Edward Humes (Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dream) blogs at the Huffington Post about the Iraq surge and the election — and draws a barrage of comments.
Southern California novelist Dean Koontz makes the Forbes list of the world’s best paid authors.
LAT Book editor David Ulin confesses his ambivalence about Banned Books Week.
Firoozeh Dumas scans the world for funny books from other cultures.
Jane Ganahl recalls the humble beginnings of Litquake, which opened this weekend. “Litquake is my baby - founded almost ten years ago with a handful of other writers, for fans of the written word in the SF Bay Area. We’ve grown from one afternoon and 20 authors, to 8 days, 450 authors in more than 75 venues… God, I’m really tired….” Tonight’s Litquake line up: Grotto writers Mary Roach, David Ewing Duncan, Elizabeth Bernstein, Stephen Elliott, Laura Fraser, and Jennifer Traig revel in an evening of creative hanky panky.
Speaking of Stephen Elliott, check out his periodic Poker Reports at McSweeney’s. He hosts a regular game where players dine on mac and cheese and play games like Iowa Peach Grove, California Peach Grove, and Folsom Peach Grove, too.
Meet the authors of the California Authors Directory. Visit the directory to discover writers like Andrew Sean Greer, a San Francisco novelist whose latest book, 
You can shop online from your local independent booksellers.