This month I bring you random book bits from the SoCal bookseller beat.
While the Academy Awards are still on our minds (how could they not be after the memorable finish?!), I wanted to give a nod to Hollywood for honoring great films from great books, plays and short stories in the Adapted Screenplay category this year: “Arrival” (based on Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life”), “Fences” (based on the August Wilson play of the same name), “Hidden Figures” (based on Margo Lee Shetterly’s non-fiction book), “Lion” (based on the book, “A Long Way Home,” by Saroo Brierley) and “Moonlight” (based on Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue”).
Reading trends
A sampling of local bookstore best-sellers so far this year: “Trump: The Art of the Deal,” George Orwell’s “1984,” “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors” by George W. Bush, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson, “Fifty Shades Darker” by E.L. James and “The Constitution of the United States.” I will leave it to you to interpret what these reading trends mean …
A ‘Righteous’ Joe Ide
One of SoCal’s new favorite crime novelists, Joe Ide, is on a roll with a television pilot coming from his acclaimed debut, “IQ,” and his second book, “Righteous: An IQ Novel” due out in October, proves that Ide is the real thing. This column was late, because I couldn’t stop reading my advance copy. Many SoCal booksellers vote Ide the author they’d most like to be seated next to at a dinner party. He’s a natural and cinematic storyteller, in person and on the page.
Heed ‘Call of the Cats’
My friend Linda Sivertsen (aka “Book Mama”) writes books, runs Carmel Writing Retreats and hosts the Beautiful Writers Podcast (a great podcast for readers and writers!) from her home in SoCal. She emailed me recently out of the blue just to ask if I’d read “Call of the Cats: What I Learned about Life and Love from a Feral Colony” by Andrew Bloomfield. I would not normally have been drawn to a book about a man’s 20-year relationship with a feral cat colony (it’s a tough sell, particularly for a dog person), but this book took me by surprise: a strange and compelling meandering through astrology, spirituality, celebrity brushes, and our love for animals — with a subtext about finding meaning in our lives in unexpected ways.
Love for ‘Lola’
Television writer (“CSI: Miami,” “Persons of Interest”) Melissa Scrivner Love published her debut novel, “Lola” — a stunning piece of crime fiction centered around a black, female antihero, a combination I’d venture to guess is a first for this genre. “Lola” is the 26-year-old girlfriend of the leader of the up-and-coming Crenshaw Six gang of South Central L.A. But Lola is the real leader, a complex, intelligent character in a terrifying world of drug cartels and addiction.
A clever ‘C-Student’
I met Tami Holzman at a party in Laurel Canyon last year just before the release of her book, “From C-Student to the C-Suite: How I Use My Emotional Intelligence to Gain Access to the Most Influential People in the World, Even with All My Sh*t and Insecurities.” Don’t be thrown off that Tami dots the “i” in her name with a heart. Her book is cute, but it’s also clever with some valuable, albeit unconventional and irreverent, insights for young women navigating modern-day business. There’s definitely a television show in here somewhere. Something I’m sure Tami with a heart already knows.
‘One in a Million’
I’m late to L.A. native Tony Faggioli’s party. He’s already independently published all three volumes of his paranormal trilogy, but I just discovered the first volume, “One in a Million,” which Kirkus Reviews calls “absorbing and frequently terrifying.” Faggioli graduated from USC and pursued work in politics and business before realizing his true love was writing. At the age of 35, he began taking classes at Pasadena City College in pursuit of that dream, and it appears that he’s been busy writing ever since.
More ‘Familiar’
The newest installment (Volume 4 of a potential 27!) in L.A. author Mark Danielewski’s extraordinary experimental novel has arrived, “The Familiar, Volume 4: Hades.” Clear your calendar for 880 pages — or 3,520, if you start with Volume 1.
‘The Boss Baby’
On March 31, DreamWorks releases its 3D computer-animated comedy, “The Boss Baby,” based on Pasadena favorite and Caldecott Honoree Marla Frazee’s book of the same name. The film, directed by Tom McGrath and written by Michael McCullers, stars the voice of Alec Baldwin as “The Boss Baby.”
That’s a lot of SoCal literary goings-on and I’m even holding out on you as spring promises to be one of the best seasons ever with the return of hometown girl and bestselling author Edan Lepucki, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and some great surprises. The year is just gearing up. Stay tuned!
Allison K. Hill is president and chief executive officer of Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood, and a contributor to The Huffington Post book section. Reach Hill through her website, www.AllisonKHill.com, or follow her at readingalovestory.tumblr.com.
