READING L.A.

Brad Adams, account executive:

“Ice to the Eskimos: How to Market a Product Nobody Wants” by Jon Spoekstra (HarperBusiness).

“This book contains practical advice about sports marketing, including how to increase a team’s box office revenue. It was recommended to me by my employer and, so far, has been very informative.”

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Sanford M. Jacoby, history professor:

“The Land of Little Rain” by Mary Austin, with photographs by Ansel Adams (Houghton Mifflin).

“This book evokes the majesty of the Mojave Desert and the Owens Valley earlier in this century. Now when I drive through this area, I have a deeper awareness of the landscape and a haunting sense of those who lived here before us.”

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Edward K. Lew, dentist:

“The Life and Times of Miami Beach” by Ann Armbruster (Alfred A. Knopf).

“Prior to visiting Miami Beach, I’m reading about this amazing city built from the swamps. Armbruster wonderfully depicts the Art Deco, flamboyant, grand-style hotels and the celebrities who visited them in photographs and text.”

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Tim Walton, filmmaker:

“The Hand I Fan With” by Tina McElroy Ansa (Doubleday).

“This book nicely blends magic and realism. It has compelling characters and classy erotic passages. The main character appeared in Ansa’s first novel as a child and is now a 40-year-old woman who communicates with spirits.”