Tag archives: books

Carpinteria TV host Conan O’Brien is hosting the next Oscars. Announcing Taco Bell’s new Cheesy Chalupa Supreme, O’Brien then said: “In other news, I’m hosting the Oscars.” He told his fans at the weekend. It will be his first time as Oscars host. He has emceed other high profile shows like the Emmy Awards in […]

‘Dorothy Parker in Hollywood’ Dorothy Parker in Hollywood by Gail Crowther is a revelatory look at the writer and Algonquin member’s time in Hollywood. For over 35 years Parker worked on screenplays’ trademark snappy dialogue (mostly uncredited) with husband Alan Campbell. The two cavorted with Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Orson Welles while punching up scripts with […]

A crowd of 80 guests descended on The Voice Art Gallery for a celebratory book lunch of the A History of Psychology Through Symbols, a two-volume set of textbooks written by local psychologist Dr. James Broderick and illustrated by Montecito artist Dr. Danuta Bennett. The curious crowd included Peter and Kathryn Martin, Brendon Twigden, Keith […]

Both the Granada Theatre and Old Spanish Days Fiesta marked their 100th anniversaries this year, and the Lobero also celebrated the centennial of its reopening, while the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Parade & Festival reached its half-century milestone celebration this summer. Now, mid-September also brings the 50th edition of the Planned Parenthood Book Sale, which […]

A trio of SoCal authors autograph and talk about their new books this week as the midtown bookstore Chaucer’s Books also gets ready for its own 50th anniversary celebration. On September 15, UCLA professor Teddi Chichester’s Wildlife Crossings of Hope: Connecting Creatures Around the Globe combines first-person reporting with research – and stunning two-color art […]

‘Lola in the Mirror’ Brisbane is the setting in Trent Dalton’s Lola in the Mirror. Our hero is a 17-year-old “houseless” girl living in a broken car with her mother, who has never told the teen her real name. She promises to reveal the name when she turns 18. When tragedy strikes before her birthday, […]

These godmothers are transforming the bookstore experience with an emphasis on community and a hint of luxury. The longish venture from Montecito to Summerland for the Summerland Block Party last month paid off with interest, as it included a visit to the newly launched Godmothers in the former Garde space. Godmothers is neither an antique […]

In search of the ‘shibui’ in life, Montecito author William Dalziel touches upon inspirational musings and insights while doodling and sketching his way through observations, life lessons, and experiences in his latest book, Ink & Inklings. Bill portrays life with its many twists and turns, through colorful portraits, daily renderings and fantastical graphic designs as […]

‘Scandalous Women’ Author Gill Paul imagines a friendship between two glamorous women in her latest, Scandalous Women. Jacqueline Susann was the first to shock the publishing industry with her now iconic Valley of the Dolls, which remains one of the all-time best-selling novels in history. Two years later, in 1968, Jackie Collins published The World […]

Turning from the stage to the page, it took a full century for Santa Barbara to buddy up to Bloomsday, the annual celebration of the life and work of Irish writer James Joyce every June 16; the day his 1922 novel Ulysses takes place in 1904, and named after its protagonist Leopold Bloom. Dublin’s been […]

‘When Women Ran Fifth Avenue’ When Women Ran Fifth Avenue is a fascinating look at the rise of the department store in America. It will make local readers long for the days when we had department stores in Santa Barbara. Julie Satow takes a deep dive into the culture and rise of the female executive […]

David Starkey is one of Santa Barbara’s most entrenched writers. His varied literary career spans poetry, textbooks and fiction, and a term as Santa Barbara’s 2009-2011 Poet Laureate. Starkey was Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at SBCC, co-editor of the California Review of Books, and the publisher and co-editor of Gunpowder Press. Over […]

March is a big publishing month. I could not cover all the new releases below but will have more recommendations on my social media posts. Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera is an unexpectedly hilarious thriller. When Lucy’s best friend is murdered, Lucy becomes suspect number one. After all, she is covered in her […]

GG sends me a beautiful leather-bound book, The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400), The William Caxton Facsimile Edition; of which only 500 were published by Cambridge University Press in 1973. She has #248, signed by Cambridge University scholar Walter Hamilton of Magdelene College. On the last page of this huge volume is a wonderful […]

Kristin Hannah has a sure winner with The Women. Hannah expertly crafts a heartbreaking, emotional story about love and loss. From a family of “heroes,” Frankie follows her brother to Vietnam feeling she wants to do her part for her country. It is 1965. Frankie comes from a conservative family where she is expected to […]

Gordon Gekko would likely not be interested in reading The Doors’ drummer John Densmore’s new book The Doors Unhinged: Jim Morrison’s Legacy Goes on Trial. But those who don’t subscribe to the “Greed is good” theory might be intrigued by the 30-year member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s exploration of the “greed […]

Dove Joans, the local animal communicator and explorer – aka Dolphingirl – has published the second edition of Dolphin Talk, expanding on her personal stories and life experiences regarding “interspecies communications with dolphins.” Dolphingirl invites us all to experience nature and the animal kingdom in ways we might only have imagined. How? Via what Joans […]

Chaucer’s Books closes out its impressive year of in-store events on December 12 with husband-and-wife authors Neal Allen and Anne Lamott surrounding Allen’s latest, Better Days: Tame Your Inner Critic. The new book finds the former journalist and corporate executive turned writer and spiritual coach diving into how our own internal critical voice gets in […]

Artist Symeon Shimin’s name may not be a household word, but his most famous work might be one of the better-known images in American history: the original poster for Gone with the Wind. But Shimin, who died in 1984, not only painted such promotional images for Hollywood films but was also an award-winning illustrator of […]

Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno is exactly as the cover promotes – The Kardashians meets Pride and Prejudice. Five famous sisters, famous for being famous, are living in a crumbling mansion when the man (or men) of their dreams moves in next door. It’s light, it’s funny. Lost Hours is Paige Shelton’s latest mystery. […]