Yes! Come on over! There will be wine!

Come on over!

Yes! Come on over!

Tune in to hear me and Deborah talk about California novels and water!

Tomorrow, Monday, June 5 at 6 P.M is the 92nd Annual Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California California Book Awards Ceremony. Come join us as we honor--and hear from--11 of California's best poets and fiction, non-fiction and juvenile and young adult writers! commonwealthclub.org/events/2023-06…

We're throwing another party! Join us in Culver City at Village Well on June 22 for a toast and readings by Rachel Howzell Hall, Lynell George, and @AjayOrona. Registrations appreciated. trib.al/umE85W0

I washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…

In her gripping new book, “The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean” veteran science journalist Susan Casey explores the promise and perils of deep sea exploration. My review in the SFChronicle Datebook datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/susan-ca…

Dear New York Times: The Pacific Ocean lies directly to the south of Montecito and the Santa Ynez Mountains lie directly to the north. Thank you. nytimes.com/2023/07/30/sty…

ANNE LAMOTT Same.

Something cool I noticed >> Just this week, three major gov’t actions (a House bill, a Senate investigation, and an Exec Branch regulation) grew out of different pieces of investigative journalism by NBC News and CNN. Reporting gets results. wakeuptopolitics.com/september-15-2…

The California coast may be drowned by a rising Pacific brought on by climate change. In her compelling, deeply reported California Against the Sea Rosanna Xia examines the crisis. My review in SFChronicle Datebook datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/examinat…

Today, Point Reyes National Seashore has the ethereal beauty that inspires poets. But it almost had freeways and shopping centers. How that didn’t happen is explored in Gerald Felix Warburg’s astute “Saving Point Reyes.” My review in SFChronicle Datebook datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/review-s…

The SFChronicle Datebook asked its book reviewers to name their favorite titles of 2023. Mine: Melissa L. Sevigny's epic Brave the Wild River, and Rosanna Xia's essential-for-Californians, California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline. datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/favorite…

The Dogs of 2023

Robert Aquinas McNally explores John Muir’s complicated legacy in Cast Out of Eden: The Untold Story of John Muir, Indigenous Peoples, and the American Wilderness. My review in SFChronicle Datebook datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/john-mui…

Claus Spreckels made a fortune off California sugar beets and Hawaiian sugar cane. Then it all came undone. My review of Sandra E. Bonura’s richly detailed “The Sugar King of California” in SFChronicle Datebook datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/review-s…

In his ambitious, sprawling, deeply reported American Oasis, Kyle Paoletta does a superb job of showing how the booming cities of the desert southwest may represent the American future. My review in SFChronicle Datebook: datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/american…