LMU writer’s Joan Didion tribute draws big crowd at Vroman’s

Share: A showing of around fifty individuals gathered at Vroman’s Bookstore to listen to writer and professor, Evelyn McDonnell, read from different passages from her latest book release, ‘The World According to Joan Didion’, highlighting distinct events throughout Didion’s life.  Evelyn McDonnell is Loyola Marymount’s Director of Journalism and a versatile writer, similar to Didion’s versatility, in which both of their careers consist/ed of journalism, various essays, screenwriting, and noveling. McDonnell channeled her gift and passion for writing into a novel honoring the iconic journalist, …

Octavia’s Bookshelf saves space for new stories

Share: A few months after her move to Los Angeles, writer Hannah V. Sawyerr stopped by Octavia’s Bookshelf to ask owner Nikki High if she would consider hosting the release of her debut novel, “All The Fighting Parts”. Nikki warned her she had a lot of events lined up, but asked for the date anyway. The day of Hannah’s book release was Nikki’s one free day and it all happened to be her birthday. “The reason why I opened this bookstore is because it’s so …

‘Paper Doll Lina’ explores the realities of domestic violence

Share: “Paper Doll Lina” by Robyn Lucas is a book about domestic violence and romance. Trigger warning: this book does get graphic. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is sensitive to domestic violence issues. This book is based on the author’s real-life story.  This book is important because so many people deal with the intersection of love and domestic violence. This book educates you on red flags to spot that may be the beginning of domestic abuse. The abuse starts off small, …

‘One Last Stop’ is one stop away from perfect representation

Share: After looking for a read for myself, a 21-year-old sapphic, I found Casey McQuston’s most popular work, “Red White and Royal Blue”, and after further digging it led me to “One Last Stop”. In “One Last Stop”, McQuiston delivers a brilliant and beautiful take on a romance, mystery novel that is built on endearing characters and a great pillar of LGBTQ representation. In all honesty, I rarely read in my spare time, however, this book really drew me in and at times it was …

Can love be predetermined? ‘The One’ seeks the answer

Share: Using your DNA to find your soulmate is the jist of John Marrs book “The One ”. The book explores the “what if ” of if love could be scientifically measured. This discovery could mean the end of racism, homophobia, and discrimination. The GLSEN study measured the frequency of anti-gay harassment in schools and found 61.1% of LGBT students reported verbal harassment, 46.5% reported sexual harassment, 27.6% reported physical harassment, and 13.7% reported physical assault. If love could be scientifically measured people can no …

‘Literature of Horror’ class picks the creepiest books to read for spooky season

Share: Deep in conversation over the gothic novel and its place in our current society, the Literature of Horror class gathers to discuss the gothic traits that have been reconstructed into what we now call horror. Professor Tim Melnairk leads the discussion that delves into what scares us before both he and the class divulge their top book picks they find the most haunting.  Freshman Quinn Hurd said when she was a young girl she read Dean Koontz’s “Door to December” and that this story …

Slammed PCC students struggle to find the fun in reading

Share: Required reading dredges up dark thoughts of stress-induced headaches, avoidable all-nighters, and hard-earned grades for PCC students, but leisure reading is something different entirely.  Extracurricular reading is an aspiration, a fantasy in which homework, jobs, and every other thing that fills up Google Calendars doesn’t exist, in which anticipated books don’t have to be things that will be finished when “someday” comes, and yet some students are still trying to make it a reality. One of these students is Bridget Perez, a third-year child …