All Booked | Read Before Viewing

This edition of All Booked was originally emailed to subscribers on July 4, 2023. To receive our literary newsletter in your inbox, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.

Greetings, Fellow Book Lovers,

Hi, I’m Leslie Dinaberg, the Independent’s Arts & Culture Editor. I’m filling in this week for Emily Lee on the newsletter, as she enjoys her maternity leave with baby Vincent.

Watching your favorite characters come to life off the page can sometimes be a discombobulating experience, as A Gentleman in Moscow author Amor Towles told me in an interview last spring, when he was about to travel to watch the filming of the miniseries of his book (starring Ewan McGregor and coming soon to Showtime): “It’ll be fun to go see how that team imagines that story. And without a doubt it will be a different story.”

Different is the key word when it comes to adaptations, as Elinor Lipman told us last month at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, speaking of her experience having her novel Then She Found Me adapted in a film starring Helen Hunt: “It was a movie suggested by my book.”

Pro Tip: The book is almost always better than the movie, but with so many different cinematic options these days, book-to-screen adaptations are getting better and better. As readers, we get to create worlds right alongside the authors, using our imaginations to decide exactly what the characters look like and sound like in our heads, which is why, as much as I love adaptations, I do think it’s almost always better to read the book first.

Here are four books I’ve read and recommend, all of which will be coming to a screen of some sort soon, if they’re not already available.

All The Light We Cannot See

This beautifully written Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Anthony Doerr is the story of a blind French girl (Marie-Laure Leblanc) and a German boy (Werner Pfennig) whose paths collide in occupied France as they both try to survive in the aftermath of World War II. The chapters mostly alternate between their two voices to create a heartbreaking work of historical fiction. Coming to Netflix in November 2023.

Lessons in Chemistry

A charming debut novel by Bonnie Garmus, with equal parts humor and early ’60s feminism, this was one of my favorite books of 2022. I lost count of how many times I laughed out loud while reading the tale of a gifted chemist and single mother whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a TV cooking show. Coming to Apple TV in September 2023.

Straight Man

My book club can’t get enough of Richard Russo books, for good reason. There’s no better writer for those of us who are entertained by the foibles and first-world problems of overeducated, middle-aged white men. He writes hilariously observational novels, many of which, like Straight Man, are set in the world of academia. This particular book was adapted under the name Lucky Hank. Hank’s life, like most of Russo’s leading men, seems to be falling apart; he doesn’t understand his wife, and he works in an underfunded college English Department. Lucky Hank is currently available on AMC and Amazon Prime.

One True Loves

I’m a big fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, and thought the Amazon series adaptation of her book Daisy Jones & The Six was excellent. One True Loves is the story of a woman who is blissfully in love, until her husband disappears in a tragic helicopter crash on their first wedding anniversary. She finally finds happiness once again four years later, and is about to marry her best friend, when her husband resurfaces, turning her world upside down and leaving her torn between two great loves. The book is a great piece of summer escapism and the film, available to buy on multiple platforms but not yet streaming, also looks promising — it stars Phillipa Soo, one of the Broadway stars of Hamilton.

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UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS

Below, you will find a few bookish events coming up in Santa Barbara. If you are hosting a bookish event in Santa Barbara, be sure to submit the event to our online events calendar.

Book Talk and Signing: Elayne Klasson
Thursday, July 6, 6 p.m., Chaucer’s Books

Local History Talk: The Little Book of Montecito Actors
Saturday, July 8, 1 p.m., Montecito Library

Book Talk and Signing: Vince Burns and Stephen Bates (Rincon Point)
Tuesday, July 11, 6 p.m., Chaucer’s Books

Virtual Romance Book Club
Wednesday, July 12, 5:30 p.m., Virtual

Discussion with Joe Coohill (Professor Buzzkill): Lorissa Rinehart
Thursday, July 13, 6 p.m., Chaucer’s Books

Book and Audiobook Launch, Live Performances: With a Kiss We Die
Saturday, July 15, 1:00 p.m., Studio Theater, UCSB

Book Talk and Signing: Cameron Walker  
Monday, July 17, 6 p.m., Chaucer’s Books

Author Reading: Patricia Tanumihardja
Wednesday, July 19, 11:30 a.m., Faulkner Gallery, S.B. Central Library

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LOCAL BOOK SPOTLIGHT

We at the Independent get many books sent to us by local authors, sometimes too many! It’s practically impossible for us to read and review them all, but just because we are busy bees does not mean that they aren’t worth the attention. In an attempt to not completely drop the ball, we have compiled a list of books here that have a local spin. They are all either written by a local author, feature someone in our community, or have another tie to Santa Barbara. I urge you to look through this list. Perhaps you will find your new favorite read!

The following are the most recent titles that have been sent to us. Click here for a more comprehensive list.

First to the Front: The Untold Story of Dickey Chapelle by Lorissa Rinehart

The Earthquake Child by Elayne Klasson

Rincon Point by Vince Burns and Stephen Bates

If you are a local author and would like us to feature your book in this section, please email allbooked@independent.com with the subject line “Local Author Spotlight.”