Books

At 27 pounds, 9-year-old Felix might be the heaviest cat in Glendale, and he's a rising star in his own right. Felix's personality inspired his owner, Glendale resident Frans Vischer, to write and illustrate the children's book “Fuddles” based on him. Adopted as a kitten, Felix has always been a big cat, Vischer said. He could never manage to jump the family's backyard fence. He habitually digs into his full allotment of food before the Vischer family leaves the house for vacation.

This is the first of eight editions in which the News-Press looks back at the area's 2010-11 seasons, school by school, before looking ahead at the year to come. Locally, regionally or at the state level, Glendale Community College enjoyed arguably its finest athletic year ever. From the fall season right through the spring session, plenty of dramatic stories unfolded with several individual athletes winning state championships and the baseball team making an unexpected playoff run that nearly led to a state championship after winning its first conference championship since 2002.

Beginning Sept. 1, the Altadena Library will open up its new eBook colllection to browse, check out, and download books to your iPad, iPod Toch, iPhone, or an eReader such as the Sony Reader, or Barnes & Noble's Nook.  Android and Blackberry devices will be able to work, and access for the Amazon Kindle will becoming soon (A complete list of devices that can be used is listed at  http://overdrive.com/resources/drc/ .) Barbara Pearson, Library Director, said in a statement that, “After many requests, we are delighted to finally be able to offer eBooks to our public.

The city of Glendale presents “Weedageddon” from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Deukmejian Wilderness Park, 3429 Markridge Road, Glendale. Newly planted big cone spruce and oak trees can use water and the weeds need a good pulling. Snacks and drinks will be provided. Wear sturdy closed-toed shoes and protective clothing. Bring water, sun screen, gloves and a hat. Call (818) 548-2000. Simply Coffee & Boutique hosts local writer and Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader columnist Patrick Caneday from 5 to 8 p.m., 940 N. Lima St., Burbank.

The Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who successfully prosecuted Charles Manson and several followers for the 1969 murders of Sharon Tate and six others, is scheduled to appear live Thursday on “The Larry Zarian Show” to discuss his latest book. Vincent Bugliosi — who co-wrote the bestselling book Helter Skelter, which profiled the Manson case and prosecution — will discuss his latest book “Divinity of Doubt: The God Question,” which makes his case for agnosticism.

One of the pleasures of not working during the summer is that it allows me time to read more books.  Some teachers I know like to read books about education, which I do, too.  However, when I’m not working, I prefer to mentally shut it down, so I look for books having nothing to do with school. I just finished Betty Smith’s “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” published in 1943.  I was familiar with the 1945 filmed version of the novel, so I was curious how similar it was to the original source material.

AREA 1 West Harvard Street and San Fernando Road Samuel Chavez, 40, was arrested June 9 on suspicion of burglary. 400 block of Hawthorne Street Jaime Parra, 44, was arrested June 9 on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine. 2900 block of Colorado Street Maria Grechnykh, 26, was arrested June 10 on suspicion of identity theft. Lace Thornton, 27, was arrested June 10 on outstanding warrants for grand theft and identity theft. 600 block of South Adams Street Arshak Hunanian, 29, was arrested June 11 on suspicion of battery on a police officer and making criminal threats.

Families swarmed the lawn of the Americana at Brand on Saturday for the unbeatable combination of Lego toys and Harry Potter paraphernalia. The park at the center of the outdoor mall was the site of a Harry Potter Build-Off, a national competition in which Lego architects build sets inspired by J.K. Rowling’s best-selling Harry Potter books and the mega-hit Warner Bros. movies. Families took pictures with a 9-foot-high Rubeus Hagrid, a benign giant from the series whose likeness was crafted out of Legos by an artist in the Czech Republic.

Straight-faced, clipboard-toting investors made no sign of emotion as they clicked their mechanical pencils and took notes as they listened to a pitch made on behalf of their classmates at R.D. White Elementary School. Narine Ambartzumyan’s assignment called for students to work in groups of four — one as an astronomer, one as a travel agent, another as a rocket ship designer and the last as a space suit designer — to create intriguing outer space vacation packages with which they would lure savvy investors.

Why buy the book when there is a perfectly good lending library in town? There is good reason. If you are not aware, the Burbank Central Library recently had a major water pipe break that destroyed many shelves of books in the nonfiction section of the library (“Burst water pipe closes library,” April 13). Biographies on Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy and many other books on historical figures were ruined in the flood. Thousands of titles were lost. This is a perfect opportunity for you, or your community organization, to help the library restock the empty shelves created by the loss.