The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, July 21.
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Hello, fellow bookworms!
This week, I’m bringing you a couple of “unputdownables” — two books I read lately that I found myself tearing through. It’s always fascinating to get a peek into other perspectives and walks of life through the lens of literature, and it gets even better in the hands of skilled writers!
Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke
The book everyone seems to be talking about on social media this year! And it’s easy to see why. Main character Natalie Heller Mills is a tradwife influencer — with a social-media-perfect kitchen, a gaggle of children, a beautiful Idaho farm, assistants and nannies, and thousands of social media followers lapping up (and acidly scrutinizing) her every move. But when she wakes up one morning with an unfamiliar husband, kids who aren’t hers but call her “mama,” and a house that is her house but looks nothing like the one she carefully cultivated for social media, she realizes she’s fallen back into the life of a true “traditional wife” — from the 1800s. Outhouse, snow, rabbit stew, and all.
Told in dual timelines detailing how she built her family and influencer empire in the first place and how she now struggles with her new reality, Yesteryear brings the themes of religion, traditional and modern femininity, and the glorification of the past under uncomfortably close scrutiny. Natalie reminded me deeply of Scarlett O’Hara; she’s a very unpleasant, unlikable person, and yet, as a character, I found her antics entertaining and somehow did root for her in a way. Natalie is extremely opinionated, often unkind, and very ambitious — all qualities that her “keep sweet” religion discourages, but her determination to twist herself into knots to have it both ways makes for a very interesting internal struggle as the story bears on.
I particularly enjoyed the writing style and voice; Natalie’s inner monologue is often biting, bitter, and conflicted — akin to the characters and writing styles of Gillian Flynn and Jessica Knoll — and her observations of the people around her, while sometimes cruel, still manage to strike at the heart of what can drive us: shame, jealousy, hypocrisy, internalized misogyny, and other undesirable qualities that social media makes it easy to forget other people have. I won’t spoil the big twist, but it deviated from where I thought the book was going, turning it from a simple “woman faces the consequences of her hubris” story to something much deeper involving examining our own biases in just about every area of our lives. Despite a few minor plot holes and suspension of disbelief, I overall enjoyed Yesteryear. As both my housemate, Kelly, and I can attest, it’s a certified unputdownable!
The Earth Is Flat?! And Other Things My Mother Taught Me by Susan Huckle
Speaking of the ways religion can color one’s impressions of society and the world, we switch from fiction to a memoir — sorry, MOMoir — for the next one. Susan Huckle grew up in our neighboring Santa Maria as the only child of evangelical Christians. When she loses her mother in the grocery store at age 9, her first thought is that her mother might have been Raptured. When her father suffers a stroke, the family takes him to various services to be healed. As Susan grows and matures, going from college to life as a young adult in Los Angeles working as an actor, her exposure to other ideas and people from all walks of life begins to unravel her adherence to religion.
When her parents retire to Santa Barbara and begin delving into conspiracy theories — 9/11 was planned! Jackie killed JFK! The earth is flat! — Susan’s forced to walk the line between her love for her parents and her rejection of disinformation and reconcile the ideals she grew up with and the ones she holds as an adult.
I found Huckle’s voice beautifully honest, keeping a balance between hilarious and heartbreaking as she details her internal struggles, growing up feeling caught between expectations and reality. Her parents’ interest in conspiracy theories paints a picture of what seems to be taking place across too many American households: misinformation and disinformation running rampant, lack of control over one’s circumstances manifesting into a desire to “know the truth,” and the political turning personal with strife-inducing consequences among family members. This might be the reality of only one family, told from the limit of only one perspective, but I thought it was a very valuable snapshot. Examining one’s biases and thinking for ourselves are some of the most valuable skills we can have to keep us sane as we navigate our way through our one time on this (not flat) Earth.
—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com
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.
S.B. Eastside Library Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Tuesday, July 21, 11 a.m. | Eastside Library
Chaucer’s Book Talk and Signing: Paul Skokowski, Sensing Qualia: Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness
Tuesday, July 21, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Godmothers Gather: Jess Janz, The Table Where We Meet
Tuesday, July 21, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Lit on the Lawn
Wednesday, July 22, 1 p.m. | Buellton Library
Beach Book Club
Thursday, July 23, 5 p.m. | Goleta Beach
S.B. Central Library Sensory-Friendly Storytime
Friday, July 24, 4:45 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
Storytime at the Sea Center
Saturday, July 25, 10:30 a.m. | S.B. Museum of Natural History Sea Center
Godmothers Storytime: Little G’s: Livy Lou Lovely Loves to Speak
Saturday, July 25, 11 a.m. | Godmothers
Solvang Library Magpie Book Club
Saturday, July 25, 1:30 p.m. | Solvang Library
Godmothers Gather: L. John Harris, Diana Raab & Tristine Rainer, From Memories to Memoirs
Saturday, July 25, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Tuesday, July 28, 11 a.m. | Eastside Library
Montecito Book Club: Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary
Tuesday, July 28, 2 p.m. | Montecito Library
Goleta Valley Library Mystery Book Club: Elise Hooper, The Library of Lost Dollhouses
Tuesday, July 28, 5:30 p.m. | Goleta Valley Library
Godmothers Gather: The Enduring Classics Book Club, Madonna In a Fur Coat
Tuesday, July 28, 5:30 p.m. | Godmothers
Lit on the Lawn
Wednesday, July 29, 1 p.m. | Buellton Library
Chaucer’s Book Talk and Signing: Dr. Anthony Goodman, Great Saves and Terrible Losses: The Journeys of a Surgeon
Wednesday, July 29, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books
Godmothers Gather: Amy Ephron, Unseasonably Cold
Thursday, July 30, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
SBMAL Open House
Saturday, August 1, 9:30 a.m. | S.B. Mission Archive-Library (SBMAL)
Storytime at the Sea Center
Saturday, August 1, 10:30 a.m. | S.B. Museum of Natural History Sea Center
Goleta Valley Library Writers’ Workshop
Saturday, August 1, 12:30 p.m. | Goleta Community Center
Audiobooks in Action: Voiceover Punk Studio (for Teens)
Saturday, August 1, 2 p.m. | S.B. Central Library
Storytime at the Sea Center
Sunday, August 2, 10:30 a.m. | S.B. Museum of Natural History Sea Center
Godmothers Gather: Nathan Turner & Mary Steenburgen, I Love Decorating: Creating Stylish, Thoughtful, and Personal Spaces
Sunday, August 2, 6 p.m. | Godmothers
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.
When the Road Ends, Love Builds a New One by Nansie Chapman Douglas
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:
*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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