All Booked | Double Feature
The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, February 25.
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Hello, fellow bookworms!
This week, we bring you a double feature. Our incredible publisher, Brandi Rivera, shares her thoughts on the works of Kristin Hannah, whom you may have heard of recently, as her 2024 novel The Women has been getting a lot of buzz, seemingly for good reason!
Richelle Boyd also brings us a review of Ventura County author Latasha Ball’s debut novel, A Thousand Seas, about the realities of being a military spouse and one woman’s journey to self-discovery.
I hope you’ll find your next read in this list! Happy reading.
—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com
This is Brandi Rivera, Publisher of the Independent, jumping into the All Booked takeover. My reading genres vary from thrillers to romance, memoirs, and my fave, historical fiction. I am also medium agnostic and will also read audiobooks so I can catch some pages while cooking dinner or enjoy a good e-book before bed, but nothing beats the physical book, a great reason to visit the library.
Something else to know about me is that I like to learn while I read, as it makes for a good excuse as I spend weekend mornings with a fresh pot of coffee, nose buried in a book, while my kids eat breakfast, play with their toys, or hopefully pick out one of their books to flip through with me.
Two weekends ago, with the scene above unfolding, I finished Night Road by Kristin Hannah, which was notably different from her more recent works. Still, it was nice to have a recent experience with one of her strong, maternal characters before seeing her last Thursday at The Granada Theatre as a part of the Live Talks Los Angeles tour.
The tour coincides with the 10-year anniversary of her New York Times best-seller, The Nightingale, which was a focus of the talk as well as her more recent book, The Women.
My friend and I grabbed dinner and a drink beforehand on a rare weekday night out sans husbands and kids. We walked in, grabbed our anniversary edition book, and took our seats among lots of Hannah readers.
If you are not familiar with Kristin Hannah, I’d describe her through her own words: She writes about “ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances.” She really gives us the history lesson we didn’t learn in school. As a former lawyer who started writing when her son was born, gracing the stage in all-black leather and Christian Louboutin heels, Hannah shared that she writes her books longhand on yellow legal pads! I hope you add one of these to your to-read list.
In the order I read them below, here are three of her books plus two I added to my “Want to Read list” after seeing her.
The Four Winds: I have read all of my Hannah reads as a part of my small book club. We were hesitant to read such a long book (something that all Hannah books seem to have in common), as we try to go through a book every few weeks. Immediately, I was hooked. Learning about the Dust Bowl through the mother/daughter dynamic was powerful, and I found myself asking what I would do in protagonist Elsa Martinelli’s position.
The Nightingale: Welcome to occupied France during World War II. The Nightingale is the story of two very different sisters and their paths to survive the war. Most of the books I have read that were set in this era were set in the Pacific, so l was taken aback by Hannah’s description of the fictional town Carriveau, as well as Paris and the Pyrenees. During last week’s talk, Hannah shared that the book was originally written without Vianne (one of the sisters), a rewrite requiring a year’s extension on her deadline.
The Women: Despite what nurses who served in the Vietnam War were told when they came home, there most definitely were women in Vietnam. This heart-wrenching tale of those brave women’s experiences while deployed and upon return, told through main character Frankie McGrath, has love, loss, and friendship.
Now on my Want to Read list is Winter Garden, which is Hannah’s personal favorite, and Firefly Lane, which is her most personal.
—Brandi Rivera
A Thousand Seas by Latasha Ball (2024)
Though I’ve heard whispers and tales of what a military spouse’s life is like, not many are so divulging when it comes to insider secrets. A Thousand Seas by Latasha Ball deals with the harsher realities of duty to one’s partner and the way duty to country specifically ties into the relationships that the main character, Lillian, experiences. Ball doesn’t shy away from these harder truths about difficulties in a marriage, nor does she shy away from Lillian growing as her own person and navigating a world she wasn’t prepared for.
I enjoyed the strong characters and easy-to-follow style and flow of the story, which had a good pace from the beginning. Ball also includes the viewpoint of Jackson, another main character, which added more depth to the story. It’s a realistic story that deals with the ugliness and struggle that comes with love, and I appreciate Ball’s ability to not shy away from it. It’s a very well-written first novel, and I would recommend it.
—Richelle Boyd
FROM OUR PAGES
We’ve had some great author visits and interviews recently, so don’t miss out. Here is some of our book-related coverage from the last two weeks! Read all this and more at Independent.com.
Chaucer’s Books Presents Pioneering Group of UCSB Professor-Authors by Madeline Slogoff
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.
Storytime at Solvang Library
Tuesday, February 25, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library
Free Onsite Community Seminar Series: Modern Heroine Autobiographies: Maya Angelou
Tuesday February 25, noon. | Ojai Library
Black Authors and Educators Panel
Tuesday, February 25, 5:30 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Mystery Book Club: Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
Tuesday, February 25, 5:30 p.m. | Goleta Library
Baby & Me Storytime
Wednesday, February 26, 11 a.m. | S.B. Central Library
Read to a Dog
Wednesday, February 26, 3 p.m. | Eastside Library
Book Talk: Humanities Decanted: Lisa Jacobson
Thursday, February 27, 4 p.m. | UCSB IHC
Wiggly Storytime
Thursday, February 27, 4:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
Book Signing: Russ Tamblyn
Thursday, February 27, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Baby & Me Storytime
Friday, February 28, 10:30 a.m. | Goleta Valley
Online Seminar: The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Saturday, March 1, noon. | Virtual
Places We Call Home: Celebrating Latino Poetry with Emma Trelles
Sunday, March 2, 2 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
Book Talk and Signing: Barbara Boyle
Sunday, March 2, 3 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Storytime at Solvang Library
Tuesday, March 4, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library
Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Tuesday, March 4, 11 a.m. | Eastside Library
Book Fair Benefiting Riviera Ridge School
Tuesday, March 4, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Baby & Me Storytime
Wednesday, March 5, 11 a.m. | S.B. Central Library
Read to a Dog
Wednesday, March 5, 3 p.m. | Eastside Library
Baby & Me Storytime
Friday, March 7, 10:30 a.m. | Goleta Library
Book Talk: Top-Rated Podcaster Delanie Fisher
Tuesday, March 8, 4 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Community Comedy Night Fundraiser for Charlotte’s Web Children’s Mobile Library
Saturday, March 8, 4 p.m. | Lompoc Library
Book Fair Benefiting Beit HaYeladim Preschool
Sunday, March 9, 3 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Baby & Me Storytime
Wednesday, March 12, 11 a.m. | S.B. Central Library
S.B. SPOTLIGHT
We at the Independent get many books sent to us by area 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 are either written by a Santa Barbara 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.
Higher Self: Reclaiming the Power of Your Intuition by Mory Fontanez
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 “S.B. Spotlight.”
Book Reviews Courtesy of CALIFORNIA REVIEW OF BOOKS*
Thanks to the generous contributions of David Starkey, Brian Tanguay and their team of reviewers at California Review of Books, we are able to provide a steady stream of book reviews via our content partnership. Recent reviews at Independent.com include:
American Mother: A Life Reclaimed by Colum McCann and Diane Foley; review by Brian Tanguay
*At the present time, all of the Independent’s book reviews are provided in collaboration with California Review of Books (calirb.com).
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