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Welcome to the L.A. Times Book Club, an opportunity to see, hear and interact with world-class authors, innovators and newsmakers. When you sign up for this newsletter, you become part of our community book club. We'll keep you updated on the latest reads, events and stories.
Every month, we share book club selections and invite all of Southern California to read along with us. Then we host a conversation with the authors. [Here are some of the best book club moments of 2022 and 2021.]
I’m your host and editor Donna Wares, and my goal is to get L.A. reading and talking. So tell us: What stories do you want to share? What authors would you most like to meet in 2023?
Since the pandemic, The Times offered many events free and virtual to make it easy for readers to participate. With your support through the L.A. Times Community Fund we can keep going and growing. Thank you for helping us build something amazing.
June
NEW: Join actor Elliot Page for a live, in-person conversation about his memoir "Pageboy." This event is June 8 at the historic Montalban Theatre in Hollywood. Get tickets.
April
The L.A. Times Book Club hosts novelist Gabrielle Zevin, the author of "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow," in conversation with Times Assistant Managing Editor Samantha Melbourneweaver at the Festival of Books.
The novel tracks the collaborative, competitive friendship of video game developers Sam Masur and Sadie Green and has exploded into a publishing supernova.
After appearing on numerous best-of lists in December, Zevin says, “It effectively wore down people who were like, ‘I don’t want to read a video game novel. What does that have to do with me?’” Everything, it turns out, but especially if you’ve ever felt the seductive pull of the creative process, or the ache of potentially losing a lifelong friendship, or the hardships of disability or marginalization, to name a couple of the strands that tangle in captivating ways in “Tomorrow.”
This April 22 book club event starts at 1:45 p.m on the USC campus. Get more information and browse the entire festival schedule here.
March
Author Annalee Newitz joined book club readers March 28 to discuss “The Terraformers” with Times columnist Carolina A. Miranda. Watch.
A sci-fi page turner set in a distant future, “The Terraformers” introduces Destry and the Environmental Rescue Team, an ancient organization devoted to preventing ecosystem collapse. On the planet Sask-E, her mission is to terraform an Earthlike world, with the help of her companion moose, Whistle. But when she discovers a hidden civilization inside a massive volcano, Destry must make a decision that echoes down the generations.
“An ingenious, galaxy-brain book” says reviewer Mark Athitakis in the L.A. Times.
In the acknowledgements, Newitz explains, “I wrote this book because I wanted to dream up a more hopeful world.”
February
Author Brendan Slocumb joined book club readers Feb. 23 to discuss his bestselling mystery, “The Violin Conspiracy,” with Times classical music critic Mark Swed. Watch now.
In his debut novel, Slocum introduces readers to Ray McMillan, a rising star in the classical music world whose priceless family Stradivarius is stolen before one of the world’s biggest music competitions. “The Violin Conspiracy” also is about family, race, discrimination and finding your way against all odds.
Slocumb is a musician and music teacher who grew up reading Sherlock Holmes mysteries. He began writing during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 and drew upon his own experiences for his first novel.
In his senior year of high school, Slocumb’s violin was stolen from his home. “It was the worst feeling in the world,” he says in an interview with Makeda Easter.
January 2023
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder joined book club readers Jan. 26 to discuss “Rough Sleepers” with Times columnist Steve Lopez. Watch now.
The bestselling author of “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” Kidder returns with a deeply researched exploration of the nation’s homeless crisis and the systematic failures behind it.
Kidder spent more than five years riding with Dr. Jim O’Connell and street team that navigates Boston in a van at night, providing medical care, wellness checks, socks and soup to the city’s unhoused population. “This is a compassionate report from the front lines of one of America’s most intractable social problems,” says Publisher's Weekly.
December 2022
"Little Fires Everywhere" author Celeste Ng joined book club readers Dec. 8 for a virtual conversation about her latest bestseller, “Our Missing Hearts,” with Times columnist Patt Morrison. Watch now.
“Our Missing Hearts” is the story of a 12-year-old boy named Bird growing up in a near future overtaken by great fear and repression. Bird’s Chinese American mother, a poet, left the family and went into hiding years earlier. But when the boy receives a mysterious letter from his mother, he is drawn into a quest to find her.
Ng's 2014 debut, “Everything I Never Told You,” was followed by 2017’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” developed into a Hulu series starring Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon.
November 2022
On Nov. 16 Los Angeles author Percival Everett discussed his new novel, "Dr. No," with Times columnist LZ Granderson at the Autry Museum of the American West, a special book club night featuring live music and browsing the museum after hours.
A USC English professor, Everett is the author of more than 30 books, including “The Trees,” shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and "Telephone," a 2021 Pulitzer finalist. If you're a longtime fan, or just discovering his work, here are 5 books that showcase Everett's style.
Before the book talk, we previewed “Washed Ashore," a short doc from directors Ley Heimgartner and Cameron Neilson about an international team of marine biologists investigating the mysterious die-off of the Pacific gray whale. The film is part of L.A. Times Short Docs, a new monthly series from L.A. Times Studios.
October 2022
On Oct. 26 author Lydia Millet joined the L.A. Times Book Club to discuss “Dinosaurs” with Times reporter and novelist Jeffrey Fleishman at the Autry Museum.
Millet’s last novel, “A Children’s Bible,” explored climate change and was a 2020 National Book Award finalist. Now Millet returns with “Dinosaurs,” the story of a 40-something man who escapes Manhattan to seek solitude in the West after a breakup, only to find himself living next door to a family in a glass house. Publishers Weekly calls “Dinosaurs” a “brilliant story of survival.”
The author of more than a dozen novels, Millet lives in the desert outside Tucson, Ariz., where she works as an editor and writer at the Center for Biological Diversity. Last year, she wrote this piece for The Times: “Climate crisis is here; so is climate fiction. Don’t you dare call it a genre.”
On Oct. 13, Willie Nelson joined the L.A. Times Book Club to discuss his new book, “Me and Paul,” the story of a 70-year-old friendship with drummer Paul English that inspired and saved his life.
Nelson was in conversation with Jaclyn Cosgrove, The Times editor who launched the newsroom’s yearlong mental health initiative, For Your Mind.
September 2022
On Sept. 27 bestselling novelist Silvia Moreno-Garcia discussed her science fiction thriller, “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau,” with Times editor Steve Padilla.
“The fictions of Silvia Moreno-Garcia abound in shapeshifters,” says reviewer Paula L. Woods. “And they are central to her latest novel, ‘The Daughter of Doctor Moreau,’ which reframes the classic H.G. Wells story of terrifying human-animal hybrids as a thrilling and romantic anticolonial adventure set in the Yucatán Peninsula.”
August 2022
On Aug. 23 chef Keith Corbin discussed “California Soul" with Times Food editor Daniel Hernandez.
In gritty, graphic detail, Corbin's memoir shows readers his journey from teenage gangster to maximum-security prison inmate to co-owner of one of L.A.’s hottest restaurants.
This book club evening was presented in partnership with Arizona State University at the historic Herald Examiner Building in downtown Los Angeles. Watch now.
During a visit to The Times test kitchen visit, Corbin created and shared the recipe for Vegan California Gombo from the menu at Alta Adams, his restaurant in the West Adams neighborhood.
July 2022
On July 27 "Dirty Dancing" star Jennifer Grey discussed her bestselling memoir, “Out of the Corner” with Times senior entertainment writer Amy Kaufman in Hollywood.
June 2022
On June 22 author and historian Ibram X. Kendi discussed “How to Raise an Antiracist.”
Kendi also is the author of “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,” which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2016, and “How to Be an Antiracist,” a 2019 bestseller.
His new book, “How to Raise an Antiracist,” is geared toward parents, teachers and other caregivers. Kendi addresses such questions as: How do we talk to our children about racism? How do we teach children to be antiracist? How are kids at different ages experiencing race?
May 2022
On May 26 authors Pico Iyer, Maggie Shipstead and Michelle Tea and editor Colleen Kinder discussed “Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us” with Times travel writer Christopher Reynolds. Watch now.
“Letter to a Stranger” is a collection of travel stories that guides readers across the globe and through the mysteries of human connection. Iyer, Shipstead and Tea are among 65 writers who contributed essays about unforgettable encounters.
April 2022
Inauguration poet Amanda Gorman stepped onto the national stage in January 2020 with that unforgettable yellow coat and a voice full of passion, showing millions of Americans the power of poetry and its deep relevance to all our lives. The first national youth poet laureate of the United States, Gorman was our April book club author.
Gorman joined Times readers April 23 at the Festival of Books to discuss “Call Us What We Carry” with Natalie J. Graham, Orange County’s poet laureate.
Watch: Gorman's first public performance since the pandemic.
More: How Growing up in L.A. shaped Amanda Gorman's poetry.
On March 29 author Reyna Grande joined Times editor Steve Padilla to discuss her historical novel, “A Ballad of Love and Glory.”
Set in 1846, Grande’s latest saga follows a Mexican Army nurse and a disheartened Irish soldier during the Mexican-American War.
Watch now.
February 2022
On Feb. 25 renowned naturalist, scientist and U.N. messenger of peace Jane Goodall joined book club readers to discuss “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times."
In a conversation with reporter Dorany Pineda, Goodall also talked about the state of her research, the "Becoming Jane" exhibit at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and how each of us can make a difference to heal the planet.
Watch now.
January 2022
On Jan. 25 bestselling author Stephanie Land discussed “Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother’s Will to Survive” with Times reporter Paloma Esquivel.
“Maid” details Land’s journey from single mother and $10-an-hour domestic worker to college student with a budding writing career. Her memoir inspired a popular Netflix series.
Further reading: To learn more about the inequalities built into our economy and potential solutions, here are nine books to read after “Maid.”
December 2021
On Dec. 9 bestselling author Ann Patchett joined book club readers to discuss “These Precious Days” with Times columnist Steve Lopez.
Patchett reflects on family, friendships and writing this deeply personal collection of essays. Watch now.
Born in Los Angeles, Patchett now lives in Nashville and co-owns Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore. She also has written seven novels, including “The Dutch House,” “Bel Canto” and “Commonwealth.”
November 2021
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones discussed “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story” with Times Executive Editor Kevin Merida on Nov. 30.
Authors Terry McMillan and Nafissa Thompson-Spires read their contributions at the California African American Museum.
Watch highlights.
Read columnist LZ Granderson's interview with Hannah-Jones here.
October 2021
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard joined book club readers Oct. 15 to discuss “The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family” with Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mary McNamara.
Update: the book club video is now available online: Watch now.
This special book club evening, at L.A. Live's Rooftop Terrace atop the Grammy Museum, was our first in-person event since Feb. 2020. The Howards also sat down for pre-show chat with L.A. Times Today.
"The Boys" brings readers inside "The Andy Griffith Show," "Happy Days," "Gentle Ben" and other iconic TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s. Ron and Clint Howard talked about why they wrote the book in a recent Times interview.
September 2021
Journalist and author Jaime Lowe joined book club readers Sept. 28 to discuss “Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Front Lines of California’s Wildfires” with Times columnist Erika D. Smith.
Watch now.
August 2021
On Aug. 24, tennis legend Billie Jean King joined book club readers for a conversation with Times executive sports editor Christian Stone about her memoir, "All In."
Read Sports columnist Helene Elliott's interview with King. Read an excerpt.
July 2021
Filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia joined book club readers July 29 to discuss “A Farewell to Gabo and Mercedes” with Times editor Steve Padilla.
Watch here.
Garcia’s book is a remembrance of his father, renowned author Gabriel García Márquez, and his mother, Mercedes Barcha. The director chronicles life, death, family and celebrity in a memoir sprinkled with personal photographs and snippets written by his father, whose books include “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
Bonus: Here’s a Gabriel García Márquez reading guide.
June 2021
Michele Harper joined book club readers June 29 for a conversation with Times reporter Marissa Evans about "The Beauty in Breaking," her bestselling memoir about life as an ER doctor.
“When I was in high school, I would write poetry,” Harper says in an interview. “Then I started the medical path, and it beat the words out of me."
Harper’s memoir is featured in the final installment of the United We Read series, Heather John Fogarty’s yearlong reading journey through every U.S. state. Here's the complete reading list.
May 2021
Our May book club pick is “Interior Chinatown,” Charles Yu’s 2020 National Book Award-winning novel about into pop culture, Hollywood and Asian stereotypes.
Yu joined us May 27 for a conversation with Times film critic Justin Chang. Watch now.
Keep reading: Author interview, book club newsletter, Yu's Quarantine Diary.
April 2021
Former President Barack Obama joined the Los Angeles Times Book Club April 21 to discuss his bestselling memoir "A Promised Land" with filmmaker Ava DuVernay.
Watch here.
Read about the discussion.
Read a book excerpt.
March 2021
Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of "The Committed,” joined book club readers March 10 for a conversation with Times columnist Carolina A. Miranda. Watch here.
Nguyen’s novel is a sequel to “The Sympathizer,” which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2016. “The Sympathizer” told the story of a conflicted double agent in the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The sequel follows Nguyen’s protagonist to Paris. “I wasn’t done with his story,” Nguyen says.
February 2021
Australian writer Charlotte McConaghy, author of the novel “Migrations,” joined us from Sydney for a Feb. 24 conversation with Times reporter Rosanna Xia. Watch now.
"Migrations" has drawn praise from reviewers for its powerful discussion of climate issues. The novel's plot twists have attracted Hollywood, too: Claire Foy and Benedict Cumberbach are adapting "Migrations" for film.
"I wanted to energize people and myself and come out of the other side of despair and apathy and into a place of hope, love and action," McConaghy says in a Times interview.
January 2021
Bestselling author Lisa See shares the stories behind "The Island of Sea Women" with Times culture columnist Mary McNamara on Jan. 25. Watch here.
Read an interview with Lisa See.
December 2020
Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, author of “The Undocumented Americans,” and Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, author of “Children of the Land,” shared their stories of a hidden America. They talked about immigration and family with Times editor Steve Padilla. Watch here.
More: Interviews with Cornejo Villavicencio and Castillo, and the book club newsletter.
November 2020
The L.A. Times Book Club explores the legacy and prolific writing of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. Step inside her L.A. world with this interactive map.
Journalist Lynell George, author of “A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler,” and Times reporter Julia Wick joined book club readers on Nov. 18. Watch now.
Giveaway: This event included the book club's first book giveaway, made possible with a donation from the estate of Octavia E. Butler and literary agent Merrilee Heifetz. The giveaway featured five of Butler's books: “Kindred;” “Parable of the Sower;”“Parable of the Talents;” “Wild Seed;” and“Fledgling.” The other books are: “Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora,” edited by Sheree R. Thomas; “Binti: The Complete Trilogy” by Nnedi Okorafor;“An Unkindness of Ghosts” by Rivers Solomon; “Pet” by Akwaeke Emezi ; and “How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?” by N.K. Jemisin. Update: All 700 books have now been claimed!
Reading guide: How to chose your next Octavia E. Butler book
Book excerpt: 'A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky' reveals Octavia E. Butler's early life in Pasadena
Book club newsletter: Octavia E. Butler's Pasadena and giveaway
Previously
On Sept. 24 the L.A. Times Book Club hosted Black Poets in a Time of Unrest, featuring National Book Award winner Robin Coste Lewis, the Los Angeles poet laureate, in conversation with reporter Makeda Easter.
Lewis joined a lineup of poet performers sharing their experiences in verse: Natalie J. Graham, Ashaki M. Jackson, Douglas Kearney, jayy dodd, Amaud Jamaul Johnson, Khadijah Queen and Kima Jones, the co-host of the event with the L.A. Times Book Club. Watch.
The August book selection is" The Vanishing Half," Brit Bennett's bestselling novel about twin sisters, identity and family secrets. “You can escape a town but you can not escape blood."
Bennett joined book club readers Aug. 25 for a conversation with Times writer Carla Hall. Watch here.
Keep reading: book review, book club newsletter.
"Why We Swim" by Bonnie Tsui is the book club's July selection.
Tsui, a Bay Area journalist, surfer and former competitive swimmer, joined Times reporter and masters swimmer James Rainey July 28 for a virtual meetup. Long-distance swimmer Lynne Cox shared her favorite passage during the event.
"Why We Swim" is a mix of memoir, history and swim adventure that journeys from the California Coast to Iceland's swim culture to the "Hawaii" of the South China Sea.
“The Compton Cowboys,” a true story about identity and belonging by Walter Thompson-Hernández, is the June selection.
The book traces the history and fragile legacy of black cowboys in a Los Angeles bedroom community. The cowboys’ credo: “Streets raised us. Horses saved us.”
Thompson-Hernández joined us June 24 for a conversation with Times reporter Angel Jennings. Here are 5 Things to know about The Compton Cowboys.
Keep reading: Interview with the author, a book excerpt and the book club newsletter.
Emily St. John Mandel, author of the bestselling pandemic novel “Station Eleven,” joined the Los Angeles Times Book Club on May 19. Her new book, "The Glass Hotel," revolves around another issue of great current concern — a financial crisis.
Watch Mandel in conversation with Times reporter Carolina A. Miranda.
Mandel and other authors, including Susan Orlean, T.C. Boyle, Marlon James, Charlie Jane Anders and Jess Walter, helped us put together this end-of-the-world reading list.
During April we read “Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes & Stories,” Fanny Singer's memoir about growing up at an epicenter of California cuisine. Singer is the daughter of Alice Waters, the chef behind Chez Panisse Café in Berkeley and the founder of the Edible Schoolyard Project.
Singer and Waters joined the L.A. Times Book Club on April 21 to discuss food and family with Times arts and entertainment editor Laurie Ochoa. Watch their conversation here.
Singer’s memoir with recipes strikes just the right note for this strange time of sheltering in place. “It feels like a moment to redefine how we relate to the things that we consume,” Singer says in an interview. Her favorite roast chicken recipe is here.
On March 30, the L.A. Times Book Club rebooted with its first virtual event: novelists Steph Cha and Joe Ide joined Times reporter Maria L. La Ganga to discuss the new world of L.A. noir.
Cha is the author of the bestselling 2019 thriller “Your House Will Pay.” Ide’s new mystery is “Hi Five,” the fourth book in his “IQ” detective series set in East Long Beach. The book club conversation streamed live on Facebook and YouTube.
On Saturday, Feb. 15, former Los Angeles poet laureate Luis J. Rodriguez discussed “From Our Land to Our Land,” a new collection about race, culture and identity, with Times reporter Daniel Hernandez at the Colony Theatre in Burbank.
More: Does Poetry Matter? L.A.'s former poet laureate explains why it's life changing. Read an author interview.
On Jan. 27, author Ocean Vuong shared his debut novel, “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” with Times arts and culture reporter Carolina A. Miranda at the Montalban Theatre.
On Dec. 16, the book club welcomed Homeboy Industries founder Gregory Boyle for a breakfast conversation with author Héctor Tobar about “Barking to the Choir.” Read our interview with Boyle and five things to know about his book and his work. For school groups and book clubs, here’s a discussion guide to “Barking to the Choir.”
On Nov. 18, Julie Andrews shared stories from “Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years” in a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning Times columnist Mary McNamara at the Orpheum Theatre.
Read The Times' interview with Andrews and review of her new memoir, plus film critic Justin Chang’s commentary.
On Oct. 22, Ronan Farrow discussed surveillance, counter-surveillance and the stories behind "Catch and Kill," his new book detailing sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men. Read The Times' interview with Farrow.
On Oct. 21, best-selling crime writer Michael Connelly joined book club readers for the launch of "The Night Fire." He also previewed two upcoming books and talked about living with the same character for 27 years.
Keep reading: Here's a look at 15 iconic Harry Bosch haunts across L.A., plus 20 essential L.A. crime books, and this special report on why L.A. is the perpetual dark heart of crime writing.
On Sept. 10, actor and author George Takei discussed “They Called Us Enemy,” a graphic memoir about his childhood years in Japanese American internment camps during World War II. Watch a segment from the event on LA Times Today.
For book clubs and school groups, here is a discussion guide.
Author Laila Lalami joined Times reporter Lorraine Ali for a conversation about “The Other Americans, ”a mystery and family saga set in the Southern California desert.
Here’s an interview with Lalami and five things to know about “The Other Americans.”
In June we read "The Library Book" by bestselling author Susan Orlean and hosted a community forum where Orlean and readers shared library stories. We also took a deep dive to explore what L.A. is reading right now and showed book lovers how to read for free with library apps.
The L.A. Times Book Club builds on the success of America's largest literary event, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which attracts 150,000 people every April. Our community book club keeps the storytelling and conversation going year-round.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
