Authors I Want to Read

Matt Blakeslee, Sandra Blakeslee, Christine Kenneally, Daniel Lord Smail, Tony Cohan, Pico Iyer, Jenny Price, Thomas Curwen, Susan Jacoby, Philip Shenon, Tim Weiner, Barry Siegel, Kathleen Finn, Deborah Rodriguez, Joshua Swiller, Lijia Zhang, Louise Steinman, Ron Carlson, Jane Smiley, Tobias Wolff, and Susan Salter.

All of these are authors who I had the privilege of listening to at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the country's largest celebration of the written word. These were the panel titles (it was so hard to choose!):

• Science: Mind Matters
• Nonfiction: Blurring Boundaries
• Current Interest: Checks & Balances
• Memoir: Other Places, Other Lives
• Fiction: Serious Prose

It was rather hot in Southern California this weekend (think triple digits inland), so it was a perfect time to sit in air conditioned auditoriums and listen to these thought-provoking discussions. I still managed to get into quite a few booths, as the sweat dripped off my brow and onto books, and leave laden with purchases each day. In addition, I came away with lots of freebies. Lest you think I'm crazy, I was joined by 140,000 other folks over the two-day festival. In Ackerman we sat behind someone who traveled all the way from Massachusetts for the event. Looking forward to next year already, and hopefully I will have read all of those authors by then!