Has Katherine Taylor ever done cocaine?

Is Gwyneth Paltrow really a bad tipper?

First-time novelist Katherine Taylor answered these and other questions last night at Cody’s Books in Berkeley. She was at Cody’s to speak about her debut novel — Rules For Saying Goodbye. Read More . . .

This presentation felt different. It was held in a church, not a bookstore. A large cross hung from the ceiling at the front of the church. The author, Khaled Hosseini, spoke from the pulpit, with the cross vividly behind him. The audience was unusually diverse – in age, sex, ethnicity, and class. You had to pay $40 to get in, the money going in part to a charitable organization called Trust in Education which helps poor people in Lalander, Afghanistan. The mood was solemn. Read More . . .

The New York Times dislikes Joyce Carol Oates’ latest novel: “At 582 pages, Ms. Oates’s 36th work of fiction begins to sink under its own dolorous weight. Though clearly meant to have an epic sweep, The Gravedigger’s Daughter feels like a four-hour film that should have been cut by 90 minutes.” Read More . . .

Michael Beschloss is a presidential historian with a little bit of star power. He appears regularly on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS. He is the official "NBC News Presidential Historian," frequently providing commentary on Meet the Press, Today, and NBC news programs. He speaks smoothly and charmingly in sentences that are rich, but not too complex. And last but by no means least, he is very good looking. Read More . . .