This week in the literary world is centered on reading - not that it has never been, but let’s be honest here: have you ever just wanted to sit down and read without being distracted by a well-intentioned last call when the library is closing for the day? Have you just wanted to be somewhere with your book, your editorial, your script or newspaper without interruption, outside of the bus station or your living room?

Last Friday afternoon I was in a spot. The afternoon was free for all sorts of tearing apart of a pristine copy of The Shining, but the thought that my choices for parking my caboose were in the form of a Starbucks or Coffee Bean brought me down. Nothing against either of the locales, but I’ve found that focus is much better attained outside the realm of the generic and pretentious.

So in addition to the familiar melting pot of literary choices for the week, every so often we’ll present to the a place for you to drop your tense shoulders and relax your furrowed brow when you’ve nothing else on your agenda but pages to burn through.

• Reading Series | Thursday, August 27, 2008 | 7:00 pm | Book Soup - Map | The Master of Professional Writing Program at USC focuses on teaching students to learn the language of literature and entertainment, and to realize the benefits of networking and professionalism by way of various reading series events such as these. Stephen Silke, member of the Board of the Professional Writer’s Association, will host the event, and will be joined by poet Gerald Locklin, with readings by Tracy Chabala, Katrina Spencer, and Allison Darby. For more information, call (310) 659-3110.

• Used Book Sale | Saturday, August 30, 2008 | 10:00 am - 2:00 pm | Studio City Branch Library - Map | Books, books, and more books - don’t throw away your Barnes & Noble membership card, but if there is joy to be found in perusing the New Arrivals section, I’m almost certain that “rifling through a stack of titles that run between twenty-five cents and two bucks after brunch” is on someone’s list of guilty pleasures - somewhere in this county. For more info, call (818) 755-7873.

• Open Mic - Poetry | Sunday, August 31, 2008 | 8:00 pm | Little Joy Cocktails - Map | A no-frills dive bar with pool tables complete with strong drinks behind the bar and a microphone begets verbal expression of the poetic sort - all kinds - on a Sunday evening. Sign-ups at For more info, call (213) 250-3417.

• Open Mic Night | Tuesday, September 2, 2008 | 7:00 pm Los Angeles Central Library - Map | For those that prefer a more traditional setting, this might be a good venue in which to find your poetic or spoken word voice, in an establishment that teems with words and expression itself. For more info, call (213) 228-7000.

And as promised:

• The Coffee Table | (323) 644-8111 | Sunday - Saturday, 7:00 am - 11:00 pm | Map | The first thing I noticed about this place was the lack of drown-out-quality music being piped through the ceiling, leaving roof for such mental processes and mulling over and thinking. Street seating is ideal with a welcome absence of througoughfare traffic, and an outdoor deck-like area through the backway is fit for evenings, which should only get better when autumn waltzes in. For satiation in the realm of food and coffee, I just wish I could find an online menu. . . but it help if I proclaim that their soy chai lattes and chocolate cake are the makings of something fabulous?

Photo by Lin Pernille ♥ Photography

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