Bob's Big Boy, Brownies & Books

Celebrated a friend's birthday at Toluca Lake's Eight 18 Wine & Tapas Bar. I love this place and got to sample a few different glasses of lovely red wine. Post mingling, after midnight, my friends and I headed over to the Bob's Big Boy down the block. They needed to finally eat dinner. I was craving a massive brownie.

After giving the waiter, Rosalio, my order I glance to my left to see Sandy reading over a cup of coffee. She was reading Bill Bryson's non-fiction work "A Short History of Nearly Everything". Sandy just started reading it but it's about the history of the Earth in a nutshell. It has science elements to it however its very storylike and an easy read.


Sandy loves reading non-fiction but also enjoys fiction, namely the classics. Growing up she was a big fan of Fahrenheit 451 because she could relate to the themes in the book and she says that it just felt right and pefect for her at the time. Since then she's read the book multiple times but hasn't read it in a year. She's considering picking it up again soon.

She tries not to recommend books to people because everyone has different tastes and she'd rather not impose certain books on her friends lest they dislike it. However, if she were to pick a book to recommend to people it would be Fahrenheit 451.

The last book she's read was It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, a book about a guy going through a teenage crisis. She had never really heard anything about the book, just picked it up at the bookstore because it had a cool cover. "Talk about judging a book by it's cover!" And when I finally looked up the cover I probably would've done the same thing! It's so colourful...

Once the interview was over my brownie arrived. Perfect timing! And you know what else was perfect? The layer of hot fudge swimming on top!


Have you ever picked up a book solely based on its cover?
Are you particular about the cover of your book when there are multiple editions/different artwork?

A strawberry cheesecake with a side of Grisham

Spent this past Saturday in the Valley, brunching it, lounging about, mini-golfing, and snacking on things I wouldn't normally indulge in. Before heading out to putt around a mini course my friends and I decided to appease our sweet-tooths and head on over to the Cheesecake Factory in the Sherman Oaks Galleria. Upon being seated I spot Tom at a table with a The Appeal by John Grisham. He's reading while waiting for his food to arrive and reading in public like this helps him pass the time especially when he is alone. If he were dining with someone then, naturally, they would be participating in good ol' conversation. Tom starts telling me about his current read. It's about a lawsuit on behalf of people who died due to a contamination in a town. The people hire a guy to go up against the big company responsible for the contamination and I believe the big company also hird someone to go up against the couple who filed the appeal to ensure that they don't win.

I asked if this book was made into a movie since the storyline sounded familiar but Tom noted that Grisham books are so formulaic that we've heard these types of stories many a time. So far he's read 5-6 Grisham novels and despite the plot formulas Tom finds the books relatively good.


Tom is a big fan of mystery books and always has been. On top of enjoying Grisham novels he also enjoys authors like John Connolly, Carol O'Connell, Ann Tyler, and Doris Lessing.

Growing up he was a big fan of the Hardy Boys and other mystery-related books. And when asked what book he'd like to write of his own it would definitely be in the mystery novel vein. If he were to adapt a book into a movie he'd choose Evan Hunter's Criminal Conversation. "It would look great on screen."

Meet flatmancrooked

During my last visit to San Francisco I finally got to meet Kaelan, a friend of my sister's and one of the masterminds behind Flatmancrooked.com ("non-profit corporation dedicated to identifying, recording, and disseminating good stories. Flatmancrooked strives to promote the narrative form in all of its manifestations, be they fiction or nonfiction, written, spoken, or visual").

I'd heard so much about this awesome, independent operation and had been following him/them on twitter (@flatmancrooked) and now I am hooked!

Check out their goods on their site Flatmancrooked.com (they just gave themselves a lil' makeover/revamp. Great blog posts, raudio, and more!) and take advantage of their "Recession Sale"

Support the promotion of literature!

And stay tuned for an interview with Kaelan himself...

Bar Belle

After a day at the LACMA for the Vanity Fair Portraits exhibit (and other choice exhibits) my friend and I decided to grab a few beers at The Little Bar on La Brea and Wilshire. (The place just isn't the same since my buddy, Bryan, left for the Peace Corps). Place was rather empty with just a few guys watching football. Once we paid our tab I noticed the girl on one of the bar stools, pint in one hand and an open book in front of her. Rare occurence for me, if I may say so.

Misty is reading Half Broken Things by Morag Joss. She really didn't know anything about this book when she got it - just randomly picked it out in one of those "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" sales at the bookstore. But she's liking the book so far. It's about a lonely old woman in England who's house-sitting at a manor. The woman is a bit deranged and starts to think the house is hers. My ears perked up at this because I feel like I've heard something about this at some point.


Misty is a big fan of novels...any fiction, really. Her current fave book at the moment is The Magus by John Fowles. "I couldn't even begin to summarize the book but you should definitely read it."

Growing up Misty loved The Phantom Tollbooth. I got really excited when she said this because this happens to be one of my favourite childhood books! We started to geek out about how amazing it is, how it's a children's book but a great read for adults. The book is rittled with play on words and all the double entendres. A boy, who's rather apathetic about school, comes home to find a new toy in his room. He builds it and it's a tollbooth so he gets into his toy car and drives thru it, leading him to a magical land of words. It's like Alice in Wonderland meets a grammar book! If you haven't read this book yet you've got to pick it up!

As a teenager Misty read anything and everything Tom Robbins. Her favourite of all is Still Life with Woodpecker. At this point, my friend and another guy at the bar were chiming in because they, too, are/were Tom Robbins fans and were talking about their own favourites. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (a book I own but haven't read yet) came up but the consensus was Still Life with Woodpecker.

Another book Misty confesses to reading as a teen was the biography of Jim Morrison. She read it like 100 times, she says! This was the point when everyone started to share their own Jim Morrison obsession phases - making the bead necklaces and everything!

If she were to write her own book? Oh, she knew the answer real quick to this one! There is a rare condition recently discovered where people don't experience pain. Misty would love to have a book about the psychological repercussions of this condition.

Another easy answer to one of my questions? Which book she would like to adapt into a movie! It would have to be Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. (He also happens to be the author of Everything is Illuminated). "It is the most beautiful book I've ever read!" and that is why she would love to adapt it into a movie. It's about a precoscious little boy whose dad was killed in 9/11. Misty highly recommends it. "It will change your life! It's just absolutely gorgeous!"

So, why was Misty readin in a bar of all places? She likes to read when she is by herself. It doesn't make sitting alone seem so awkward. She can sit at that bar, for example, or wherever, and not feel obligated to talk to someone. She can just be on her own in her own world, lost in her book. And it also gives her a "reason" to be alone. Plus, why not drink at a bar? Beer...book...what more could you ask for?


Misty hasn't been in LA long so we started to share different bars, or places, that she could read outdoors and in public. Cafes, parks, restaurants, bars....quite fun to start thinking about my different haunts and suggest parking myself there and get lost in my book. But yes, put Misty anywhere and she will read even with tons of hullabaloo going on around her.

Where is an 'unusual' place you like to read? I like to read when I am eating alone but have you ever read at a bar?

Lookie what I found...

Jack, an old friend of mine, passed a LiveJournal link to me which, unfortunately, got pulled down but I was able to Google around and find it reposted elsewhere. Someone had found a 1965 parady on etiquette books called "The Recently Deflowered Girl", which talks about different scenarios that a lady could find herself in. Quite entertaining! I want to get a copy for myself, learn myself a thing or two :) But mainly to add to my coffee table and book shelf. The pictures are actually neat, too. Check it out here


Gimme! Gimme!

This Is How To Fly

On my flight back to LA after spending New Year's in San Francisco. Had encountered so many readers at the airport to and fro, and to Sonya @ PeopleReading your city is LITTERED with readers! Everywhere I turned I was surrounded! But alas, I had told myself to take a break work and interviewing (though I still worked remotely). However, sitting next to a reader on my flight back I couldn't help but turn to my right and solicit him :)

After letting Blair through (I had an aisle seat and he was stuck in the middle) I took out my earbuds when I saw him pull out Joseph Heller's Catch-22. He had never read it before and is finally reading it for his high school English class' required reading list. He started it over winter break and hasn't been able to put it down. Blair even read it whilst staying over his friend's place where he was crashing for New Year's.


Other books on his English list of recommended classic literature is Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. "It's racist...but Twain does a really great job at proving that racism is silly and stupid."

Blair also really enjoyed Catcher in the Rye which he considers one of his favourite books of all time. Upon hearing this I strongly urged him to pick up Franny and Zooey. I swear, the relationship between those two is untouchable. I hope he enjoys it as much as I did/do.

Another fave of his is Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, the classic fictional autobiography of the title character, an English castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island.

If Blair were to write his own book it would be about a guy growing up in Los Angeles, specifically Santa Monica. I pryed a bit and asked if it were autobiographical. He admits that it would be a bit...but he would try to steer away from it being completely autobiographical.


When it comes to adapting a book into a film Blair would love to work with the Halo books. All his buddies got him into them and now he's hooked. Animation or live action? Live action for sure!


What was your favourite book from your school (summer) reading lists?

Back to Basics

There's always room for a venti non-fat, no-foam latte! Wow, just typing that out made me sound so...LA?

Encountered Rio over holiday break at a Starbucks in Northridge (yep, in THE valley). He's reading "The Canon" by Natalie Angier, a non-fiction book about science - plain and simple. He showed me the Table of Contents and each chapter revolves around a different type of science whether it be microbiology or physics.

I asked if he was a scientist or currently studying it. Rio is actually a finance student but picked the book up because the subject matter interests him alot. He's always loved science. Plus, the book was in the $3.99 sale bin at Border's, he says, so he couldn't pass up on a deal like that!


The last book he read was another non-fiction work about bridge (the card game). He had always wanted to play it and knew how to play it a little bit but the book definitely helped him improve his game. (I wanna learn how to play bridge).

If Rio were to write his own book it would be about the history of science. He just can't seem to get enough of it!

What subject matter would you want to write about?

Also, interestingly enough, when Rio showed me the table of contents it hit me that I don't think I've read a book with a table of contents in a while! Could this be true?