Book people just find each other.
Sometimes, it’s easy. I’ve had a couple of terrific book conversations with my friend Librarian Helen recently, both of us pausing to write down titles we didn’t want to forget.
And I know my neighbors down the street are readers; we run into each other at the bookstore and nearby Little Free Library when out with our dogs.
But the other night, I encountered someone who lives on my street I don’t know well. (And unlike another encounter I’d recently had, I thankfully wasn’t wearing a shirt from a delightfully inappropriate Walla Walla, WA record store.)
Anyway, after politely waving to each other as I walked past, my neighbor drew himself up, pulled out his earbuds and came over to say hello and greet my companion, who he thought was A Very Good Dog.
Even books listen to audiobooks, according to this scientific diagram. (Getty Images)
Pointing to his earbuds, I asked him what he’d been listening to and he surprised me. Turns out, we had something else in common.
He told me he’d been listening to one of the Patrick O’Brian Aubrey-Maturin naval adventure novels, a favorite of mine, librarian Nancy Pearl and many, many others. After getting into the series of 20+ novels during the pandemic, my neighbor said he basically kept them on repeat whenever he needed something to listen to.
And then we were off talking books.
Like Adrian McKinty and Book Pages reader Kathy Matthews, my neighbor listens to the Patrick Tull narrations; I explained I’d listened to the series as narrated by Altadena resident (by way of Brighton) Simon Vance. We both said we’d check out the other narrator and, who knows, maybe we will.
But standing there in the fading light, talking about books like it was the most normal thing for two grown men to do, was deeply satisfying. I asked him what else he liked to listen to, and he told me a few more titles (which I didn’t write down and promptly forgot on my way back home). Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series was one, and we’re both fans of Mick Herron’s “Slow Horses” series read by Gerard Doyle.
He said he wanted to find more books like the O’Brian’s and I asked if he’d listened to the audiobook of Susanna Clarke’s “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell,” which I often rhapsodize about because it’s the book that hooked me on listening to audiobooks (and it was nearly 33 hours over 26 CDs!).
Turns out, he had and loved that audiobook and recommended Clarke’s “Piranesi,” which I have been meaning to get back to for a few years now.
Soon enough, the dog reminded me that I’d already spent the day thinking about books and this was her time now, so we moved on and promised to talk about books again soon. I hope we do.
In the meantime, I’ve heard from some of you recently and got some more recommendations to share:
Hello, so glad I found this newsletter. I recently discovered Mission Viejo Public library and it is absolutely fascinating. I picked a librarian recommendation and I’m halfway through in the past 3 days. It is called “Hello, Sunshine” by Laura Dave. It has the right balance of suspense, drama, and karma. – Bhawana
“If you’d like to read another Western that will make an impact on you, check out “Whiskey When We’re Dry” by John Larison. I knew nothing about it when I read it in 2019. I think it’s much better than “Outlawed.” – Faith C’Dealva
And I had the pleasure of running into a professor named Linda at the California Journalism Awards; she enjoys the Bookish video interviews and recommended “Tomb With a View: The Stories and Glories of Graveyards” by Peter Ross and made it sound really appealing.
What are you reading or listening to?
Scenes from San Diego Comic-Con included a (possible) Chuck Tingle sighting, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening signing outside a panel talk, and “Yo Gabba Gabba” legend DJ Lance Rock, who stopped to talk. (Photo credit Erik Pedersen/SCNG)
And finally, last week I drove down to San Diego Comic-Con to check out the offerings, talk to some book people and test out my latest cosplay get-up. (OK, one of those things may not be true.)
I also took some photos – including of a fire that broke out downtown – of some book and book-adjacent notables, such as the legendary DJ Lance Rock from “Yo Gabba Gabba.” I was able to thank for being such a beloved part of my kids’ lives, and he was as lovely as you’d hope. I also saw “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening do an impromptu signing after a panel (and was reminded that we once spent a few minutes chatting about Albertus Seba’s “Cabinet of Natural Curiosities” in a Taschen store before I realized who he was). And then, as I was heading to my car, caught sight of a well-dressed gentleman with a pink bag over his head and – I mean, sure, it is Comic-Con – but it was probably author Chuck Tingle (who will be appearing at L.A.’s Dynasty Typewriter on Aug. 4, btw).
OK, thanks for reading!
Book recs from the two authors who write the James S.A. Corey space operas
James S. A. Corey, which is the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, has a new collaboration, “The Mercy of the Gods.” (Photo credit Liza Trombi / Courtesy of Orbit)
James S. A. Corey is the pen name of Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. In addition to writing “The Expanse” stories and novels, they also wrote and produced the television series of the same name. The pair will be discussing their new collaboration “The Mercy of Gods”and signing books on Aug. 7 at 5 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble bookstore at The Americana at Brand in Glendale.
Q. Please tell readers about your new book.
“The Mercy of Gods” is the first in a new trilogy, so you don’t need to have read any of our other stuff before you pick it up. It’s space opera, with galactic empires and weird alien species and all that kind of thing, inspired by the biblical Book of Daniel. It’s following a handful of people taken prisoner by a vastly more powerful civilization, and how they hold onto who and what they are, even under the worst circumstances.
Q. Writing as a team is a little unusual. Can you talk a little about that?
It started off with Ty having a really good idea for a book, and Daniel having some experience writing novels. The two things fit together well, and so a decade and a half in, we’re still doing it.
Q. Is there a book or books you always recommend to other readers?
If folks are looking for other work in this corner of science fiction, we recommend the Dread Empire’s Fall books by Walter Jon Williams, starting with “The Praxis.” Walter is a friend and a mentor for us both, and the Dread Empire’s Fall books don’t get as much love as they deserve.
Q. What are you reading now?
Daniel: Right now, Will Durant’s “The Life of Greece.” His Story of Civilization books have been looking at me from the shelf for a while now, and it seems like their time may have come.
Ty: Just finished “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King.
Q. Can you recall a book that felt like it was written with you in mind (or conversely, one that most definitely wasn’t)?
Daniel: For me, Joe Abercrombie was kind of a revelation. Writers have their own voices, and usually they are pretty distinct. When I picked up Abercrombie’s “The Heroes,” it was like I’d found a book that I’d written myself and then forgotten about. The way he uses language and builds story just make sense to me. And “The Heroes” is a wonderful book.
Ty: Alfred Bester’s “The Stars My Destination” was probably my first truly adult science-fiction novel and it rewrote the way my brain sees fiction. It was incredibly dense with ideas, presented a compellingly loathsome protagonist, and took place in a dark and gritty future largely ruled by people so wealthy they are above the law. I’ve been writing fan fiction in that universe ever since.
Q. Is there a genre or type of book you read the most – and what would you like to read more of?
Daniel: In the past few years, I’ve actually fallen pretty far behind on my science-fiction and fantasy reading. There’s a point when I’ve spent all day working on my own projects that reading something adjacent to it feels like still being at work. I know there’s a whole generation of speculative fiction writers out there doing interesting, challenging work, and I’d like to get back in and understand better what they’re up to.
Ty: I find myself reading a lot of horror lately. I need to read more history. History is my first love and it is the fuel that drives my creative engine. I need to get back to it.
Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?
Daniel: Dozens of them, probably. The ones I go back to over and over are “Strong Poison” and “Gaudy Night” by Dorothy Sayers, “The Plague” by Albert Camus, Dorothy Dunnett’s “House of Niccolò” books and “Homo Ludens” by Johan Huizinga. But I could wax poetic about a bunch more.
Ty: “Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” have never stopped being my two favorite books since I was four years old. Probably the reason I’ve always been a bit of a weirdo. Surrealism just presses my buttons.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life – a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
Daniel: For me, it was my dad. When I was growing up, we didn’t have a television, and my father spent a lot of time reading to me. I grew up on a massive variety of stories – mysteries, sea adventures, South American literature, science fiction, you name it. He was the one who made me think that stories were as much a part of life as breathing or sleeping.
Ty: I mostly read books my mother bought and then left laying around the house, so I’d have to say early on it was her. Thankfully, for my future career as a writer, she was a sci-fi and fantasy reader.
Q. What’s a memorable book experience – good or bad – you’re willing to share?
Daniel: In 2017, I was on vacation with my family in Hawaii, and the book I’d taken to read – a wonderful novel – was “Fingersmith” by Sarah Waters. Part of the story takes place in a freezing, squalid flat in Victorian London. So there I was, sitting on this breathtaking beach in the warm sun with the soft sound of waves, imagining that I was shivering to death in a crappy, unheated apartment. I don’t know. It seemed odd to have gone all that way to be someplace beautiful and then amuse myself by imagining myself into someplace awful.
Ty: My family moved a lot. I got dumped into a class halfway through fourth grade in a new city after a move where the teacher had no idea what to do with me, so I was left to sit in the back reading whatever I wanted. I basically skipped fourth grade and read “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn” instead. I feel like I got the better end of that deal.
More bestsellers, authors and book stories
Anne Applebaum’s “Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World” is among the top-selling nonfiction releases at Southern California’s independent bookstores. (Courtesy of Doubleday)
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Willy Vlautin’s seventh book is “The Horse.” (Photo credit Bobby Abrahamson / Courtesy of Harper)
Man about a ‘Horse’
Willy Vlautin recalls the strange, real-life encounter that inspired his new novel. READ MORE
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TikTok star Drew Afualo, who poses in Hollywood on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, is going on a book tour with “LOUD.” (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
A memoir and more
“Loud” author and TikTok star Drew Afualo talks Samoan representation, misogyny. READ MORE
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Author Peter Houlahan’s new true-crime book, “Reap the Whirlwind: Violence, Race, Justice, and the Story of Sagon Penn,” explores the story of a deadly encounter between a young Black man and two San Diego police officers in the mid ’80s. (Photo courtesy of Counterpoint Press)
True Crime in SoCal
“Reap the Whirlwind” author Peter Houlahan explores the story of Sagon Penn. READ MORE
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Director Susan Seidelman’s new memoir is called “Desperately Seeking Something: A Memoir About Movies, Mothers, and Material Girls.” (Photo Credit Paul Mounce / Courtesy of Snowbird Films and St. Martin’s Press)
‘Smithereens’ to ‘Sex & the City’
“Desperately Seeking Susan” director Susan Seidelman recalls a life in film. READ MORE
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Liz Moore’s novel “The God of the Woods” is among the top-selling fiction releases at Southern California’s independent bookstores. (Courtesy of Riverhead Books)
Campfire tales
A missing child, a summer camp and a serial killer fuel Liz Moore’s “God of the Woods.” READ MORE
• • •
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