Best Books Based In Los Angeles

Literally thousands of books have been set in Los Angeles. Some are seriously mysterious while others are frothy page turners. Some take place all over the City of Angeles while others are focused on certain hamlets among the hundreds that make up our cherished Left Coast metropolis. Some have been made into movies and mini series while some are reserved for reading in a quiet setting while sipping a glass of refreshing ice tea. Which kind of volume do you prefer? The following are five very diverse options that are all novel reads and then some.

It's no surprise that "White Oleander" is based in Los Angeles since celebrated author Janet Fitch hails from the City of Angels. In Fitch's 1999 novel about the coming of age of a memorable child named Astrid that was an Oprah Book Club choice, Los Angeles homes abound as the main character is shuffled from foster family to foster family after her mother, Ingrid, is in prison, charged with murder by oleander poisoning. At age 20, an adult Astrid finds herself living in Berlin, Germany, a far cry from her home on the sunny West Coast of the USA, with California never far from her very active mind.

Although Jennifer Egan is a world renowned author who was born in Chicago and hails from Brooklyn, New York, her Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Visit from the Goon Squad" collection of short stories takes place in places other than the Big Apple, including Kenya, Italy and California – specifically Los Angeles. Rock music entertainers are the central characters of these missives about growing up in the digital age so it's no surprise that the City of Angels appears in this offering given the city's status as the Entertainment Capital of the World.

Welcome to Los Angeles' pre-World War II world of bootleggers, gamblers, pornographers and murderers as drawn by master novelist Raymond Chandler. His memorable Philip Marlowe detective character started his adventures in this 1939 published tome that takes this curious man into the underworld of Hollywood, to the heart of corruption in the Southland, and beyond. This is pulp fiction at its finest – and its steamiest – as readers get to know a Los Angeles of yesteryear.

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In "Less Than Zero," a cult classic, Southern California is on show in so many ways, from a downtown Los Angeles loft to Malibu's glitzy shores to an ultra exclusive, private school in Encino to the amazing desert location of Palm Springs. This debut novel by Bret Easton Ellis that spawned a film of the same name starring Robert Downey, Jr., is the story of college-bound Clay who gets back to his LA roots during winter break. The excessive 1980s are heartily exemplified in this novel that shows decadence in the era of dangerous situations that may or may not include heroin, child sex slaves and snuff films. Written by Ellis in first person, "Less Than Zero" gives the main character a good reason for returning to college on the opposite coast in straight-laced New Hampshire.

Made into a mini-series in 1985, Jackie Collins' best selling page turner, "Hollywood Wives," shows the raunch and the glamour of the sensual Southland via wealthy, arm candy characters known because each is married to or involved with one of Hollywood's head honchos. The quintessential tawdry tale of romance and revenge among the beautiful people, this tantalizing tome focuses on hot spots located in Beverly Hills, Malibu, Hollywood and other world famous places thriving in the Southland. Published in 1983, "Hollywood Wives" is Collins' ninth novel and her most celebrated, with more than 15 million copies sold.

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