Category Archives: Books
Alan Eisenstock Recommends Music to Lift You Up
(Editor’s note: When Palisadian Alan Eisenstock is not researching and writing one of his nonfiction books (18 thus far!), he pursues what he calls “a crazy labor of love side project” that he started in mid-March: sending a weekly Covid-themed...
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CTN Welcomes Alan Eisenstock’s Weekly 20-Song Playlists for These Pandemic Times
By BILL BRUNS Circling the News Adviser When Palisadian Alan Eisenstock is not researching and writing one of his nonfiction books (18 thus far!), he pursues what he calls “a crazy labor of love side project” that he started in...
A Revered Literary Lion Still Roars in Texas
By BOB VICKREY The list of Texans that have spent their writing lives chronicling their roots is rather long and impressive, and includes names like Dobie, Webb and Graves. For many years, J. Frank Dobie was considered the preeminent voice...
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Viewpoint: Lamenting the Loss of Village Books and Treasuring Diesel Bookstore
Columnist Bob Vickrey, in an August 7 email to Circling the News, wrote: “Lisa’s stirring up some ‘good trouble’ in town with her letter to the Palisadian-Post.” In her letter, Lisa Kaas Boyle wrote that when she was in law...
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Summer Is Fast Approaching: Time to Read and Also Enjoy Online Events at the L.A. Public Library
Gail Kim, children’s librarian at the Palisades Branch Library, wrote Circling the News on June 4 to say that even though the library is still closed, there are lots of opportunities, starting with the “Summer Reading Challenge.” “Believe it or...
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L.A. Public Library Seeks Items from Residents to Document ‘Shelter-at-Home’ Experience
The L.A. Public Library (LAPL) is asking that Los Angeles residents help document what they did or saw during the Covid-19 Stay-at-Home period. Led by Kelly Wallace, a LAPD librarian in the history department, and Digitalization and Special Collections librarian...
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This Bookselling Caper Stirs Echoes of Philip Marlowe
BY BOB VICKREY During my long career in book publishing, I was often accused by sales managers of enhancing my weekly marketing reports with excessive details. One manager, in particular, took a gentle shot in my direction at a company...
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Woody Allen’s Memoir, ‘Apropos of Nothing,’ Is a Must Read If You’re Interested in Fairness & Comedy
Hachette Book Group said it would not publish Woody Allen’s memoir “Apropos of Nothing” because Allen’s “son” Ronan Farrow objected. A new company, Arcade, stepped up and released it – and I purchased a copy out of a sense of...
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Books Are a Hard Commodity to Come By, But We Still Have Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood
We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too. – Anonymous In a March 31 L.A. Times Op-Ed piece (“Marijuana’s Essential, So Why Not Books?”), the author asks, “Why should it be easier to buy marijuana than a good book at...
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God, Moses and Kenny Turan
By BOB VICKREY After reading CTN’s story of Kenny Turan’s retirement from his post as senior film critic at the LA Times, I was reminded of a couple of spontaneous meetings at Dutton’s Brentwood Books on San Vicente Boulevard. As...
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