If you’re a book lover looking to get your hands on some indie lit to lounge by the pool with, we’ve got you covered. Earlier this year, Small Press Distribution abruptly closed after a 55-year run, a move that jolted the literary community awake: Small presses need reader support.
We took the wake-up call seriously and compiled a list of the latest and forthcoming titles we’re most excited about. Hitting bookshop shelves this summer are clandestine tales of wife-swapping gone awry, a Korean American reimagining of Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” a Soviet-Afghan war veteran’s descent into violent madness, and a hopeless cast of Angelenos looking for love in the wrong places — all from Southern California small presses and L.A. indie authors.
Check out the full list below:
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“American Narcissus” by Chandler Morrison his shelves on May 14. (Dead Sky Publishing)
“American Narcissus” by Chandler Morrison
Publication Date: May 14 (Dead Sky Publishing)
Baxter Kent is a surfer with a porn addiction that’s made it impossible for him to be intimate with “real girls,” so he turns to a sex robot. Arden Coover just graduated from Berkeley with a philosophy degree but would rather hole up in his parent’s pool house and do acid while he peruses dating apps. His 18-year-old sister, Tess, is entangled with a narcissistic novelist who wants to make her his fourth wife (the first three were too predictable). Ryland Richter is a booze and drug-addled insurance executive who’s sleeping with his new employee, an unstable claims adjustment agent who keeps threatening to ruin his life in myriad ways. In “American Narcissus,” the American dream is dead, Los Angeles is on fire, and this motley crew of characters can’t help but search for love in all the wrong places.
Morrison and I will discuss “American Narcissus” at Permanent Records Roadhouse in Los Angeles on June 8 at 2:00 p.m. RSVP here.
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“The Future Was Color” by Patrick Nathan was released on June 4. (Counterpoint)
“The Future Was Color” by Patrick Nathan
Publication Date: June 4, 2024 (Counterpoint)
It’s 1950s Los Angeles, and George Curtis, a gay Hungarian-born Jewish man, is writing B-list monster movies. His true passion is political writing, so when a wealthy socialite offers George the chance to become the writer in residence at her glamorous Malibu mansion, he jumps at the chance to leave the studio behind. Soon, he’s shrouded in postwar decadence and sipping cocktails near the pool, but the people who’ve pulled him into their circle and the country where he’s emigrated to aren’t as they initially seem. Nathan’s L.A. noir novel spans decades and countries and delves into the power of art, self-reinvention, and the tether between the personal and the political.
“The Sisters K” by Maureen Sun will arrive in bookstores and online June 11. (Unnamed Press)
“The Sisters K” by Maureen Sun
Publication Date: June 11 (Unnamed Press)
Maureen Sun’s debut novel “The Sisters K” is a modern reimagining of Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov,” which follows three estranged Korean American sisters raised in Los Angeles. Brought together again by the looming death of their cruel and conniving father, sisters Minah, Sarah, and Esther confront their past and present, and the potential fortune at their fingertips from conflicting viewpoints. The starred Kirkus review calls “The Sisters K” a book that does “far more than retell a classic tale: it constructs a whole new vocabulary to discuss the most central of human conundrums: how to love and be loved in return.”
Sun was born in Los Angeles and will be returning for one of her two events with Katya Apekina at North Figueroa Bookshop in Highland Park at 7 p.m. June 5.
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“Russian Gothic” by Aleksandr Skorobogatov, translated by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse hits shelves June 11. (Rare Bird Books)
“Russian Gothic” by Aleksandr Skorobogatov and translated by Ilona Yazhbin Chavasse
Publication Date: June 11 (Rare Bird Books)
Nikolai, an unemployed veteran of the Soviet-Afghan war, begins his descent into madness when the elusive Sergeant Bertrand swings open his front door and kisses the hand of his wife Vera. Or maybe he just rang the doorbell and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. Nikolai isn’t sure how Sergeant Bertrand came into his life, he isn’t sure of much. But Sergeant Bertrand’s presence becomes increasingly intrusive, with violent consequences for Vera and the people in her orbit. “Russian Gothic” examines the devastating toll of PTSD, toxic jealousy, grief and misogyny. Aleksandr Skorobogatov is the author of five acclaimed novels but “Russian Gothic,” originally published in Europe in 1991, is the first of his books to be translated into English. It’s been hailed as a masterpiece of post-Soviet literature.
“A Punishing Breed” by DC Frost hits bookshop shelves on June 11, 2024. (Red Hen Press)
“A Punishing Breed” by DC Frost
Publication Date: June 11, 2024 (Red Hen Press)
“A Punishing Breed” is novelist DC Frost’s mystery debut and the first in a series that follows Detective DJ Arias, a jaded but shrewd investigator who tends to see the worst in people. When Danny Mendoza calls in a murder that happens at the liberal arts college where he works, it’s Detective Arias who’s assigned to the case, the same cop who locked up Mendoza a decade prior. At a campus that hides behind a facade of progressive curriculum, Detective Arias begins to uncover seething jealousy, racial and sexual tension, and a hierarchy that buries dark secrets. He must confront his own biases and dwindling humanity to crack the case and stop the murderer before they strike again.
Frost will be in conversation with Saul Gonzalez at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena on June 25 at 7 p.m.
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“Reap the Whirlwind: Violence, Race, Justice and the True Story of Sagon Penn” by Peter Houlahan will hit shelves on July 23 (Counterpoint)
“Reap the Whirlwind: Violence, Race, Justice and the True Story of Sagon Penn” by Peter Houlahan
Publication Date: July 23 (Counterpoint)
On March 31, 1985, Sagon Penn applied to be an officer for the San Diego Police Department and was scheduled to take the written exam the following week. But just hours later, the young Black man was pulled over by two patrol police officers and things went horribly awry. The traffic stop escalated and Penn seized one of the officer’s guns, shooting both (killing one) and shooting a woman who was on a ride-along in one of the police cars. After two sensationalized trials, with the help of a fearless defense attorney, Penn was found not guilty on all charges. “Reap the Whirlwind,” written by “Norco ’80” author Peter Houlahan, examines the long-fraught relationship between Black communities and the police and interrogates the question, what, if anything, could justify Penn’s actions?
“Blue Graffiti” by Calahan Skogman hits bookstores on Aug. 13. (Unnamed Press)
“Blue Graffiti” by Calahan Skogman
Publication Date: August 13 (Unnamed Press)
Cash is a handyman and sometimes painter living in middle-of-nowhere Wisconsin. He inherited his childhood home from his dead mother, was abandoned by his bereft father, and he’s never known anything outside of the small town where he lives, and the friends who fill the barstools beside him. Cash spends most of his time reminiscing about the past or dreaming up big plans for the future, but one night, his world is upended when an emerald-eyed beauty strolls into the town bar. Cash falls head over heels in love but first, he must confront the ghosts of his past before he can build a new future. Kirkus called Skogman’s poetic debut “a love letter to bar-stool philosophizing and a tender portrait of small-town life with a simple but powerful message: There’s always something special about home.”
Skogman will be in conversation with Leigh Bardugo at an event hosted by Skylight Books at Barnsdall Theater on August 29.
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“Watching Over You” by Simon Delaney comes out on Aug. 13. (Rare Bird Books)
“Watching Over You” by Simon Delaney
Publication Date: August 13 (Rare Bird Books)
Alternating between London and Paris in the 1940s, the 1960s, and the present, “Watching Over You” follows restaurateur Michel de la Rue and his brother, Chef Antoine as they take a foodie tour of France (which is being filmed by a documentary TV crew). Throw in a scheming art dealer, Alain Deschamps, and his pursuers, Interpol’s Lorenzo Pieters and the Le Monde journalist, Fabian Ritzier, and you have a page-turning story of Michel desperate to protect his family’s precious heirloom – paintings hidden from the plundering Nazis during World War II – and Alain’s ruthless search for the missing paintings.
“Post-Apocalyptic Valentine” by Linda Watanabe McFerrin will be released on Sept. 3 (7.13 Books)
“Post-Apocalyptic Valentine” by Linda Watanabe McFerrin
Publication Date: September 3 (7.13 Books)
Award-winning novelist and travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin’s new poetry collection examines depression, humor, and dark revelation. McFerrin’s poetry explores history as well as the modern challenges of individuals living in a flawed society on a doomed planet. While McFerrin’s collection reaches as far as the galaxy in search of understanding, she narrows in on the minutia of day-to-day life to interrogate what it means to love.
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“Olive Days” by Jessica Elisheva Emerson will be released on Sept. 10. (Counterpoint)
“Olive Days” by Jessica Elisheva Emerson
Publication Date: September 10 (Counterpoint)
Jessica Elisheva Emerson’s debut novel follows Rina Kirsh, a modern orthodox Jew living in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles. She’s an exhausted young mom and a closet atheist, and her husband insists that a night of wife-swapping with a few other couples will bring a spark back to their marriage. When Rina caves, it’s not her marriage that’s reinvigorated, but her passion for painting which leads her down a rabbit hole of lust, secrets and angst when she becomes entangled with her married Mexican American art teacher, Will Ochoa.
Walmart, Target, and Albertsons alongside other grocery giants are all making a big change to their stores in California.
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a law banning plastic bags being used at such stores in the state.
The change will take legal effect on January 1, 2026, and will affect all grocery stores.
Some grocery chains such as Whole Foods have already phased out plastic bags at their checkouts nationwide.
Consumers will be encouraged to bring their own bags to do their shopping, and those who do not will be offered a paper alternative.
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The new law will only affect the plastic bags used at supermarket checkouts, not the plastic bags that contain produce.
Californians will soon be offered paper bags at the supermarket checkout
The change comes after a decade of hard-fought campaigning from politicians trying to outlaw the bags.
In 2014 a similar law was passed in California but it only outlawed thin plastic bags, leaving a loophole for stores to use thicker plastic.
Laura Deehan, the director of Environment California, told local news that the bags actually created more waste as shoppers did not reuse or recycle the thicker bags.
‘There was a sudden surge in these much thicker plastic bags,’ Deehan, who campaigned for the new law, told KABC-TV.
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‘The grocery stores felt like they met the definition of a reusable plastic bag, but what we found is that they’re really not being reused at all.’
In 2004 Californians threw away an average of eight pounds of plastic every year, which increased to eleven pounds per year by 2021, a state study concluded.
The law ‘clearly needed a redo,’ Jenn Engstrom, of the California Public Interest Research Group told the Associated Press.
‘Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,’ she explained.
‘With the Governor’s signature, California has finally banned plastic bags in grocery checkout lanes once and for all.’
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The law also redefined what can be considered a recyclable bag.
Gavin Newsom introduced the US’s first plastic bag ban while mayor of San Francisco in 2007
As of 2028 only bags made from 50 percent or more recycled materials can be classified as recyclable.
Newsom has a long-history of fighting against plastic bag use, having introduced America’s first plastic bag ban in 2007 while mayor of San Francisco.
Now hundreds of cities across 28 states have their own plastic bag bans in place.
Some form of state-wide plastic bag ban now exists in twelve states, including New York.
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The UK passed a law forcing supermarkets to charge for plastic bags in 2015, which led to a 98 percent reduction in their use according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Stores often face a backlash when they alter packaging to cut down on plastic use.
Earlier this year Costco began selling its $4.99 rotisserie chickens in soft plastic bags instead of the traditional hard-shelled plastic containers at its US locations.
The redesign uses 75 percent less plastic and cuts the use of 17 million pounds of resin a year, according to Costco.
But shoppers were quick to complain that the new design causes a mess in trollies, cars and fridges – as it allows meat juice to leak out.
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Walmart and Target to make major policy change to every store across California
SACRAMENTO — As the aftermath of Hurricane Helene unfolds, California’s first responders are stepping up to help those affected in Florida.
Approximately 120 first responders from across the Golden State, including Sacramento, are helping in various roles. Sacramento is teaming up with other federal response members from across the nation in a management position.
Larry Collins, deputy chief of Special Ops HazMat with the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), emphasized the importance of this nationwide response, stating: “We go there because it’s about neighbor helping neighbor. They would help us if we had a big disaster.”
It’s part of a plan that launched in the 90s, with rotational system of emergency responders organized to go where they are needed most. Collins calls this mutual aid is essential.
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“When it happens here in California and we need the help, we can rely on these other 20 urban search and rescue teams from other states to help us,” Collins said.
Deployed on Friday were crews from Southern California including from Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, and San Diego.
Sacramento personnel were pre-positioned on Tuesday, driving to Orlando to be ready to respond as the weather conditions and storm track changed.
“We’re coordinating the movement of all these search and rescue and swift water assets,” Collins explained. “It’s intense. They’re working in the rain. They are in the darkness, in some cases. They have trees falling down power lines falling down.”
The public information officer deployed with the Sacramento crew is Charlie Lubowicki, of the FEMA US&R Incident Support Team. He explained the importance of everyone bringing their own expertise to the table during times like this.
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“It’s a testament to the system that has been built here in the United States,” Lubowicki said. “Those who go to wildfires and are in these large dynamic events all the time, and so they have a very special skill set that when they come out east, they are able to bring to the planning process.”
Federal support and resources
A crucial element of this operation is the backing provided by FEMA, which will reimburse California for the costs associated with sending these teams, given that this is a federally declared disaster. This support enables the state to deploy its resources without jeopardizing local emergency response capabilities.
Officials have reassured the public that despite the ongoing wildfire season, California maintains a robust set of resources ready for “no notice emergencies,” such as earthquakes. The state’s ability to respond to local emergencies remains unaffected by its commitments to national disaster relief.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a new bill that would protect Social Security benefits for tens of thousands of residents in the state.
By signing AB 2906 into law on Thursday, Newsom will now ensure that Social Security survivor benefits go to the foster youth they are intended for.
Under the new bill, it would now be required for foster youth and their legal guardians be notified if anyone is applying as a payee of Social Security survivor benefits. For years, these benefits were intercepted by the state despite being intended for foster children when they turn 18. The bill passed unanimously in the state legislature before it went to Newsom’s desk last month.
Newsweek has reached out to the Social Security Administration and Newsom via email for comment.
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While Newsom vetoed a similar legislation last year that included both foster youth survivor and disability benefits, the pressure from the public may have pushed him to approve the bill this time around.
Around 70 California judges signed a letter asking the governor to sign the bill earlier this month, and both the Los Angeles and San Diego Boards of Supervisors approved of the law.
“For some of California’s foster children, having access to these previously pilfered assets may be the difference between aging out of care into homelessness or with a roof over their heads,” Amy Harfeld, national policy director at the Children’s Advocacy Institute at the University of San Diego School of Law (CAI), said in a statement. “We are grateful for Governor Newsom placing California among the growing number of states that are acting to end this shameful practice while helping address California’s homeless challenge to boot.”
Somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 children in California are eligible for Social Security benefits, but they often face poverty or outright homelessness after reaching 18 years of age. Between the ages of 19 and 21, 29 percent of former foster youth experienced homelessness, according to the Children’s Advocacy Institute.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is seen on August 19 in Chicago. Newsom recently passed a new bill that protects Social Security benefits for foster youth. California Governor Gavin Newsom is seen on August 19 in Chicago. Newsom recently passed a new bill that protects Social Security benefits for foster youth. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The payments they were owed could have prevented this, but for years, California counties would divert the Social Security benefits into their own funds.
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While federal law requires county foster care agencies to put the best interests of foster children first regarding the Social Security money, counties have been sidestepping these requirements without consulting the children set to receive the benefits.
Previously in California, counties could apply for foster kids’ benefits without telling the child or their representative, and a judge was not required to oversee the child’s care.
Foster children qualify for Social Security if they either have a disability or had a parent pay a certain amount of money into the Social Security system before retiring, becoming disabled or dying. But due to prior rules, many never saw the money they were owed.
“These funds amount to a rounding error for counties,” said Robert Fellmeth, founder and executive director of the Children’s Advocacy Institute, in a statement. “For eligible foster youth, having access to their money could mean an entirely different life, one in which they have a real shot at stable housing, food security, transportation, and education.”
California is one of many states that are looking to create more substantial protections for these foster kids’ Social Security payments.
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As of this summer, 30 states and jurisdictions have taken action to protect foster youth benefits. Arizona, Washington, D.C., Oregon and Massachusetts have abolished holding payments from foster system beneficiaries entirely.
“The push Governor Newsom and other lawmakers are in California are making to cover this often-neglected group mimics what we’ve seen in some other states,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
He added: “Those who find themselves as beneficiaries of Social Security under foster care survivor status aren’t often mentioned when we speak about protecting Social Security benefits in general, but they are a subgroup that is overlooked and one that heavily relies on this funding. The passing of this bill would be pivotal in making sure they are financially supported through the system for the years to come in a meaningful way.”
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