Bookshop Santa Cruz has been a fixture of the downtown area for six decades, weathering upheaval in the form of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the rise of chain bookstores at the turn of the 21st century and the COVID-19 pandemic. Store owner Casey Coonerty Protti said they owe everything to the people of Santa Cruz.
Bookshop Santa Cruz
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Scenes from Midnight Maas: Bookshop Santa Cruz holds first midnight release party in 10 years
About 300 fans packed into Bookshop Santa Cruz on Monday night for a sold-out midnight release party for Sarah J. Maas’ latest book, “A Court of Splintered Harmony.” There were tattoos, tarot readings and a DJ, and plenty of people showed up in costume.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Santa Cruz welcomes author Obi Kaufmann, who reimagines California’s ecology
Artist and naturalist Obi Kaufmann, whose illustrated books explore California’s landscapes and ecosystems, takes a philosophical turn in his new book, “California Inside Out: Mapping an Ecology of Mind.” He argues that the state’s identity is rooted less in its political boundaries than in its ecological systems and the Indigenous stewardship that helped shape them. Kaufmann will discuss the book at Bookshop Santa Cruz on Thursday.
Posted inEducation
What does UC Santa Cruz have in common with the rest of the UC? A new book explores the system’s complicated history
What makes UC Santa Cruz different from the University of California’s nine other campuses? Journalist Miriam Pawel’s new book, “California Dreams,” traces the UC system’s tumultuous history — and explores how UCSC’s distinctive identity emerged from a vision that quickly collided with the upheavals of the 1960s.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
What if the most famous words in American history were never written by Thomas Jefferson at all?
In his provocative new book, “Founding Daughter,” novelist and longtime Santa Cruz journalist Wallace Baine imagines a different Founders story for America — one shaped by a brilliant Black teenage girl in Revolution-era Philadelphia. The book came out in April and is, Baine writes, his way of coming to terms with the soaring prose Jefferson penned about equality and the bitter reality that he owned slaves. Here, Baine discusses who gets remembered, who gets erased and whether America’s 250-year-old ideals can survive their flawed origins.
Posted inLatest News
Debbie Friedman brings story of California’s first women lifeguards to life in new memoir
In “Guarded: Women, Water, and Saving Lives,” Debbie Friedman tells the unknown history of California’s first women lifeguards. The Rio Del Mar resident weaves her own story with those of other women in the field to show what it was like to be a pioneer in a male-dominated profession.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
More local businesses, groups announce closures for anti-ICE national shutdown Friday
More Santa Cruz County businesses and community groups are closing or taking action Friday as part of a national shutdown protesting violent immigration enforcement and the killings of anti-ICE activists in Minneapolis. Restaurants, retailers and organizations from Felton to Watsonville announced closures, donations or solidarity actions, while students and health care workers also organized rallies and demonstrations.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Exploring hidden light: Steven Haddock brings ocean’s radiant secrets to life
In “The Radiant Sea,” scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute bring together a lifetime of research and photography of deep-sea creatures. A book event Friday will dive into the role of light in the ocean’s depths with a presentation, demonstration, videos and a Q&A session.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Peggy Townsend’s new mystery novel finds drama and intrigue in the world of science
Longtime Santa Cruz journalist-turned-novelist Peggy Townsend’s new book is inspired by the unsung work and deep devotion of scientists. She’ll discuss “The Botanist’s Assistant” on Nov. 18 at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
New essay collection explores what it means to be a Californian, one book at a time
John Freeman’s “California Rewritten” is a collection of essays on significant books by living writers on the experience of living in California. Freeman comes to Bookshop Santa Cruz to talk about the new book Thursday.
