The 2025 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (LATFOB), held on April 26–27 at the University of Southern California (USC), was a significant cultural event that brought together a diverse array of participants and marked its 30th anniversary with a vibrant celebration of literature, culture, and community. The festival is known for attracting a large crowd each year. For instance, the 2024 festival drew over 150,000 attendees, and the 2025 event featured more than 550 writers, experts, and storytellers, along with hundreds of exhibitors.
The festival featured over 100 ticketed author events, children’s storytelling sessions, poetry readings, book signings, and more than 400 exhibitor booths. Notable participants in the 2025 festival included authors such as Stacey Abrams, Jon M. Chu, Amanda Gorman, Chelsea Handler, Ibram X. Kendi, and Rebecca Yarros, among many others. The festival’s success was also attributed to the generous involvement of volunteers who assisted with various aspects of the event, including welcoming attendees, staffing author events, and supervising book signings.
LATFOB 2025 emphasized accessibility and community involvement. General admission was free, with select programming requiring tickets. The festival’s partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs ensured that a wide range of activities were available to attendees of all ages and backgrounds, fostering a welcoming environment for literary enthusiasts and families alike.
As LATFOB celebrates three decades of literary celebration, the 2025 festival underscores the importance of storytelling in shaping culture and community. With its diverse programming and commitment to accessibility, the festival continues to be a premier event for book lovers and cultural aficionados. The success of this year’s event sets a promising precedent for future festivals, ensuring that the tradition of literary celebration will continue to thrive in Los Angeles.
LATFOB 2025 provides a unique opportunity to explore new voices, groundbreaking ideas, and thought-provoking works of art. This year, one of the most anticipated entries is “Cognitive Non Duality Therapy” by Dr. Akshya Vasudev, which is being showcased in the Book Gallery.
Dr. Akshya Vasudev is a psychiatrist who has lived experience and found his own experience with self-enquiry, yoga ,and meditation, transformative. He now teaches yoga and meditation with the Art of Living Foundation. This is his second book, his first is Be Yourself, also published by Friesen Press. Dr. Vasudev lives in London, Ontario, with his wife and cat.
Every one of us experiences issues of mental health at some point. Stress, anxiety, and depression are common states that affect our minds. By self-enquiry we can realize that there is only one universal consciousness, called the Self. We are able to tap into states of higher consciousness and move toward healing and wholeness.
From a wealth of experience, both spiritual and practical, Dr. Akshya Vasudev offers a very relatable framework for understanding our true nature and offers methods of being centered in the Self Meditation exercises and breath work are included as ways to relieve stress and anxiety and increase awareness of the universal Truth, allowing healing and restoration of mental health. Through self-enquiry, regular reflection, and a contemplation practice, we can get glimpses of our true nature, which is existence, awareness, and bliss.
Rooted in the Hindu religion, or Sanatana Dharma, this book blends knowledge of ancient Vedanta with modern cognitive behaviour therapy. Using this combination of Eastern traditions and Western practices, we have immense potential to be healed, not by something or someone, but by our own Self, our own Divine nature.
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