Location: Thousand Oaks, CA 91362, United States

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland welcomes local acoustic band Smooth Toad back to the store on Friday, May 31st from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Come hear the sweet sounds of these veterans of three art forms: music, poetry, and theater.

Their repertoire ranges from such traditional classics as “Mole In The Ground,” “KC Moan,” and “Eyesight to the Blind” to many original twisted tunes. Sometimes, they’ll throw in an original poem or two in lively musical settings. Band members: G. P. Skratz: vocals, guitar. Hal Hughes: vocals, fiddle, guitar. Bob Ernst: vocals, blues harp, percussion. For a preview, visit the band on myspace.

This event is free and open to the public!

Location: Street: 5433 College Ave City: Oakland, Province: California Postal Code: 94618-1502 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Bruce Eric Kaplan, known for his distinctive, off-beat single-panel cartoons, has been a New Yorker cartoonist for more than ten years. He is also a television writer and was an executive producer for the acclaimed HBO series Six Feet Under, as well as a writer on Seinfeld (funnily enough, one of his most well-known episodes is one where Elaine becomes increasingly frustrated over what she takes to be an utterly nonsensical New Yorker cartoon).He has authored and illustrated seven adult titles for Simon & Schuster: the cult classic The Cat That Changed My Life; the collections I Love You, I Hate You, I'm Hungry; No One You Know; and This Is a Bad Time; and three... Read full bio
(added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood welcomes author Mike Katz to the store to discuss and sign his new book, Dearly Befuddled, on Sunday, June 9th at 3pm.

Isaac Holman is a producer of esoteric indie films, the kind that show up in the bargain bins at obscure film festivals. Once and always hopelessly in love with Debra, he cannot believe that she would entice him all the way to Yellowstone National Park, just so he can photograph her marriage to someone else. Debra Siegal has spent a decade climbing the labyrinthine Hollywood studio ladder. On the cusp of her wedding to the scion of a Hollywood mogul, can it be that only now she admits a lingering affection for Isaac? At once hilarious and poignant, Dearly Befuddled is the story of two people, at odds with each other and themselves. In his long-awaited return to fiction, Michael J. Katz brilliantly juxtaposes the glitz of Hollywood and the grandeur of Yellowstone, all in one tumultuous wedding weekend at the Old Faithful Inn.

Location: Street: Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood Additional: Brentwood Country Mart - 225 26th Street at San Vicente City: Santa Monica, Province: California Postal Code: 90402 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Diane Leslie's Book Group with Author meets to discuss Rachel Kushner's novel, The flamethrowers, on Monday, June 10th at 5pm.

The best part? Rachel Kushner will be joining in the discussion!In her new book, Rachel Kushner tells the riveting story of a young artist and the worlds she encounters in New York and Rome in the mid-1970s - by turns underground, elite, and dangerous. The year is 1975 and Reno - so-called because of the place of her birth - has come to New York intent on turning her fascination with motorcycles and speed into art. Her arrival coincides with an explosion of activity in the art world; artists have colonized a deserted and industrial SoHo, are staging actions in the East Village, and are blurring the line between life and art. Reno meets a group of dreamers and raconteurs who submit her to a sentimental education of sorts. Ardent, vulnerable, and bold, she begins an affair with an artist named Sandro Valera, the semi-estranged scion of an Italian tire and motorcycle empire. When they visit Sandro's family home in Italy, Reno falls in with members of the radical movement that overtook Italy in the seventies when betrayal sends her reeling into a clandestine undertow.

Rachel Kushner's, debut novel, Telex from Cuba, was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the California Book Award, and a New York Times bestseller and Notable Book. Her fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, and The Paris Review. She lives in LA.

There is a $20 fee for this event.

Location: Street: Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood Additional: Brentwood Country Mart - 225 26th Street at San Vicente City: Santa Monica, Province: California Postal Code: 90402 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Dan Krall is an author, illustrator, and an animator. He worked as a character designer on the popular films How to Train Your Dragon and Coraline. He was also the art director for the television shows Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated; Chowder; and Samurai Jack; as well as a Development Artist for Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The PowerPuff Girls, and Dexter’s Laboratory. He lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

Carl Hiaasen (A Death in China, Basket case, Flush, Hoot, Lucky You, Naked Came the Manatee, Native Tongue, Nature Girl, Powder Burn, Scat, Sick puppy, Skinny Dip, Stormy Weather, Strip Tease, Team rodent)

Carl Hiaasen was born and raised in Florida. He is the author of eleven previous novels, including the best-selling Nature Girl, Skinny Dip, Sick puppy, and Lucky You, and three best-selling children’s books, Hoot, Flush, and Scat. His most recent work of nonfiction is The Downhill Lie: A Hacker’s Return to a Ruinous Sport. He also writes a weekly column for The Miami Herald. (added from Random House)… (more)

Our Diesel Author Luncheon Series continues in Brentwood with author Jami Attenberg for her book, The Middlesteins.

For more than thirty years, Edie and Richard Middlestein shared a solid family life together in the suburbs of Chicago. But now things are splintering apart, for one reason: Edie's life-threatening obsession with food and the growing girth to match. When Richard abandons his wife, it is up to the next generation to pick up the pieces. Robin, their schoolteacher daughter, is determined that her father pay for leaving Edie. Benny, an easy-going, pot-smoking family man, just wants to smooth things over. And Rachelle — a whippet thin perfectionist — is intent on saving her mother-in-law's life. Through it all, they wonder: do Edie's devastating choices rest on her shoulders alone, or are others at fault, too?

Jami Attenberg is the author the Instant Love, The Kept Man, and The Melting Season. Her essays and criticism have appeared in numerous places including The New Yorker, Salon, and Nylon. A Chicago-native, she lives in Brooklyn.

PLEASE NOTE: The Luncheon will be Tuesday, June 25th from Noon-2pm. RESTAURANT AND PRICE TO BE ANNOUNCED. Please contact the store at 310-576-9960 to purchase tickets.

The Middlesteins will be available in paperback on June 4th.

Location: Street: Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood Additional: Brentwood Country Mart - 225 26th Street at San Vicente City: Santa Monica, Province: California Postal Code: 90402 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Diane Leslie's Book Group with Author meets to discuss Maria Semple's debut novel, Where'd You Go, Bernadette, DATE AND TIME TBA.

The best part? Maria Semple will be joining in the discussion!

Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she’s a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she’s a disgrace; to design mavens, she’s a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom. Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette’s intensifying allergy to Seattle – and people in general – has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic. To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence – creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a daughter’s unflinching love for her imperfect mother.

Maria Semple has written for television shows including Arrested Development, Mad About You, and Ellen. She has escaped from Los Angeles and lives with her family on an island off Seattle. Her first novel, This One Is Mine, was published in 2008.

There is a $20 fee for this event.

Location: Street: Diesel, A Bookstore in Brentwood Additional: Brentwood Country Mart - 225 26th Street, Suite 33 City: Brentwood, Province: California Postal Code: 90402 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

Ken Jennings was born outside Seattle, but grew up in Seoul, South Korea, where he became a daily devotee of the quiz show Jeopardy!. In 2004, he successfully auditioned for a spot on the show, and went on an unprecedented seventy-four game victory streak worth $2.52 million. Jennings’s book Brainiac, about his Jeopardy! adventures, was a critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller, as was his follow-up, Maphead. He is also the author of Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac. Jennings lives in Washington with his wife Mindy, his son Dylan and daughter Caitlin, and a deeply unstable Labrador retriever named Banjo. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

Jeb Bush is a former two-term governor of Florida and currently serves as president of Jeb Bush and Associates, a consulting firm that serves a wide array of businesses. Governor Bush is chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, whose purpose is to promote meaningful K-12 reform in the United States. In addition, he is co-chairman of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and is active in many civic and charitable causes. He resides in Miami with Columba, his wife of thirty-eight years. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)

Tom Sizemore rose in prominence throughout the 1990s, sought after by the most respected directors in the business and establishing himself as a memorable tough guy character. Born in Detroit, he got his start in films on Born on the Fourth of July, and has since starred in True Romance, Striking Distance, Wyatt Earp, Natural Born Killers, Heat, Saving Private Ryan, and many others. Sizemore recently co-starred in Fox’s television pilot Exit Strategy and guest-starred on Hawaii Five-O. Sizemore has counseled teens involved in substance abuse and recovering addicts, and is actively involved with the well known Hollenbeck Youth Center in East Los Angeles. (added from Simon & Schuster)… (more)