Hollywood Book Festival

06/15/2026

"He’s supplied a list of books, films and other cultural ephemera for us to talk through—works that informed and influenced his new novel Red Sheet, his third book in a row about the Kennedy-era exploits of ex-LAPD private eye, fixer and “sh*t-magnet” Freddy Otash. In this one, “Freddy O” deep-dives dirt-packed docs on suspected Communist sympathizers and uncovers a baroquely complex murder plot connecting Richard Nixon and his shrink, Hugh Hefner, future L.A. mayor Tom Bradley, Hollywood lefties, and a gang of homicidal Spanish Civil War vets. Ellroy’s at his best when speaking through a secret-sharer narrator like Freddy, and this electrified tangle of fact, fiction and fever-dream pulp is his best book in a while, even when its two-fisted anti-Commie sentiment goes way over the top—not for nothing does Ellroy’s list of key influences on this one include a 1951 Mickey Spillane novel that ends with P.I. Mike Hammer machine-gunning a meat locker full of filthy Reds."

Legendary crime novelist James Ellroy on communism, classical music, and what he really thinks of the movie version of ‘L.A. Confidential.’

06/15/2026

"I’ve watched almost every game of Brunson’s Knicks career. I usually turn on the games late at night, toward the end of a writing evening. There is Brunson, double-crossing a defender, collapsing into the hardwood as his shot arcs over taller players, drawing an offensive foul, asking me: Have you given your all tonight? Have you let yourself reach for the possibility within each sentence as I have within each moment of this game? Maybe you need to have another chat with the Holy Ghost."

Brunson is the literary idol every writer needs. He's a reminder that talent is always the junior partner to the work itself.

06/13/2026

"So, you’re reading this book and you’re going, “I don’t know quite what will happen. I don’t know quite how this will end…” And then suddenly the character that you feel close to is murdered, and your whole relationship with the book changes quite profoundly. I never was able to forget the description that Golding gave of his body sliding out to sea. I remember reading that passage again and again and again, because I hadn’t taken it in. And just that beautiful way that he disguised what was happening, whilst making what was happening so clear. I fell in love. I tried to make it once before, for Channel 4, and I tried to get the rights from the estate and they said no. Then we got this second opportunity, and this time I was determined to make it happen."

‘Adolescence’ Writer Jack Thorne On His Mission To Adapt ‘Lord Of The Flies’ For TV: “It’s A Story Of How We Bring Our Kids Up"

06/13/2026

Several states have attempted to strip minors of their rights to privacy in public libraries in this era of censorship.

06/08/2026

"While the number of independent bookshops in the UK is momentarily healthy, there is a tsunami heading our way with the advent of almost-convincing AI-generated writing. The literary landscape is about to change, and bookshops will be the lighthouses in the storm. Choosing to support bookshops and human-based publishing is going to become more important than ever."

What sort of book browser are you? Katie Clapham, the owner of an independent bookshop in Lancashire, has come across every type of customer imaginable – and she definitely has her favourites

06/08/2026

"Jill Biden wrote in the memoir, published Tuesday, that addiction wasn’t something she and her husband talked about. “I think we were partly in denial,” she acknowledged, adding that she wondered why someone who had a family that loved him, a good education and a lucrative career would turn to drugs."

In her new memoir, “View from the East Wing,” Jill Biden reflects on Hunter Biden’s addiction, Joe Biden’s cancer battle and the loss of privacy as first lady.

06/05/2026

It’s time to start thinking about what book dad’s going to enjoy this summer in his favorite lounge chair.

06/05/2026

French-Iranian artist, author and women’s rights activist Marjane Satrapi, the illustrator behind the graphic novel memoir “Persepolis,” has died at 56.

06/02/2026

"I don’t really have a writing routine. I just write whenever I can. When I was in my 20s and living alone, I was a binge writer. If I was obsessed with a project, I’d work around the clock, barely go anywhere, and sleep when I was tired but work the rest of the time until it was done.
When my daughters were born—they’re now 21 and 17—I wrote when they were sleeping, and when they were in school, I wrote around drop-off and pick-up times and then a bit after they went to bed.
I would tell beginning writers, don’t try to match anyone else’s routine; write around the life you have. That’s what I’ve always tried to do."

The novelist says to “write around the life you have”

06/02/2026

"The Commonwealth Prize isn’t the first AI scandal in the literary world. Earlier this year, the Hachette Book Group withdrew horror novel "Shy Girl" after allegations that its author used artificial intelligence. Even Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk recently faced backlash after she admitted to using AI for research and drafting."

One of the winners of this year's prestigious Commonwealth Short Story Prize has been accused of using artificial intelligence to write his entry "Serpent in the Grove". Does the controversy signal a…