Reader Kate Karp, who has a cat who resembles a key character in this Russian classic, writes: "[It] turned out, no surprise, to have been the inspiration for the Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil.'" She notes it also requires multiple readings to grasp all the subplots — but it's worth it. (Penguin Classics/TNS)
Handout/Penguin Classics/TNS
"A favorite book my book group read and discussed is 'Farenheit 451.' It was fascinating to see what the past thought the future might bring," reader Margaret Hardy writes of the 20th century classic. (Simon & Schuster/TNS)
Handout/Simon & Schuster/TNS
Los Angeles Times illustration; images from Mariner Books Classics/Vintage/Simon & Schuster/Grove Press/Black Cat; Dutton; Knopf; Viking/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
LOS ANGELES -- Nearly every week, I pass a colleague in the office who taunts me with four words: "Count of Monte Cristo, Count of Monte Cristo," as he shakes his head. He's disappointed his favorite book didn't make the cut of our 101 best book club picks list, which served as the 2026 LA Times Festival of Books curtain-raiser. I don't mind the barb. There's nothing more exciting than an impassioned reader — even when they're wrong. I'm all for rallying around a book or author and debating their merits like it's a sporting match. Our book lists, after all, aren't meant to be final verdicts. They're invitations to read more (and, maybe, better).
Cal Flyn traveled tens of thousands of miles around the world to research her book, “The Savage Landscape: How We Made the Wilderness,” journe…
Reader Kate Karp, who has a cat who resembles a key character in this Russian classic, writes: "[It] turned out, no surprise, to have been the inspiration for the Stones' 'Sympathy for the Devil.'" She notes it also requires multiple readings to grasp all the subplots — but it's worth it. (Penguin Classics/TNS)
"A favorite book my book group read and discussed is 'Farenheit 451.' It was fascinating to see what the past thought the future might bring," reader Margaret Hardy writes of the 20th century classic. (Simon & Schuster/TNS)
Los Angeles Times illustration; images from Mariner Books Classics/Vintage/Simon & Schuster/Grove Press/Black Cat; Dutton; Knopf; Viking/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
