book lists

Image of meteor shower by Heath Cajandig

Late tonight, after midnight and before dawn, you may have a chance to catch a “shooting star” or twenty; the Geminid meteor showers will be visible all over the country, […]

Christmas Tree Lighting

It’s already December and for many people that means the celebration of Christmas in whatever form that takes for them. One of the things we do to celebrate the holiday […]

image of leaf in frozen water by Keith Howells

Many of our deepest motives come, not from an adult logic of how things work in the world, but out of something that is frozen from childhood.   This year’s […]

Thanksgiving in Contemporary Fiction

Thanksgiving is this week; we’re grateful for your support. We hope you find yourselves in friendly company, with plenty of your favorite foods, and well-stocked with good books to tide […]

Illustration of a detective

The newest adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic detective novel, Murder on the Orient Express, starring Kenneth Branagh as the famously mustachioed detective, Hercule Poirot, hit movies theaters last weekend, and […]

postcard-image-of-wwI-era-parade-float-with-women-dressed-as-angels-and-boys-in-military-uniform

This Saturday, November 11, is the Veterans Day holiday in the U.S. Veterans Day is a day we honor all the men and women who have served in the military. […]

Fate of the Elder Gods game cover

The Halloween season is always a good time for a good scare. Movies and TV shows use the time of year to highlight the scariest, creepiest ideas. People remind themselves […]

image of los angeles sunset by Sompop S, used under CC Attribution license

  It’s that time of year: those infamous Santa Anas are blowing in: hot, dry, contributing to the danger of wildfires.  Many of us in SoCal sense a psychological component […]

Syd Mead Illustration

On Thursday, October 19th, there will be a screening of the new documentary Visual Futurist: The Art & Life of Syd Mead in the Donald R. Wright Auditorium at the Pasadena Central […]

"Crime Scene Do Not Cross Tape by Tex Texin

  The titles below, on crime and forensics, are inspired by a story on Atlas Obscura about the detailed “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Deaths” created by Frances Glessner Lee, the […]