The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, August 12.
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Hello, fellow bookworms!
August is officially here, and I hope everyone has been enjoying our gorgeous weather!
Today, we’re shining a spotlight on magical realism, as our fabulous Social Media Coordinator Maya Johnson shares what she’s been reading lately, which inspired me to toss some of my own suggestions from the genre in the mix!
1Q84 and other works by Haruki Murakami
If you enjoy magical realism, you’ve most likely heard of Murakami, but his books have such a strange, enigmatic life of their own they have to be read to be believed! I first read 1Q84 (a thousand-page-plus monstrosity, but don’t let that deter you) in my senior year of high school, and I was absolutely drawn in by the detailed world and its mysterious happenings. A young woman named Aomame starts noticing strange things in the world around her that lead her to believe they may have slipped into a parallel existence, and a young man named Tengo, a ghostwriter, becomes strangely entangled with the new work he’s been assigned and its mysterious teenage author. Their lives begin to converge, and more strange happenings ensure that neither they nor the world will ever be quite the same again.
If you’re intrigued but not in the mood for such a long book, may I suggest one of Murakami’s shorter works, After Dark, or one of his most well-known books, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Murakami is an expert at weaving together tantalizingly strange details with the mundane realities of the world we know, creating the effect that there could be interesting, magical things all around us, if only we take the time to notice them.
Now I’ll turn it over to Maya and her pick of the magical realism genre! Happy reading.
—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com
Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter
Hilary Leichter is one of my favorite contemporary authors. Her debut novel, Temporary, and its uniquely surrealist style knocked me off my feet, delivering a perfectly irreverent satire on modernity. How silly are the things we modern people believe to be real: cell phones, boyfriends, jobs!
When I found her second novel, Terrace Story, in the glorious piles of Chaucer’s Books (the best bookstore in Santa Barbara, in my opinion!), I was immediately enchanted.
Terrace Story begins with a young couple, Annie and Edward, and their newborn baby (“her noun was Rose”) living in a cramped apartment in a vague but familiar city. Then, into their lives enters Stephanie, Annie’s beautiful coworker, and a magical terrace that only exists when Stephanie is around, giving them all escape from their mundane lives. That is, until Stephanie closes the door to the terrace, and she, Edward, and the baby disappear onto the other side.
Leichter’s style is fast-moving, concise, and cutting. Her dialogue is delightfully witty and, much like the show Gilmore Girls, is chock-full of subtle references and inside jokes.
However, my favorite thing about Leichter’s writing is that she doesn’t waste time explaining how her worlds work — how a young girl’s sadness can manifest whole universes, or how the extinction of birds can become so casual a topic it’s discussed over tea — they just do. She critiques modern society by distorting it, and she weaves together an earth-shattering story about death, heartbreak, and the extinction of everything.
It only took me three sittings to finish this novel and be brought to tears. Isn’t that what you want from a good book?
—Maya Johnson
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.
Romance Book Club
Wednesday, August 13, 5:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
In Conversation: Jim Newton and Brad Hall with Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Thursday, August 14, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Buellton Library Bookworms
Friday, August 15, 1 p.m. | Buellton Library
Free Online Seminar Series: Lincoln’s Words
Saturday, August 16, noon | Virtual
Godmothers on the Stage: Amber Rae
Saturday, August 16, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Book Launch: Celebrate the Life and Legacy of Santa Barbara Artist Dennis Spangler
Sunday, August 17, 2 p.m. | The Sacred Space
Book Talk & Signing: Michael Arkush
Sunday, August 17, 3 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Books on Tap – Book Club
Monday, August 18, 6 p.m. | Casa Agria Specialty Ales
Godmothers on the Stage: Shelley Read
Thursday, August 21, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Grace Fisher Foundation Book Club
Thursday, August 21, 1 p.m. | Grace Fisher Foundation Inclusive Arts Clubhouse
Godmothers Storytime Hannah Hedrick
Saturday, August 23, 11 a.m. | Godmothers
Godmothers on the Stage: Fannie Flagg
Saturday, August 23, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Chaucer’s Storytime: Mona Damluji
Sunday, August 24, 2 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Trail Talks: The Mystery and Magic of the Mojave with Joshua Jackson
Thursday, August 21, 6:30 p.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.
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:
Thanks to Life: A Biography of Violeta Parra by Ericka Verba; review by Brian Tanguay
Insectopolis: A Natural History by Peter Kuper; review by David Starkey
*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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