Category: Writing Life

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Belletrist: Emma Roberts starts a book club for the age of Instagram

Do people read anymore? Apparently not, according to the headlines. The Washington Post reports that literary reading’s been victim to a long, steady decline (only 43% of Americans managed to read even a single literary work in an entire year!) — and The New Yorker reports statistics aren’t likely to improve with the next generation — since teenagers are too busy playing with their phones to read books.

But what if all those screen-addicted young people could be enticed to join an Instagram book club — by a hot celebrity?

That’s sort of the idea behind Belletrist, an online book club hashtagged into existence by actress Emma Roberts and her friend Karah Preiss. With pretty pictures of Emma reading and gorgeous flat lays featuring book club pics, Belletrist’s Instagram account already boasts 93,000 followers — a.k.a. #belletristbabes — posting their own bookish selfies and commenting on club discussions. That following’s dwarfed by Emma’s own 10.9 million fans on Instagram, but hey — a book club’s gotta start somewhere —

And the book picks themselves are fantastic literary reads! The current book of the month is Touch by Courtney Maum — and predictably, Courney’s novel is now showing up all over Instagram. Past club picks include Marlena by Julie Buntin and South and West by Joan Didion.

Book picks comes with Facebook Live videos (here’s Belletrist’s Facebook Live interview with Courtney), Q&As on Tumblr (here’s one with Ariel Levy), and in the case of Joan Didion, a personal essay by Emma herself.

So far, Belletrist activities have stayed mostly online — but I got to meet Emma and Karah at a Story + Soul salon earlier this year! The Belletrist founders chatted with Dani Shapiro — in town on book tour for Hourglass — and gave out cute pink notebooks and pens to the literary attendees. So nice to meet you ladies!

Soon after, Belletrist launched a new series called [a book for when] that recommends additional books during the month. After all, one book a month isn’t quite enough for #belletristbabes. The first pick for this series, predictably, is Hourglass!

Want to join the book club? Follow @belletrist on Instagram, sign up for Belletrist’s email list, and pick up the recommended books to read and discuss. Just don’t forget to post your bookish photos and tag them #belletristbabe!

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Pen Center USA: Bookish cocktails and literary community

How to enjoy your favorite book as a cocktail: Go to a PEN Center USA party at The Edison!

At the Member Mixer last week, book lovers drank In Cold Blood (a black Manhattan), The Sound and the Fury (mezcal margarita), and The Age of Innocence (gin, prosecco, and elderflower) — while supporting a literary nonprofit.

I actually gave my drink tickets away — Hope you enjoyed your cocktails, Laura and Julia! — and had a fun time! Here I am with Libby Flores, PEN’s director of literary programs.

J Ryan Stradl (Kitchens of the Great Midwest), Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief; below), and Julia Fierro (The Gypsy Moth Summer) all gave lovely toasts to get drinkers to become members of PEN.

PEN Center USA is a literary and human rights organization, committed to “cultivating and expanding a diverse and engaged literary community in the western United States.” It does everything from provide fellowships to emerging writers to give out literary awards to organize dozens of local readings to publish a literary journal. Oh, and Pen also “advocates for imprisoned, censored, and persecuted writers throughout the world.”

Plus, PEN throws fun parties! Members at the mixer got to display their books. Cake Time was in good company. There were more books; I just couldn’t get them all in one shot —

Memberships start at $15 and come with a lot of perks, from a free tote to party invites to drink tickets to scholarships and writing workshop discounts. Can’t afford to join right now? PEN’s book club is free — and also comes with book-themed cocktails — though you’ll need to pay for your own drinks —

More:
* 5 ways to give back to literary nonprofits in Los Angeles
* The Edison Book Club
* 12 Literary journals for Los Angeles writers

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Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Northeast LA

Picky writers can’t just go to any coffee shop. We need good working spaces with comfy chairs and tables. We need decent wifi and electric outlets for our laptops. We (or at least I) need good reading light. And we like to be able to hang for a few hours without feeling like we’re overstaying our welcome.

Which is to say — I’m really putting together this best coffee shops list for me.

I often find myself stuck in a part of town I don’t know very well — usually before or after some event — because I don’t want to drive home until after rush hour ends. Now (or more accurately, soon, when I finish this 5-part guide covering most L.A. neighborhoods), whatever area of Los Angeles I happen to be in, I know where I can stop to read or get some writing done while I wait for traffic to clear.

Earlier:
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Central LA
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: Westside
* Best coffee shops for writers in Los Angeles: The Valley
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Silver Lake: Dinosaur Coffee. 4334 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles.

Need freedom from free wifi? This no-free-wifi spot will force you to work on your novel instead of senselessly surfing the internet. Dinosaur’s a spacious, inviting, and well lit place with nice wood paneling and little decorative plants. There’s Fourbarrel coffee, creatively-named blended coffee drinks, and some good teas.

Echo Park: Stories Books & Cafe. 1716 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles.

This is my favorite coffee shop on the list — because it’s also a bookstore, and carries my book, Cake Time! Plus it’s a cozy place to work over coffee, Juice Served Here drinks, or beer or wine — take your pick. There’s a decent small menu of simple eats as well as a gluten-free and vegan pastry selection. Plus, the outdoor patio with communal tables is a perfect place to read on sunny days — or take in a performance or reading on some evenings. Here’s a photo of me with the other readers at a Kaya Press reading from a couple years back —

Zoe Ruiz, Doug Manuel, Siel Ju, Lisa Locascio, Brandon Som at the Crevasse in Los Angeles reading with Kaya Press at Stories Books and Cafe
From left to right: Zoe Ruiz, Doug Manuel, Siel Ju, Lisa Locascio, Brandon Som at the Crevasse in Los Angeles reading with Kaya Press at Stories Books and Cafe. Photo by Diana Arterian

Earlier: 11 best bookstores in Los Angeles for writers

Eagle Rock: Found Coffee. 1355 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles.

This sunny, welcoming spot’s great for writing, reading, and meeting up with other writers. Found focuses on local coffee roasters, so it’s a nice place to discover the caffeinated companies near you! Thanks Janice Lee (read her book Daughter, reviewed here and pictured below!) for introducing me to this spot!

Glassel Park: Habitat Coffee Shop. 3708 Eagle Rock Blvd., Los Angeles.

This spacious cafe offers something for everyone: gigantic sandwiches ranging from roasted pork to vegan seitan bahn mi, soba noodle salads, all manner of gluten free energy bars, and cold pressed juices.

The wifi is fast and the seating plentiful and soy lattes come with Rorschach test-esque art because apparently it’s tougher to do latte art with soy milk —

Highland Park: Kindness & Mischief. 5537 N Figueroa St., Los Angeles.

This cozy spot has pretty macha lattes, lovely natural wood tables with decorative blue glass, and fun specialty concoctions like The Kindness: milk, sweetened coconut condensed milk, cinnamon, and espresso.

There are two downsides to this cafe, however: no wifi and a super early 5 pm close time! The upside? Kindness & Mischief is just down the block from Book Show!

More: Top 11 coffee shops for writers in Portland

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Live Talks Los Angeles: Literary conversations with popular authors

Ever wonder how novelists are treated at the Oscars? At a Live Talks Los Angeles event on Monday, Colm Tóibín dished on his experience attending an Academy Award after his novel Brooklyn was made into a film.

“If you’re a star up for an Oscar, you go in one door, and if you’re a just a novelist … you go in another door. And it’s not just the red carpet. There’s no carpet!”

Colm Tóibín was paired with arts and cultures writer Scott Timberg for a wide-ranging conversation that covered everything from Brexit to Miro to Irish history to Elizabeth Bishop to Colm’s own latest novel, House of Names. It was a pretty inspiring time — and my first time at a Live Talks Los Angeles event, a speaker series that’s been bringing authors and other thought leaders to L.A. for seven years.

And conveniently for me, most of the events happen on the westside; Colm’s event was at the Ann and Jerry Moss Theatre at New Roads School. Sadly I learned of the series only recently — or I would have gone to the conversation between Jami Attenberg and Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney earlier this year!

Founded and produced by Ted Habte-Gabr, Live Talks LA somehow actually gets people to pay good money to see and hear writers of literary fiction. A general admission seat for Colm’s event cost $20, but tickets went up to $95 for literatis who wanted admission to the pre-event reception, a reserved section seat at the talk, and a copy of Colm’s book for the post-event signing.

Can’t afford the admission? Live Talks LA records all its events and puts them on its website. Plus, Live Talks LA has a free Newer Voices series, which highlights debut or early career authors. The next event in that series is An Evening with Nathan Hill, author of The Nix, happening June 26 at the Santa Monica Main Public Library.

In addition to novelists, Live Talks LA also brings in other well-known names. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, for example, is the featured speaker at an event tonight! Other upcoming speakers include meditation teacher Jack Kornfield and Senator Al Franken. Get on the Live Talks LA email list to hear about them all —

Earlier: 12 literary reading series in Los Angeles

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Sublevel and Westwind: Two more journals for Los Angeles writers

Just eight months ago I wrote about 12 literary journals for Los Angeles writers — and since then, I’ve discovered two more! Read, enjoy, and submit —

Sublevel. CalArts’s longtime lit magazine Black Clock folded a little while back, but in its place a newer, even edgier literary magazine has launched. Sublevel is “devoted to the nexus of literature, poetics, art, criticism, philosophy, culture, & politics,” and its editors “make no hard distinctions between creative and critical enterprise.”

In addition to (mostly experimental) writing, the zine includes conversations and art. The main issues go up online, but Sublevel also publishes a supplementary print edition — called B-Sides. The first issue was edited by Maggie Nelson and Janice Lee — but both of these CalArts faculty members are leaving the institution this year, Maggie heading to USC and Janice to Portland State University. It’s unclear who’ll head up the second issue. In the meantime, enjoy browsing the first —

Westwind UCLA journal of the arts

Westwind. Unbeknownst to me until two weeks ago, the English department at UCLA has been publishing Westwind, UCLA’s journal of the arts, for over 50 years now!

These days, Westwind publishes online issues in the fall and winter, along with an annual print issue in the spring that you can pick up from UCLA’s English department office — or read online too. The journal has a strong focus on UCLA specifically and the LA-area more broadly. Submissions — which will reopen in the fall — are open only to “UCLA students, faculty, alumni, and members of the greater Los Angeles community.” Send in your fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, art, and music then —

Earlier: 12 Literary journals for Los Angeles writers

Photo of Westwind courtesy of Westwind

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Young Literati: Party with book lovers, support libraries

Shepard Fairey DJs, Andrew Bird whistles and sings and plays the violin, Chelsea Handler mocks Trump by reading a damning excerpt of his book. Before and after those performances, you get to mingle with fellow book lovers over gourmet hors d’oeuvres next to an open bar. If that sounds like a fun night to you, make sure you go to the next Young Literati event!

The Young Literati Ninth Annual Toast happened on Saturday at NeueHouse Hollywood — and along with the celebrities mentioned above, featured a handful of short comic readers: Retta (Parks and Recreation) read hilarious questions people have asked librarians, Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) a bloody story about a girl delivering a calf.

Kumail Nanjiani’s (Silicon Valley) reading was my favorite; he took us through a Choose Your Own Adventure book — a philosophical one with thought-provoking and super abrupt multiple endings —

Young Literati is basically a membership program for people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, benefiting the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. If you join, you get to benefit the Foundation — and to go to cool exclusive literary events like the Toast.

The Tenth Annual Toast won’t be happening until next year, obviously, but you can join Young Literati anytime. Besides discounted tickets to Toast and other Foundation events, you’ll be invited to attend Young Literati ALOUD receptions — which offer drinks, appetizers, and conversation post ALOUD events.

Membership options run from $125 for those in their 20s to $2500 for the well-heeled. The more you give, the more perks you receive. Enjoy —

Earlier: 7 Best public libraries in Los Angeles for writers

Photos by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging