The Bookworm's Literary Festival kicks of TONIGHT (Friday, March 5), so over the next few weeks we'll be asking notable Beijingers: "What's on your bookshelf?" Who better to start with than Alex Pearson, owner of the Bookworm?

Peter Hessler has been one of the most consistently popular attendees at the Beijing International Literary Festival over the years, and his wonderful River Town and Oracle Bones are essential reading for China watchers. Hessler will be talking about his new work, Country Driving: A Journey Through China from Farm to Factory at this year’s festival – note the date of his talk has changed. A second talk, Beijing Through a Lens, featuring Hessler and Mike Meyer (Last Days of Old Beijing) has also been moved to a different time and bigger venue - which means more tickets will be available for this previously sold-out event (see details at the end of this post). In the meantime, the travel website WORLDHUM has published an interview with Hessler, in which in discusses the epic drives he undertook in writing his new book.

We asked notable Beijingers: "What's on your bookshelf?" Here's how Evan Osnos, China correspondent for the New Yorker magazine, answered:

We asked notable Beijingers: "What's on your bookshelf?" Here's how Dr. Geoff Raby, the Australian ambassador to China, answered:

Last week we reported Peter Hessler’s last minute withdrawal from the Bookworm Literary Festival for unspecified personal reasons. Since then several other events have been canceled or changed, with one session altered after the author was refused a visa for China.