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 underscored 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 offers a unique opportunity to explore new voices, groundbreaking ideas, and thought-provoking works of art. One of this year’s most anticipated entries is Janine: Tale of an Abandoned Wife and Mother by Mark Eric Johansen, showcased in the Book Gallery. This tells the story of a woman named Janine, who faces immense hardship after her husband abandons her. She grapples with homelessness and financial ruin while trying to understand and explain her husband’s actions, which include theft and other misdeeds, leading to the loss of her friends and social standing.
Mark E. Johansen is an acclaimed author known for his ability to create deeply moving narratives that explore the complexities of human emotions and real-life struggles. His work often focuses on themes of survival, betrayal, and perseverance, with an emphasis on the extraordinary resilience that emerges from life’s most difficult trials. Johansen’s writing style is immersive and emotionally gripping, drawing readers into the lives of his characters with meticulous detail and raw authenticity.
The Hollywood Book Reviews recommends Janine: Tale of an Abandoned Wife and Mother by Mark Eric Johansen, highlighting:
“Janine’s path is filled with relentless police investigations, ruthless thieves, unsettling deaths, rotting corpses, betrayals, heartbreaks, tender moments of innocence, unexpected friendships, and heart-racing thrills. Will she find a way to survive, or will fate deal her an even crueler hand? To uncover the answers, dive into Johansen’s novel.”
Imagine leading a cherished and luxurious life, free from any financial struggle or worries. You are in a perfect space, with no concerns clouding your mind, eagerly preparing to execute your long-awaited plans for the upcoming Christmas. Then, suddenly, fate takes a cruel turn. Within a week, you find yourself homeless, penniless, without a job or bank balance, and drowning in financial and legal troubles you have no connection with. Every door seems shut, every hope seems lost. Amidst this chaos, you hear Christmas jingles echoing from the nearby streets, reminding you of where you stood just a week ago. The sheer tragedy of it all sinks in.
Janine, a single mother, lives a picture-perfect life with her husband Brent Sr., their sixteen-year-old daughter Olivia, twelve-year-old son Brent Jr. (aka Alan), and eight-year-old daughter Monica. Their world is warm, secure, and wrapped in luxury—until one day, everything shatters. Brent Sr. vanishes into thin air, as if he never existed. Within days, Janine finds herself evicted from her home with no money, no support, and nowhere to go. Then, just when she thinks things couldn’t get worse, she lands behind bars, wrapped in a nightmare of financial fraud cases orchestrated by her vanished husband.
The real tragedy? There’s no one from his family to rescue her, no lifeline to hold onto. Having lived a privileged life, Janine never needed to work or build a skill set for survival. Now, with the weight of false allegations and no way out, how will she prove her innocence? How will she fight back against the world that has turned its back on her? This is where the gripping journey of an abandoned wife and mother truly begins. As the story unfolds, Janine’s path is filled with relentless police investigations, ruthless thieves, unsettling deaths, rotting corpses, betrayals, heartbreaks, tender moments of innocence, unexpected friendships, and heart-racing thrills. Will she find a way to survive, or will fate deal her an even crueler hand? To uncover the answers, dive into Johansen’s novel.
Recently, Janine: Tale of an Abandoned Wife and Mother by Mark Eric Johansen was displayed at the London Book Fair (LBF) at Olympia London from March 11-13, 2025. The London Book Fair (LBF), held at Olympia London from March 11-13, 2025, reportedly drew approximately 30,000 attendees and experienced a 10-percent increase in rights-center table sales. The event hosted over 1,000 exhibitors, although providing an exact figure would offer more clarity and detail. The International Rights Center, which saw a 10-percent rise in sales compared to 2024, is said to have sold a total of 550 tables. It serves as a premier gathering for the global publishing community, providing a platform for individuals to forge connections, gain valuable insights, and shape the future of creative content. This event brings together a diverse spectrum of professionals, including publishers, dealmakers, copyright specialists, commissioners, and global licensors, all representing the broad scope of the publishing industry.
Watch the trailer now and dive into Janine’s world in conquering her battles.
From the very first page, you are drawn into the gripping reality of a single mother and abandoned wife, trapped in a situation beyond her control. As the novel progresses, it weaves multiple mysterious yet deeply human tales, offering an emotional roller coaster filled with love, despair, resilience, and inspiration. Janine’s journey is nothing short of extraordinary, making this novel a compelling and heartfelt read.
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