R.J. Ellory is a persistent guy. It took the 44-year-old British-born author 16 years and 22 rejected manuscripts before he could get one of his novels, 2003's 'Candlemoth,' published. Six years and several successful books later, he's made his mark as one the most distinctive writers of the crime thriller genre. Ellory took time out of his busy book-tour schedule to answer a few questions for CityBeat in advance of his appearance at the Books by the Banks festival on Saturday.  

Arriving on the coattails of 'Twilight,' 'True Blood' and myriad other recent living dead offerings (not to mention decades of George A. Romero's genre-defining entries), 'Zombieland' is as much buddy-centered road movie as it is gore-laden splatter fest. This juicy piece of pop culture pleasure centers on the unlikely duo of Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson as humans with differing philosophies about how to eradicate zombies from a desolate, now nearly human-free U.S. Grade: B.  

The Mercantile Library caps another stellar year with its 22nd Niehoff Lecture, which will feature the insights of A.S. Byatt, the versatile British writer who has drawn praise from every corner of the literary landscape. Her latest book, the Booker Prize-nominated The Children’s Book, tells the sprawling story of several families, centering most fully on fairy tale writer Olive Wellwood, in England during the Edwardian period just before World War I. No word as yet on the topic of Byatt’s lecture, but don’t be surprised if she draws upon a 45-year literary career. 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati.  

Jane Campion's love letter to the brief but passionate romance between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his neighbor Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) does its best to breathe life into characters whose unfortunate fates are known from the get-go. Much of the credit goes to Cornish, whose feisty, full-blooded performance brings heat to a love story free of bare flesh and dirty talk — this was an affair of the heart and mind. Grade: B.  

The subtitle of Larry Gross’ latest independently published book says everything you need to know about its content, which largely consists of his Living Out Loud columns for CityBeat: “Adventures, Discoveries and Conclusions Made While Exploring a Life — Namely My Own.”   

Built to Spill’s long, strange trip — six proper albums in 17 years, the last five for major label biggies Warner Bros. — reached an apex of sorts in July when the Boise, Idaho-based band agreed to take part in the Pitchfork Music Festival’s “Write the Night” in Chicago. The fan-friendly experiment allowed festival attendees to craft the band’s set list. BTS plays the Southgate House.  

The subtitle of Larry Gross’ latest independently published book says everything you need to know about its contents, which largely consists of his Living Out Loud columns for CityBeat: “Adventures, Discoveries and Conclusions Made While Exploring a Life — Namely My Own.” CityBeat recently traded e-mails with Gross, who revealed everything from Jack Webb’s influence on his prose style to why he had no interest in interviewing a Project Runway model. Gross reads from and discusses his book, Living Out Loud, 3 p.m. Saturday at the Main Branch of the Public Library Downtown.  

Built to Spill's long, strange trip (six albums in 17 years, the last five for major label biggies Warner Bros.) reached an apex of sorts in July when they agreed to take part in the Pitchfork Music Festival's "Write the Night" in Chicago. Their latest album, 'There Is No Enemy,' is fairly laid back, sounding like a band staring into the abyss of adulthood — both as a musical unit and, you know, in real life.  

The Toronto International Film Festival is a movie geek's wet dream. The festival's avalanche of films (300-plus over 10 days) offered something for cinemaphiles of every stripe, including a typically healthy dose of new works by established filmmakers from across the globe. The prime example was Jason Reitman's slick yet affecting 'Up in the Air' (starring a never-better George Clooney) that confirms the young director is more than just Diablo Cody's 'Juno' bitch.  

The Lite Brite Film Test is on the move. Long a mid-summer fixture at the Southgate House, the creatively diverse visual showcase now has been folded into the MidPoint Music Festival. Befitting the shift, this year's lineup looks to be bigger and better than ever, pimping a host of shorts and several full-length features at its new home, the Contemporary Arts Center. (Programming will take place in both the upstairs lobby and in the black box space downstairs 8 p.m.-midnight Thursday-Saturday.)