Books and Media

Our annual summer-reading roundup is coming to the a&e section June 17, but let's get a sneak peek, starting with "beach reads," which are big sellers every summer.

The Bee took home four first-place prizes and two second-place awards in the 2011 Better Newspapers Contest sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Following an industry trend, The Bee and four of its sister papers will experiment with charging some readers for access to stories on their websites.

Longtime Sacramento television personality Sharon Ito has announced she is stepping away from News10. Her last day will be Friday.

Brian Green is light rail's self-chosen cultural anthropologist. BlackBerry in hand, he taps out short, on-the-spot reports to his 600-plus friends on Facebook.

In the bruising world of mixed martial arts, he's known internationally as the California Kid and the Fighting Pride of Sacramento.

Ridley Pearson has a neat trick: He writes novels with one foot firmly planted in the adult suspense-thriller genre, the other in young-reader adventure. His worldwide sales and literary awards show it's working.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLER LIST

With a few swift sentences, The McClatchy Co.'s top management officially changed hands Wednesday.

Mother's Day seems the right time to chat with devoted mom Anna Quindlen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author who invented the "mommy/career woman blog" before blogs even existed.

Brenda Novak's birthday is Tuesday, so we checked in to see what's new. She's an award-winning, best-selling romantic-suspense novelist who lives in Carmichael.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

When I heard this week that Maurice Sendak died what may or may not have been the "yummy death" he had hoped for, I was, like scores of adults trying to go about their normal adult lives, suddenly transported for a moment back to the frightening and exhilarating dreamscape of "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen."

Two members of The Sacramento Bee's staff have won first place in the 2012 Best of West newspaper contest.

All Sacramento County Public Library locations will be closed three Fridays through the end of June because of staff furloughs.

Keith Ochwat admits that he and his Documentary Foundation partner, Christopher Rufo, both 27-year-old Sacramento natives, learned a lot in the making of "Age of Champions," their new film about Senior Olympics athletes.

Authors love to see their names and the titles of their books in the media. There's ego involved, yes, but that's secondary to the bottom line: the more exposure, the bigger and broader their book sales.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

In March, we asked a dozen book-savvy Californians to come up with their best recommendations of books we Californians should read. We also invited you to make your own lists of California-centric books and email them to us. Here's a sampling.

No one was offering details Friday, but Clear Channel in Sacramento carried out a rapid-fire change in executive leadership this week.

The Bee's Sunday circulation rose slightly, and its weekday circulation fell slightly, in the newspaper industry's latest audited reports.

Young animal lovers will return again and again to these two picture books about children protecting pufflings – baby puffins – and seal pups. Both stories are based on true events.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

There seem to be fewer political novels written today. And those that are tend to be satires or focus on the political machinations of those in charge.

We're chatting on the phone with writer Chris Enss of Grass Valley, whose books are all about the lore and legends of the Old West

In the publishing landscape, James Patterson is a titan, holder of the Guinness World Record for most entries on the New York Times best-seller list. More than 240 million of his books have sold worldwide.

The Sacramento Public Library Authority has unilaterally enacted a contract for 241 employees.

Jerome Parra, a veteran Gannett Co. news manager with strong Sacramento roots, has been named news director at Sacramento's Channel 10 (KXTV).

The McClatchy Co. posted a $2.1 million quarterly loss Wednesday, as revenue declines continued for the Sacramento-based newspaper chain.

The California Independent System Operator Corp. in Folsom will be featured tonight in a segment of the PBS series "America Revealed" on KVIE (Channel 6) in Sacramento.

The Sacramento Press has hired Jared Goyette, former online producer from the Miami Herald, to be its editor-in-chief.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

Everybody knows California is a nation unto itself, culturally and geographically unique. From Gold Rush argonauts to Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, we've always been at the forefront of daring and innovation.

Each of our California experts has chosen five books they believe best reflect the Golden State's people, culture and history.

Paid political attack dogs always have found safe haven in the free-wheeling anonymity of the Internet, but California is set to challenge that.

Gifts From the Gods, substantial tales in mythology.

Near, far or wherever there is a TV or a Kindle: Titanic-themed entertainment options swell today, the 100th anniversary of the luxury liner's sinking.

Google Inc. is the epitome of the Silicon Valley success story, a tech company that literally started in a garage and went global.

In the glory years of newspapers – decades before the cutbacks and layoffs brought on by the digital information age – there was high drama.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for stories … about himself.

Season 2 of HBO's remarkably popular "Game of Thrones" premiered last Sunday. Based on George R.R. Martin's book series "A Song of Ice and Fire," the TV saga covers the events in Martin's second book, "A Clash of Kings."

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.

So many brain-centric books have appeared in the past 18 months that … well, the mind reels. Among them is "The Scientific American Book of Love, Sex and the Brain" by Judith Horstman of Sacramento.

The El Dorado Hills branch of the El Dorado County Library will be closed April 14-29.

DirecTV subscribers in the Sacramento area can again tune into "American Idol" and "Glee." Channel 40 (KTXL) returned to the satellite broadcaster's lineup Wednesday evening.

After journalist Laura Ling was arrested and imprisoned by the North Koreans in 2009 while filming a documentary along the North Korea-China border, her sister, TV journalist Lisa Ling, received a startling phone call.

Tens of thousands of DirecTV subscribers in the Sacramento area remained unable to watch Channel 40 (KTXL) on Monday, the latest consumers caught in an ongoing broadcast industry crossfire over money.

Author appearances and book events in the Sacramento region.