Since our last column there’s been a quite a bit of bookish news.
Warehouse store chain Costco has announced that they will no longer be stocking books year-round, beginning in January 2025, and will instead only carry books during the holiday season (September through December). The company’s reasoning is that copies of books need to be laid out by hand, rather than simply rolled out on a pallet, which requires specialized labor.
While this is certainly a blow to Big 5 publishers and their authors, it seems like it may be a boon to independent bookstores. Time will tell.
Coming to the Petaluma Arts Center on August 11 from 1-2 p.m. ‒ as part of the current Black Artists of Northern California exhibition ‒ is Writers in Conversation, featuring a candid back-and-forth between Petaluma authors Eirine Carson and Natalie Baszile. Carson is the author of the memoir “The Dead are Gods” (Melville House, 2023) and a regular Argus-Courier columnist. Baszile is the author of the novel “Queen Sugar” (Penguin, 2014), which was adapted into a television series executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay.
Someone recently attempted to hack the Hugo Awards, according to an announcement from the Hugo Administration Subcommittee for Worldcon 2024, which will be held August 8 to 12 in Glasgow, Scotland. Citing “unusual data,” the subcommittee voided 377 votes favoring a particular finalist, from “a run of voters whose second names were identical except that the first letter was changed, in alphabetical order, and a run of voters whose names were translations of consecutive numbers.”
Apparently, the scheme involved reimbursing voters who purchased memberships (at around $58 per membership) who would then vote for the investor’s preferred finalist. That’s more than $21,000 spent in an inept attempt to send someone home with a statue of a rocket.
Hachette Book Group’s science fiction imprint Orbit has launched a new horror imprint called Run For It. This imprint will be the new home for current Orbit horror authors Craig DiLouie and Andy Marino, with more to be announced as the imprint ramps up for a summer 2025 release of its inaugural titles.
Film studio A24 is adapting author Philip Fracassi’s supernatural short story “Altar,” with Kyle MacLachlan and January Jones starring and Egor Abramenko directing.
Fracassi, an author with family connections in Petaluma, has done multiple signings at the Word Horde Emporium, and his novel “Boys in the Valley” was one of my favorite reads of 2023. You can find “Altar” in Fracassi’s Lethe Press collection “Behold the Void,” but be forewarned ‒ You’ll never look at a public swimming pool the same way again.
Here’s what Petaluma is reading this week.
Adult Fiction and Non-Fiction
1. ‘The Tree Collectors: Tales of Arboreal Obsession’ by Amy Stewart – This illustrated collection of vignettes, often humorous and poignant, from the author of “The Drunken Botanist” and “Wicked Plants,” tells the stories of 50 people who have spent their lives working with, preserving and cultivating trees.
2. ‘The Book of Bill’ by Alex Hirsch – A deeply cursed fictional memoir and step-by-step guide to overthrowing the world by Bill Cipher, the interdimensional demonic villain of the animated TV series “Gravity Falls.”
3. ‘The Backyard Bird Chronicles’ by Amy Tan – This collection of essays and illustrations from the author of “The Joy Luck Club” maps the activities and lives of the birds inhabiting Amy Tan’s back yard. The book features a foreword by David Allen Sibley.
4. ‘Bury Me with the Dogs: Fathers, Sons, and an Accidental Manhood’ by Robert Herzog – Part memoir, part manifesto, part exploration of the meaning of masculinity, Herzog’s book explores the relationship between fathers and sons while seeking a deeper understanding of both.
5. ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas – A lethal huntress, a vengeful beast, and a cabal of immortal faeries who once ruled the world take center stage in this 2015 steamy, fairy-tale inspired fantasy romance. First book in a five-part series of escalating spiciness.
Kids Fiction and Nonfiction
1. ‘The Eyes and the Impossible’ by Dave Eggers – This one was recently awarded the Newberry Medal for Children’s Literature. A dog named Johannes watches over a park on behalf of a trio of ancient Bison, reporting on the animals and humans and assuring that all is kept in balance in this enchanting tale, lavishly illustrated (by Shawn Harris), from New York Times Bestseller Dave Eggers.
