Tag archives: books
“The four winds have blown us here, people from all across the country, to the very end of this great land.” For those of us who live in Montecito we are all too familiar with the land we love. Though lush and verdant, it has on occasion betrayed us with drought, fires, and mudslides. Still, […]
I’ve lived in Montecito – in the same house – for over 35 years and find it necessary to point out to folks just moving here that while we live in a beautiful place, ensconced as we are between the 4,000-ft Figueroa Mountains and the deep blue Pacific Ocean, it isn’t perfect. Add a near-ideal […]
Former California State Assemblyman Brooks Firestone is giving paws for thought! Brooks, 81, who will be moving with his wife of 62 years, Kate, a former Royal Ballet dancer, into Casa Dorinda from their Santa Ynez Valley home in the New Year, has just published his second volume of animal stories from the valley. The […]
Two Carpinteria authors Hal Price and Leana Orsua are going to the dogs! The tony twosome has penned a bestseller anthology book, The UltiMUTT Book for Dog Lovers: If You’re Not Covered in Dog Hair, Your Life is Empty!, which has become an overnight international bestseller in four countries, including the U.S. The entertaining book […]
The Santa Barbara Public Library is excited to announce this fall’s Santa Barbara Reads program, SB Reads: Create! featuring Big Magic: How to Live a Creative Life, and Let Go of Your Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Free copies of Big Magic, in English and Spanish, will be available to pick up at Central Library’s Book […]
Beverley Jackson, who died of natural causes last week just short of her 92nd birthday, was one helluva gal! The society doyenne, who moved to our rarefied enclave in 1963 after a privileged upbringing in Beverly Hills and Pasadena, was a fellow student at Westlake School for Girls with Shirley Temple. For 22 years Beverley […]
“What do you recommend? What should I read next?” At the library, it is easy to see what’s new and in demand, hear rave reviews or scathing critiques. I feel like I’m in the know, surrounded by booklovers. With this lengthy library closure, I thought it might be useful to share some “from home” tricks […]
Warning: I am (in all likelihood) about to change your life. Not in any big significant way, but in the same slight, but probably permanent, way that mine was changed when, not long ago, I made the discovery which I am going to share with you here. First, a little background: Somehow, I had managed […]
Suzanne Cuddy has temporarily turned her Little Free Library – one of the charming stand-alone cabinets where people can take or leave books for personal use that have popped up all over town in recent years – into a Little Free Pantry. Folks stopping by location at 2124 Bath Street, close to Pueblo Street and […]
Don’t even try to tell Mary Sheldon about how COVID-19 is hurting local businesses. After all, the owner of Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito’s Upper Village has been a bookseller for 30 years, the last 20 of which had the misfortune of taking place after the unprecedented rise of online shopping spearheaded by Amazon. Technically, […]
The midtown independent bookstore has four book signing events on tap this week, including psychotherapist, mediator and author Dr. Jennifer Freed – the force behind Santa Barbara esteemed AHA! Program – whose new book Use Your Planets Wisely addresses the nexus between therapy and astrology in such questions as “Who am I, really? What did […]
Saying hello, bumping into someone in line, knowing the cashier’s name, seeing people and being seen – these are all components of social infrastructure, studied by sociologist Eric Klinenberg and fleshed out in his book Palaces for the People. These everyday affinities are part of what makes public library life so vital, keeping us civil […]
Santa Barbara author Jeanine Kitchel, who used to live and own a bookstore business in Mexico in the 1990s, has written a very timely new book, Wheels Up – A Novel of Drugs, Cartels and Survival. “Writing non-fiction was good for a travel memoir and my book on the Maya 2012 calendar phenomenon, but when […]
English author Deborah Richards, a Santa Barbara-based equine therapist, recounts the nightmare when her daughter and stepdaughter began to experiment with drugs in her new book Shift & Shine. After escaping an early abusive marriage, Deborah fled the U.K. with her life and young daughter and met a successful songwriter, Jake Hooker, who co-wrote the […]
The latest program at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) was a film called The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island. California 4th graders learn about her from a book called The Island of the Blue Dolphins. The story is true with a young woman and her son being left behind on San Nicolas Island […]
Prolific Montecito author and former attorney Steven Gilbar has published his latest book, The Poet and The Prince: Stories of Forgotten Santa Barbara Writers. Steve, who has authored more than 20 books, including Literary Santa Barbara, and founded Speaking of Stories, which just ended a 25-year run this year, says his latest work is about […]
Friends and fans gathered at the Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito’s upper village for a book signing of Willard Thompson’s latest novel, The Girl from the Lighthouse. His wife, Jo, had treats for us with rosé wine and finger sandwiches. This is not Willard’s first historical novel. He has written a trilogy with Dream Helper, […]
Lotus lovers were out in force as Lotusland, the delightful botanical paradise, celebrated its annual LotusFest! in idyllic weather. More than 20 wineries and breweries poured their products for more than 300 guests, as they explored the late opera singer Ganna Walska’s 37-acre floral nirvana. Among those having a blooming good time were Tom and […]
Environmental pioneer Gay Browne, who founded Greenopia, a city guide to more than 110,000 sustainable businesses, has just launched her latest work, Living With a Green Heart: How To Keep Your Body, Your Home and the Planet Healthy in a Toxic World. “It took me 18 months to write and I’m planning two other books […]
Despite the fact that she has spent a large part of her adult life in musical theater, Arizona Theater Company’s Chanel Bragg was initially reluctant to listen to the 2015 original cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “sung-and-rapped through” show that had opened on Broadway only a few months earlier. “I’m from […]
