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On this blog we have featured hundreds of films adapted from novels and short stories by authors from across the world and throughout history. While we have celebrated their works both on page and on screen, we’ve yet to take a look at the people behind the words.
When the library closed almost three months ago, I checked out eight books. I’ve finished two of them. This is unusual for someone who reads everywhere—in checkout lines, on the Metro, at Dodger Stadium, even during social gatherings to take a break from the extroverts. Maybe that’s the problem.
All of us who went through school in the United States have read at least a few American novels published before 1900.
Sure we’re still staying put, and while social distancing has nipped our spring plans in the bud, it’s also great to have the time to slow down and read! Why not take a look at some fiction about people who are also sheltering in place?
Kobe Bryant’s post-basketball life was dedicated to inspiring young people through storytelling.
Jenn Bailey has won blue ribbons for pie baking, roamed Australia as the still photographer for Continuum, and made it to the Top 40 in the Lego Master Builder competition. Bailey has her MFA in writing for children and young adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
“The great thing about architecture is that it’s everywhere,” my father would assert with enthusiasm. He, himself, was a Los Angeles-based architect and it felt nothing short of magical to see his hand-drawn sketches transform over time into three-dimensional spaces.
Tis the season for spooky old books, and one of my very favorites is a hidden gem—Ruth Edna Kelley’s The Book of Hallowe’en (1919).
Cats and good story telling go together like, well, bagels and cream cheese. Children’s book authors and illustrators know this, resulting in no shortage of stories starring some adorable, clever, and often mischievous furry friends.
The month of June is Refugee Awareness Month and June 20 is World Refugee Day.









![Resettlement of Vietnamese refugees, [1975]. Photo credit: Mercurio Conrad, Herald Examiner Collection Two little girls, Pham Doan Phuong, 6, and Pham Quynh Phuong, 4, salute the American flag](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-08/refugeeheader.jpg?itok=TnkBdxyB)