Elsewhere, California
Elsewhere, California

Author: Dana Johnson

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2012-06-01

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1619020831

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We first met Avery in two of the stories featured in Dana Johnson's award–winning collection Break Any Woman Down. As a young girl, she and her family escape the violent streets of Los Angeles to a more gentrified existence in suburban West Covina. This average life, filled with school, trips to 7–Eleven to gawk at Tiger Beat magazine, and family outings to Dodger Stadium, is soon interrupted by a past she cannot escape, personified in the guise of her violent cousin Keith. When Keith moves in with her family, he triggers a series of events that will follow Avery throughout her life: to her studies at USC, to her burgeoning career as a painter and artist, and into her relationship with a wealthy Italian who sequesters her in his glass–walled house in the Hollywood Hills. The past will intrude upon Avery's first gallery show, proving her mother's adage: Every goodbye aint gone. The dual–narrative of Elsewhere, California illustrates the complicated history of African Americans across the rolling basin of Los Angeles.

Southland
Southland

Author: Nina Revoyr

Publisher: Akashic Books

Published: 2003-04-01

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1936070480

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Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles. —Winner of a 2004 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Award in Literature —Winner of the 2003 Lambda Literary Award —Nominated for an Edgar Award The plot line of Southland is the stuff of a James Ellroy or a Walter Mosley novel . . . But the climax fairly glows with the good-heartedness that Revoyr displays from the very first page. —Los Angeles Times Jackie Ishida’s grandfather had a store in Watts where four boys were killed during the riots in 1965, a mystery she attempts to solve. —New York Times Book Review, included in “Where Noir Lives in the City of Angels” Nina Revoyr brings us a compelling story of race, love, murder, and history against the backdrop of Los Angeles. A young Japanese-American woman, Jackie Ishida, is in her last semester of law school when her grandfather, Frank Sakai, dies unexpectedly. While trying to fulfill a request from his will, Jackie discovers that four black teenagers were killed in the store he ran during the Watts Riots of 1965—and that the murders were never solved or reported. Along with James Lanier, a cousin of one of the victims, she tries to piece together the story of the boys’ deaths. In the process, Jackie unearths the long-held secrets of her family’s history—and her own. Moving in and out of the past, from the shipping yards and internment camps of World War II; to the barley fields of the Crenshaw District in the 1930s; to the means streets of Watts in the 1960s; to the night spots and garment factories of the 1990s, Southland weaves a tale of Los Angeles in all of its faces and forms.

The California Club
The California Club

Author: Belinda Jones

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2012-04-03

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 1446474291

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Bestselling and much loved author Belinda Jones will sweep you away in this riotous page-turner, full of witty observations on life and love - and plenty of full on laugh-out-loud moments. If you like Jo Thomas, Lindsey Kelk, Sophie Kinsella and Paige Toon, then this is the book for you! 'Great characters... hilariously written... buy it!' -- New Woman 'A hilarious riot' -- Company You won't put this book down :)' -- ***** Reader review 'Excellent fun! Read in one evening. The perfect girls night in.' -- ***** Reader review 'I take this book on holiday every single year and its now fallen to pieces so I've just ordered another! Belinda Jones is a genius at making you feel like you are there' -- ***** Reader review 'Guaranteed escapism' -- ***** Reader review 'One of the best books I've read in years!' -- ***** Reader review 'Read it & enjoy every minute!' -- ***** Reader review 'A truly fantastic read!' -- ***** Reader review ************************************************************************************* ONE WISH, GUARANTEED TO COME TRUE...WHAT'S YOUR DREAM? When Lara Richards jets off to glamorous California, the last thing she's expecting is to find her frumpy, clipboard-clasping friend Helen transformed into a shimmering surf goddess. The secret of her blissful new life? The mysterious California Club. So the offer of guest membership and one wish - guaranteed to come true by the end of their stay - is one Lara and her friends can't resist. Could this be Lara's chance to win her best friend Elliot's heart after ten years of longing? Or does the fact that he's travelling with his brand new fiancée mean that Lara will have to come up with a new dream...? CAN SHE MAKE THIS ONE WISH COUNT?

The Distance Between Us
The Distance Between Us

Author: Reyna Grande

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2012-08-28

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 1451661800

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In this inspirational and unflinchingly honest memoir, acclaimed author Reyna Grande describes her childhood torn between the United States and Mexico, and shines a light on the experiences, fears, and hopes of those who choose to make the harrowing journey across the border. Reyna Grande vividly brings to life her tumultuous early years in this “compelling...unvarnished, resonant” (BookPage) story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries. As her parents make the dangerous trek across the Mexican border to “El Otro Lado” (The Other Side) in pursuit of the American dream, Reyna and her siblings are forced into the already overburdened household of their stern grandmother. When their mother at last returns, Reyna prepares for her own journey to “El Otro Lado” to live with the man who has haunted her imagination for years, her long-absent father. Funny, heartbreaking, and lyrical, The Distance Between Us poignantly captures the confusion and contradictions of childhood, reminding us that the joys and sorrows we experience are imprinted on the heart forever, calling out to us of those places we first called home. Also available in Spanish as La distancia entre nosotros.

The California Club
The California Club

Author: Vic Sartor

Publisher: Archway Publishing

Published: 2018-07-24

Total Pages: 363

ISBN-13: 1480857432

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Bridge is a complex card game that consistently tests the creativity and brain power of its players. One of the most important aspects of the game is bidding, the way players convey information about their hands to their partners. They use this information to try to reach the optimum contract on any particular hand. Vic Sartor is a retired teacher and seasoned bridge player who has developed a bidding system he calls The California Club over a 50-year playing career. Some of the ideas presented here are completely original, while others are what the author believes are improvements to commonly used treatments. He presents his suggestions with a touch of humor, freely acknowledging that many of them may be considered a bit unorthodox for widespread public adoption. For instance, it is not clear how many players will rush to start using the Rube Goldberg No Trump or the One Diamond with Muscles two of his more colorful inventions. Nevertheless, players who may be thinking about trying a strong club system or who already play one may find many useful ideas here, whether or not they decide to give the entire system a try.

Poker & Pop Culture
Poker & Pop Culture

Author: Martin Harris

Publisher: D&B Publishing

Published: 2019-06-23

Total Pages: 657

ISBN-13: 191286200X

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Introduced shortly after the United States declared its independence, poker’s growth and development has paralleled that of America itself. As a gambling game with mass appeal, poker has been played by presidents and peasants, at kitchen tables and final tables, for matchsticks and millions. First came the hands, then came the stories – some true, some pure bluffs, and many in between. In Poker & Pop Culture: Telling the Story of America’s Favorite Card Game, Martin Harris shares these stories while chronicling poker’s progress from 19th-century steamboats and saloons to 21st-century virtual tables online, including: Poker on the Mississippi Poker in the Movies Poker in the Old West Poker on the Newsstand Poker in the Civil War Poker in Literature Poker on the Bookshelf Poker in Music Poker in the White House Poker on Television Poker During Wartime Poker on the Computer From Mark Twain to “Dogs Playing Poker” to W.C. Fields to John Wayne to A Streetcar Named Desire to the Cold War to Kenny Rogers to ESPN to Star Trek: The Next Generation and beyond, Poker & Pop Culture provides a comprehensive survey of cultural productions in which poker is of thematic importance, showing how the game’s portrayal in the mainstream has increased poker’s relevance to American history and shaped the way we think about the game and its significance.

Painting California
Painting California

Author: Jean Stern

Publisher: Rizzoli Publications

Published: 2017-10-03

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 0847860590

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Luminous, gorgeously realized landscape paintings made en plein air by members of the California Art Club over the past 100 years. This volume showcases 200 works by California Art Club artists who have focused on the evocative seascapes, charming seaside towns, and beach communities from San Diego to San Francisco, demonstrating a breathtaking range of natural settings suffused with atmosphere, drama, and light. Since the dawn of the twentieth century, California has been home to artists from all over America and Europe who aspired to depict the state’s compelling natural landscapes on canvas. In 1909, these artists founded the California Art Club, which stands today as one of the most esteemed painting societies in the United States. This volume, which follows Skira Rizzoli’s luminous California Light: A Century of Landscapes, presents more of the club’s distinctive and lush plein air painting, an impressionistic style in which painters work outdoors in order to capture the ephemeral moment when the natural lighting of a landscape elevates an already beautiful scene into something sublime. As observed by W.H. Auden, “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” We as a species are drawn to the sea—artists perhaps even more so than others, as beautifully evidenced in this book.

Mean
Mean

Author: Myriam Gurba

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781566894913

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Gurba grows up queer, chicana, and take no prisoners. Her story is a revelation, a delight, and an eye-opener.

Adventuring in the California Desert
Adventuring in the California Desert

Author: Lynne Foster

Publisher: Random House (NY)

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13:

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The latest Sierra Club Adventure Travel Guide is the most comprehensive guide available to the scenic desert regions of California. Includes area maps, access and information on climate and gear. 10 black-and-white photographs. 11 line drawings. 10 maps.