All Booked | Light Reads for the New Year

The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, January 27.

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Hello, fellow bookworms!

I can’t be the only one: After the relaxing time of the winter holidays (and particularly that stretch between Christmas and New Year’s when no one knows what to do with themselves), I tend to hit January feeling off-kilter and scrambling to keep up with everything. I’ve got some great books in my TBR pile to share with you all this year, but for those of you who tend to experience the start of the new year the same way I do, I thought I’d bring together a collection of light, fun reads that won’t feel like an extra task for your to-do list and will definitely bring you a laugh.

How to Cheat at Tennis (and Maybe Get Away with It) by JD Miller

I may have played tennis only during PE at school, but now I feel confident that if I do get the opportunity to give it a proper try, I’ll know exactly what to do to cheat my way to the top! Area author JD Miller’s supreme guide to “chicanery, scurrilousness, and outright skullduggery” on the tennis court, certified by the all-knowing “Tennis Treachery Institute (TTI),” is a hilariously shameless and detailed step-by-step guide to psychological warfare, environmental manipulation, saving face, dressing the part, and everything else you might need to get that win at all cost. (And yes, rest assured that these tips work for pickleball as well!)

Herding Cats (a “Sarah’s Scribbles” Collection) by Sarah Andersen

I’ve been a fan of Sarah Andersen’s comic series “Sarah’s Scribbles” for years, and I always like to buy the physical copies and support her whenever she comes out with a new collection! Her art style is adorable and charming, and with topics that range from the difficulties of learning how to be an adult, the hilarious things animals do, and the little things that make life the beautiful mess that it is, Andersen’s comics always feel relatable and bring me a smile. Of all her collections, I picked her third one, Herding Cats, to spotlight, because it features some bonus content: “Making Stuff in the Modern Era: A Guide for the Young Creative,” in which Andersen provides an honest look at what it’s like to be an artist today and passes on her advice to readers. Maybe it’ll inspire you to pick up a creative hobby in 2026!

Bookstore Cats by Brandon Schultz

Last but not least, for easy reading with a feel-good dose of adorable animals, Brandon Schultz’s Bookstore Cats is a charming look at bookstores all over the United States (plus a couple in Canada!) that feature their own feline employees to welcome customers, supervise the goings-on, and sleep on the books to keep them nice and warm. Many of the cats also (of course!) have book-themed names, such as Atticus and Scout at Books with a Past in Maryland, or Huckleberry and Finn at My Shelf Books & Gifts in Pennsylvania. If I’m ever in the area to visit these stores, you bet I’m dropping by. But in the meantime, I’ll keep “awww”ing over the adorable photographs and charming descriptions in this book.

Happy reading!

—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com

Also, our hardworking Senior Arts Writer Josef Woodard wanted to chime in on last week’s prompt, where I asked the Indy staff to tell me about the books they received as Christmas presents from our Editor-in-Chief, Marianne Partridge!

Over the last few years, I’ve discovered another of Marianne Partridge’s talents: the special gift of intelligent gift-giving. I have known and worked for her from the beginning of the Independent, 40 years ago — and before that birth moment — and was heavily inspired by reading Rolling Stone (not Vogue) and the Village Voice, alternative journalism flagships where she served as an editor. She knows me too well as a music scribe, musician, and cultural oddball, and she hit home with the Christmas gifting of a book by crusty, smart rock critic Robert Christgau two years ago; the fascinating Anatomy of a Song (a surgical exploration into famous songs, which I read in two days); and, this year, Jazz Is, by iconic jazz scribe Nat Hentoff. Marianne was a friend and editor of Hentoff, whose seminal, deep and yet approachable writing on jazz left a major imprint on me. Great, another book to distract me from work. So if I miss a deadline, I can blame the boss.

—Josef Woodard

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.

“Miranda July Ages in the Spotlight” by Meaghan Clark Tiernan

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.

Godmothers Gather: Jane Marie Chen: Like a Wave We Break

Wednesday, January 28, 6 p.m. | Godmothers

UCSB History Associates: A Book in Common: Lies My Teacher Told Me

Thursday, January 29, 5 p.m. | Mosher Alumni House UCSB

Godmothers: Little G’s: Seven Ways Through the Woods

Saturday, January 31, 11 a.m. | Godmothers

William Stafford Community Reading

Saturday, January 31, 2 p.m. | First Crossing Day Use Area

Brigid, Beer, and a Beautiful Year with Author Diana Butler Bass

Monday, February 2, 6:30 p.m. | Third Window Brewing Co.

S.B. Central Library Fiction Book Club: Sally Rooney: Normal People

Tuesday, February 3, 5:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library

Book Talk and Signing: Brian Shaefer, Town & Country

Tuesday, February 3, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

An Evening of Conversation and Candlelight with Author Diana Butler Bass

Wednesday, February 4, 6 p.m. | Trinity Episcopal Church

IHC Humanities Decanted: Elana Resnick

Thursday, February 5, 4 p.m. | McCune Conference Room, UCSB

Godmothers Gather: Lori Gottlieb: Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

Thursday, February 5, 6 p.m. | Godmothers

Sánta Barbara Mission Archive-Library Open House

Saturday, February 7, 9:30 a.m. | Sánta Barbara Mission Archive-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.

How to Cheat at Tennis (And Maybe Get Away with It) by JD Miller

Spark: Igniting Change in a World of Possibilities by Nicole Wald

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:

Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of ‘Born to Run’ by Peter Ames Carlin; review by David Starkey

What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea by Fara Dabhoiwala; 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).