Aloud @ Los Angeles Public Library

This panel of experts will present and analyze the urban agriculture programs emerging in Los Angeles, with a focus on key topics such as policies, challenges, trends and the programs currently in place.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls and Nobody's Fool offers a novel of deep introspection and great comedy-the story of a marriage and of all the other ties that bind.

The author of A Perfect Storm turns his empathetic eye to a single platoon through a 15-month tour of duty in the most dangerous outpost in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley.

A deft and exhaustively researched account of a near-forgotten chapter of Newton's extraordinary life. Levenson, a documentary filmmaker and head of the Graduate Program in Science Writing at MIT, allows us to see how Newton's amazing mind worked when dealing with practical rather than theoretical questions.

Melding memoir and history, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author fuses his early life in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt with an account of the American experience in the Middle East offering intimate insights into the Arab-Israeli tragedy.

Father Greg (affectionately known as G-dog), pastor of Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights since 1986, has made it his mission to help at-risk youth. His remedy for what he calls \"a global sense of failure\" is radical and simple: boundless, restorative love. His book, filled with sparkling humor and generosity, gives a window on gangs in the context of spirituality.

In her new novel, Island Beneath the Sea, the master storyteller introduces yet another unforgettable woman-a slave and concubine determined to claim her own destiny against impossible odds.

Syjuco's daring debut novel opens with Crispin Salvador, lion of Philippine letters, dead in the Hudson River. Winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize, Syjuco exposes the corruption behind the rich families who have ruled the Philippines for generations offering an unhindered view of a society caught between reckless decay and hopeful progress.

The world-renowned neuroscientist Gary Lynch, subject of McDermott's new book, discusses his decades-long obsessive pursuit to uncover the mechanism by which the brain makes memories.

A work of brilliant and compassionate reporting, \"a must-read for everyone who cares about women, justice, fairness, the military, and the United States.\" (Katha Pollitt, The Nation)

Bowden, award-winning Tucson-based author and journalist reveals the story of the disintegration of Ciudad Juárez. Interweaving stories of the city's inhabitants-a raped beauty queen, a repentant hitman, a journalist fleeing for his life-with a broader meditation on the Mexican town's descent into anarchy.

Conlon, music director of LA Opera and one of the world's preeminent conductors, will discuss Wagner's monumental work, challenging preconceptions while guiding the audience through the music and dramatic themes in a way that both opera novice and aficionado can enjoy.

Imagination. Luminosity. Mystery and grief. Ghost landscapes. Joy and celebration. Join us for a reading by three award-winning California poets.

Gale, editor, writer, teacher; Kearney, poet, performer, and librettist; and Shumaker, poet, author and teacher read from their work.

In his new novel Solar, the best-selling author of Atonement, explores the quest of one overweight and philandering Nobel prize-winning physicist to save the world from environmental disaster.

A performative reading and talk, from the bestselling author of Red Azalea and Empress Orchid whose new novel- the powerful story of the friendship of a lifetime-is based on the life of Pearl S. Buck.

Sapphire's fiction, poems and essays have taken on the myths and assumptions of class, gender and race in America. Join us for a discussion of her writing, the evolution of Push from stage to screen, her influences from the literary canon to the zeitgeist of our times, and her new novel.

Two celebrated authors-one from Kenya, the other from Morocco-examine how writers take on the challenges posed by political and cultural conflict in our modern world.

Three new biographies-on Frank Oppenheimer, Frank Gehry, and Joseph Papp-offer completely different strategies for revealing complex and accomplished lives.

A panel of outdoor media professionals and legal experts focus on the city's recent debate surrounding LED billboards and illegal signage, raising the notion of free speech as it relates to images on the street along the way. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition \"How Many Billboards? Art In Stead\" at The MAK Center for Art and Architecture at the Schindler House, Feb. 5 - March 12, 2010.