All Booked | Doomed Girls … with a Twist

The original version of this newsletter was sent out on Tuesday, January 28.

Sign up for All Booked, our bi-monthly newsletter exclusively for book lovers.

Hello, fellow bookworms! I hope everyone has had a great start to the new year.

As for what I’ve been reading, I’ve been keeping an eye on the upcoming UCSB Arts & Lectures schedule, which includes Pico Iyer hosting a Q&A and book signing on January 30 for his book Aflame: Learning from Silence, his account of spending time at a monastery with an emphasis on silence, stillness, inner joy, and an appreciation for the small things. After tumultuous life changes that include death of a loved one, another suffering from terminal illness, and a house burning down in a wildfire, Iyer draws on the realizations that his time in the monastery has given him. I hope that this book may offer comfort to others who have gone or are currently going through something similar. For more information about Pico Iyer’s event on Thursday, January 30, click here.

For another ray of hope in difficult times, look to the work of Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye, whose poetry collection Everything Comes Next feels like living a thousand little moments of a thousand other lives. Her poetry ranges through the details of childhood that are both simple and wildly important to the young mind; the section titled “The Holy Land That Isn’t,” which details her experience growing up as Palestinian American and touches on the generational trauma of conflict and war; and the section titled “People Are the Only Holy Land,” which ultimately offers a hopeful glimpse into the beauty of humanity and life itself. Nye will be at UCSB’s Campbell Hall on Tuesday, February 4. For more information, click here.

This week, the incredible Richelle Boyd brings us a collection of what she describes as “stories of doomed women with a twist.” Read on for her recommendations!

—Tessa, allbooked@independent.com

I think there is something special about female lead novels with a twist to them. I enjoy anything that keeps me on the edge of my seat, and the stories I’ve selected today have done just that. On top of having strong female leads, all of them have something a little different about them — for better or worse.

Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville (2024)

Packed with action, a thrilling chase, and a curious curse that runs rampant through the story, Blood Like Mine by Stuart Neville is a fast-paced novel that follows the lives of Rebecca Carter; her daughter, Monica (nicknamed Moonflower); and Special Agent Marc Donner of the FBI. These three characters, seemingly unconnected, are smashed together by fate and circumstance as a serial killer runs loose across the U.S. The detail and care Neville takes in each step of the story sets you up for something unexpected along the way, and he ends the story with a heartbreaking but shocking twist. Rebecca is a true mother figure throughout the entire book and a protector over Moonflower, who is a fragile young girl seemingly pulled along for a terrible ride. This book blends the thrill of crime and a hint of something supernatural with a touching story of a mother and daughter making their way through life.

Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013)

Though I learned about this book through the movie based on it starring Jennifer Lawrence, Jason Matthews’s work far exceeded my expectations set by the film. This thriller is centered around Dominika Egorova, once an acclaimed ballet dancer for the Russian Bolshoi Ballet turned spy extraordinaire. Matthews, a veteran CIA officer, provides such thorough detail and imagery into every sentence that this book is a complete page-turner, and it is one of my top-recommended thrillers to people interested in the genre. Dominika is a relatable character who is continuously fighting to see her next sunrise, and she has a unique skill set that pushes her ahead in the world and gives her a leg up in her dangerous profession. The first in the Red Sparrow trilogy, this book kicks off with a cat-and-mouse game unlike any other and is an exciting story that will keep you on your toes and hungry to read the sequels. And to play devil’s advocate, I enjoyed the movie too, despite poor box office reviews.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)

On my final listing of doomed girls, I bring you my most cherished and misunderstood character in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This short story, though more than 100 years old, speaks to the dismissal of women better than almost any other story I know. It’s a quick read that will give you a deeper understanding of how the patriarchy has worked to push women aside and diminish their thoughts and feelings as far back as 1892. The main character, intentionally never given a name, is brought to the countryside when her husband, a physician, diagnoses her with hysteria after she loses their child. This short story speaks to the oppression of women and the minimizing of their pain and grief, something that is unfortunately still very relevant to today’s world. Forced into this situation by the people around her, the main character is hard not to sympathize with as she becomes unraveled. The journal-style entries of the story make it more intimate, and though the narrator becomes increasingly unreliable, it’s easy to see how quickly she is doomed from the very beginning.

—Richelle Boyd

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.

Stay & Play
Tuesday, January 28, 9 a.m. | Montecito Branch Library

Storytime at Solvang Library
Tuesday, January 28, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Tuesday, January 28, 11 a.m. | Eastside Library

Montecito Book Club
Tuesday, January 28, 2 p.m. | Montecito Branch Library

Book Fair: Foothill Elementary School
Tuesday, January 28, 6-8 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Wiggly Wednesdays
Wednesday, January 29, 10:30 a.m. | Goleta Valley Library

Baby & Me Storytime
Wednesday, January 29, 11 a.m. | Alameda Park

UCSB Arts & Lectures Presents: Tommy Orange
Wednesday, January 29, 7:30 p.m. | Campbell Hall, UCSB

Stay & Play
Thursday, January 30, 9 a.m. | Eastside Library

Wiggly Storytime
Thursday, January 30, 4:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library

Q&A and Book Signing: Pico Iyer
Thursday, January 30, 6 p.m. | S.B. Wine Collective

Baby & Me StorytimeFriday, January 31, 10:30 a.m. | Goleta Valley Library

Preschool Storytime
Monday, February 3, 10 a.m. | Carpinteria Community Library

Stay & Play
Tuesday, February 4, 9 a.m. | Montecito Branch Library

Storytime at Solvang Library
Tuesday, February 4, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Tuesday, February 4, 11 a.m. | Eastside Library

Book Fair: Cleveland Elementary School
Tuesday, February 4, 6-8 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

UCSB Arts & Lectures Presents: Naomi Shihab Nye
Tuesday, February 4, 7:30 p.m. | Campbell Hall, UCSB

Baby & Me Storytime
Wednesday, February 5, 11 a.m. | S.B. Central Library

Read to a Dog
Wednesday, February 5, 3 p.m. | Eastside Library

Storytime at Solvang Library
Wednesday, February 5, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Read to a Dog
Wednesday, February 5, 3:30 p.m. | Carpinteria Community Library

Wiggly Storytime
Thursday, February 6, 4:30 p.m. | S.B. Central Library

Book Talk and Signing: Jess Johnston
Thursday, February 6, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Baby & Me Storytime
Friday, February 7, 10:30 a.m. | Goleta Valley Library

Preschool Storytime
Monday, February 10, 10 a.m. | Carpinteria Community 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.

Viva Violetta & Verdi: A Novel by Howard Jay Smith

Who Was Grandpa Doc? by Patricia Griffin Caird

Santa Barbara: At Home in Paradise by Douglas Woods

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:

Feint of Heart: Art Writings, 1982-2002 by Dave Hickey; review by David Starkey

Art Monster: On the Impossibility of New York by Marin Kosut; 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).