Wednesday, March 7th at 7:30pm
Judith Levine
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping
(Free Press)
Shocked by the commerce in everything from pet cloning to patriotism, frightened by the downward spiral of her finances and that of the trash-strewn earth, author and free-speech activist Judith Levine enlists her partner, Paul, in a radical experiment: to forgo all but the most necessary purchases for an entire year. Without consumer goods and experiences, Judith and Paul pursue their careers, nurture relationships, and try to keep their sanity, their identities, and their sense of humor intact. She asks the Big Questions: Can the economy survive without shopping? Are Q-tips necessary?
Not Buying It is the confession of a woman any reader can identify with: someone who can't live without French roast coffee or SmartWool socks but who has had it up to here with overconsumption and its effects on the earth and everyone who dwells there. For the humor and intelligence of its insights, the refreshment of its skepticism, and the surprises of its conclusions, Not Buying It is sure to be on anyone's list of Necessities.
Thursday, March 8th at 7:30pm
Jane Smiley
Ten Days In the Hills
(Knopf)
From Carmel’s own Pulitzer Prize winner, comes a big, smart, bawdy tale of love and war, sex and politics, friendship and betrayal—and the allure of the movies. With Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron as her model, Smiley (Horse Heaven, Good Faith) takes us through ten transformative, unforgettable days in the Hollywood hills with a film director, his lover, and their house full of attention-demanding guests.
“Smiley has a gift for entwining eroticism with humanism and sparkling wit to form deliciously complex and slyly satirical fiction. And what opulent realms she loots: academia, horse racing, real estate, and now Hollywood…While Boccaccio's group of 10 women and men hope to escape the Black Death by sequestering themselves for 10 days in a villa outside Florence, Smiley quarantines her characters in a mansion high in the hills of Hollywood as the U.S. invades Iraq. Ensconced in luxury if plagued with moral quandaries, they sort out complex family and romantic relationships and argue over the war… Smiley is regally omnipotent as she advocates for art, objects to war, and considers tricky questions of power and spirit, love and compassion. Archly sexy and brilliant.”—Booklist, Starred Review.
Friday, March 9th at 6:30pm *
C-Span2 Book TV Bus!
C-SPAN2's new Book TV Bus is crossing the country on its first nationwide tour of local bookstores, libraries, and festivals—and, of course, Capitola Book Café is on its list! This gleaming, 45-foot studio-on-wheels is dedicated to highlighting quality local venues where nonfiction authors can share their works, just as Book TV creates unique book programming that airs every weekend on C-SPAN2. The Book TV Bus event will offer tours of the studio set; participation in an interactive demonstration about Book TV programming; the opportunity to learn how a television show is produced; a chance to acquire brainy-but-cool C-SPAN pens and t-shirts; and an opportunity to view clips from regular Book TV featured authors. Additionally, pre-selected local nonfiction authors may be interviewed about their books, giving them the opportunity to reach a national audience that they deserve but might not otherwise have access to.
* Please Note Time. This informal event will be open for approximately 2 hours.
Tuesday, March 13th at 7:30pm
Richie Unterberger
The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience
(Rough Guides)
Sweatshops, fair trade, climate change, ethical investment, organic food… shopping can sometimes feel like a moral minefield. Which claims of social responsibility can we trust? This resource cuts through the greenwash to clarify which are the ethical, small-footed companies and who are their evil-, earth-, and soul-destroying corporate twins.
The Issues: Do boycotts work? Is buying local better? How can we reduce our impact on global warming?
The Products: From coffee to cars, fish to furniture, pensions to plane tickets – the problems and the ethical options.
The Companies: Where to shop and what to look for in food, clothes, banks, travel agencies and much more.
Packed full of information and with tips on how to do your own research, The Rough Guide to Shopping with a Conscience is the essential handbook for responsible consumers. The paper used in this book was produced with 100% recycled fiber, of course!
Wednesday, March 14th at 6:30pm *
Book Club
Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon
This month’s selection is Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcon. For ten years, Norma has been the voice of consolation for a people broken by violence. She hosts Lost City Radio, the most popular program in their nameless South American country, gripped in the aftermath of war. Every week, the Indians in the mountains and the poor from the barrios listen as she reads the names of those who have gone missing, those whom the furiously expanding city has swallowed. Loved ones are reunited and the lost are found. Each week, she returns to the airwaves while hiding her own personal loss: her husband disappeared at the end of the war. But the life she has become accustomed to is forever changed when a young boy arrives from the jungle and provides a clue to the fate of her long-missing husband.
Please read the book before attending. Daniel Alarcon will join the discussion prior to his Author Event at 7:30pm.
* Please Note Time.
Wednesday, March 14th at 7:30pm
Daniel Alarcon
Lost City Radio
(Harper Collins)
"Fiction lovers recognized a clarion new voice in Alarcon's short story collection, War by Candlelight (2005). Lima-born Alarcon now presents a debut novel that is a marvel of concision and soulfulness.”—Booklist, Starred Review.
In a nameless, timeless South American country war has been raging between the government and a guerrilla faction from the jungles. Norma is the honeyed voice of consolation for a people broken by violence, and every week the Indians in the mountains and the poor in the barrios listen to her radio program as she reads the names of those who have gone missing. But the life she has become accustomed to is forever changed when a young boy from the jungle enters her studio and provides a connection to her own husband who disappeared years before while secretly fighting a war with no easy answers., Oakland-based author Alarcon probes the deepest questions of war and its meaning: from its devastating impact on a society that would prefer to forget to the emotional scarring each participant, observer, and survivor carries for years after.
Tuesday, March 20th at 7:30pm
Eesha Williams
Grassroots Journalism: A Practical Manual, 2nd edition
(Dollars and Sense)
"If journalists in Santa Cruz got a hold of Grassroots Journalism, read it, and did what it recommends, I believe more citizens would get active in local politics, and we on the City Council would have a far easier time affecting positive change in our city."—Michael Rotkin, three-time Mayor and current City Council member of Santa Cruz.
Grassroots Journalism is the essential handbook for a new kind of community journalism that shows people how actively engaging in public issues can make a difference in the quality of their own lives—and the world. Written by a UCSC Community Studies and Journalism grad, the book is full of real-world examples where grassroots journalism resulted in positive change. Thoroughly revised and updated, it covers the nuts and bolts of writing grassroots news articles, how to make sure your articles are published and read (in print or on line), and contains everything you'll need to be a effective grassroots journalist.
Thursday, March 22nd at 7:00pm *
World Affairs Book Club
Latin America After Neoliberalism: Turning the Tide in the 21st Century edited by Fred Rosen and Eric Hershberg
This month’s selection is Latin America After Neoliberalism: Turning the Tide in the 21st Century? edited by Fred Rosen and Eric Hershberg. Beginning in the 1980s, Latin America became a laboratory for the ideas and policies of neoliberalism. Now Latin America's political map is being redrawn as progressive governments sweep into power in Chile, Bolivia, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela—and more may follow. Latin America After Neoliberalism is a fascinating look at a politically dynamic region in the world and an authoritative guide to the political movements and leaders that are part of this historic change. It is the hope for a new way forward that brings us to this thoughtful analysis of our neighbors.
* Please Note Time.
Thursday, March 22nd at 7:30pm
Amy Stewart
Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowerw
(Algonquin)
From the former Santa Cruzan who gave readers From the Ground Up and The Earth Moved comes an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes look at the flower industry and how it has sought—for better or for worse—petal perfection.
For over a century hybridizers, geneticists, farmers, and florists have worked to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature could provide. Amy Stewart tracks down scientists intent on developing the first genetically modified blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world's most popular lily (the 'Star Gazer'); and an Ecuadorean farmer growing high-end organic roses that are the floral equivalent of a Tiffany diamond. She sees firsthand how flowers are grown and harvested on farms in Latin America, California, and Holland. (It isn't always pretty).What has been gained—and what has been lost—in tinkering with Mother Nature? In a global marketplace, is there such a thing as a socially responsible flower? At every turn, Stewart discovers the startling intersection of nature and technology, of sentiment and commerce.
Every customer who buys a book at the event will receive a certified sustainably grown VeriFlora flower!
Monday, March 26th at 7:30pm
Lisa Lutz
The Spellman Files
(Simon & Schuster)
Isabel Spellman is a twenty-eight-year-old with a checkered past littered with excessive drinking and creative vandalism; she’s addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefers entering homes through the windows. The upshot? She’s good at her job as a private investigator with her family's San Francisco firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to the whole family, thus to be a Spellman is to snoop on, tail, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman. When Isabel's parents hire Rae, the youngest of the family, to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Isabel's new boyfriend), that is the final straw. Isabel decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business—not an easy career change in this household. Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Isabel is at the center of a sharply funny tale, suspenseful tale of an unusual family trying to keep the peace.
Author Lisa Lutz attended UC Santa Cruz (as well as a few other universities) when she thought getting her bachelor’s was a good idea. Abandoning that altogether, she wanders around a lot writing hilarious books. Some think she’s on the lam, but she’s not, really.
Thursday, March 29th at 7:30pm
James D. Houston
Bird of Another Heaven
(Knopf)
From the respected local author of Snow Mountain Passage comes an engaging new novel, set in both our time and the late nineteenth century. It centers on a California woman, half Indian, half Hawaiian, who became consort and confidante to the last king of Hawaii, a magical tale based on real events. The story here is told by her great-grandson, Sheridan Brody, a Bay Area talk show host, whose life has reached an unexpected standstill. His sense of his personal history is suddenly shaken when he discovers the journals of his great-grandmother Nani Keala (aka Nancy Callahan) who has recorded her almost mythical life within the circle of the Hawaiian the king, witnessing his attempt to revive the monarchy and the spirit of his people and, eventually, the mysterious circumstances surrounding his downfall.
“James Houston is a novelist whose work shines with profound humanity. He vividly imagines history, our residence on earth, our racial quotient, the mystery of our fragile human character as though these concerns were fiction’s truest subjects.” —Richard Ford.
