Which are the good books for preparing for Group Discussions?

Fellow bibliophiles of Los Angeles, will you be attending the Festival of Books this weekend?

• It's one of my favorite events of the year, and if you are new to town or have never attended it before, I encourage you to check it out this weekend. It's from 10:00-6:00 on Saturday and 10:00-5:00 on Sunday at the UCLA campus, and is fabulous and free of charge. A multitude of gifted and renowned poets and writers such as Gore Vidal, Jane Smiley, S.E. Hinton, and Steve Lopez will be speaking at panels on a variety of engaging topics; Ariana Huffington and other media figures will be participating in panel discussions; and Mary McNamara will be in conversation with the ever-inspiring Michael J Fox. Last year I was privileged to hear Ray Bradbury speak and meet him afterward, and I’m most looking forward to attending his panel tomorrow afternoon. There are also five stages with musical performances, poetry discussions, culinary exhibitions, and children's activities throughout the day as well as literally hundreds of vendors. You need tickets to attend the panels, and Ticketmaster stopped distributing them yesterday, but you can obtain them at the on-site ticket booth near the Poetry stage, and you can usually get into most panels if you stand in the waiting line. None of the events at the stages require tickets. If you attend, be sure to check out the WriteGirls on the Etc. stage at 3pm tomorrow, and hold on to your socks because they'll knock them off. They’re a group of teenage girls who are mentored by professional women writers, and they're immensely talented. The Gen Lit Players, a teen poetry troupe, also shouldn't be missed; they are on the Poetry stage at five tomorrow. I’m not affiliated with the festival in any way, but it’s something that I absolutely love attending, and so I wanted to post this information for any Angelenos or visitors who may be unaware of the event. You can find out more info here: http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/index.html For those of you who have attended in the past, which panels, performances or discussions did you like the best?

• Answer:

  hello darling/fellow bibliophile/angeleno/Y!Aer, you are clearly passionate about literature. if you weren't a contact and you didn't note that you aren't affiliated with the festival i would have mistaken you for a promoter of some sort! well the thing is, my schedule was packed this weekend. and there was nothing i could do to carve out even an hour or 2. i was also looking forward to taking my younger sister to a few panels that discussed topics very similar to the ones she would be learning in her history and english classes next year. i feel like such a nerd for admitting this but i was really really upset i couldn't make it to either of the 2 days. my friend's status on facebook said how she was "fully content" after hearing Bradbury speak. i really hope he'll be speaking again. by the time we left the function we had to attend it was already 4:30 so any attempt to try to make it to the last remaining bit of festivities would have been futile. well maybe next time =/. i noticed in one of your answers yesterday that you read and enjoyed 3 Cups of Tea. i think it's an amazing story. i had the opportunity to listen to Greg Mortenson speak a few months ago and though my parents and several friends attended i was not able to go. fortunately, next week he and his family are hosting a fundraising dinner at the Hilton. all the money goes to the CAI (central asia institute) which has established 80 schools in pakistan and afghanistan so far. there will also be a book signing. if you're free and interested in attending, send me an email for info (i'm not affiliated with this fundraiser in any way) =)