The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, January 13.
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Hello, fellow bookworms! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday season. Cheers to 2026!
In UCSB Arts & Lectures news, Miranda July, author of All Fours, will be coming to Campbell Hall on Tuesday, January 20, to discuss her body of work, which spans across disciplines and media, and her creative process as a contemporary artist. Click here for tickets and information.
It’s a longstanding tradition at the Independent that our wonderful Editor-in-Chief, Marianne Partridge, buys all of the staff Christmas presents from the annual Planned Parenthood Book Sale. I’ve definitely received some gems from her over the years, particularly The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. This year, she gave me a historical fiction book and a historical mystery, which I’m keeping secret for now in case I decide to write about them later! But somehow Marianne knew that they would be exactly what I wanted; in a news world saturated with information about technology and AI that feels so alien to me, I’ve definitely been trying to escape into the world of the past in the books I read.
This week, I’ve reached out to the staff of the Indy to tell me about the books they received from Marianne this year. Used book sales can be such treasure troves of hidden gems; if you’re a little tired of the best-seller lists or what’s trending on TikTok, see what unexpected treasures you might find at Paperback Alley or the next Planned Parenthood Book Sale in September.
Happy reading!
—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com
Don Brubaker, Web Content Manager: This year, Marianne gifted me Raymond Chandler’s 1953 noir masterpiece The Long Goodbye. A few chapters in, and it’s everything I could’ve wanted from a detective tale exploring L.A.’s seedy underbelly. I love pairing music with books, and Miles Davis’s 1958 score for Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows) is doing the trick for this mystery.
Matt Kettmann, Senior Writer: I got two, but I’ve been working for Marianne for more than half of my life, so they are deserved!
The Art of Dora Carrington, by Jane Hill: Marianne was actually the first person to meet our son, Mason Carrington Kettmann, when he was born in 2009. (She lied and claimed to be a cousin.) We picked the name because I proposed to my wife while overlooking Carrington Point on Santa Rosa Island. The name had a regal ring, and it was clean of any historical baggage since no one knows the name’s origin, which is at least as old as 1882. It certainly wasn’t named after this early-20th-century English painter, who ditched her first name to go simply by Carrington, married into a live-in love triangle, and died by suicide at age 39. In a weird twist, the last name of Carrington’s husband was the same as Marianne’s maiden name: Partridge.
The River We Remember, by William Kent Krueger: Instead of a book about cooking, traveling, wine, or journalism this year, Marianne gave me the pleasure of reading a solid murder mystery, set in Jewel, Minnesota. I jumped right into the first chapter and can’t wait to read more, but I’ve gotta finish At Poupon’s Table by wine importer Kermit Lynch first.
Leslie Dinaberg, Arts, Culture, and Community Editor: I saw the film adaptation of Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, starring Christine Lahti, sometime in the 1980s, but never read the novel until Marianne gave it to me this holiday season. It’s the story of two sisters who live with various relatives in a small town surrounded by a glacial lake. The writing is just beautiful. It’s the type of story you want to savor, which makes it the perfect thing to read during the slower, colder months.
Ryan P. Cruz, news reporter: Marianne has a knack for finding books that are right up my alley. She knows just what writers, subjects, and genres might pique my interests or get my mind thinking on how I can be a better writer. This year, she gifted me Larry McMurtry’s biography of the Sioux warrior Crazy Horse — a legendary Native American figure whose name is well-known but whose life story is often shrouded in mystery and myth. I am a huge fan of Larry McMurtry (the man behind the much-loved Lonesome Dove westerns), so I was very excited to read his take on the legend of Crazy Horse. I love his way of diving into the facts behind the myths, and I can already tell this book is sending me down a rabbit hole of more McMurtry books, westerns, and historical nonfiction. Thanks, Marianne!
Tyler Hayden, Senior Editor: Meant for my son when he’s a little older, White Fang by Jack London was one of my favorite books as a kid. Marianne isn’t omniscient, but sometimes she comes close. The 1973 edition is a cloth-bound hardcover with woodblock prints of black, white, and light blue, matching the beautiful and brutal journey of the wolf-dog as he navigates the love and cruelty of men.
Terry Ortega, Calendar Editor: I received Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel García Màrquez: Receiving Marianne’s book is one of the highlights of my holiday season. It’s sort of a window into what she thinks about you, which can be a frightening prospect. In this case, my surprise book was very touching, as I named my son Gabriel after this author, hoping to sprinkle magic and the arts into his soul. Màrquez is an important figure in my life, as he introduced me (at a young age) in believing in the mythical and fantastical alongside the mundane such as being able to fly after eating chocolate, being followed by butterflies, and following the story of an old man who has huge wings with all these stories highlighting the Latin American culture. I am excited to learn more about this author and so happy that he was able to write one volume in what was to have been a three-volume memoir. Thanks, MP.
Richelle Boyd, Marketing and Promotions Administrator: Marianne gifted me a horror/mystery novel about a woman who escapes a violent marriage and is on the run with her 10-year-old son titled Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen. The book is right up my alley, and in her note to me, Marianne mentioned enjoying the read and wondering if the content would still hold true today. Apparently it was Oprah’s Book Club pick in 1998, the same year it was published. Some may remember that I’m a girls’ girl, so I will be rooting for main character, Fran, (who also later goes by Beth) and hope her husband, Bobby, is the one who ends up black and blue.
Jackson Friedman, Associate Editor: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis: I’m already a few chapters into and thoroughly enjoying this quirky British sci-fi novel (subtitled or, How We Found the Bishop’s Bird Stump at Last) about a time-traveling historian sent back to Victorian England to fix a paradox and save history as we know it. Knowing I’m a fan of sci-fi and clever titles, Marianne rightly guessed this one would be right up my alley.
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith: Written by JK Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, this is the first installment of her Cormoran Strike series and revolves around the series’s titular PI as he investigates a supermodel’s suspicious suicide. Hard-boiled crime fiction is a guilty pleasure of mine, so I’m saving this for a rainy, broody day.
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.
“UCSB Arts & Lectures Adds Four Speakers to Its 2026 Offerings” by Leslie Dinaberg
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.
Author Talk: Viva Violetta and Verdi by Howard Jay Smith
Tuesday, January 13, 2 p.m. | S.B. Woman’s Club
Blue Whale Poetry Reading Series: Cie Gumucio and Daniel Thomas
Wednesday, January 14, 5:30 p.m. | Unity of Santa Barbara Chapel
Romance Book Club
Wednesday, January 14, 5:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
Godmothers Gather: Lorissa Rinehart & Jane Lynch
Friday, January 16, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Tecolote Book Shop Book Launch: Red Summer by Fran Davis
Saturday, January 17, 3 p.m. | Tecolote Book Shop
Godmothers Gather: Lucas Cantor Santiago
Saturday, January 17, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Author Talk: Actor and Author Wren T. Brown
Monday, January 19, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Godmothers Grow: The Elsewhere Book Club
Tuesday, January 20, 5:30 p.m. | Godmothers
A Conversation with Zack Kass: The Next RenAIssance
Tuesday, January 20, 7 p.m. | The Granada Theatre
UCSB Arts & Lectures Presents Miranda July
Tuesday, January 20, 7:30 p.m. | Campbell Hall, UCSB
School Book Fair Benefiting Isla Vista Elementary School
Wednesday, January 21, 5-7 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Author Talk: Frontier Comrades by Jim Wilke
Thursday, January 22, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Godmothers Gather: Shari Dunbar Boyer & Nada Jones
Thursday, January 22, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Little G’s: Storytime with Jessica McKay
Saturday, January 24, 11 a.m. | Godmothers
Online Seminar Series: The Periodic Table: A Memoir by Primo Levi
Saturday, January 24, noon | Virtual
Godmothers Gather: Jessica McKay & Zoe Winkler
Saturday, January 24, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
School Book Fair Benefiting Cathedral Oaks and More Mesa Children’s Centers
Sunday, January 25, 3-5 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
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.
A Very Buddy Christmas by HA Bustos
Escape from Tonga: The Terrifying True Tale of Big-Wave Surfer Randy Dale by Amy Cale-Huebner
The Lost Beyond by Ron Anderson
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:
The Future of Truth by Warner Herzog; review by George Yatchisin
Long Distance by Ayşegül Savaş; review by David Starkey
Plastic by Scott Guild; review by George Yatchisin
Repetition: A Novel by Vigdis Hjorth; 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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