Sunday I decided to hit the pool for a bit and do water aerobics since there was no way to do laps in the W pool. I carried my water buoys and my waterproof MP3 player with me from home, so I was all set. It was lovely to be outside and for the moment, not racing from event to event.
Saturday morning I walked over to the Festival and things were bustling. There was a line of cars waiting to park that streamed onto Hilgard and I saw why people had urged me to stay at the W and walk. There were crowds everywhere --- everything from organized patient queues to pick up tickets and lines to attend events.
For years I have been hearing that the L.A. Times Book Festival is the quintessential book festival event. Schedule conflicts always kept me from attending in the past, but this year I vowed I would get there. Thus in March I locked down a flight and a reservation at the W Hotel, which was easy walking distance from the UCLA campus where the event is held.
Last week's Mystery Writers of America events in New York kept me hopping on both Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday there was a full-day symposium that I finally broke away from the office to catch in the afternoon. I arrived in time to a panel called "First, Kill All the Lawyers…or They Will Write" with Catherine Crier, Lisa Scottoline, James Grippando and Paul Levine. Paul and I joked that those who named this panel must have been clairvoyant since the title of the third book in his Solomon vs Lord series coming in late August will be KILL ALL THE LAWYERS!
Tell us about the books you’ve finished reading with your comments and a rating of 1 to 5 stars. During the contest period from November 1st to November 22nd at noon ET, three lucky readers each will be randomly chosen to win a copy of THE AUTHOR'S GUIDE TO MURDER by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White and LIKE MOTHER, LIKE MOTHER by Susan Rieger.
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Coming Soon
Curious about what books will be released in the months ahead so you can pre-order or reserve them? Then click on the months below.
November's Books on Screen roundup includes the series premieres of "Cross" on Prime Video, "The Day of the Jackal" on Peacock, "Dune: Prophecy" on HBO, and "FX's Say Nothing" on Hulu; the season premieres of STARZ's "Outlander" and Apple TV+'s "Silo"; the series finales of "My Brilliant Friend" on HBO, "Three Women" on STARZ, and "Disclaimer" on Apple TV+; the season finale of "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol" on AMC; the filmsWicked and Small Things Like These in theaters, as well as Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle on Hallmark Channel; and the DVD releases of It Ends with Us and Someone Like You.