Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/26/22 – 10/02/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Book Club Bonanza: The Last Cuentista via Central Library, LAPL – Online Teen Event

Book Club Bonanza celebrates Latinx Heritage Month with a teen book discussion of The Last Cuentista, by Donna Barba Higuera.

The Last Cuentista is a mesmerizing science-fiction tale for the ages, sprinkled with Mexican folklore. Petra Pena’s journey through space and time is a stunning reminder of the power of stories, and how those stories shape both our past and future. This brilliant space epic is a must-read for fans of The Giver.

Donna Barba Higuera grew up in Central California and now lives in the Pacific Northwest. She has spent her entire life blending folklore with her experiences into stories that fill her imagination. Now she weaves them to write picture books and novels. Donna’s first book, Lupe Wong Won’t Dance, won a Sid Fleischman Award for Humor and a Pura Belpré Honor.

Her second novel, The Last Cuentista, received the John Newbery Medal and the Pura Belpré Award. It was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Boston Globe, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and TIME.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Central Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 26^th

Time: 4:30 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-bonanza-celebrate-latinx-voices

Brian DunlapSeptember 26, 2022September 26, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/19/22 – 09/25/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Book Talk: Gianluca Russo & The Power of Plus via Chevalier’s Bookstore – Online Event

Author and journalist Gianluca Russo will present and discuss his book, The Power of Plus: Inside Fashion’s Size-Inclusivity Revolution.

Gianluca Russo is a NYLON columnist and freelance journalist who has written for GQ, Glamour, Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Fashionista, Huffington Post, Bustle, Mic, and Vice. His work has primarily focused on plus-size fashion and representation, and he has reported extensively on the subject from covering brand launches to exploring trends within the market and investigating taboo topics within the plus-size community. He lives in Phoenix, AZ.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 19^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cMYAc1zJS7–AAY1vip8Rg

Brian DunlapSeptember 18, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 09/12/22 – 09/18/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Woodland Hills Mystery Book Club Discussion: Your House Will Pay at Washington Irving Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person & Online (Hybrid) Event

A novel about racial tensions in Los Angeles, following two families—one Korean-American, one African-American—grappling with the effects of a decades-old crime.

In the wake of the police shooting of a black teenager, Los Angeles is as tense as it’s been since the unrest of the early 1990s. But Grace Park and Shawn Matthews have their own problems. Grace is sheltered and largely oblivious, living in the Valley with her Korean-immigrant parents, working long hours at the family pharmacy. She’s distraught that her sister hasn’t spoken to their mother in two years, for reasons beyond Grace’s understanding. Shawn has already had enough of politics and protest after an act of violence shattered his family years ago. He just wants to be left alone to enjoy his quiet life in Palmdale.

But when another shocking crime hits LA, both the Park and Matthews families are forced to face down their history while navigating the tumult of a city on the brink of more violence.

Discussion is facilitated by Mary C. Schaffer. Books are read in advance of the meetings and are available to borrow from the Woodland Hills Library Reference Desk or you may place a copy on hold through the library catalog or Libby app.

Please call (818) 226-0017 for more information.

NOTE: See site for link, guidelines, and details.

Where: Woodland Hills Branch Library, LAPL Community Room

Date: Monday the 12^th

Time: 4 pm

Address: 22200 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91364 (or online; see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-8

Brian DunlapSeptember 11, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/22/22 – 08/28/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Sara Woster, with Jackie Kashian, & Painting Can Save Your Life at Chevalier’s Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join us to hear Sara Woster, in conversation with Jackie Kashian, discuss and sign her book, Painting Can Save Your Life: How and Why We Paint.

Artist and founder of The Painting School Sara Woster invites readers into the vibrant world of painting as a creative practice powerful enough to transform our lives.

Weaving soup-to-nuts instruction on how to paint–from choosing the right materials to painting the human body–with her own story of discovering a passion for painting, this book includes:

NOTE: See site for guidelines and details.

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Monday the 22^nd

Time: 6 pm

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

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-talk-painting-can-save-your-life-by-sara-woster-with-jackie-kashian-tickets-397442078957

Brian DunlapAugust 22, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/15/22 – 08/21/22

Los Angeles Literature Events: 08/15/22 – 08/21/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

World Literature Book Club at via West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL – Online Event

Join us for a spirited and engaging discussion of the world’s best short stories! All selections are from The Best Short Stories 2021: The O. Henry Prize Winners (New York, 2021), ed. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This month’s selections are:

Scissors by Karina Sainz Borgo
Witness by Jamel Brinkley
The Other One by Tess Hadley

We meet every Monday morning (excluding holidays).

NOTE: See site for link, and details. Email wvally@lapl.org with “World Literature” in the subject line.

Where: West Valley Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 15^th

Time: 10 am (repeated by Woodland Hills Branch Library at 2 pm).

Address: Zoom Online (see site)

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/world-literature-book-club-0

Brian DunlapAugust 14, 2022January 11, 2023Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 07/25/22 – 07/31/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Quantum Book Club: Her Body and Other Parties at The Book Jewel Bookstore – In-Person Event

Join the Quantum Book Club to discuss the book, Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado.

In Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women’s lives and the violence visited upon their bodies.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, book purchase, guidelines, and details.

Where: The Book Jewel Bookstore

Date: Monday the 25^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 6259 W. 87^th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045

Website: https://www.thebookjewel.com/quantum-book-club

Brian DunlapJuly 24, 2022July 24, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 06/20/22 – 06/26/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Cleyvis Natera, with Steph Cha, & Neruda on the Park at Skylight Bookstore – In-Person Event

Cleyvis Natera, iin conversation with Steph Cha (Your House Will Pay), will discuss his new novel, Neruda on the Park, a beautifully layered portrait of family, friendship, and ambition.

Neruda on the Park weaves a rich and vivid tapestry of community as well as the sacrifices we make to protect what we love most, announcing Cleyvis Natera as an electrifying new voice.

The Guerreros have lived in Nothar Park, a predominantly Dominican part of New York City, for twenty years. When demolition begins on a neighboring tenement, Eusebia, an elder of the community, takes matters into her own hands by devising an increasingly dangerous series of schemes to stop construction of the luxury condos. Meanwhile, Eusebia’s daughter, Luz, a rising associate at a top Manhattan law firm who strives to live the bougie lifestyle her parents worked hard to give her, becomes distracted by a sweltering romance with the handsome white developer at the company her mother so vehemently opposes.

As Luz’s father, Vladimir, secretly designs their retirement home in the Dominican Republic, mother and daughter collide, ramping up tensions in Nothar Park, racing toward a near-fatal climax.

NOTE: See site for tickets, link, and details.

Where: Skylight Bookstore

Date: Monday the 20^th

Time: 7 pm – PST

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

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-cleyvis-natera-presents-neruda-park-steph-cha

Brian DunlapJune 19, 2022June 19, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 06/13/22 – 06/19/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Tween Book Club via Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – Online Tween Event

Kids ages 9 to 12 are invited to a monthly book discussion, to share other books they have read and to get new reading recommendations.

In June, we’ll discuss Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick. The book should be read in advance of the meeting. Find a copy to borrow at the library site link.

NOTE: See site for Zoom link and details.

Where: LAPL Online event

Date: Monday the13^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

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

Brian DunlapJune 13, 2022Leave a comment

Literary Long Beach, Los Angeles Literary Events

Los Angeles Literature Events: 05/23/22 – 05/29/22

NOTE: There Are Both Online and Virtual Events Listed Here

Luncheon with Emma Straub: Book Launch of This Time Tomorrow at Slay Italian Kitchen – In-Person Event

Pages hosts a luncheon to celebrate the publication of Emma Straub’s’ new book, This Time Tomorrow at Slay’s Italian Kitchen. The author will be in conversation with Janelle Brown, author of I’ll Be You.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it’s her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

NOTE: See site for tickets, guidelines, and details.

Where: Pages Bookstore at Slay Italian Kitchen

Date: Monday the 23^rd

Time: 11:30 am- 1 pm

Address: 1001 Manhattan Ave., Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

Website: https://www.pagesabookstore.com/event/emma-straub-slay

Brian DunlapMay 22, 2022Leave a comment