Editor’s Note

What you are holding is more than a different-looking Los Angeles Times Book Review. It’s the first step in an effort to rethink our approach to books and book news at The Times, to forge a synthesis between print and online content that will allow us not only to maintain our commitment to engaged reviews and criticism but also to expand the very nature of our books coverage.

Here, you’ll find a fresh design for some familiar features; others, like Book Calendar, have been moved online, where we will also provide an expanded bestsellers list. Our new Books home page (www.latimes.com/books) will be a central resource for The Times’ books coverage. A primary component will be the Sunday Book Review, but we will also offer links to book-related stories from around the paper, as well as an array of Web-only material in the weeks to come.

Today, we inaugurate a rotating cycle of Web-only columns with Sarah Weinman’s “Dark Passages,” devoted to mysteries and suspense fiction. Next Sunday, Ed Park will initiate a science fiction column, followed by Richard Rayner on paperbacks and Sonja Bolle on children’s books. In addition, look for “Jacket Copy,” a staff-written book news and information column, plus live online author chats during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 28 and 29.

-- David L. Ulin