T C Boyle

Lisa Demattia, mother: "The Tortilla Curtain" by T.C. Boyle (Viking Penguin). "I had no expectations for this book and had never read Boyle before my book club chose 'Tortilla Curtain.' It is an excellent book club book because it raises so many issues: about the haves and have-nots in this country, about people crossing the border." * Sue DiJulio, elementary school principal: "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman (Bantam).

Several weeks into December last year, my parents suggested I might like a Kindle for Christmas. I was sitting in my room at school, and my eyes darted to the bookshelf on my left. From the silence on the line they could tell I wasn't enthusiastic; I muttered something about not needing another gadget, mostly because I couldn't find a way to shape my reluctance into words. The conversation was tactfully forgotten, and Christmas morning, as my grandmother happily unwrapped a Kindle, I found a Jonathan Franzen novel and a new pair of Ugg boots under the tree.

Fans of literary radio broadcasts across America recognized the voice of Isaiah Sheffer, the founding artistic director of Symphony Space in New York. Sheffer hosted its program, "Selected Shorts," which broadcast on 130 public radio stations nationwide, reaching hundreds of thousands of listeners each week. On its website Friday, Symphony Space announced that Sheffer, 76, has died. "Selected Shorts" began in 1985 as a stage performance. In the show, actors read short fiction; it's a great combination.

GUESS who's coming to dinner? Depending on where you are in L.A. on Monday night, it could be comics master Stan Lee, novelist T.C. Boyle, former Disney chief Michael Eisner, sportswriter Frank Deford or former Watergate figure John Dean. They are but a handful of the 54 authors who will be invited into private Southern California homes for an evening of discourse and dining to benefit the Los Angeles Public Library.