A Call to Help Save Vroman's, Pasadena's Book Store Institution

It's amazing to think that Vroman's has been in business since 1894... and even more sad to think it could be the coronavirus that ends that legacy. Vroman's put out the call for help this week, and it's a good reminder that local businesses are still hurting. It would be such a shame to lose Vroman's, and other long-standing legacy shops in Southern California. We've already lost so many. Their plea:

Friends, the past few months have been the most difficult in our company’s 126-year history and Vroman’s needs your help to stay open. Here's how you can support your local indie! Shop now for books, gifts, & gift cards w/ Vromans & encourage others to do the same. (Shop online w/ curbside pickup, call us to place an order, or ship it. Return to shop in our stores w/ our new health & safety measures in place.)

Shop in-store on weekday mornings, rather than busy weekends or afternoons. Shop EARLY before the Dec holiday crowds – stores will be far less crowded in Oct & Nov & shipping/book printing delays are expected. Our hours are currently 10:30am-6pm.

We also need your help to get the word out! Reach out to your friends & contacts. Save this shareable, use the hashtag #ShopVromans & post on your social media accounts. Don't forget to tag us!

We truly appreciate your support, during this critical time and for the past 126 years Red heartFolded handsBooks. Thank you so much and stay well! #ShopVromans #shoplocal #indiebookstore #vromans #independentbookstore

Support Vroman's by heading to their website and buying books there: https://www.vromansbookstore.com/vromans-curbside-pick. Trust me, Amazon won't notice.

Scenes from 2016's Festival of Books

Rain wasn't going to stop us from attending the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books -- and we were far from the only people braving the elements and driving down to USC to check out this year's event. Parking was at a premium (we lucked out and found a spot on a nearby street) -- but once inside, there were the usual sites to see. We headed straight for the childrens' areas, where the Blogger Boys picked up a few new books. Some sights from this year's festival:

Outside the Lines Too: A Coloring Book for Hip Kids (And Their Parents)

Last Saturday we stopped by MOCA to help celebrate the publication of new hip coloring book Outside the Lines Too.



Curated by Souris Hong, the coloring book features "original line drawings from more than 100 creative masterminds, including animators, cartoonists, fine artists, graphic artists, illustrators, musicians, outsider artists, photographers, and street artists. Perforated pages throughout make it easier to share and display your work. With most pages commissioned especially for this book, this collection features the work of Dalek, Timothy Tompkins, Ryan Humphrey, Richard Colman, Maria E. Piñeres, David Ellis, Jim Houser, Justina Blakeney, Kevin Lyons, Rainer Judd, Tim Biskup, and more."



The 256-page paperback retails for $18.

Scenes from This Year's Festival of Books

Target wasn't a sponsor of this year's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC -- and although I'm sure that was a financial blow to the festival organizers, it was likely a nice boon to independent bookstores like Montrose's Once Upon a Time (above). I happily shelled out money to support the store (one of the gems of Montrose's shopping district) and buy the Blogger Kids some fresh books (many of which were autographed by the authors) at the same time.

I also stopped by Angel City Press (by far my favorite booth every year at the festival), where I picked up a few new L.A.-centric books for my collection and also caught up with LA Observed's Kevin Roderick, and we both marveled at how we've now been doing this blogging thing for 12 years. Is there an end game? Or can we keep this up as a hobby forever? Good question!

I had Blogger Kid 2.0 in tow, so there was no time to really listen to any speakers, although we did stop for a bit to hear Billy Idol interviewed about his career. Some pics of our Saturday at the Festival of Books:


Music at the USC stage


Kind of hard to make out, but yes, that's Billy Idol


Always a crowd at the Festival of Books!


I think this character has something to do with a Trader Joe's cookbook.


C-SPAN's Book TV

MIKE ON KCRW: Interviewing Author Michael Connelly for "The Business"

On last week's episode of KCRW's The Business, I interviewed author Michael Connelly, whose book series about L.A. homicide detective Harry Bosch has been turned into the Amazon series "Bosch." Amazon just ordered season 2:

Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch first started solving crimes for the LAPD Hollywood Division in the 1992 novel The Black Echo.

Twenty three years later, author Michael Connelly is still dispatching Bosch to LA's darkest corners. He's working on his 18th Harry Bosch novel as we speak.

In all that time, there's never been a Bosch movie. Connelly sold the rights to Paramount in 1995, and while several scripts were written, the film ultimately never got made.

Two other Connelly novels, Blood Work and The Lincoln Lawyer, were made into movies, but Connelly didn't have much involvement with those adaptations.

But now, Connelly has his rights back and the detective finally has his on-screen debut with the new Amazon series Bosch. The show draws on storylines from three of the novels in the series and has the busy, tormented detective tracking down a serial killer while dealing with a lawsuit against him for killing a suspect in another case.

Connelly is very involved with the show. He's an executive producer who's hands-on and on set. He was even the one who suggested Titus Welliver play the title role. Connelly sat down with TV Guide's Michael Schneider, host of KCRW's The Spin-off, to talk about how his most famous character finally found a home at Amazon, the blessing and curse of not knowing ratings, and the awkward moment of making a show with a company that is also feuding with your book publisher.

Listen by clicking below!

The Great Los Angeles Walk, Named One of "The Best Things to Do in LA"

Here's something that doesn't happen every day: I was browsing the Los Angeles/California books at Barnes & Noble (as I do), when I came across the book The Best Things to Do in Los Angeles: 1001 Ideas by Joy Yoon. According to Amazon, the book came out in 2003, but I finally saw it in December.

So yeah, I admit, I immediately went to the index, just to see if The Great Los Angeles Walk was mentioned. Because, hey, if she's listing 1001 things to do, why not include the Walk? I fully expected being disappointed... but then, there it was! No. 956!



So hey, it's now immediately my favorite book about Los Angeles. Here's the blurb from Amazon:

The definitive guide for tourists and locals alike, this comprehensive guidebook draws on a lifetime of local experience for 1001 great things to do in Los Angeles.

Probably more than any other major cultural metropolis, Los Angeles is a city for those in the know. A guide like no other, this is the first book to go beyond locations and events to tap into the variety of things only a local could know. The Best Things to Do in Los Angeles explores every aspect of Los Angeles life. Find the best spots to view the Hollywood sign or exactly where to catch postgame fireworks at Dodger Stadium. Track down the most authentic eateries in ethnic enclaves, and engage in L.A.’s legendary food wars, from hamburgers to French dips. Follow the most beautiful routes up and down the Pacific coast, take your own unique architectural tour of the Hollywood Hills, or find out where the city’s best bookstores are and read up on it all instead.

Organized by theme – from destinations to views and sights, food and drink, and of course the Hollywood trail of superstar haunts and famous locations – and with contributions from celebrated Angelenos including, Gary Baseman, Flea, Ludo Lefebvre, Sasha Spielberg, and more, this is simply the most helpful and fun guidebook there is to the City of Angels.

Here's the full entry:

My Cameo in Andy Cohen's New Book

In Bravo "Watch What Happens" host Andy Cohen's new book The Andy Cohen Diaries, Andy mentions our NATPE Q&A panel in January (although I'm not quite mentioned by name. I'm the "reporter from TV Guide"):



Thanks to my colleague Scott for giving me the head's up. Watch the actual interview below:

A Farewell to Brand Bookshop: Closing Sale (Half Off All Books) Starts Today

Sad, sad bookstore news out of Glendale: The Brand Bookshop, one of the last remaining independently owned book store gems left in L.A., is shutting down after 29 years in business. (It opened its doors in 1985. I called it "one of Glendale's treasures" in a 2007 blog post.) According to the LA Times:

Owner Jerome Joseph, now in his mid-80s, has decided to retire. A used bookstore with a vast, eclectic selection, Brand Bookshop was one of the largest bookstores of its kind in Southern California. In addition to the books in its sprawling Glendale store it has a large stock warehoused offsite, totaling more than 100,000 books. With its books sorted into more than 1,500 highly curated categories, Brand Bookshop has provided a terrific example of the power of browsing. Walking its aisles was an occasion for serendipity, contradiction and surprise.

Carolyn Kellogg in her piece above notes that Brand Bookshop was slow to start selling its books online. Too bad no one could step in and keep the store going. It narrowly avoided a fire next door just last year; instead, it was the march of time that ultimately claimed Brand Bookshop.

Starting today, all books are 50% off. Make sure to get there before it's too late!

Spotted: "Little Mommy"

Hey, I'm a fan of Little Golden Books, but I'm not sure I approve of them celebrating childhood pregnancy.

The Holiday Bookshelf: Four Books About the TV Biz You Should Read

Santa didn't get you what you wanted? Perhaps it's time to return that ugly scarf and instead invest in some good reading. For you folks out there interested in the biz, several friends have come out with interesting reads about TV. Jim McKairnes, whom I've known from his days at CBS, has an encyclopedic knowledge of the TV biz-- which comes in handy when he teaches students at DePaul. He recently self-published a book about how industry execs got into the TV biz-- the question he gets most from his students. You can buy the book here. I recently chatted over Facebook with Jim:

FRANKLIN AVENUE: Where did the idea come from to self-publish a book about breaking into the industry?
McKAIRNES: This book is spun off from the teaching I began to do in 2009-10. As a general intro to first class, I told students how I broke in, and saw them perk up. So after that i reached out to colleagues to ask how they broke in and then I read their emailed replies one at a time each week, calling them "Survival Guide" letters. It was no surprise to see that students crave advice and guidance based on real-world experience of those in field they want to enter. I have done this with each class since, and at the end of each term, I redact emails and print/distribute them to class. After three years and 102 stories, a friend suggested i publish them. Now it's actually selling.

FRANKLIN AVENUE: What's the Cliff Notes version of your story?
McKAIRNES: :East-coast j-school grad, East Coast entertainment journalism in my 20s, started over out here at 29 knowing no one and nothing. I met Norman Lear, who told me i should be working in TV, introduced me to then-CBS head Jeff Sagansky, and I was eventually hired at CBS. I stayed 13 years and left in 2006 as senior VP of scheduling and planning. I returned for a 2-year hitch from 2008 to 2010 in comedy development on studio side. I was asked to teach at DePaul in Chicago after an appearance there to talk. Now I'm writing and teaching but planning a 2013 return to the executive ranks if the right gig is out there and if love of TV is still anyone's aim.

FRANKLIN AVENUE: Is there a common thread on how folks "made it"?
McKAIRNES: Unquestionably an internship, paid or unpaid.

FRANKLIN AVENUE: I imagine this is question No. 1 from your students -- how to break into Hollywood. What's question No. 2?
McKAIRNES: "Is Hollywood cut-throat?"

FRANKLIN AVENUE: What's the thing you wished you knew when you were starting out that you know now?
McKAIRNES: What i wish i knew then: that presentation and ceremony -- working the system and selling yourself -- are as important to getting a job as ability and knowledge.

Here are a few more books anyone in Hollywood ought to add to their shelves:



Alan Sepinwall recently self-published the book The Revolution Was Televised, a look at some of the ground-breaking dramas of the past 15 years (think "The Sopranos," "The Wire," etc.) The book even earned a rave from the New York Times' Michiko Kakutani:

Mr. Sepinwall’s book, which was self-published, has all the immediacy and attention to detail that has won his blog so many followers (including this one). It also stands as a spirited and insightful cultural history. In these pages he examines how the artists behind 12 groundbreaking series used the time and space and intimacy afforded by the medium of TV to pioneer new means of storytelling, while at the same time explicating the philosophical visions behind their work.

From Syracuse University Press, my former Variety colleague Cynthia Littleton has written the definitive book on the WGA strike, TV on Strike: Why Hollywood Went to War over the Internet. Having covered the strike and its lasting impact, I know this will be an interesting read. Former NBC entertainment president Warren Littlefield blurbs:

Every day Cynthia shows us how smart and well informed she is with her reporting. What we didn’t know is just how compelling a storyteller she is! If you are in the entertainment industry or aspire to be this book is a MUST READ page turner. The players come to life and the events of the Writer’s strike provide the prism for Cynthia’s explanation of how the entire entertainment eco-system really works. In the lightning fast constantly changing entertainment universe this book helps us to understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ it is all happening. Bravo Cynthia!

Finally, my TV Guide Magazine colleague Steve Battaglio has been busy. Hot off his book about the history of the "Today" show, Steve also collaborated with NBC News on "Election Night: A Television History 1948-2012." Here's the blurb:

Election Night: A Television History by Stephen Battaglio is a fascinating and revealing look at the evolution of U.S. presidential election night broadcasts and how since 1948, this televised event galvanizes the nation.It explores the technical advancements in vote counting, live coverage from the field, how the networks get polling information and call a state for a candidate and how the drama unfolds in the control room. Through the lens of NBC News, Election Night highlights significant commentary by legendary news figures such as Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, John Chancellor, Tom Brokaw, Tim Russert, and Brian Williams.

Drawing from extensive video archives, Battaglio goes through every presidential race beginning with Truman vs. Dewey and features all sixteen elections broadcasted since the dawn of television, including the 2012 re-election of President Barack Obama.

Filled with anecdotal stories about political campaigns and network coverage, Election Night provides a "behind-the-scenes" account by industry professionals and gives inside access to history in the making.

There you go. Escape the week between Christmas and New Years with a good book about TV!

Flashback to the Sunset Strip's Rock 'n' Roll Billboards

Growing up off Sunset Boulevard (above Tower Records, RIP) in the 1960s and 1970s, a young Robert Landau was taken by the amazing rock 'n' roll billboards stationed up and down the Sunset Strip. They were monuments to rock star egos and homages to the explosion of rock as a modern social and cultural movement -- starting with The Doors.

A photography hobbyist, Landau grabbed his camera and chronicled these billboards. Landau eventually became a pro photographer -- but decades later dusted off his Kodachromes and hosted a slide show of his Sunset Strip pics. Countless people suggested he turn it into a book -- and after conducting interviews with artists, record producers and the designers who constructed the billboards, he has put together Rock 'n' Roll Billboards of the Sunset Strip, a new coffee table book out on our fave imprint, Angel City Press.



What's fascinating about the book is the wild art work of these billboards -- all hand painted, by the way -- but also the snapshot of a bygone era on the Sunset Strip. The pics include long-gone businesses, signs and autos.



I got a chance to meet Landau (above) at a party for the book release a few weeks ago, and it was clear that this was truly a labor of love. The book is beautifully designed by Frans Evenhuis, who previously worked with Landau on another Angel City Press book, "Hollywood Poolside."

Landau has produced several L.A.-centric books, including 1984's "Outrageous L.A." (I also have a copy of that in my L.A. book collection). Watch this promotional trailer about the book. Priced at $50, it's a great holiday gift, and on sale now.

Exploring the Last Bookstore's Labyrinth

The best bookstore in Los Angeles just got bigger -- and better. Downtown's amazing Last Bookstore, which we wrote about last year, has expanded dramatically into a new 6,100 square foot upstairs space that it calls the "Labyrinth."

The "Labyrinth" includes 100,000 books that are all $1 each. That's right. It's a bit of a treasure hunt, as the books aren't necessarily shelved in any particular order (although kids books seem to be grouped together in places). But that's perhaps part of the fun. If you want order, the books downstairs in the Last Bookstore's normal floor space are indeed cataloged. Upstairs, it's the wild west.

Some shots from the Last Bookstore's new space:



Little army men keep watch.



Lots and lots of bookshelf space.



And more bookshelves!



Facing outside.



Hours could be spent here.



Yes, hours.



The Last Bookstore inhabits a space that was once a bank. Yep, that's why this is the "Old Bank District."



One more look at the lobby.



This isn't your typical used book store. Check out these old typewriters.



From the Last Bookstore's website: "The name was chosen with irony, but it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy as physical bookstores are dying out like dinosaurs from the meteoric impact of Amazon and e-books. With our constant turnover of stock, regular musical and literary events, and coffee and vinyl LP shop, we book-lovers at the Last Bookstore hope to last as long as we can in downtown LA’s vibrant new community."

The Last Bookstore's address is 453 S Spring St, but the entrance is on 5th St. It's open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Downtown's Last Bookstore Preps Major Expansion

We're big fans of downtown's The Last Bookstore (read our review here), so I'm excited to see that the store will be expanding. Here's what they're up to:

The construction is still in progress, but the end result will be brand-new shelves of over 100,000 $1 books. We're also taking down some of the walls up there so you'll be able to look down onto the first floor of the Bookstore while you browse upstairs. This new space will also serve as an amazing community builder, as half of all net proceeds from sales on the second floor will go to support tutoring homeless Skid Row kids. It's going to be a lot easier to rationalize taking home a few extra books now.

To support the Mezzanine Expansion, the Last Bookstore is asking for some donations via IndieGoGo. And there's something in it for you:

*Donate $5 and get $6 credit in the store on used books, DVDs, or CDs
*Donate $10 and you get 15 one-dollar books
*$20 gets you $30 of store credit towards any used books
*A $50 donation will earn you $80 used book store credit

Head over to their website for more info.

Westside Pavilion Barnes & Noble To Shut Down

(Flickr pic by mirtai.)

This was a shocker. As LA Observed reports, the popular (and usually pretty busy) Barnes & Noble at the Westside Pavilion is shutting down. That will leave no major commercial book store between Santa Monica and The Grove. That's stunning news for westsiders -- and even UCLA students who ventured down Westwood to hang out there. LA Observed writes:

Quiet talk has been around for a few weeks, but now red clearance sale signs have gone up — 30 percent off on a lot of books — and store clerks acknowledged today that they have been given the word. The multi-story Barnes & Noble at Pico and Westwood boulevards will close around the end of the year. Word on the street is that the H&M store in Westside Pavilion will expand into the higher-profile corner location. There's no official confirmation from the mall or from Barnes & Noble.

Reaction on Twitter was swift and surprised. Writes Joni Yung: "what??!?!" Terry McCarty adds: "Damn. So the definition of the Westside brick-and-mortar bookstore has changed to mostly used booksellers."

The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, But First In Our Hearts

If The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles indeed winds up as L.A.'s last bookstore, well, at least it's worthy.

The store, run by Josh Spencer, recently moved into a new 10,000-square foot home at the corner of 5th and Spring in downtown's Historic Core. And it's quite a welcome addition to what has become a lively, thriving example of Downtown's comeback.

With my sisters visiting from out of town, we decided to take them downtown on Sunday afternoon and visit the new store. (After a quick stop at CoffeeBar, located down the street on Spring, for a snack and some java.)

The brand-new location lived up to the hype. Now housed in the historic Spring Arts Tower (next door to the Crocker Club), the Last Bookstore is housed in what was once the lobby to the Citizens National Bank. The ceiling is still intact, the bank vault is still there... but the floor is now filled with shelves and shelves of affordable used books.

And that's the big draw -- unlike many used book stores, the product at The Last Bookstore is priced to move. We picked up several children's books, all priced at $1 or $2, for the Blogger Boys. If there was one disappointment, it was the Last Bookstore's paltry collection of Los Angeles-themed books. But with the shelves constantly being refreshed, I'm sure new ones are on the way.

The Last Bookstore is a great way to spend an afternoon in Downtown -- and I'm even impressed by the store's lengthy hours of operation: Until 10 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, and until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. (The store closes at 5 p.m. on Sundays.)

The Last Bookstore
453 S. Spring St.
Ground Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90013

More pics: