Newsletter: Book Club: Get ready for Michael Connelly and Julie Andrews

By Donna WaresBook Club Editor

Sept. 21, 2019 7 AM PT

Good morning, and welcome to the Book Club newsletter.

On Oct. 21, our next book club event will feature author Michael Connelly in conversation with Times reporter and novelist Jeffrey Fleishman about “The Night Fire.”

The latest installment in Connelly’s bestselling series finds venerable detective Harry Bosch (his credo: “Everybody counts or nobody counts”) teamed up with LAPD night shift detective Renee Ballard, a fellow lone wolf.

“The Night Fire” will be published on Oct. 22. And we’re excited that Connelly, a former Times police beat reporter, will share his new book a day early with book club readers. We’re back at the Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood, and tickets are on sale. And yes, early books will be available at the event, courtesy of Pages bookstore.

While we’re waiting for Bosch’s return, I’d like your opinion: What is the best L.A. crime book of all time? Tough question, I know. Please share your favorite crime pick and why you chose it in a message to [email protected] by Oct. 1. We’ll include readers’ comments in an upcoming story.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

Mark your calendar: Julie Andrews joins Times readers Nov. 18 to talk about “Home Work,” her new memoir.

The actress, singer, author and star of iconic Hollywood and Broadway productions will be in conversation with The Times’ Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mary McNamara at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles.

The sequel to “Home,” which focused on her early life, Andrews’ new book chronicles her arrival in Hollywood and takes readers inside “Mary Poppins,” “The Sound of Music” and other films.

Tickets are now on sale for the Nov. 18 event, which is being cohosted by the book club and the Times Ideas Exchange. Every admission includes a copy of “Home Work,” which will be published on Oct. 15. For ticket inquiries, contact [email protected].

Times reporter Teresa Watanable interviews George Takei onstage.

George Takei’s latest mission

Actor, author and activist George Takei joined book club readers on Sept. 10 to talk about his new graphic memoir (“They Called Us Enemy”); his new TV series (“The Terror: Infamy”) and his iconic role on the original “Star Trek” series.

Takei noted that his groundbreaking role as Mr. Sulu on “Star Trek” put a Japanese American actor in a prime-time role when the show debuted in 1966. The Starship Enterprise was a model of inclusion, with an African American communications officer played by Nichelle Nichols and even a bridge officer with a Russian accent at the height of the Cold War.

An audience member asked Takei about Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura during the show’s three-year run, and her plans to leave the show after season one — that is, until Martin Luther King Jr. persuaded her to stay.

“There was no other person representing what she represented,” Takei told the audience. “That was an important statement that Dr. King made to her. I was mindful of the role that I played, because we didn’t have opportunities like that before — to play one in the leadership team and to be in a futuristic utopian vision of our future.”

If you missed the Takei event, check out this TV recap on Spectrum News 1.

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