![\"Our](\"http:\/\/sbseasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/OWOW-copy-194x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHere’s a peek at what some of our local scribes will have on the bookstore shelves this season.<\/p>\n
The reigning queen of local mystery writers, Sue Grafton<\/a> is back, and she\u2019s up to the letter \u201cX<\/a><\/em>,\u201d in what is perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel featuring a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa (a.k.a. Santa Barbara), hard-boiled private investigator Kinsey Millhone<\/a> takes us on yet another exciting and twisty journey we won\u2019t soon forget.<\/p>\n Gunpowder Press<\/a> recently published the late Barry Spacks<\/a>\u2019s final book of poems, Shaping Water<\/a><\/em>. A master poet and mentor, Spacks published 11 books of poetry during his lifetime, including\u00a0Spacks Street, which won the Commonwealth Club of California\u2019s Poetry Medal. He was selected as Santa Barbara\u2019s first official poet laureate in 2005.<\/p>\n Inspired by Frances Schultz<\/a>\u2019s popular House Beautiful<\/em> magazine series on the makeover of her house, Water is always top of our minds these days, and journalist Michael Cervin<\/a>\u2019s latest tome, Our World of Water: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Earth\u2019s Most Critical Resource<\/a><\/em>, discusses water from a historical context to its spiritual element and the present water crisis. It also looks toward our collective future and the inherent value of water to appreciate its awesome power while recognizing its fundamental importance.<\/p>\n Murders take the spotlight at Santa Barbara International Film Festival<\/a> in Marry, Kiss, Kill<\/a><\/em>, the debut mystery by Anne Flett-Giordano<\/a>. The Emmy-winning television writer\/producer (Frasier, Hot in Cleveland, Desperate Housewives<\/em>) has created a fresh and funny Santa Barbara police detective\/heroine\u2014Nola MacIntire\u2014who actually makes us yearn for more crime to come to town.<\/p>\n Known for her hilarious memoirs\u00a0I\u2019ve Still Got It\u2026I Just Can\u2019t Remember Where I Put It<\/em>\u00a0<\/a>and\u00a0If It Was Easy, They\u2019d Call the Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon<\/a><\/em>, Set in California during the Gold Rush years, Willard Thompson<\/a>\u2019s latest, Their Golden Dreams<\/a><\/em>, follows the lives of some of the men and women who were thrown together during those rough and tumble days. Mixing fictional characters with cameos from historical figures, this third book in the Chronicles of California series traces the lives of those who came to California seeking riches.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 1969 and teenage Jolie stands on the deck of her parents\u2019 Santa Barbara home watching an uncontrolled oil spill. She\u2019s outraged and motivated to do something about it. Jolie\u2019s father may be an oil executive, but that doesn\u2019t stop her from hitchhiking to the harbor and joining an anti-oil drilling protest. \u2014Leslie Dinaberg<\/p>\n Originally published in the Fall 2015 issue of Santa Barbara Seasons Magazine<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n![\"Sue-Grafton-X\"](\"http:\/\/sbseasons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Sue-Grafton-X.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Bee Cottage Story: How I Made a Muddle of Things and Decorated My Way Back to Happiness<\/em> <\/a>is a charmingly illustrated, humorous memoir that illuminates life lessons gleaned from her journey to rebuild her life after a broken engagement, cancer and a series of devastating losses.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nformer KTYD personality Jenna McCarthy<\/a> turns her comedic talents to fiction with Pretty Much Screwed<\/a><\/em>, a story of love, loss, friendship, forgiveness, turtledoves, taxidermy and one hilariously ill-placed tick. Dumped after 20 years of marriage, this novel follows a woman\u2019s journey of picking herself up out of the gutter when life kicks her to the curb.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nAnd so begins Joye Emmons<\/a>\u2019s She\u2019s Gone<\/a><\/em>, a heartfelt story of self-discovery that follows a young woman\u2019s odyssey through social and political issues that continue to be relevant today.<\/p>\nShare this:<\/h3>