist/frequent collaborator Luis Aguirre.

Enjoy a reading, Q&A hosted by Jesse Tovar, and a behind-the-scenes chat about their creative process.

Light snacks and refreshments provided. Books available for signing.

Where: Café con Libros Press, Pomona

Date: Saturday, the 16^th

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

At the pinnacle of technological prowess, humanity is uniquely empowered to bring about its own collapse.

In their fascinating narrative in Avoiding the Great Filter, Jiang and Rosen leverage their broad professional experiences to explore pathways that transcend basic survival to arrive at a thriving advanced technological society extending into the vast, mysterious universe. Their solutions point the way to a prosperous multi-world future, providing a comprehensive roadmap for humanity to overcome existential threats and flourish on Earth and beyond.

Jonathan H. Jiang’s (PhD) areas of expertise are Earth sciences and astrophysics. He has over 300 peer-reviewed publications. As a Senior Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he has earned three NASA Exceptional Achievement Medals. He also serves on the National Academies’ Committee for Human Mars Exploration Science Strategy, shaping scientific goals for Mars missions.

Philip E. Rosen (M.Sc.) enjoyed a distinguished career in the energy industry. Today, he focuses on independent research, exploring the evolution of technological civilizations, astrophysics, and human space exploration. His work reflects a deep commitment to advancing understanding in these fields.

Where: Flintridge Bookstore 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Join us for local author Lisa Alvarez’s celebration of the release of Some Final Beauty and Other Stories. She will be in conversation with Poet Laureate Gustavo Hernandez, author of Flower Grand First and his forthcoming collection Bachelor.

Reading in front of the Bristol Food Court.

Signing & Reception inside the bookstore.

Where: LibroMobile 

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 4 pm – 6 pm

Join us for a conversation with Pelle Dragsted, leader of the Danish political party Enhedslisten, along with Jacobin contributors Ben Burgis and Meagan Day.

The group will discuss Dragsted’s recently translated and critically acclaimed Nordic Socialism: The Path Toward a Democratic Economy, and how the United States can learn from progressive reform in Nordic societies.

Reserve your free ticket on EVENTBRITE!

In recent years, the Nordic countries have been the envy of the world for their economic success, institutional stability, and consistently high levels of social happiness. But are they socialist? Pelle Dragsted, a member of the Danish parliament and the leader of the Red-Green Alliance, embraces the charge of socialism. His provocative argument is that capitalism and socialism are not in fact mutually exclusive, and already Nordic economies are hybrids, a mix of decommodified, democratically governed sectors and undemocratic, privately controlled enterprises. The relevant question is the degree to which one dominates the other. Dragsted offers both his diagnosis and his proposed solution, a comprehensive plan for a gradual (re)democratization of the economy.

In Dragsted’s analysis, Denmark and the rest of the Nordic countries are already socialist, but only in part. The dangers come (and here many conservative Americans will disagree) from the unhealthy encroachment of capitalism. His provocative argument is that capitalism and socialism are not in fact mutually exclusive, and already Nordic economies are hybrids, a mix of decommodified, democratically governed sectors and undemocratic, privately controlled enterprises. The relevant question is the degree to which one dominates the other. Currently, undemocratic forces are ascendant, but it need not be so. Dragsted offers both his diagnosis and his proposed solution, a comprehensive plan for a gradual (re)democratization of the economy and a move to fully and firmly embrace, and redefine, “Nordic socialism.”

Pelle Dragsted is the leader of the Enhedslisten party in Denmark and a representative in the Folketing. He is the author of Nordisk Socialisme: På vej mod en demokratisk økonomi, which was first published in Danish to great acclaim.

Ben Burgis is a Jacobin columnist, an adjunct philosophy professor, and the host of the YouTube show and podcast Give Them An Argument. He’s the author of several books, most recently Christopher Hitchens: What He Got Right, How He Went Wrong, and Why He Still Matters.

Meagan Day is a writer and editor focusing on labor issues, economic inequality, and US politics. She is an associate editor at Jacobin. She is the coauthor of Bigger than Bernie: How We Go from the Sanders Campaign to Democratic Socialism.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Join us for the Queer Book Club hosted monthly by LogansLovelyLibrary at Bel Canto Books Retro Row! Dive into diverse and thought-provoking queer literature with a group of like-minded book lovers.

Participants will discuss A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

Learn more and RSVP at website!

Where: Bel Canto Books Retro Row

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 2106 E. 4^th St., Long Beach, CA 90814

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

Obsidian Tongues Poetry & Open Mic at Lopez Urban Farm, Pomona – In-Person Event

Date: Saturday the 16^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9 pm

The Melrose Trading Post is a pioneering arts-based marketplace held every Sunday at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA with 275 local creative small business vendors, delicious food booths and local live music.

MTP was founded in 1997 with a mission to champion small businesses, art, and community. The market funds Greenway Arts Alliance’s arts education programming and provides employment and leadership development opportunities for students at Fairfax High School.

JOIN us in space R18 each Sunday, from 11 am – 5 pm.

All poems are donation based, so you name your price.

NOTE: Check every Sunday for story time and reading events

Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS

Date: Sunday, the 17^th

Time: 10 am – 5 pm (market); 11 am – 5 pm (poets on demand)

Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Sunday Story Time at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event

We are pleased to bring you the official return of Storytime.

Every Sunday at 11am, bring your little one to enjoy some reading from your local booksellers, special guests, or local volunteers!

Contact us if you would like to be a volunteer reader, and we will see you at the bookstore!

As always, our storytime events are always free to attend, but we strongly recommend you RSVP so that we can accommodate all who wish to attend.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 11 am – 12:30 pm

Where: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

A powerful depiction of a woman’s fight for domestic independence and creative freedom, from the youngest of the Brontë sisters

Gilbert Markham is deeply intrigued by Helen Graham, a beautiful and secretive young woman who has moved into nearby Wildfell Hall with her young son. He is quick to offer Helen his friendship, but when her reclusive behavior becomes the subject of local gossip and speculation, Gilbert begins to wonder whether his trust in her has been misplaced. It is only when she allows Gilbert to read her diary that the truth is revealed and the shocking details of the disastrous marriage she has left behind emerge. Told with great immediacy, combined with wit and irony, this novel is a powerful depiction of a woman’s fight for domestic independence and creative freedom.

This Penguin Classics edition of Anne Brontë’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, her groundbreaking study of a woman’s valiant struggle for independence from an abusive husband, is edited with an introduction and notes by Stevie Davis. In her introduction Davies discusses The Tenant of Wildfell Hall as feminist testament, inspired by Anne Brontë’s experiences as a governess and by the death of her brother Branwell Brontë, and examines the novel’s language, biblical references and narrative styles.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 3 pm

Address: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/bucket-list-book-club-tenant-wildfell-hall

Author Signing: Camille Cabrera at The Open Book, Woodland Hills – In-Person Event

#1 bestselling mystery author Camille Cabrera will be signing copies of her books at The Open Book in Woodland Hills, from 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm on Sunday, August 17, 2025.

Where: The Open Book, Woodland Hills

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 6316 Topanga Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Website: https://theopenbook.net/woodland-hills-location/

Nick Fuller Googins, with Kashana Cauley, & The Frequency of Living Things at Diesel, A Bookstore – In-Person Event

Nick Fuller Googins, in conversation with Kashana Cauley, will discuss and sign his book The Frequency of Living Things.

A heartbreaking American epic about three sisters who unearth lifetimes of family tensions as they are forced to rescue one of their own from peril, testing the limits of sacrifice, sisterhood, and forgiveness from the author of the “profound work of great wisdom” (Alice Elliott Dark) The Great Transition.

Josie may be the youngest sister, but she takes care of everyone. She is the left-brained scientist to her twin sisters’ right-brained artistic chaos. She makes sure their rent gets paid on time, they make their therapy appointments and has also been their de-facto band manager since she was a teenager. When Ara, her middle sister (by a few minutes), calls from jail, it isn’t exactly a surprise, and Josie knows exactly how to snap into action.

Emma is the quintessential frontwoman, complete with looks and attitude. But the success of The Twins’ first (and only) album—gold records, Grammy nominations, and diehard fans—is two decades behind her. Hiding under the surface of her swagger is a long-held guilt that has turned her into her sister’s enabler. Emma knows she needs Ara’s creative genius and thinks a jailhouse record could be just the thing to get Ara her freedom and their band back on the main stage.

Ara is detoxing, not only from her opioid habit but also from her family. The truth is, as crazy as it sounds, she’s not in a hurry to get out of lock-up. In the most unlikely and dangerous of places, this could be her chance to face the demons of her past and disentangle herself from her family.

Bertie, who raised her three daughters as a single mother, has always taught them that family won’t always be around to take care of you. A former defense attorney and perennial do-gooder, she’s committed to taking care of everyone less fortunate even if that means putting her girls’ needs second. But now Bertie must decide if she should reenter her daughters’ lives in their greatest time of need—or watch to see if the resilience she’s taught them will help carry them through.

A story both intimate and sweeping, The Frequency of Living Things explores the timeless question of how our individual destinies are intertwined with our family, our siblings, and our history no matter how we try to untangle ourselves from them.

Nick Fuller Googins has published short stories and essays in The Paris Review, the Los Angeles Times, The Southern Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Maine and works as an elementary school teacher. He is the author of The Great Transition and The Frequency of Living Things.

Kashana Cauley is the author of The Payback and The Survivalists, which was named a best book of 2023 by the BBC, Today, Vogue, and more. Cauley is also a television writer, having worked on The Great North, Pod Save America on HBO, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Esquire, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, and more.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 225 26^th St., Suite 33, Santa Monica, CA 90402

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-d7ad8115-c9c3-4c14-a148-1255a9c79400

Solar: A Summer Literary Salon at Compound, Long Beach – In-Person Event

Join us for brief readings, lively conversation, and an opportunity to mingle and connect!

SOLAR is a literary salon that brings together writers across genres to perform and discuss their work.

Hosted by Evan Chelsee, this summer reading series follows sun themes to connect the work and guide the conversation.

SOLAR is for anyone interested in hearing work from local writers & artists, getting a peek into the creative process, and immersing themselves in a literary community.

SOLAR Summer Series Themes:

August 17: SUNBURN

September 20: SUNSET

Join the Salon!

Where: Compound, Long Beach

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

Address: 1395 Coronado Ave., Long Beach, CA 90804

Website: https://compoundlb.org/event/solar-literary-salon/

Mobile Data Mag Open Mic Poetry + Feature Series (Year 2) at HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel– In-Person Event

Mobile Data Mag is a digital literary journal that showcases writers from California and beyond.

This is the 4^th event Season Finale in the 2025 Summer Series at HI Santa Monica Hostel in Santa Monica.

Donations appreciated.

Open Mic Portion is for all genres! No hate speech/problematic rhetoric or you will be immediately booted! Please note there is a max of 13 open mic slots per Rapp Saloon. You can only sign up the day of at 6:30 pm. No early sign-ups!

Daryl Gussin is a writer and musician who has been awkwardly standing around at punk shows for the last twenty-something years. Thankfully at some point in his late teens he decided to become a little more productive, and has been working on zines, setting up shows, and playing in bands consecutively since then. In 2006, he became integrally involved in Razorcake fanzine where he is currently the managing editor. His writing revolves around the honest, bittersweet, and ultimately triumphant aspects of counterculture and its flavorful inhabitants. The heartbreaks, the implosions, and the defiant victories. Community over commercialism, create and destroy.

Where: HI Los Angeles Santa Monica Hostel

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: 1436 2^nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401 

Website: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNFcnetuf_K/?locale=es_ES%2F

August Focus on Craft Book Club: Tusk Love at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Focus on Craft Book Club is led by developmental editor and teacher Jeanne De Vita. It meets on the 3^rd Sunday of the month, and participants focus on examining popular romance novels from a writer’s viewpoint. Everyone is welcome.

This month’s selection is Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon.

RSVP required.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 8:30 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232 

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

PoetTik LA Poetry Collective: Wat Is Hip Hop? in Silverlake – In-Person Event

This poetry collective meets monthly.

Today’s theme is What Is Hip Hop?

Where: PoeTik LA

Date: Sunday the 17^th

Time: 8 pm – 11 pm

Address: 2930 Hyperion, Silverlake, CA 90027

Website: https://www.instagram.com/poetikla/?hl=en