Chevalier's Books

Book Signing with Molly Brandenburg

2012-02-11T16:38:00.001-08:00

Molly Brandenburg will be signing copies of her new book The Truth About Cats on Saturday February 18th from 1-3 pm.

Get ready, get set, MEOW! Are you ready for the truth? Can you even handle the TRUTH? For cat cartoon enthusiasts, the truth has arrived, in cartoonist Molly Brandenburg’s The Truth About Cats.

The Truth About Cats is a random series of cat cartoons that explores the major issues of the kitty universe, including theological concerns, sleeping in piles of other cats, and the real question of who exactly has first dibs on the kibble bowl. The book also introduces Frankie the cat, the loveably soulful cat with his eyes on a Hollywood career. In a series of lively line drawings, Frankie’s story is revealed, as this weight-challenged black and white cat finds his status on the home front threatened when a tabby kitten moves in and takes over his special place on the bed. Small issues, perhaps, to humankind, but to a feline, finding the right place on the owner’s bed is big time stuff, to be sure!

The Truth About Cats reveals all this and more. It’s sure to be the cat’s meow for cat lovers of every age.

The truth is out there. And it’s sure to have a lot of fleas.

We Have a New Website!

2012-02-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

It only took a decade, but we've finally entered the 21st century! As of today, our website is LIVE! You can now support your local neighborhood bookstore without leaving your home by purchasing books, CDs, DVDs, and even e-books from our website! Here's a link so you can check it out.

https://chevaliersbooks.mybooksandmore.com

English Crime Novels - Derek Raymond

2012-01-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

Have I read “Marriage Plot”? No. “Iq84”? No. “Cat’s Table”? No. “Rules of Civility”? No.

Why? Because I’m obsessed with Derek Raymond and learning the Queen’s slang. If you’re not English best to have an English friend at hand or at least Google so you can understand what you’re reading.

“Berks, tealeaf, coming the acid, moody, punter, SE12, John Bull, done bird, pettifogging” ? Hmm…
Yeah, the underbelly of London in the 1980’s – shocking, evil, gruesome, brutal, Jack the Ripperesque, but with such fabulous writing that you’ll be bowled over.

First person narrator. The Sergeant without a name who works in London's Department of Unexplained Deaths: “We work on obscure, unimportant, apparently irrelevant deaths of people who don't matter and who never did...No murder is casual to us, and no murder is unimportant, even though murder happens the whole time in a city like this.”

If you like really, really dark noir, try the Factory series (factory means “cop-shop”) by Derek Raymond, nee Robin Cook (NOT the medical thriller author!), who said of himself, “I left the up escalator to ambitious sods like Kingsley Amis. I had the down escalator all to myself.”

I'm having flashbacks as I write this.

Tommy Hawkins Book Signing

2012-01-20T16:50:00.000-08:00

Tommy Hawkins will be signing copies of his new book Life's Reflections: Poetry for the People on Saturday, January 28th, from 2 - 4 pm.

It is his hope that Life's Reflections: Poetry for the People will be a dynamic, entertaining and uplifting experience for life. The wide spectrum of areas covered, include love, women, sports, psychiatry, travel, music, family, relationships, the 1960s and much more.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Tommy Hawkins has enjoyed an incredible career as a college basketball All-American at Notre Dame, 10 years in the NBA playing ball with the Cincinnati Royals and Los Angeles Lakers (he played with Wilt, Jerry, Elgin, Oscar and many others), an Emmy Award-nominated radio and television broadcaster, event host and motivational speaker as well as a public relations vice president with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 18 years.

Author Signing with Dr. Nina Shapiro

2012-01-11T11:09:00.001-08:00

Dr. Nina Shapiro will be signing copies of her book Take a Deep Breath: Clear the Air for the Health of Your Child on Saturday January 14th from 1-3 pm.

Take a Deep Breath is a comprehensive, accessible, and indispensible guide for parents, caregivers, teachers, pediatricians, and other healthcare providers on the subject of children s breathing issues. The book provides a thorough review of breathing issues, differentiating the normal and abnormal for all ages, and at all levels of breathing passages. Take a Deep Breath explains all of the puzzling and oftentimes distressing breathing patterns our children have throughout development.

From the uppermost part of the breathing apparatus, the nose, to the lowermost part, the lungs, this book explains which problems are truly worrisome, and which are actually normal stages in a child s growth. Take a Deep Breath will enable the reader to do just that, take a deep breath, and get a better, clearer understanding about what s going on when your children breathe in and out. While pediatricians and other healthcare providers have expertise in all aspects of childhood illness, this book sheds new light on the latest research in pediatric breathing issues, sleep issues, and airway safety. Consisting of age-based sections, with location-based and problem-based chapters for each age group, each chapter also provides a 'to-do' list, offering successful preventions and treatments that can easily be done at home.

About 80 to 90% of children, at one time or another, have breathing problems. Take a Deep Breath will be a welcome, indispensible tool in all households with children. Day care providers, grandparents, babysitters and nannies, and parents clubs will all benefit from this book immensely.

Guest Review by Teva Rose

2012-01-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

The Humphrey series
Written By: Teva Rose -8 years old, in third grade at Larchmont Charter School

Humphrey is a classroom hamster. Reading about a hamster may seem boring but Betty G. Birney makes it very fun! Humphrey has courage, confidence, and pride. He’s an amazing little guy. First, he has great ideas. If one of his classmates is in trouble, Humphrey will always hatch up a great plan. Next, he is very confident. If Humphrey’s plan doesn’t work, he’ll always come up with a new one and those plans will always succeed. Finally, Humphrey inspires many people. For instance, the school custodian. Humphrey found him a girlfriend and they got engaged! Humphrey is an awesome hamster and he stays this way through all eight books.

Here are some of the reasons I adore the Humphrey books. First, they are not scary or sad. Second, anyone can read them. What I mean is, you can read them to your self, your parents can read them to you or best, your teacher can read them to your class. Third, these books teach you lessons and are good for connections (text to self, text to world, or text to text.) Last, the books suck you in. For example, I read almost a whole book in bed (on school vacation) and my grandma thought I was sleeping! I recommend starting with the first book, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO HUMPHREY and then reading the rest in any chosen order. I hope you enjoy the Humphrey series just as much as I did!!!!!!!!!!!!!(-:

To learn more about Humphrey go to:
http://bettybirney.com/

Reading with SLAKE Authors

2011-12-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

We hope to see you on Thursday evening, December 15th, from 7 - 9 p.m. for an event with SLAKE, the Los Angeles-based literary journal.

The current Issue 3 and in-production Issue 4 will be repped by such compelling readers as Luke Davies, Sam Slovick, Brendan Schallert, Natasha Vargas-Cooper, and Melissa Chadburn.

Come see Slake in action, and bring all the plus-ones you like. It’s their first time here, so we’d love to see you!

Barbara Bottner signs on Saturday December 10th

2011-12-06T16:58:00.000-08:00

Barbara Bottner will be signing copies of An Annoying ABC on Saturday, December 10th, from 11am - 1pm.

Imagine a preschool classroom with 25 cranky kids and one beleaguered teacher.

It only takes one small annoying act from Adelaide to set off a chain reaction of bad behavior. Dexter is drooling, Flora is fuming, Jasper is jeering, Kirby is kicking . . . and before you know it, Stella is stumbling, Todd is tumbling, and Winthrop is weeping. Oh, oh, oh!

What will it take to turn this annoying day around? Readers will be amazed and amused to see what happens when Adelaide . . . apologizes.

Barbara Bottner and Michael Emberley follow up their bestselling Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I Don't) with this outrageously funny alphabet book that shows that kindness can be contagious, too.

There will be copies of her books Miss Brooks Loves Books! (and I Don't) and Bootsie Barker Bites available also.

A Little Zen for Little Ones on Saturday December 17th

2011-12-06T16:33:00.000-08:00

Author Sanjay Nambiar will be signing copies of his book Maybe (A Little Zen for Little Ones) on Saturday December 17th from 11am - 1pm.

Based on an ancient and beloved Zen fable, Maybe (A Little Zen for Little Ones) is about a wise girl who experiences a series of events that at first seem lucky (or unlucky) but then turn out to be quite the opposite. A bike disappears, but then she gets a new one. She hurts herself, but then she enjoys a nice day at home. For each incident, was what happened good luck? Maybe. Was it bad luck? Maybe. Or, perhaps the girl simply does not get caught up in the emotion of the moment, because she can never know what that event might lead to, good or bad . . .

Book Signing with Marie-Alix Ravel

2011-11-29T16:04:00.000-08:00

Marie-Alix Ravel will be signing copies of her new book Marie-Antoinette's Present on Sunday December 11th from 2 - 4 p.m.

Throughout time, there have been people whose deaths changed the world so their lives and messages become eternal in our history books and consciousness.

Marie Antoinette was born in Austria to a life of unimaginable wealth and unquestioned privileges. At the age of 14 she moved to France to marry the dauphin and at 18 became Queen of the most powerful country in Europe. When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, everything changed. Marie Antoinette had to grow up very fast. Despite of all her efforts, she lost everything and finished her life in a small cell of the Conciergerie.

In the confinement of her cell, her life is suspended in time. Tribulation makes her realize who she is and she understands things are taken from her so that she will not remain earthbound and forgetful of her true immortal state. This tremendous transformation that helped her climb the stairs of the guillotine with natural heroism and die as a Queen in 1793 is for the first time ever revealed in Marie Antoinette’s Present.

Marie Antoinette’s Present is the never-before-told true story of a young woman, Kiera, burdened with repetitive nightmares of an old wheel on a cobblestone road, wooden steps, a frisson of cold air on her neck and the bitter taste of metal in her mouth. Emptiness. Silence. Death. In order to uncover the truth behind her dream and its connection to her present and past relationships, Kiera courageously shares her spiritual and emotional journey toward the realization that she was indeed, Marie-Antoinette, the last queen of France.

Marie-Alix Ravel is a researcher in reincarnation. When Kiera Hermine comes to see her, she has a passion for this strange case. Dreams, inexplicable coincidences will push Marie-Alix to conduct a thorough investigation, guided by a strong natural intuition and years of experience. This story is based on real facts, and whether you believe in reincarnation or not, Marie Antoinette’s Present is a moving story in which the present amazingly meets the past.

Richard Fox Signs on Saturday December 3rd

2011-11-25T13:04:00.000-08:00

Richard Fox will be signing copies of The Girl From the Sunset on Saturday December 3rd from 1 - 3 pm.

A famous drugstore on Sunset Boulevard and the Hollywood Christmas Parade of 1950 are the background for this tale of mystery and intrigue, full of colorful show business characters.

Book Signing with Kimberly Greene

2011-11-25T12:49:00.001-08:00

Kimberly Greene will be signing copies of her books on Sunday November 27th from 12 - 2 pm.

More Signed Copies of the Mozza Cookbook In Stock!

2011-11-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

We have a newly replenished stock of the Mozza Cookbook, all of which are signed by Nancy Silverton!

Check it out for recipes that would be great additions to your Thanksgiving table -- like the rich Cauliflower Gratinate, the beautiful Roasted Carrots Siciliana, or her famous Butterscotch Budino!

Are You Writing a Memoir?

2011-11-09T15:53:00.001-08:00

Have you ever thought about writing a memoir? If you have, then you should come to Chevalier's Books this Saturday, November 12th, between 1-3 pm for a complimentary memoir consultation with Allene Symons, publisher of Forked Road Press. She'll be featuring the title "From Monks to Mountain Gorillas", which is just one of the memoirs published.

From Allene's website:

"When I began teaching "Introduction to Writing the Memoir," I brought to my classes a background in college teaching, publications editing, and two decades of professional book reviewing (including memoirs).

After creating and offering the class in the Continuing Education Writing Program at California State University, Fullerton, the program was cancelled -- so at the urging of my students I began specializing in private memoir coaching.

Whether face-to-face or online, the goal of these sessions is to focus, bring forth, shape, and polish a writer's memoir, then shepherd the completed manuscript through to publication."

Book Signing with Stephen Foster

2011-11-09T15:46:00.001-08:00

Stephen Foster will be signing copies of his book Awakening the Actor Within this Sunday, November 13th, from 12 - 2 pm.

"Awakening The Actor Within" is a 12-week workbook aimed at helping actors recover and discover their highest goals and ambitions. It resulted from over 15 years of acting, writing and teaching. It focuses on the subject of healing from acting "blocks" and getting the courage to act again after being discouraged or disappointed. It aims to free an actors creativity and build a healthy foundation.

A spiritual workbook that initiates creative expansion and growth for actors, it teaches a simple, friendly, non-critical approach called “Acting Practice”. Actors are taught to form healthy acting habits and rebuild confidence. The book guides actors through a series of weekly exercises that empowers them with practical tools to overcome their "blocks" (fear, anger, self-loathing, jealousy, sabotage, and money).

“C. Stephen Foster's 'Awakening the Actor Within' is both a revelation of the actor's art and a celebration of the artistic life. This is not merely a book of procedures but, rather, a serious, informed, and delightfully engaging exploration of the inner geography that shapes every awakened actor." (-Scott Wilkerson, Professor of Creative Writing at Columbus State University and author of "Threading Stone.")

Liz Highly Recommends:

2011-11-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

Assumption

by Percival Everett

A brilliant novel.

I won't tell you the story - read it for yourself, and check out the stunning cover - maybe you can judge this book by its cover.

More Fabulous New Cookbooks!

2011-10-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Eleven Madison Park: The Cookbook

by Daniel Humm and Will Guidara

Wow!! After a bookful of luscious photos and possibly doable modernist recipes, you'll find really useful pages and pages of recipes for pickles, oils, gels, purees, stocks, jus, crumbles, doughs, ice creams, sorbets and butters.

My Family Table
by John Besh

"If I can help make a difference by cooking simply and sharing what I love to cook, I can possibly help us all use our passions and skills to make our lives better at almost every meal."

- John Besh

This is another wonderful cookbook by the author of My New Orleans.

John shares his rich stories, cooking techniques, and the favorite meals he cooks with his family. His writing has a warmth and charm and love of New Orleans that's contagious.

All About Roasting

by Molly Stevens

Highly recommended by the cookbook authority, Ellen Rose. We trust her.

It's Cookbook Time of the Year!

2011-10-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

Come by for the fabulous new Mozza Cookbook, autographed by Nancy Silverton and her Executive Chef, Matt Molina.

Or pick up the excellent Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food, signed by author Lucy Lean.

Liz also highly recommends:

- Plenty by Ottolenghi, the most beautiful vegetarian cookbook ever, with amazing recipes.

- Food of Morocco by Paula Wolfert, gorgeous, with great recipes.

-Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals by Mario Batali. Accessible, delicious recipes.

-Art of Living According to Joe Beef: A Cookbook of Sorts by Joe Beef (of course), wild and crazy and unique French-Canadian cookbook.

And for bakers:

-Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi, chef and owner of Manhattan's Momofuku Milk Bar , includes recipe for her famous "crack pie".

-Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoe Francois. Maybe not Mozza, but it's fast. Includes gluten-free and whole grain recipes.

My Crazy Baby Brother

2011-10-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Dean will be signing copies of her book My Crazy Baby Brother on Sunday October 23rd from 11am - 1pm.

My Crazy Baby Brother is a sweet, funny children's book about an older brother coming to terms with having a new baby brother in his life.

That Sunday is also the Larchmont Family Fair, featuring food, games, rides and a Halloween Costume contest! So bring your whole family and have a great time!

Yangzom Brauen will sign "Across Many Mountains"

2011-10-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yangzom Brauen will be signing copies of her book Across Many Mountains this Sunday, October 16th, from 12-2pm.

A powerful, emotional memoir and an extraordinary portrait of three generations of Tibetan women whose lives are forever changed when Chairman Mao’s Red Army crushes Tibetan independence, sending a young mother and her six-year-old daughter on a treacherous journey across the snowy Himalayas toward freedom.

Kunsang thought she would never leave Tibet. One of the country's youngest Buddhist nuns, she grew up in a remote mountain village where, as a teenager, she entered the local nunnery. Though simple, Kunsang's life gave her all she needed: a oneness with nature and a sense of the spiritual in all things. She married a monk, had two children, and lived in peace and prayer. But not for long.

There was a saying in Tibet: "When the iron bird flies and horses run on wheels, the Tibetan people will be scattered like ants across the face of the earth." The Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950 changed everything. When soldiers arrived at her mountain monastery, destroying everything in their path, Kunsang and her family fled across the Himalayas only to spend years in Indian refugee camps.

She lost both her husband and her youngest child on that journey, but the future held an extraordinary turn of events that would forever change her life--the arrival in the refugee camps of a cultured young Swiss man long fascinated with Tibet. Martin Brauen will fall instantly in love with Kunsang's young daughter, Sonam, eventually winning her heart and hand, and taking mother and daughter with him to Switzerland, where Yangzom will be born.

Jeanette DePatie (A.K.A. The Fat Chick) Comes to Chevalier's Books

2011-10-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Meet Jeanette DePatie (A.K.A. The Fat Chick) at Chevalier’s Books on Saturday, October 15 at 1 PM. She’ll be signing her latest book The Fat Chick Works Out! (Fitness that’s Fun and Feasible for Folks of all Ages, Shapes, Sizes and Abilities).

Jeanette DePatie (The Fat Chick) is a certified aerobics instructor, personal trainer and veteran fitness professional with over 10 years experience training students of all sizes, shapes, ages and abilities. The Fat Chick has appeared in print, and on radio and TV saying and showing anyone can be healthy and fit.

Using techniques gleaned as a teacher, producer, marketing professional, wife, musician, marathoner and triathlete, DePatie specializes in creating fitness programs that allow students to feel successful the first time and every time they participate. Jeanette gives talks and teaches free exercise classes in the Los Angeles area.

The Fat Chick Works Out! is designed to help people who haven’t worked out in a while (or ever) to start and stay exercising. Based on knowledge gained over a lifetime of getting her big butt in motion, Fat Chick, Jeanette DePatie helps you learn to love your body and love exercise. Filled with over 50 exercises, loads of practical advice, tons of adorable pictures and hilarious and sometimes heartbreaking stories from The Fat Chick’s own journey, The Fat Chick Works Out! will not only help you get fit, but also help you find peace with the skin you’re in.

Lucy Lean signs "Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food"

2011-10-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

Lucy Lean will be signing copies of her new book Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food at Chevalier's Books on Sunday October 9th from 12—2 pm.

Made in America: Our Best Chefs Reinvent Comfort Food, features updated classic recipes from the most innovative and accomplished chefs working today.

Inspired by turn-of-the-20th century regional American cookbooks, Lucy Lean, former editor of edible LA, has delved through thousands of traditional recipes to define the 100 that best represent America’s culinary legacy, and challenged today’s master chefs to deconstruct and rebuild them in entirely original ways. The result is the ultimate contemporary comfort food bible for the home cook and armchair food lover.

Lean has traveled America, photographing and interviewing master chefs, and collecting recipes—many of which have never been published before or were created especially for this book. Each recipe is enhanced with an introduction that includes the background and origin of the dish and a unique profile of the chef who has undertaken it, as well as sumptuous photographs of the dish, chef, and restaurant.

Representing the entire United States, chefs have been selected for their accomplishments, talent, and focus on local and sustainable cooking. From Ludo Lefebvre’s Duck-Fat-Fried Chicken with Piquillos Ketchup to Alain Ducasse’s Gratinéed French Onion Soup to Mario Batali’s Pappardelle Bolognese to John Besh’s Jumbo Louisiana Shrimp to April Bloomfield’s Spicy Ginger Whoopie Pies, Made in America showcases our favorite dishes as conceived by our finest chefs.

Nancy Silverton Signs The Mozza Cookbook at Chevalier's

2011-09-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

Meet Nancy Silverton -- co-owner of Pizzeria Mozza, Osteria Mozza, and Mozza 2 Go -- and her co-authors, Matt Molina, Executive Chef of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza, and writer Carolynn Carreno, for a signing of their new book The Mozza Cookbook: Recipes from Los Angeles's Favorite Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria at Chevalier's Books on Sunday October 16th at 10am.

Silverton trained at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in London, England and at the Ecole Le Notre in Plaiser, France. She was the co-founder and head baker at La Brea Bakery as well as the head pastry chef at Campanile Restaurant, both in Los Angeles. She opened these two businesses with her ex-husband Mark Peel.

Nancy Silverton's new cookbook serves up delicious, popular dishes from her eateries -- as exciting and satisfying as anything that might be served in Italy. The detailed, easy-to-follow recipes; the author's lively, encouraging voice; and her intimate, comprehensive knowledge of the traditions behind this delectably decadent cuisine make this the ultimate must-have Italian cookbook.

Pre-order your book today!
phone: 323-465-1334
email: chevaliers@earthlink.net

Guest Book Review by Caroline Eagly Cummings

2011-09-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool

Review by Caroline Eagly Cummings

Have you ever wondered about your family's past? Well so does Abilene Tucker in the historical fiction book Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool.

Abilene Tucker feels abandoned by her father. Ever since Abilene got a bad cut on her knee her father Gideon has never been the same. For the summer he sends her to live with his friend in Manifest, Kansas, the town he grew up in. While she is there she stumbles across hidden mementos in the floorboard of the house she is living in. One of them is about a person called the Rattler. So Abilene and her new friends Lettie and Ruthanne go on an adventure, and on the way Abilene finds out about the secret history of Manifest.

I think an important theme in this book is secrets because once Abilene finds out the secret of why her father abandoned her she understands him better. Also, there are a lot of secrets in this book that Abilene finds out. I don't know for sure why the author wrote this book but maybe she was thinking that if you learn about your parents as a kid, you might understand them better as an adult. The book affected me because it made me kind of wish I could solve a mystery too, like Abilene.

I made two connections from the book. When people in the book started dying from influenza, it reminded me of a book called Fever 1793 by Laurie Anderson. In Fever 1793 thousands of people die in Philadelphia because of the Yellow Fever Epidemic. Also in the book there is a part about war, which reminds me of the wars going on today.

If you like historical fiction with a touch of mystery and sadness, this is the book for you. If you like this book you would also like Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White, and Fever 1793. On a scale of one to ten I would rate this book a 9 1/2. This book is definitely a very good book.

Mini Book Review: "Feynman"

2011-09-17T11:57:00.000-07:00

Feynman
written by Jim Ottaviani
art by Leland Myrick
coloring by Hilary Sycamore

When I was pregnant I remember reading Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman (along with other books about physicists or mathematicians) with the hope that the baby would eventually become a physicist or mathematician. Oddly, it didn't work, but I've had a fondness for Feynman ever since, for his humor, his wild and crazy nature, his charisma, his genius.

So imagine - a book length comic book (or, if you prefer, graphic non fiction book) about one of the most fascinating physicists ever. Perfect for budding scientists ages 14 or 15 and up (due to strip club interludes and iffy hotels which might give some parents pause) because it provides a window into the childhood of a brilliant scientist and gives an historical overview of the 20th century physics community in which Feynman was one of the shining lights. It also offers provocative questions about physics, though you don't need to understand theoretical physics to enjoy the book.

An important subplot of the book is the relationship between Feynman and his younger sister Joan. Without his support, back in the day, her ambitions to be an astrophysicist probably would have been quashed.

The comic strip format is not particularly innovative considering its outrageous subject, but the writing is good, the format works well in telling the story of Feynman's personal life and

I suspect Feynman would have been pleased to be the star of a book length comic book.

--Liz N.

Cassandra Black signs "Twinkle"

2011-09-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

Cassandra Black will be signing copies of Twinkle on Sunday September 25th from 11am - 1pm.

Ignite Your Imagination! The story of the only firefly in Insectropolis who cannot light up. Twinkle Ray, daughter of Ultra and Violet Ray, lives in the garden of Lila Periwinkle along with the ants, crickets, bees, spiders and butterflies in this fantastical insect city where the insect and bug children attend Insectamentary School.

It is here that Twinkle is teased and tormented by a group of high voltage firefly girls who find it electrifying to short circuit her self esteem. Twinkle faces the biggest challenge of her life when these same girls who have tortured her, now need her help.

Jonathan Auxier to sign "Peter Nimble & His Fantastic Eyes"

2011-09-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Auxier will be signing copies of Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes on Saturday September 24th from 1 — 3 pm.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher—a box that contains three pairs of magical eyes.

When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel to the dangerous Vanished Kingdom and rescue a people in need. Along with his loyal sidekick—a knight who has been turned into an unfortunate combination of horse and cat—and the magic eyes, he embarks on an unforgettable, swashbuckling adventure to discover his true destiny.

Dodger Legend Wally Moon Coming to Chevalier's

2011-09-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

Larchmont fans of the Dodgers are undoubtedly familiar with the name of Peter O'Malley, the beloved former owner of the storied team who is a resident of the Larchmont area and a frequent shopper here at Chevalier's. So naturally we are especially pleased to be bringing in former Dodger legend, Wally Moon on September 14th to talk baseball.

Students of the game and those with an abiding love for baseball's "Golden Era" may well remember Wally Moon. Winner of the National League's Rookie of the Year award as a St. Louis Cardinal, Moon also led the Los Angeles Dodgers to three World Series Championships.

Avid baseball fans as well as those with a taste for classic Americana may delight in Moon's tales of his hardscrabble childhood in rural Arkansas, coming of age as a two-sport star at Texas A&M, struggling in the minor leagues and finally living the essence of the American Dream playing for two historic teams.

Wally will be signing copies of Moon Shots at Chevalier's on Wednesday, September 14th, from 5 - 7 pm.

Mini Review: "The Headhunters"

2011-09-09T10:23:00.000-07:00

Mini Book Review

Headhunters: A Novel
by Jo Nesbo

Jo Nesbo, as all you Scandinavian mystery fans know, is the author of the Detective Harry Hole series. When I read The Redbreast, I must admit feeling queasy about a detective named Harry Hole, and the novel struck me as very cynical, very misogynistic.

I just read Headhunters, not part of the Harry Hole series, so I didn't have to read about a Harry Hole on every page. Although this novel is also cynical and misogynistic, I have to admit I couldn't put it down.

Roger Brown, the narrator, is a headhunter/art thief (!) who is obsessed about his height (short, naturally) and making money to support his tall (naturally), beautiful wife and her art gallery.

I won't give away the plot, but it's rollicking mean fun.
-Liz Newstat

Review of Curious George Gets a Medal

2011-09-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

Meet our first two young book reviewers, Audrey Cummings, age 4, and her sister Caroline Cummings, age 10.

(Caroline's review of "Belle Prater's Boy" appeared in an earlier post.)

Now we're happy to post a review of Curious George Gets A Medal by her sister, Audrey, our youngest blogger ever.

__________________________________________________

Curious George Gets a Medal

by H.A. Rey

In Curious George Gets a Medal, a postman delivered George a letter. George wrote a letter himself and put ink in a pen and made a puddle. Then, he took a shovel to take out the water but he couldn't. So he went to a shed at the farmer's house and got out the pump. Then a cow let him ride on his back.

George went to a museum and he thought the nuts on the tree were real. But they weren't. Then all the people there found him and put him in a cage. The Man in the Yellow Hat came and got him ready for the flight. Then he went into a rocket shp! And he landed and everyone cheered for him and the professor of the museum gave him a gold medal. On the medal it said: "To George, You were the first one to fly in the smallest rocket ship."

I liked this story very much because Curious George always does stuff silly. The thing that is good about it is that he's so funny. He's naughty and he is funny. You can buy this book if you want a good laugh!

Audrey Elena Cummings, Age 4

Student at UCLA Lab School, Pre-K

"Art of Fielding" Review

2011-09-02T11:16:00.001-07:00

The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach

"The Art of Fielding" grabbed me on the first page with "This was the second Sunday in August, just before Schwartz's sophomore year at Westish College, that little school in the crook of the baseball glove that is Wisconsin." Definitely a baseball book.

I don't usually finish novels I don't love or really like, or really need to read for some reason because there are so many brilliant novels, and so little time. While reading "The Art of Fielding" I kept asking myself, why don't I just put this down? And I'm still asking myself.

It's a sentimental book, which baseball books often are, possibly because baseball addiction, whether playing or watching, begins at an early age, provoking adult memories of languid summer afternoons with Dad, nostalgia about glorious players, fifteen inning games, double headers on dog days. Peanuts and hot dogs are the madeleines of baseball aficionados.

But if you love baseball writing (and I do) you might want to read "The Art of Fielding" in spite of its 500 pages, which could (I think should) have been edited to 300.

Whenever the novel bogged down with its contrived characters and names and not very believable love affairs, there would be a real feeling for college baseball, and some very beautiful writing. But when Harbach veered from baseball and the relationships between the team members the story sagged.

"The Art of Fielding" is also the title of a fictional book by the fictional retired shortstop Aparicio Rodriguez, and the bible of Henry Skrimshander, a young shortstop out of South Dakota who, because of his fielding skills, is miraculously offered a scholarship to Westish College on Lake Michigan, home of the Westish Harpooners (Melville is name dropped quite a lot). This is because he's discovered by the captain of the team, Jewish catcher and kingmaker, Mike Schwartz, who is one of the more interesting characters in the book, though you might want to check out "The Catcher was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg," by Nicholas Dawidoff about the real life Jewish catcher, a far more fascinating character than Schwartz.

Yes, the characters' names are not subtle. For example, Quentin Quisp and Guert Affenlight. Fortunately Quentin is a minor player in the book, but Guert, the 60 year old President of Westish College whose love affair with Owen Dunne, a 21 year old scholar, disinterested ball player, and roommate of Henry, is central to the novel.

Owen and Henry meet cute. Owen introduces himself to Henry in their dorm room, "I'll be your gay mulatto roommate." Then he asks Henry if he's familiar with President Affenlight's "seminal -- ha! --work", "The Sperm Squeezers". It's this kind of contrived nonsense that feels like a bad sitcom.

Pella, wayward daughter of Affenlight, and the only female of the five main characters, seemed to be invented by an editor who felt the novel needed more heterosexual romance. Nothing about her rang true.

Yet I finished the book and it was compelling in its way. So check it out for yourself.

And if you really love baseball writing there's always Roger Angell, Roger Kahn, Bernard Malamud, Nicholas Dawidoff, W.P. Kinsella, Mark Winegardner ("Veracruz Blues"), Pat Jordan ("A False Spring", a truly great baseball book), Updike on Ted Williams ("Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu"), etc. etc.

-Liz Newstat

Guest Review by Caroline Eagly Cummings

2011-08-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Chevalier's is pleased to announce that we will now be featuring book reviews by some of our younger customers!

Our first guest review is by 10 year old Caroline Eagly Cummings, a sixth grader at UCLA Lab School, and an avid reader.

____________________________________________

Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White

reviewed by Caroline Eagly Cummings

Gypsy Artubutus Leemaster is a girl with long, golden hair down to her waist. She lives in a wealthy environment in Coal Station, Virginia. Woodrow Prater, on the other hand, is a boy who is cross-eyed and lives in a shack with his mother and father.

Even though Gypsy and Woodrow live completely different lifestyles, they are cousins. Belle Prater, Woodrow's mother, lives a life of sorrow. One morning she vanishes. She seems to have disappeared from planet Earth. Woodrow is then forced to live with Gypsy's family.

Of course everyone asks Woodrow about his mother and where she has gone. Woodrow doesn't know for sure, but he has an idea. Woodrow misses his mother, but not as much as Gypsy misses her father. Gypsy's father died when she was just a toddler. Gypsy seldom speaks of it though, because she knows it wasn't an accident.

Woodrow likes the luxury of his new life in Coal Station. He gets new clothes, a haircut, and he lives in a big house with his own room!

Gypsy and Woodrow become best friends during their year in 6th grade. Gypsy wonders how Woodrow got over his mother's disappearance because Gypsy could never get over her father's death. But then Woodrow tells her the real secret of where his mother has gone.

Belle Prater's Boy is a great historical fiction book. I recommend it to people who like exciting historical fiction. I never really read historical fiction that much until I read this book. So even if you have never read historical fiction and you don't think you'll like it, you should give this book a try.

I love the characters in this book and I particularly enjoyed some of the stories that Woodrow tells. They are very interesting. I think that overall this book is very amazing and I highly recommend it.

Signing with Rachel V. Olivier

2011-08-17T10:19:00.000-07:00

Rachel V. Olivier will be signing copies of her science fiction adventure The G.O.D. Factor on Saturday, August 20th, from 1-3 pm.

During one of Monica's shifts, a dormant A.I., part of an old starship class known as Galactic Orbital Dreadnaughts, or G.O.D., that Engineer Belukas thought was safely turned off, wakes up. After years of isolation and hibernation it is insane. It thinks it is God. It takes over the ship and decides it's time to bring order to the rest of the universe for the good of humankind. It's up to Monica and her crewmates to save themselves and known civilization. If it isn't already too late.

Booksigning with Jeannine Stein

2011-08-06T15:16:00.001-07:00

Jeannine Stein will be signing copies of her new book Adventures in Bookbinding: Hand Crafting Mixed Media Books on Saturday August 13th from 1-3 pm.

In addition to signing books, she will also be offering a free, simple make-and-take bookbinding project that customers can take with them!

In her new book, Jeannine Stein takes bookbinding to another level by featuring intriguing mashups between the world of handmade books and a diverse range of media such as quilting, jewelry making, and polymer clay. The result is a book filled with incredible hybrid projects that marry traditional binding techniques to diverse mixed-media materials for visually arresting results.

The projects are designed to accommodate three levels of artist expertise: basic, novice, and expert. Illustrated step-by-step instructions and photographs demonstrate how to construct a basic version of each project, including covers, inside pages, and binding techniques easy enough for a beginner to master.

Each project also includes two variations. The shortcut version is geared toward those who love the look of a craft but could use some helpful hints. The master version serves as inspiration for those who want to take a project to the next level. For these variations, an accomplished guest artist has created the cover and the author has made the binding, resulting in a unique collaborative project. These ideas offer opportunities to reach out and combine your skills with other artists or design a more detailed project.

No other craft book offers the possibilities and challneges that Adventures in Bookbinding does. If you like to mix it up while crafting and creating, you will return to this book again and again to find inspiration and ideas.

Jeannine Stein has been making books for more than fifteen years, exploring bindings, mediums, and techniques. In addition to teaching bookbinding, she is an award-winning journalist, and she has written extensively about paper crafts, artists' books, scrapbooking, rubber stamping, and letterpress. She is the author of Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books with Recycled and Repurposed Materials.

Claudia Hoag McGarry signs "My Aries Secrets"

2011-08-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

Claudia Hoag McGarry will be signing copies of her new book My Aries Secrets this Sunday August 7th from 12 - 2 pm.

My Aries Secrets is the second novel in the Astrology/Soul novel series by Ms. McGarry.

Meet Haven Rodriguez, wife, nurse, and doting mother of two sons, ages 10 and 13, who was living a very full and rewarding life the Big Apple. That is, until she discovers her husband of 15 years, Jerod, has been involved with perfect "Italian hour glass" Sophia.

Now, one year later, he has disappeared and she is torn between fearing there is foul play or, even worse, that he may have gone back to his Italian mistress. She's living the daily dread of anxiety as the NYPD searches for her missing husband.

Haven gets in touch with Tempest, protagonist from My Scorpio Soul, asking for help and guidance. Ultimately, she has to reach her own consience about how to deal with the hand she has been dealt. What she doesn't know is that Haven's pain is tearing Tempest apart.

UPDATE

2011-07-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

Karin Fossum fans - her new book has arrived!

And for anyone who hasn't read Fossum's books, now's a good time to start.

Bad Intentions is another remarkable detective novel by the Norwegian author and her translator, Charlotte Barslund.

Fossum's books are not police procedurals and this time her detectives, Sejer and Skaar, are truly in the background. Her books are about the psychology of perps and victims, often adolescents and young adults, and in this book, the two intertwine.

It's very dark, heartbreaking, and, like all her novels, a window on Norwegian society.

Mini Book Review

2011-07-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Highly recommended:

The Train, by Georges Simenon, published by MelvilleHouse under the Neversink imprint.

The Neversink Library champions books from around the world that have been overlooked, underappreciated, looked askance at, or foolishly ignored. They are issued in handsome, well-designed editions at reasonable prices in hopes of their passing from one reader to another - and further enriching our culture.

"I was by no means the only reader of books on board the Neversink. Several other sailors were diligent readers, though their studies did not lie in the way of belles-lettres. Their favourite authors were such as you may find at the bookstalls around Fulton Market; they were slightly physiological in their nature. My book experiences on board of the frigate proved an example of a fact which every book-lover must have experienced before me, namely, that though public libraries have an imposing air, and doubtless contain invaluable volumes, yet, somehow, the books that prove most agreeable, grateful, and companionable, are those we pick up by chance here and there; those which seem put into our hands by Providence; those which pretend to little, but abound in much."

-- Herman Melville

That is how I felt when I began reading this book last night and knew I couldn't sleep until I'd finished it. I'd picked up this book purely by chance.

But The Train is not a detective novel, like the Simenon's Maigret books. It's what's known in French as a "roman dur," or a "hard novel," and it's brilliant.

This existential novel has as its antihero a French radio repairman from a small town near the Belgian border who, upon hearing the news of the German invasion of Belgium and Holland, believes he is fated to escape his pleasant bourgeois existence. For a time he does just that.

This novel is about the responsibility of an individual for his actions, in this case as shocking and tragic as the banality of evil.

Please read this book.

I haven't read the book in French, but the translation seems a bit odd at times. Trust me, it doesn't matter.

Book Signing with Olivier Magny

2011-07-26T12:57:00.000-07:00

Olivier Magny will be signing copies of Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in the Je Ne Sais Quoi on Saturday, July 30th, from 1-3 pm.

In the tradition of the New York Times bestseller Stuff White People Like, Stuff Parisians Like is a tongue-in-cheek homage to Parisians.

To be mistaken for a Parisian, readers must buy the newspaper Le Monde, fold it, and walk. Then sit at a cafe and make phone calls. Be sure to order San Pellegrino, not any other kind of fizzy water. They shouldn't be surprised when a waiter brings out two spoons after they order le moelleux au chocolat -- it is understood that the dessert is too sinfully delicious not to share.

Go to l'ile Saint-Louis -- all Parisians are irredeemably in love with that island. Feel free to boldly cross the street whenever the impulse strikes -- pedestrian crosswalks are too dangerous. If they take a cruise on the Seine, they will want to stand outside, preferably with their collar popped up. If they want to decorate, may we suggest the photographs of Robert Doisneau? To truly be cool in Paris, own an iPhone, wear Converse sneakers, and order sushi. And as they stroll through the Luxembourg Gardens, remember -- they can't go wrong wearing black.

Olivier Magny is a sommelier, an entrepreneur, and a Parisian (not always in that order.) He lives in Paris, France. http://www.o-chateau.com/

Mini Book Review

2011-07-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

Highly recommended

O.k, I only worked in the music biz for three months, plus two years with a musician boyfriend, but long enough to get the gist.

Stone Arabia, a new novel by Dana Spiotta, really gets it. More than Egan's Visit from the Goon Squad, or Lethem's L.A. hipster novel, You Don't Love Me Yet. And she gets L.A. like Nathaniel West got it.

It's an anti-hero novel about obsession, siblings, music and, at its core, memory. If you know L.A., it rings true. The writing is sensuous, intimate, full of seemingly tangential insights which turn out not to be (like the title).

Signing with Judith Margaret Johnson & Jasper State

2011-06-23T12:06:00.000-07:00

Judith Margaret Johnson and her dog Jasper State will be signing copies of their book Feeling Great with Jasper State on Sunday June 26th from 12 - 2pm.

Sing, dance, and have fun eating your green things every day with Jasper Stae! A dog who is strong like Popeye, loyal like Lassie, and as sweet as Elmo.

Broccoli, green beans, and lettuce spell F-U-N when Jasper State arrives on the scene. An adventurous pup, he teaches kids about the benefits of eating their green things.

He's on a mission from the FDA -- the Food and Doggie Administration -- to help kids eat nutritious meals. He will dance and sing his way into your heart!

Mary Mallory signs Hollywoodland

2011-06-06T14:08:00.001-07:00

Mary Mallory will be signing copies of Hollywoodland on Saturday June 11th from 1-3 pm.

Established by real estate developers Tracy E. Shoults and S.H. Woodruff in 1923, Hollywoodland was one of the first hillside developments built in Hollywood. touting its class and sophistication, the neighborhood promoted a European influence, featuring such unique elements as stone retaining walls and stairways, along with elegant Spanish, Mediterranean, French Normandy, and English Tudor-styled homes thoughtfully placed onto the hillsides.

The community contains one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, the Hollywood sign, originally constructed as a giant billboard for the development and reading "Hollywoodland." The book illustrates the development of the upper section of Beachwood Canyon known as Hollywoodland with historical photographs from Hollywood Heritage's S.H. Woodruff Collection as well as from other archives, institutions, and individuals.

Mary Mallory is a film historian, photograph archivist, and a member of the Cultural Affairs Committee of the Studio City Neighborhood Council. She serves on the Board of Hollywood Heritage, Inc., for which she also acts as a docent at the Hollywood Heritage Museum. Hollywood Heritage, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preservation of the historic built environment in Hollywood and to education about the early film industry and the role its pioneers played in shaping Hollywood's history.

Book signing with Danzy Senna on Sunday June 5th

2011-05-31T11:15:00.001-07:00

Bestselling author Danzy Senna will be signing copies of her new book, You Are Free: Stories on Sunday June 5th from 12-2 pm.

From the bestselling author of Caucasia come these dazzling and unexpected stories about identity under the influence of appearances, attachments, and longing. Each of these eight remarkable stories by Danzy Senna tightrope-walks between defined states: life with and without mates, children, or the reference points provided by race, class and gender.

Tensions arise between a liberal couple when their son is admitted into the elite private school where they'd applied on a lark. A new mother hosts an old friend, still single, and dicovers how each of them pities -- and envies -- the other. In the title story, a woman's strange correspondence with a girl claiming to be her daughter leads her into the doubts and what-ifs of the life she hasn't lived.

This is a bravura first collection from an author who helped to establish Riverhead's reputation for pathbreaking fiction, and whose extraordinary talent and relevance continue to grow.

Signing for Julius Shulman Los Angeles

2011-05-18T11:01:00.001-07:00

Authors Douglas Woods and Sam Lubell will be signing copies of Julius Shulman Los Angeles on Saturday June 4th from 1 - 3 pm.

In Julius Shulman Los Angeles, the renowned architectural photographer shares seven decades' worth of images of the city he loved, celebrated, and made iconic. With a life and career spanning nearly a century, Julius Shulman is credited with furthering the midcentury modernism movement through his flawless photographs of the pioneering architecture of Richard Neutra and Charles Eames, among others.

While Shulman's pictures comprise the most published images of the modernist movement, this new monograph presents many never-before-seen images on a subject closest to Shulman's heart: Los Angeles and its environs -- including Palm Springs and other suburbs. These affecting photographs show Los Angeles as a living organism, simultaneously vibrant and volatile depending on the neighborhood. This tension is apparent in Shulman's documentation of then-emerging areas like Century City, Wilshire Boulevard, and Echo Park, as well as his studies of landmarks like the Watts Towers and Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Many of the Los Angeles buildings and neighborhoods photographed by Shulman have since been overhauled, torn down, or otherwise altered beyond recognition, making these images some of the only lasting testaments to their existence. Selected from his personal collection as well as his official archives, the photographs included in this book represent not only lesser-known and never-before-seen material, but also some of Shulman's own personal favorites.

Whitley Strieber to sign "Hybrids"

2011-05-04T16:09:00.000-07:00

Whitley Strieber will be at Chevalier's Books on Sunday May 15th from 12 - 2 pm to sign copies of his new book Hybrids.

In Hybrids, Whitley Strieber unleashes his unparalleled skills as a thriller writer and his unique knowledge of the abduction phenomenon to explore what might happen if hybrids invaded the earth -- not from the stars, but from exactly where the aliens told him they would emerge -- when one of them said, "We will come from within you."

Whitley Strieber is the bestselling author of more than 25 books, including the legendary Warday, Nature's End, and Superstorm, the basis for the movie The Day After Tomorrow. His book The Grays is currently in development to be made into a film. His website, Unknowncountry.com, is the largest of its kind in the world, exploring the edge of science and reality.

Book Signing with Joanne Rocklin

2011-04-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

Joanne Rocklin will be signing copies of her new book One Day and One Amazing Morning on Orange Street on Saturday April 30th from 11am - 1pm.

This deceptively simple book reminds us how important the things we sometimes take for granted are: friendship, family, love, and the interconnectedness of our everyday world.

When a mysterious man arrives one day on Orange Street in Los Angeles, the children who live on the block try to find out who he is and why he's there. Little do they know that his story -- and the story of a very old orange tree -- connects to each of their personal worries in ways they never could have imagined. From impressing friends to dealing with an expanding family to understanding a younger sibling's illness, the characters' storylines come together around that orange tree.

Taking place over the course of a day and a half, Joanne Rocklin's middle grade novel builds a story about family, childhood anxieties, and the importance of connection. In the end the fate of the tree (and the kids who care for it) reminds us of the magic of the everyday and of the rich history all around us.

Book Signing with Carter Goodrich

2011-03-31T16:07:00.001-07:00

Carter Goodrich will be signing copies of his new book Say Hello to Zorro! on Saturday April 9th from 11 - 1 pm.

Mister Bud is a dog of routine. He has wake up time, nap time, rest time, dinner time, etc. And everyone knows to follow his schedule.

Then disaster strikes. A stranger comes home at "make a fuss time" and throws everything off! Zorro is a little bit bossy and Mister Bud wants nothing to do with him. But when the dogs discover they like the same things (like chasing the cat and napping), everything becomes more fun. As long as everyone follows the schedule!

Acclaimed artist Carter Goodrich has illustrated thirteen New Yorker covers and has worked as a character designer on many beloved animated films, including The Prince of Egypt; Shrek; Monsters, Inc.; Finding Nemo; as well as the forthcoming Open Season. He is a two-time gold-medal recipient from the Society of Illustrators in New York and a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has also appeared in Newsweek, Forbes, and Time. Mr. Goodrich resides in Los Angeles.

Psychedelic Days with Patrick Campbell-Lyons

2011-03-01T17:12:00.000-08:00

Patrick Campbell-Lyons will be signing copies of Psychedelic Days: 1960-1969 on Saturday, March 12th, from 1 - 3 pm.

"In early July 2008 as I started to write some songs about my life and times in 1960's London and beyond, something happened which I would describe as 'crystal karma vision.' I was remembering in great detail those 'psychedelic days' of forty years before when I navigated my way on a voyage of music, freedom, adventure and self discovery.

The past had no distance and I was living it all over again. Thrills and pills, rhythm and blues, the legendary Ealing Club, Island Records, Chris Blackwell, Nirvana in Tin Pan Alley, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Guy Stevens, Mickie Most, Paris with Salvador Dali, Rio De Janeiro with Jimmy Cliff, the Star Club in Hamburg, Stockholm, Belgium, Tangiers and the 'happenings.'

When I stopped writing four months later I had a book. I had been there and lived to tell the story. Today so many years on, people fantasize and wonder about those crazy days and often ask me "What were the 'sixties' like? It must have been a crazy time! I wish I had been there." Well my story is for you and it is also for those who were there and did not make it to the other side. Have a good trip."

Patrick Campbell-Lyons was part of the West London music scene from the early 1960s playing in several bands. He was the vocalist and a founding member of a locally-popular R&B band Second Thoughts, whose lineups included future record producer Chris Thomas, Thunderclap Newman, founder/drummer Speedy Keen and two future members of prog-rock band Jade Warrior (Jon Field and Tony Duhig). Second Thoughts split up in late 1965 and after a year of living in Sweden, Campbell-Lyons returned to London in late 1966.

In early 1967 he formed Nirvana with Greek musician Alex Spyropolous. The duo (augmented in the studio and live by a floating line-up of session musicians) created a series of critically-acclaimed baroque, orchestrated albums before disbanding in the early 1970s.

Campbell-Lyons then pursued a career in the muisic business as an A&R executive and producer -- while continuing to occasionally record solo albums including Me & My Friend, The Electric Plough, and The Hero I Might Have Been.

Bill Cutter Book Signing on Sunday 2/27

2011-02-25T11:15:00.000-08:00

Rabbi William (Bill) Cutter will be signing copies of Midrash & Medicine: Healing Body and Soul in the Jewish Interpretive Tradition on Sunday February 27th from noon to 2pm.

The Jewish healing movement is an effort to promote the use of Jewish beliefs and traditions among doctors and health care workers. The rabbis and other community workers who founded this movement believed that patients and people facing life crises are better served by practitioners knowledgeable about Jewish literature, liturgy, and midrash -- commentary, interpretations, and stories about biblical texts.

The Kalman Institue on Judaism and Health, founded by editor Cutter, a rabbi and professor emeritus at Hebrew Union College, fosters the movement through conferences and workshops, including the 2009 "Midrash & Medicine" that is the basis for this book.

Rabbi William Cutter, PhD, is director of the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and professor of modern Hebrew literature and the Steinberg Professor of Human Relations at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. He is editor of Healing and the Jewish Imagination: Spiritual Perspectives on Judaism and Health (Jewish Lights). He has published widely on health and healing.

Basketball Slave by Mark Johnson

2011-02-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

Mark Johnson will be signing copies of Basketball Slave: The Andy Johnson Story on Saturday February 19th from 1-3pm.

Basketball Slave: The Andy Johnson Story is filled to the brim with extraordinary tales from behind the scenes of the early Original Harlem Globetrotters and loaded with a wealth of historical information never disclosed about the slow, quota-based inception of African American athletes in the NBA. This book clarifies the role of the Original Harlem Globetrotters in making the NBA the multi-billion dollar organization it is today.

It is also a fascinating and inspirational story that weaves the heart-wrenching account of a young boy who became a man through the lessons of basketball. He grew up watching his family working in the cotton fields of Louisiana, to playing basketball bare foot in the streets of Hollywood, California. Having his education undervalued as a high school basketball star and being sent to a major University without any hopes of receiving a degree, to finally being sold on the professional basketball auction block three times without any ability to negotiate his pay or where he could play. Johnson turned every devastating event into another opportunity by staying positive in the game of life.

Greeting Cards Restocked!

2011-01-28T15:39:00.001-08:00

Chevalier's is becoming known for our great selection of greeting cards! We have many different lines, with something to satisfy just about anyone's taste.

We just received shipments from several different card companies, including a new line called Cara Scissoria which features classic paintings collaged with modern elements and combined with clever captions.

We also have a great selection of Valentine's Day cards, including a 15-card assortment pack of retro-style valentines that are great for your kids to give to their classmates!

Liz's HOT NEW PICK

2011-01-21T16:23:00.000-08:00

There's a Road to Everywhere Except Where You Came From

by Bryan Charles

I came upon this book because a customer, Brendan, told me about Open City Magazines and Books. Fortunately I didn't realize it was a memoir until after I ordered it because I'm just not big on reading about other people's dysfunctional families or inspirational lives. The former is embarrassing, creepy and vengeful, the latter narcissistic and self-serving.

But there's always an exception like this truly amazing book which is not about abuse and blame but about the making of a writer who moves from the Midwest and ends up working at the WTC on 9/11.

It's spare and beautiful writing. Like the high points of a journal written by someone who is a terrific writer and editor and brutally honest about himself. He's a sentimental guy who loves women and desperately wants to be a "writer." But when he writes (sharing details) about being really, really desperate to find a bathroom in NYC or not quite making it with a lovely Muslim woman, or doing a sting operation to find out which colleague at Morgan Stanley is complusively filling toilets with toilet paper, or when he's so jealous of a talented and fortunate writer friend that he can't bring himself to keep their date and he actually emails this person to admit his jealousy, that's when I loved this guy.

I'm a sucker for workplace writing, whether it be Studs Terkel (please read Working or give it to a teenager or young adult) or the dark, dark Japanese mystery Out by Natsuo Kirino, or Bartleby the Scrivener by Melville, or Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.
Bryan Charles captures what it's like to work in a job you hate but keep for the financial perks. And then, 9/11 changes all that.

I highly recommend this book. Let us know if you'd like to order a copy.

Philip F. Margo signs "The Null Quotient"

2011-01-11T12:45:00.001-08:00

Philip F. Margo will be signing copies of his book The Null Quotient on Saturday January 15th from 1-3pm.

In the not-too-distant future, Earth is facing self-annihilation as nine supreme beings, called the Custodians, are deciding the fate of mankind. This extraordinary sci-fi novel introduces three unforgettable characters who must devise a way to outfox the Custodians. Otherwise, the Earth will be Null and void.

Zack Carver, an alcoholic archeologist, discovers a spacecraft dating back a million millennia. Zack is eventually joined by a gifted attorney, Leslee Myles, as well as a stunning alien humanoid. This remarkable trio must battle with the shadow-military forces of a renegade administration led by Dax Wolf, a sociopath genius. The Null Quotient is the process by which the Custodians delete all evidence of biological existence and revert all that exists on a planet to stardust. This is Earth's ultimate confrontation, for the winner takes all.

About the author: Philip Margo is a founding member of The Tokens, the vocal group that made the classic recording "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." He has worked as a record producer, with eleven gold records to his credit. He is a songwriter, television producer and writer. He is currently writing the sequel to this novel and lives in Beverly Hills with his wife of 43 years, Abbie. They are the parents of three and the grandparents of seven.

Anyone wishing to bring records or other mementos of The Tokens to be signed is welcome to do so.

Signing with Suzanne Rheinstein

2010-12-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

Suzanne Rheinstein will be signing copies of her book At Home: A Style for Today with Things from the Past on Saturday December 18th from 1-3pm.

Leading interior designer and owner of Hollyhock, Los Angeles's renowned antiques and decorative arts mecca, Suzanne Rheinstein is known for her relaxed, elegant style.

Style maker and interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein has a keen appreciation for special luxuries. She is a master at taking an eclectic mix of furnishings from the past and arranging them in a fresh, inspiring way. Elegant simplicity and attention to detail are the hallmarks of her look. A timeless quality pervades every room she designs. Rheinstein feels that how you live your life every day is much more important than getting your house together for a special occasion.

Beautifully photographed, this inspiring volume shows examples of her work, ranging from a brick farmhouse in the Virginia countryside and a sophisitcated rustic getaway overlooking the Big Wood River in Sun Valley to a year-round shingled residence on the beach in Newport Bay, as well as her own homes -- a gracious Georgian Revival in Los Angeles and a New York City prewar pied-a-terre. They exemplify her talent for creating attractive homes that make living and entertaining extremely pleasurable.

Dr. Fran Walfish signs The Self-Aware Parent

2010-12-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Dr. Fran Walfish will be signing copies of her new book The Self-Aware Parent on Saturday December 11th from 1-3pm.

Dr. Walfish is a leading child and family psychotherapist. She is a consultant for Parenting Teens Resource Network, Little Soul Productions, Momlogic.com, and NBC Nightly News, as well as a contributor to Parents magazine and chair of the Governing Board of the Early Childhood Parenting Center, founded at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

A healthy relationship based on mutual trust is every parent's wish. The bond between infant and parent is a natural phenomenon, but as children reach their preteens and form their own personalities, fireworks between the child and parent can ensue. Drawing on 20 years of clinical experience and new theories on attachment, Dr. Walfish argues that parents need to distinguish their own personality types in order to make more informed decisions about how they interact and raise their own children.

This step-by-step guide shows parents:

How to recognize the strength and weaknesses of your parenting style and how it affects your child;
The ways your style might clash with your child's nature, and how to negotiate a common ground;
The vital importance of establishing trust with a preteen to better prepare for turbulent teen years.

Written with warmth, authority, and wit, Dr. Walfish holds a gentle mirror up to parents and helps them understand themselves in order to create a closer relationship with their child.

Win Tickets to West Side Story at the Pantages!

2010-11-30T16:45:00.001-08:00

Chevalier's is pleased to offer our patrons a chance to win a pair of tickets to see West Side Story at the historic Pantages Theatre!

Shop at Chevalier's on Sunday December 5th, and spend just $100+ in a single transaction and you will be entered to win a pair of tickets to see West Side Story on Wednesday December 8th at 8pm!

More than fifty years ago one musical changed theatre forever. Now it's back on Broadway mesmerizing audiences once again. From the first note to the final breath, West Side Story soars as the greatest love story of all time. Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents' Broadway direction will be recreated for the tour by David Saint, the Associate Director of Broadway. The original Jerome Robbins choreography is reproduced by Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely.

West Side Story remains as powerful, poignant and timely as ever. The new Boradway cast album of West Side Story recently won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway's finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as "Something's Coming," "Tonight," "America," "I Feel Pretty," " and "Somewhere."

We are thrilled to be partnering with the Pantages Theatre to offer our patrons the chance to win tickets to such an exciting event.

Mark Peel to sign at Chevalier's!

2010-11-16T16:01:00.001-08:00

Renowned chef Mark Peel of Campanile restaurant will be signing copies of his latest cookbook, New Classic Family Dinners, at Chevalier's Books on Friday December 3rd between 4-8pm as part of a special event to kick off the holidays. He will be providing the refreshments for the book signing.

Mark Peel has been the executive Chef and owner of Campanile on La Brea for 20 years. He has recently opened two new restaurants -- The Point, in Culver City, and the highly anticipated The Tar Pit. Mark is also co-founder of La Brea Bakery.

Chevalier's is one of several stores on Larchmont that will be staying open later on Friday December 3rd for this special holiday event. The other participating stores are Village Heights, Landis General Store, My Favorite Place, and Landis' Labyrinth Toy Shop.

Each store will have refreshments, and there will be a raffle with prizes donated by the participating shops. Landis General Store will be hosting a jewelry trunk show, and Santa Claus will be visiting the toy store!

In addition to all the festivities, a portion of the sales that evening will be given to benefit the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women & Children, St. Brendan's School, and Third Street School.

We hope you'll be able to join us for this special evening.

Dual Signing on Saturday November 13th

2010-11-02T15:39:00.001-07:00

Please join us for a dual signing with the authors of two gorgous new books with local interest!

Douglas Woods, author of Classic Homes of Los Angeles, and Glen Creason, author of Los Angeles in Maps, will both be signing at Chevalier's on Saturday, November 13th from 1-3PM.

Joining them will be author and historian, J.D. Waldie, contributor to both books.

We look forward to seeing you at this very special event!

Wendy Mogel on November 7th

2010-10-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

Wendy Mogel will be signing copies of her new book, The Blessing of a B Minus, on Sunday November 7th from 1 to 3pm.

Mogel's sage advice on parenting young children has struck a chord with thousands of readers and made her one of today's most trusted parenting authorities. Now, in a long-awaited follow-up to her first book, Mogel addresses the question she hears most frequently: what to do when those children become teenagers, when their sense of independence and entitlement grows, the pressure to compete and succeed skyrockets, and communication becomes fraught with obstacles?

With her warmth, wit, and signature combination of Jewish teachings and psychological research, Mogel helps parents to ably navigate the often rough journey through the teenage years and guide children to becoming confident, resilient young adults. By viewing the frustrating and worrisome elements of adolescence as "blessings," Mogel reveals that they are in fact necessary steps in psychological growth and character development to be met with faith, detachment, and a sense of humor rather than over-involvement and anxiety. Mogel gives parents the tools to do so and offers reassuring spiritual and ethical advice.

Norwood Young on November 6th

2010-10-26T16:48:00.001-07:00

Norwood Young will be signing copies of his new memoir Getting Back to My Me: The Chronicles of Norwood Young on Saturday November 6th from 1-3 p.m.

You probably know him as the owner of the house with all the David statues. The true story of a former Star Search contestant, a man who seemingly had it all, living the lavish Hollywood lifestyle of a successful recording artist, European nightclub owner, Reality show star, and Hollywood socialite, and reigning King of Hancock Park.

Behind closed doors however, his life was empty and filled with pain, guilt, self destruction, self mutilation through plastic surgery, and shame. This must-read takes us on a riveting and spiritual journey of stripping one's soul to the core through the survival of sexual and drug abuse, rehab, house arrest, and jail.

This is a compelling and inspirational story of how to turn being a victim into being victorious.

Shantam Zohar to sign "Mideast Tango"

2010-10-08T17:04:00.001-07:00

Author Shantam Zohar will be signing copies of his book Mideast Tango: A Story of War and Awakening on Friday October 22nd from 1-3 pm.

Shantam Zohar is an interdisciplinary artist and former Israeli Elite Forces commando as well as an award-winning writer. Mideast Tango sheds a unique light on the much-debated Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Told from the inside, Mideast Tango is a gripping tale of love, friendship, triumph and loss.

Liz highly recommends this extraordinary novel.

Shantam Zohar has recently completed his course work for an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing at Bar Ilan University. Following the time period described in Mideast Tango, Shantam spent fifteen years travelling through some forty countries. He now lives with his wife and son in a village off the coast of the Mediterranean.

Charles Churchward to Sign New Book About Herb Ritts

2010-10-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

Charles Churchward will be signing copies of his new book Herb Ritts: The Golden Hour on Saturday October 23rd from 1-3 pm.

For The Golden Hour, firs-time author Charles Churchward, a long-time and distinguished art director at publications including Vogue and Vanity Fair, spent five years interviewing Ritts' family, and scores of his photographic subjects, business associates, curators, staff, closest confidants, and friends including Anna Wintour, Madonna, Annie Leibovitz, Cindy Crawford, Elton John, kd lang, Richard Gere, and Christopher Buckley.

Churchward also meticulously researched Ritts' personal archive to select intimate portraits, images of extravagant Hollywood parties, travels to exotic locales, and other unforgettable moments from an extraordinary career. These mesmerizing images, and the colorful tales based on hundreds of hours of Churchward's interviews result in a very personal look at the charmed life of the legendary photographer, and provide a bird's eye look into the sexy world of glamour, celebrity, fame, and a life lived in the center of Hollywood royalty.

Book Signing with Deborah Eden Tull

2010-10-02T14:22:00.001-07:00

Deborah Eden Tull will be signing copies of her book The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution on Sunday October 10th from 1-3 pm.

This quietly revolutionary guidebook picks up where the bestselling Process Self-Reliance Series' The Urban Homestead left off and brings us into the kitchen, where the daily choices we make involving food have a profound impact both on our lives and the world at large.

Deborah Eden Tull draws upon years of experience as a monk, organic farmer, and chef to introduce simple but life-changing ways for urbanites to adopt a more mindful relationship with food, from shopping, menu planning, cooking, growing, and storing food, maintaining the kitchen, and eating out, to community food sharing and tips for parents.

Beautifully illustrated, practical, and fun, this book is filled with anecdotes and step-by-step instructions to inspire neophytes and experienced homesteaders alike. The Natural Kitchen's introspective and educational journey will inspire action and change forever the way readers relate to food, the environment, and their daily lives.

Liz HIGHLY recommends...

2010-09-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Liz highly, highly, HIGHLY recommends Gold Boy, Emerald Girl by Yiyun Li.

Please, trust me, this is an extraordinary book. An epiphany. I have read many wonderful books this year, but none compares to this book. (Well, The Changeling, by Kenzaburo Oe, comes close.)

Yiyun Li is a great author, and I loved her novel Vagrants, but this book of her short shroties is even better, and that is saying a lot. The beauty of her writing moves me to tears. It just doesn't get better than this.

Please read this book. If you want to know more, come in the store and ask me.

Thanks,

Liz

Liz Recommends...

2010-09-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Le Grand Fromage" (p. 105, The Hilliker Curse) a.k.a. James Ellroy, is trop grand fromage for a signing at Chevalier's, the bookstore he stole from as a teenager. Nevertheless and in spite of, I'm going to recommend his new book, The Hilliker Curse, to all the James Ellroy fans in the neighborhood. Especially interesting if you've read Blood's a Rover.

If you're not yet a fan, read his brilliant memoir, My Dark Places. Then read his novels, and finally you'll be ready for The Hilliker Curse, his (between novels) obsession about the women in his life. You might want to skip the last obsequious chapters about Erika, Ellroy's current passion.

I would also like to recommend (even more hightly) two other books. One is The Changeling, a Japanese novel by Kenzaburo Oe, translated by Deborah Beohm. Read this and you will understand why Oe won the Nobel prize.

The other is The Villain, a Japanese mystery novel by Shuichi Yushida, translated by Phillip Gabriel. Although Yushida is well known in Japan, this is his first novel to be translated into English.

We also just got in Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes from Jewish Communities Around the World, by Gil Marks. Although it's not a new cookbook, it's a fascinating one. Come by and check it out.

-Liz

Signing with Gary R. Austin

2010-09-07T12:10:00.000-07:00

Gary R. Austin will be signing copies of his new book Murder in the Pigsty: A Southern Family's Story this Saturday, September 11th, from 1-3 pm.

Murder in the Pigsty is set on a rural farm in Arkansas in 1956, where four teenage siblings are paying the obligatory visit to their grandparents and their adult uncle Romey who has Down Syndrome.

The vacation seems as though it will be the same as the last one and the one before that. But the arrival of an aunt and uncle and cousin makes things more interesting, and brings a long-held secret to light.

With the discovery of buried human remains, the story unfolds into one of dark secrets, assault, deception, lies, dead bodies, ghosts and murders, affectin the lives of the family members forever.

Hunger Games Book 3 Is Here!!!

2010-08-26T14:37:00.001-07:00

Mockingjay, the 3rd book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is now in stock!

Call us to have a copy set aside for you! 323/465-1334.

Jonathan Franzen's "Freedom" Goes on Sale 8/31!

2010-08-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Freedom, the eagerly awaited new novel by Jonathan Franzen goes on sale this coming Tuesday, August 31st!!!

Call and reserve your copy today at 323/465-1334.

Book Signing with Mark Tedesco

2010-08-21T12:16:00.001-07:00

Mark Tedesco will be signing copies of his book That Undeniable Longing: My Road To and From the Priesthood on Saturday August 28th from 1-3 pm.

"A rare and fascinating look at the soul of a man desperately searching for his happiness in others and in the church before finally turning to himself. It is an intriguing and spellinding journey on which all of us who seek true happiness must embark. Absolutely riveting!" -- Tony McEwing, Fox News

Signing with Father Greg Boyle

2010-07-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

Father Greg Boyle will be signing copies of his book Tattoos on the Heart on Saturday July 24th from 1-3 p.m.

"How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone needs boundless, restorative love. Gorgeous and uplifting, Tattoos on the Heart amply demonstrates the impact unconditionhal love can have on your life.

As a pastor working in a neighborhood with the highest concentration of murderous gang activity in Los Angeles, Gregory Boyle created an organization to provide jobs, job training and encouragement so that young people could work together and learn the mutual respect that comes from collaboration. Tattoos on the Heart is a breathtaking series of parables distilled from his twenty years in the barrio. Arranged by theme and filled with sparkling humor and glowing generosity, these essays offer a stirring look at how full our lives could be if we could find the joy in loving others and in being loved unconditionally."

New Books Autographed by Julie Andrews!

2010-07-14T13:59:00.001-07:00

Are you a fan of Julie Andrews? Would you like to own an autographed copy of one of her books?!?

We have 5 copies of the new book by Julie Andrews & her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton, and they have all been autographed by Julie Andrews!

Hurry and get your copy today before they're gone!

Slake is here!

2010-07-10T16:15:00.000-07:00

Slake, L.A.'s new quarterly "Slow Lit" journal from Joe Donnelly and Laurie Ochoa is here!

Here's what editor Joe Donnelly has to say:

"Our first issue is themed Still Life, as in there's still life out there despite the many challenges that beset us. Still life in storytelling, art, photography and human connection. Slake's first issue features 232 pages of narrative journalism, memoir, essay, fiction, poetry, art and photography. Every page of the book is handcrafted, from the painstaking care and detail of the art direction by the amazing Alex Bacon and Dan Peterka of Gama Function, to the writing, editing, art and photography.

We hope this is the beginning of a wonderful counterintuitive experience with Media. Something slower and more durable. A lasting experience."

Amanda Podany signs "Brotherhood of Kings"

2010-07-03T10:27:00.000-07:00

Local author and scholar Amanda Podany will be signing copies of her new book, Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East, on Sunday July 11th from 1-3 p.m.

Amanda Podany takes readers on a vivid tour through a thousand years of ancient Near Eastern history, from 2300 to 1300 BCE, paying particular attention to the lively interactions that took place between the great kings of the day.

Allowing them to speak in their own words, Podany reveals how these leaders and their ambassadors devised a remarkably sophisticated system of diplomacy and trade. What the kings forged, as they saw it, was a relationship of friends -- brothers -- across hundreds of miles. Over centuries they worked out ways for their ambassadors to travel safely to one another's capitals, they created formal rules of interaction and ways to work out disagreements, they agreed to treaties and abided by them, and their efforts had paid off with the exchange of luxury goods that each country wanted from the other.

Tied to one another through peace treaties and powerful obligations, they were also often bound together as in-laws, as a result of marrying one another's daughters. These rulers had almost never met one another in person, but they felt a strong connection -- a real brotherhood -- which gradually made wars between them less common. Indeed, any one of the great powers of the time could have tried to take over the others through warfare, but diplomacy ususally prevailed and provided a respite from bloodshed. Instead of fighting, the kings learned from one another, and cooperated in peace.

A remarkable account of a pivotal moment in world history -- the establishment of international diplomacy thousands of years before the United Nations -- Brotherhood of Kings offers a vibrantly written history of the region often known as the "cradle of civilization."

"Hunger Games" Back In Stock

2010-06-16T12:36:00.001-07:00

We got several copies of Hunger Games back in stock today!

Marlborough School has selected this title as their "all school" book, so we've had a lot of requests for it. Call and reserve your copy today!

323/465-1334.

Anthony Bourdain's "Medium Raw" is now available!

2010-06-11T17:26:00.001-07:00

Fans of Anthony Bourdain will be pleased to know that his new book Medium Raw is now in stock!

Call today to reserve your copy. 323/465-1334.

On the L.A. Times bestseller list: A fading newspaper

2010-06-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

On the L.A. Times bestseller list: A fading newspaper

Congratulations Barbara Grant!

2010-06-05T17:40:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our Saturday story time reader, Barbara Grant, whose photo was featured on page 2 of the current issue of the Larchmont Chronicle!!!

Signing with the authors of "Childless."

2010-05-27T16:56:00.001-07:00

Hilary Crahan will be signing copies of the book Childless on Saturday June 5th from 1-3 pm.

Other contributors who will be on hand to sign copies of the book include Maerice Simpson, Renea Washington, Liz Lundy and Kiyomi Emi.

"The intention of this book is to gather individual women's voices on the subject of being childless and to share this labor of love with you. We hope our essays speak to you in a way that illumines, soothes, and inspires. The only request we asked of authors was that they be completely honest.

As you read our essays, you will hear grace, anger, humor, fear, fearlessness, forgiveness, confusion, joy, and acceptance. Childless has been a life passage and a life lesson for each of us. No stereotypically childless woman exists. We created this tapestry of experience with care and love for each of you."

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

2010-05-22T13:16:00.001-07:00

The eagerly awaited third novel from Stieg Larsson, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, will be available for sale on Tuesday May 25th!

Call and reserve your copy today! 323/465.1334

Isabel Allende and Scott Turow enter the L.A. Times bestseller list

2010-05-21T11:50:00.001-07:00

Isabel Allende and Scott Turow enter the L.A. Times bestseller list

Posted using ShareThis

Book signing with Stuart Gibbs

2010-05-18T15:51:00.001-07:00

Stuart Gibbs will be signing copies of Belly Up on Sunday May 23rd from 1-3 pm.

Stuart Gibbs used to work at a zoo. Then he researched capybaras (the world's largest rodents). Now he writes for movies and television. Belly Up is his first novel, and it is geared toward children ages 9-12.

When he's not writing, he loves to travel (particularly to places with lots of wild animals) and have adventures with his wife and children.

Book Signing with Jeffrey Kaye

2010-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Kaye will be signing copies of Moving Millions: How Coyote Capitalism Fuels Global Immigration on Saturday May 22nd from 1-3 pm.

On the same day that reporter Jeffrey Kaye visited the Tondo hospital in northwest Manila, members of an employees association wearing hospital uniforms rallied in the outside courtyard demanding pay raises. The nurses at the hospital took home about $261 a month, while in the United States, nurses earn, on average, more than fifteen times that rate of pay. No wonder so many nurses leave the Philipppines.

Between 2000 and 2007, nearly 78,000 qualified nurses left the Philippines to work abroad, but there's more to it than the pull of better wages: each year the Philippine president hands out Bagong Bayani ("Modern-day Heroes") awards to the country's "outstanding and exemplary" migrant workers. Migrant labor accounts for the Philippines' second largest source of export revenue -- after electronics -- and they ship out nurses like another country might export textiles. In 2008, the Philippines was one of the top-ranking destination countries for remittances, alongside India ($45 billion), China ($34.5 billion), and Mexico ($26.2 billion).

Nurses in the Philippines, farmers in Senegal, Dominican factory workers in rural Pennsylvania, even Indian software engineers working in California -- all are pieces of a larger system Kaye calls "coyote capitalism." Coyote capitalism is the idea -- practiced by many businesses and governments -- that people, like other natural resources, are supplies to be shifted around to meet demand. Workers are pushed out, pulled in, and put on the line without consideration of the consequences for economies, communities, or individuals.

With a fresh take on a controversial topic, Moving Millions knocks down myth after myth about why immigrants come to the United States and what role they play in the economy, challenging the view that immigrants themselves motivate immigration, rather than the policies of businesses and governments in both rich and poor nations.

Kaye takes readers around the world in search of answers, with stops in Mexico, Europe, the UAE, Poland, Senegal, and elsewhere. Interviewing smugglers and undocumented workers, recruiters and legal immigrants, Kaye finds surprising connections between globalization, economic growth, and the convoluted immigration debates taking place in the United States and other industrialized countries.

What does it all add up to? America's approach to importing workers looks from the outside like a patchwork of unnecessary laws and regulations, but the machinery of immigration is actually part of a larger, global system that satisfies the needs of businesses and governments, often at the expense of workers in every nation.

Moving Millions brings a new perspective to the looming debates over comprehensive immigration reform in Washington. It is important reading for policy makers, activists on both sides of immigration and globalization debates, and anyone who wants to understand an issue that will remain a major point of domestic and international political conflict for decades to come.

Jeffrey Kaye is a freelance journalist and special correspondent for the PBS NewsHour, for whom he has reported since 1984. His work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and other print, broadcast, and Internet outlets. For more information, and to see pictures taken while reporting for Moving Millions, visit his website at www.jeffreykaye.net.

Book Signing with Fonda St. Paul

2010-05-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

Fonda St. Paul will be signing copies of Smile Pretty Now on Saturday May 15th from 1-3 p.m.

Fonda St. Paul has been a voracious reader since she can remember. Her vivid imagination and her ability to tell a story turned her writing hobby into a full time profession. Always interested in true crime and fiction, she decided that her first novel should be a compilation of her fifteen years of research into the minds of serial killers.

In addition to writing, she also produces reality shows and is at work on her second novel, Forever Christmas Eve. Fonda lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Sandy Passman, and their pug, Lucy Jean Pugwell.

Story time at Chevalier's Books

2010-05-01T17:02:00.001-07:00

We have story time for kids at Chevalier's Books every Saturday and Sunday morning from 10:30 - 11:00 a.m!

Saturday's reader is Barbara Grant, and on Sundays Anjoum (pictured at left) takes the reigns.

Bring the kids and listen to a story!

Signing with Betsy Brown Braun

2010-04-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

Betsy Brown Braun will be signing copies of her new book You're Not the Boss of Me: Brat-Proofing Your 4- to 12-year-old Child on Saturday May 1st from 1-3 pm.

What parent hasn't thought her child was a brat at one point or another? Whether your child is really a brat, is at risk of becoming one, or is simply trying to grow up in a world filled with temptations and distractions, you'll love this book!

It's the ultimate hands-on guide to cultivating character traits that are tried-and-true "bratbusters." Full of no-nonsense practical "Tips and Scripts," You're Not the Boss of Me offers just the help you need to deal with many of the more challenging behaviors typical of 4- to 12-year-olds.

With Betsy Brown Braun's humorous, supportive, and authoritative voice as guide, navigating some of the most exasperating aspects of these formative years with confidence and laying the groundwork for your child's future just got a whole lot easier!

Signing with Richard Schenkman

2010-04-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Richard Schenkman will be signing copies of The Girl from Atlantis on Sunday April 25th from 1-3 pm.

Athena Crowley is an ordinary eleven-year-old girl who lives in an extraordinary place: a resort hotel in the Bahamas. Her father is the marine archeologist who discovered the Mythical Lost City of Atlantis, for which the hotel is named. Athena's mother was lost years ago when a freak whirlpool took her away.

Athena goes to school, rides the water slides, and helps out at the hotel's dolphin encounter... a fairly normal life. But everything changes the day an old turtle starts talking to her, and Athena realizes that she can communicate with sea creatures. Determined to understand her roots, Athena takes a risky journey to the undersea kingdom of Atlantica, where mer-people rule, humans are slaves, and dangerous and thrilling surprises await her.

Signing with Manny Pacheco

2010-04-13T16:59:00.001-07:00

Manny Pacheco will be signing copies of Forgotten Hollywood, Forgotten History on Sunday April 18th from 1-3 pm.

Nothing grabs the mind like a finely crafted film. Memorable lines strike an instant impression, and classic imagery provides celluloid art for us to enjoy time and again. Manny Pacheco has studied motion pictures and understands Hollywood at its core. Through his love and passion for the stars of yesteryear, he presents a review of timeless films, which also uniquely capture seldom told accounts of America's story.

Bypassing the legendary stars from the Studio Era's Golden Age, Forgotten Hollywood, Forgotten History focuses on the character actors and actresses that consistently delivered stellar performances, and it offers a bold fresh new take of our collective past.

Manny Pacheco's extensive career in radio and television has spanned over three decades in Southern California. He hosted the Emmy-nominated In Studio, has written numerous articles on performing, and currently works in commercial acting, voice-over, and radio broadcasting. A graduate of UCLA, he and his wife, Laurie, live in Cypress, California.

Signing with Dennis Vaughn

2010-04-10T17:15:00.001-07:00

Dennis Vaughn will be signing copies of The Price of Revenge on Saturday April 17th from 1-3 pm.

"David Fox has a life anyone would envy -- a flourishing career as a lawyer, a condo in Denver, and a beautiful girlfriend, Ellen -- until he begins investigating a lawsuit against the Dever City Ballet. It seems like a commonplace allegation of misspent funds at first, but soon David finds himself caught in a web of blackmail, betrayal, and dark secrets."

"To escape, he'll have to answer some uncomfortable questions: Who was responsible for the embezzlement, and how far will they go to cover it up? What precisely is Ellen discussing in those sessions with her psychiatrist? And is telling the truth worth losing everything? The Price of Revenge follows David across boundaries both professional and personal as he tries to find his way out of the maze of intrigue into which he has stumbled."

A California native, Dennis Vaughn received his bachelor's and law degrees from Stanford University. After a successful career as an attorney, he has turned his attention to writing fiction. He lives in Aspen and Los Angeles with this wife, Linda.

Signing with Rhonda Hayter

2010-03-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

Rhonda Hayter will be signing copies of The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams on Sunday April 11th from 1-3 pm.

Abbie Adams and her family come from a long line of witches, and she's having a tough time keeping it a secret from her best friend and the rest of her school. Especially the day her little brother morphs into a wolf and tries to eat his teacher.

That's also the day her father brings home a kitten. Abbie's been begging for a cat for months, and she falls in love with that fluffy fuzzball right away. But there's something peculiar about this kitten, and it just might take a witch like Abbie to figure out what it is.

Signing with Stephen Cubine

2010-03-22T13:28:00.000-07:00

Stephen Cubine will be signing copies of Walking on Electric Air on Saturday March 27th from 1-3 pm.

When her fourth suicide attempt results in a disabled minivan rather than the peaceful farewell she'd planned in her carbon monoxide-filled garage, Dottie Westbrook, a depressed St. Louis housewife, takes the next step in getting her plan back on track; she calls Triple-A. But her plans take a drastic turn when Shelby Struthers, a boozy, auto-mechanic with dark demons, appears on her doorstep. Shelby tows Dottie and the minivan back to his garage. While waiting, Dottie and Shelby swap tragic stories in a drunken exchange. Dottie reveals that she is about to be institutionalized by a family unable to deal with her depression; and Shelby laments of Remy, the young daughter he lost years ago in a bitter custody battle.

Dottie, who never knew her own father, is appalled that Shelby let his daughter go without a fight, so she finds a cause in Shelby. She proceeds to steal a Mercedes from Shelby's garage and makes a dramatic escape, beckoning Shelby to come along so she can help him find his daughter. On the brink of personal and financial disaster, with nothing left to lose, Shelby jumps in and away they go.

Along the way, they encounter sassy Lynda Critchlow, a small-town rental clerk who unknowingly rents them a vehicle loaded down with undelivered drugs. Anxious for a one-way ticket out of Hicksville and away from her abusive boyfriend, she hitches a ride with them to Nashville to begin what she feels is her inevitable singing career. The three traveling companions become an unlikely family while searching for Shelby's daughter.

Along the bucolic highways of the South, Dottie and Shelby help each other find value in the wreckage of their several potentially dangerous adversaries: two bumbling drug lords who want to retrieve the drugs in their rental car; Lynda's violent boyfriend; and Dottie's bickering husband and mother.

Stephen Cubine, an award-winning feature film producer, holds a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Tennessee. His short story Tiny Tot Revue was published in 1995 and made into a short film. A native of Tennessee, he presently resides in Los Angeles.

Signing with Peter Birkenhead

2010-03-13T13:51:00.001-08:00

Peter Birkenhead will be signing copies of Gonville: A Memoir on Saturday March 20th from 1-3 pm.

In powerful and spirited prose, Peter Birkenhead recounts a childhood spent trying to make sense of his father, a terrifying, charismatic presence who brutalized his family physically and emotionally at the same time that he enchanted them with his passion and whimsy. An avid gun collector yet an anti-war activist, a popular economics professor and a wife-swapping nudist, a leftist and a lifelong fan of the British Empire who would occasionally don an authentic pith helmet and imitate Michael Caine's performance as the heroic Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in the bloody war film Zulu, he was a man who could knock his young son down the stairs one day and the next cry about putting the family's aged dog to sleep.

Such is the contradictory figure at the center of this astonishingly candid and shocking memoir. As a young adult, Birkenhead reacted to his volatile childhood by forgetting its worst moments. He adopted all the trappings of normalcy, threw himself into a career as an actor, landing parts in Broadway plays like Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, both by Neil Simon, and found himself often playing characters who were angry at their fathers. Yet he discovered that he was sleepwalking through life, on occasion falling into rages that reminded him of his father.

Then at thirty-one, eleven years after his parents' divorce, Birkenhead told his mother about his recurring dream of flying down the stairs of their house as a young boy. She revealed that it wasn't a dream, but a memory from his early childhood of being carried rapidly down the stairs by his mom after his father had pointed a gun at them. The revelation about the dream sparked the painful yet necessary process of examining his childhood and of ultimately moving beyond it, forcing Birkenhead to finally confront his father in a way that released him and his family from this complicated legacy. Combining the terror and wit of Running with Scissors, the poignancy and sense of place of The Tender Bar, with the sparkling prose of Oh the Glory of It All, Gonville is light on its feet even as it deals in the darkest of family tales. A harrowing and often humorous story of a son coming to terms with his alternately charming, cruel, generous, and violent father.

Los Angeles Times bestsellers (hardcover) for March 14, 2010. - latimes.com

2010-03-12T11:00:00.001-08:00

Los Angeles Times bestsellers (hardcover) for March 14, 2010. - latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Bookstore Poem

2010-03-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

The Bookstore by Elizabeth Newstat

At work I get attached to strangers
Who are dying
Whose dogs are dying
Who have hot diamond engagement rings
Whose checks bounce
Whose cats are dying
Who bring in paper sacks
hiding whiskey bottles before the binge
Whose husbands are having quadruples
Who love Eat, Pray, Love
Who hate Eat, Pray, Love
Whose father-in-law loves Sarah Palin
Whose dog needs a wheelchair
Whose dog can’t eat wheat
(Good! No biscuit for you!)
Whose dog attacks me
Who show me their novels, scripts, poems
and make me happy
Who flirt with the beautiful young Lesbian bookseller
straight men
Who flirt with the handsome young gay bookseller
gay men
Who flirt with me for practice with the young and beautiful
Who forget the author
Who forget the title
“Begins with moon”
“Begins with the”
“Author is John”
“Author is Jane”
Who buy a book by the cover
Who buy a book by the weight
Who show me their Kindle
but buy my pick in solidarity
Who write books themselves and check shelves
and complain
“Where is my book?”
Who write books themselves and don’t check the shelves
Who are geniuses and don’t care if their book is here
Whose dogs are mellow, fat, lazy, crazy
Remember the baker in La Femme du Boulanger
I talk to the dog instead of the owner.

Book signing with Eric Gudas

2010-03-04T13:14:00.000-08:00

Author/Poet Eric Gudas will be signing copies of Best Western and Other Poems on Saturday, March 13th, from 1 - 3 p.m.

Eric Gudas was born in Annapolis, Maryland in 1972. His poems, book reviews, and interviews with american poets have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Crazyhorse, The Iowa Review, Poetry Flash, The Southern Review, and other journals. Beautiful Monster, his chapbook of poems, was published by Swan Scythe Press in 2003. He and his wife, Alyssa Sherwood, live with their daughter in Los Angeles.

Have You Seen My Dinosaur?

2010-02-16T14:02:00.000-08:00

Author Jon Surgal will be reading and signing copies of Have You Seen My Dinosaur? on Sunday, February 21st, from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

How do you find a missing dinosaur who's large and green and likes to roar? When a little boy's dinosaur decides to play hide-and-seek, he is surprisingly difficult to track down. Veteran illustrator Joe Mathieu's dino-mite illustrations and Jon Surgal's saur-ing verse will have kids roaring with laughter as they romp through this funny rhyming beginner book.

Jon Surgal is the Emmy Award-winning writer of Lamb Chop's Play-Along (PBS), Howdy Doody and Friends (NBC), Emily of New Moon (CBC), creator of Muggsy and GO-USA (NBC), and The Big Game Hunt (NY State Dept. of Education.)

Picturing Las Vegas

2010-02-16T13:14:00.000-08:00

Linda Chase will be signing copies of Picturing Las Vegas on Saturday, February 20th, from 1-3 p.m.

Through colorful photographs and first-hand narrative detail Picturing Las Vegas tells the story of a city whose history mirrors America itself: a tale of the frontier, of corruption and greed, of beauty and loss and ineffable hope.

From its hardscrabble origins, to the Golden Age of the Rat Pack, to todays mind-blowing theme-park casinos, Las Vegas is the city that has it all. Mobsters. Mormons. Elvis and Wayne Newton, Siegfried and Roy. It's a place where change is the one constant, and where the pursuit of happiness is the only law. In the words of writer Chuck Palahniuk, it's the place that "looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night."

Linda Chase is the author of Surfing: Women of the Waves and grew up in Las Vegas. She lives in California.

Signing with Michele Wong McSween

2010-02-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

Michele Wong McSween will be signing copies of her Gordon & Li Li books on Sunday, February 14th, from 11am - 1pm.

Come and learn some Mandarin!

Signing with Judge Eileen Moore

2010-02-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Judge Eileen Moore will be signing copies of Race Results: Hollywood vs. the Supreme Court: Ten Decades of Racial Decisions and Film this Saturday, February 6th, from 1-3 p.m.

From the dust jacket: "Picture this: nine old white men isolated by privilege and position. Can they notice more about the lives of real people than Hollywood? They not only can. They did."

"From the 1915 film epic The Birth of a Nation to films from the first decade of the new millennium, author Eileen Moore compares and contrasts popular movies decade-by-decade with racial decisions from the highest court in our land: the Supreme Court. Here you will see, with the noted exception of one specific decade, how "conservative" Supreme Court justices actually were more liberal and progressive than the supposedly liberal producers, directors, and studios of Hollywood."

"Race Results not only shows which movies actually contain racist messages, but why this was sometimes deliberately so. Moore also discusses significant events that were happening in society that affected decisions of both the Supreme Court and Hollywood. The end result makes several fascinating conclusions about whether Hollywood reflected real life, or if Hollywood shaped racial ideas and attitudes of society, and actually prolonged racism."

Thank you!

2010-01-30T15:59:00.000-08:00

A great big thank you to everyone who came to our 70th Anniversary party last night! We had a wonderful time celebrating with you!

Chevalier's Celebrates 70 Years!!!

2010-01-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

Chevalier's Books opened its doors on Larchmont Boulevard in January of 1940. Without you, our loyal friends, we wouldn't still be here 70 years later.

To celebrate this milestone, we are throwing a party at the store on Friday, January 29th, from 6-9 pm. Please join us for champagne and hors d'oeuvres as we reminisce and toast the next 70 years!

Joint signing for "Sloane Sisters" and "Fallen"

2010-01-09T17:27:00.000-08:00

We're having a joint signing with 2 authors!

Anna Carey will be signing copies of Sloane Sisters and Lauren Kate will be signing copies of Fallen on Saturday, January 16th, from 1-3 p.m.