Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend this weekend's Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, the largest event of its kind in the country. The
23rd annual festival, which celebrates reading and storytelling, got
underway at 10 a.m. Saturday at the USC campus near downtown L.A.
Authors participating in this year's event include Junot Díaz, Reza
Aslan, Maria Shriver and Leslie Odom Jr. In
addition to the author panels, there are hundreds of booths showcasing
the things that make L.A. a great literary city. Campus eateries are
open, and food trucks parked at four locations. There is also music, cooking demonstrations and other activities. More than 150,000 people attended last year's event. Novak, an Orange County resident, has been coming to the festival off and on for 10 years. "We're
big readers, so we love seeing all the booksellers and what they have
on sale," Novak said. "But we also love the opportunity to hear the
writers come and talk about their latest books and hear them talk with
other writers." Los Angeles Times
