Get ready book lovers, 2023 is going to be lit. Established and debut Southern California authors will be supplying booksellers’ shelves with everything from neo-noir detective thrillers and pill-popping mysteries to queer science fiction story collections. 2023 is the year of filling tote bags with magical realism family sagas and flamboyant regal tragicomedies, and a whole lot more. Make this the year to devour the delicious, devastating and moving stories of our local authors. These are some of them:
“At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf,” by Tara Ison
Release Date: February 21, 2023 (IG)
A valley girl born and bred, author Tara Ison’s first novel was a finalist for the LA Times Book Awards. Another made The Oprah Magazine’s “Best Books of Summer List.” This winter we can’t wait to get our hands on her latest: “At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf,” inspired by Ison’s stepmother’s early life, is the story of a 12-year-old Parisian Jewish girl in World War II Vichy, France. When Danielle Marton’s father is killed during the early days of the German occupation, her mother sends her away to hide in a small farming village. Renamed Marie-Jeanne Chantier, Danielle struggles to balance the reality of her family and country’s fate with the lies she must tell to keep herself safe. At first, she’s bitter about being separated from her mother and horrified to milk the cows and pose as a devout Catholic. But as the years pass and the occupation worsens, Danielle finds it easier to distance herself from her former life. By the time she’s 15 and there is talk among the now-divided town, not only has Danielle lost the memories of the family she was forced to leave behind, but also of herself, transforming into a strict Catholic and an anti-Semite. A disturbingly timely story.
Ison will be reading from “At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf,” at Vroman’s in Pasadena at 7 p.m. Feb. 24.
“Empty Theatre: A Novel: or The Lives of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Sisi of Austria (Queen of Hungary), Cousins, in Their Pursuit of Connection and Beauty …” by Jac JemcRelease date: February 21, 2023 (MCD/FSG)If you couldn’t put down Jac Jemc’s acclaimed “My Only Wife” or “False Bingo,” you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled for “Empty Theatre,” which hits shelves this February. If you hadn’t already surmised from the title, Jemc brings us a flamboyant social satire that reimagines the misadventures of iconic royal cousins King Ludwig and Empress Sisi, who shared a passion for vanity and defiance. A tragicomic tour de force, “Empty Theatre” immerses readers in Ludwig and Sisi’s world ― where the aesthetics of extravagance belie the isolation of its inhabitants. Readers follow two rarified parallel lives and the complex, tenuous bond that linked them, told with empathy, humor and originality. If you were obsessed with Hulu’s “The Great,” you might want to preorder Jac Jemc’s “Empty Theatre.”
“Burst,” by Mary Otis
Release Date: April 4 (Zibby Books) While award-winning author Mary Otis originally hails from Boston, she’s been a literary citizen of Los Angeles for some time. This spring, Otis, known for her short stories, releases her debut novel, “Burst,” which explores the complex and nuanced relationships between mothers and daughters. Viva has grown up managing her mother Charlotte’s impulsive, eccentric and addictive personality. She had no other choice ― it had always been Charlotte and Viva against the world. After discovering an inherent talent for to dance, Viva embraces her passion for the art and chases her dreams with the same intensity that her mother chases the booze. Over the years, Viva’s talent becomes her golden ticket, and she moves away to pursue her destiny, but Charlotte struggles to reconcile her own past as a failed artist and the impact of her addiction. When tragedy strikes, Viva begins to understand the ways a daughter can become her mother, and un-become her.
“The Do-Over,” by Suzanne ParkRelease Date: April 4 (Avon) Korean American writer Suzanne Park was a stand-up comedian before she became a novelist featured on the “best of” lists of NPR, Marie Claire, The Today Show and more. In April, her latest rom-com “The Do-Over” hits shelves. The protagonist, Lily Lee, is a bestselling author of the “How to Be a Supernova At Work” series, and her editor wants a new book stat ― “How to Land the Perfect Job.” But when Lily scores a job at a top firm, the employer discovers she’s a few college credits shy of actually having her degree. This forces Lily to relive her senior year of college a decade later, complete with frat parties, eating with “dining dollars” and taking a course in which her old college beau is the TA. This is a story about second chances and unexpected outcomes in life and love.
“Searching for Savanna: The murder of a young Native American woman and the violence against the many,” by Mona Gable
Release Date: April 25 (Simon & Schuster)You’ll want to look out for Mona Gable’s “Searching for Savanna: The Murder of a Young Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many” this April. A compulsive and revelatory investigation into the disappearance of a 22-year-old pregnant woman, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, this book dives deep into the shocking reality of sexual and physical violence against Native women and girls in America and the consequences of government inaction. Featuring in-depth interviews, personal accounts and trial analysis, “Searching for Savanna” also illuminates the plight Native American advocates have faced for decades.
“The Last Songbird,” by Daniel Weizmann
Release Date: May 23 (Melville House)
Daniel Weizmann is an old-school L.A. punk who once went by the name “Shredder” and wrote for Flipside, California Hardcore and L.A. Weekly in the ’80s. These days he’s penning books, and “The Last Songbird,” his gritty, neo-noir detective thriller, is coming to a bookstore near you this May. Failed songwriter and Lyft driver Adam “Addy” Zant, drives around Los Angeles at night plagued by thoughts of his ex and song lyrics he can’t stop writing in his head. The best part of his day is taxiing around his favorite rider — aging folk legend Annie Linden. When Annie is found murdered, Addy is compelled to take to the streets of L.A. and solve the case himself, but there’s an issue: The police consider Addy a suspect.
“An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created,” by Santi Elijah Holley
Release Date: May 23 (Mariner Books) In 2022, Santi Elijah Holley won a National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award presented by the Los Angeles Press Club for his story “Tupac in the Afterlife.” In 2023, he brings us his second book, “An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created.” An illuminating history of the fight for Black liberation in America, as experienced and shaped by the Shakur family, home to the late rapper Tupac and Assata Shakur, the popular author and thinker, living for three decades in Cuban exile. For over 50 years, the Shakurs have inspired generations of activists, scholars and music fans. They have been romanticized and mythologized and hailed as heroes, but also condemned, imprisoned, exiled and killed. But the story of the Shakur family hasn’t been excavated like this before. “An Amerikan Family” is not only family genealogy; it is the story of Black America’s long fight for racial justice.
“Uranians: Stories,” by Theodore McCombs
Release Date: May 30 (Astra House) Theodore McCombs is kind of a big deal in the science fiction scene. His stories have appeared in Guernica The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, and the anthology “Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy.” The five speculative stories in McCombs’ collection span several possible worlds, all of which explore the vital role of queerness from surprising vantage points. In “Toward a Theory of Alternative Lifestyles,” a forlorn gay man stands in line at a Berlin rave promising visions of parallel lives across the multiverse. In “Six Hangings in the Land of Unkillable Women,” at the turn of an alternate 20th century, a cop’s wife senses that if you want an execution done right, you may have to do it yourself. In “Uranians,” an expedition of queer artists and scientists and one trans priest board a ship on an interplanetary voyage that requires them to reconcile their relationship with Earth while maintaining their ship’s biome – and keeping each other alive.
All-Night Pharmacy: A Novel” by Ruth Madievsky
Release Date: July 11 (Penguin) Originally from Moldova, Ruth Madievsky now resides in Los Angeles, where she writes poetry and pens the Catapult column “Eldest Immigrant Daughter.” Her debut novel, “All-Night Pharmacy,” follows an unnamed narrator to a bar the night of her high school graduation. She and her rebellious sister Debbie share a bag of ambiguous pills, and the evening turns into a hazy and sensual dumpster fire when Debbie vanishes without a trace. “All-Night Pharmacy” follows the narrator as she works as an emergency room secretary so she can pocket pills to sell on the side and becomes entangled with a psychic Jewish refugee. Throughout the story she grapples with the idea of who a person should be, tries her hand at sobriety and sexual empowerment, and ultimately must choose whether to search for her estranged sister or allow her to remain a relic of the past. Look out for this glowing neon gem, which will grace bookstore shelves in July.
“Behold the Monster,” by Jillian Lauren (foreword by Michael Connelly)
Release Date: July 18 (Sourcebooks)
Jillian Lauren is the bestselling author of the memoir “Some Girls” who was born in New Jersey but moved to New York City, then jet-setted back and forth from Brunei, where she moonlighted as a call girl for the Prince of Brunei, until she finally settled in Los Angeles, where she shares a home with her two sons and husband, Scott Shriner (the bassist for Weezer).
Whew.
If all of that sounds wild, buckle up for her July release, “Behold the Monster.” Lauren takes readers on a personal and haunting account of her time spent with Samuel Little. What began with penning a letter to a convicted killer led to hundreds of hours of interviews in which Little confessed to 93 murders, often drawing portraits of his victims as he spoke. Lauren, the FBI, the Department of Justice, the LAPD and countless law enforcement officials across America worked tirelessly to connect Little’s confessions and portraits to cold cases, and to bring justice to the victims and closure to their families.
