Book notes, plus what we're reading this week

With no changes this week at the top of the local bestseller lists, I decided to see if there is any difference in book buying between Southern California and Northern California. The answer: not much. At independent bookstores in both areas, through Sunday's sales, the leaders are identical. James S. Hirsch's biography of Willie Mays debuts at #3 in NorCal, where he played most of his career, and at #4 here. Local author Lisa See's "Shanghai Girls" is #3 in paper fiction in SoCal, #7 up north. Full SoCal lists on the Books and Authors page.

Book Notes: "Catcher in the Rye" tops the mass market list in both SoCal and NorCal stores...My Latino Voice calls Daniel A. Olivas (reviewing his newest collection, "Anywhere But L.A.") the "unofficial literary ambassador of Latino L.A."...Here's a long interview with Michael Silverblatt of KCRW's "Bookworm" from "The Marketplace of Ideas"...Joel Kotkin has been making the media rounds for "The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050"...West Hollywood has chosen "The Great Gatsby" for The Big Read...Mark Sarvas at The Elegant Variation jumps into an online argument between Andrew Sullivan and Leon Wieseltier over bloggers, Jews and other perceived issues...Javier Marías talks about the concluding volume of "Your Face Tomorrow" on KCRW's "Bookworm," Thursday at 2:30 p.m....Kevin Nelson, author of "Wheels of Change: From Zero to 600 m.p.h. - The Amazing Story of California and the Automobile," talks about car culture with Patt Morrison on KPCC at 2:30 p.m. Thursday... Michael Jaime-Becerra discusses and signs "This Time Tomorrow" on Friday evening at Vroman's...Co-authors of "EAT: Los Angeles 2010" are at Book Soup Saturday at 5 p.m....Laguna Beach author Cathleen Falsani is out with "The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers"...Also out is "Some Like it Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder" from University Press of Kentucky...Coming Feb. 23: "Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon" by Roland Lazenby.