Alta Journal: Stories of California and the West

THE LATEST FROM ALTA

Don't miss this week's upcoming events and new stories.

How one #booktoker built a following around her favorite titles

Samantha Yazzie is building a community of romantasy readers, one hashtag at a time.

5 min

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ISSUE 35

illustration, santa barbara county jail, women's book club

The Great Escape

10 min

illustration of people at a book club discussing while one individual reads discreetly

Clubgoer Confidential

6 min

a brown north american beaver sitting in a natural pose

Leave It to Beavers

13 min

A Kind of Sublimity

FREE ARTICLE OF THE DAY

The California Novel No One Can Find

Collectors have been tracking an 1854 outlaw tale from gold rush San Francisco to the alleys of Mexico City—and beyond. We join the hunt.

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CURRENT ISSUE

Issue 35: We Love Book Clubs

A look inside Alta Journal’s Issue 35.

6 min

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THE TBR CORNER

Excerpt: ‘Praise’

Read Robert Hass’s poem “Meditation at Lagunitas” from his collection Praise, the California Book Club’s selection for April.

2 min

Latest from the California Book Club

Join the West Coast literary conversation every month.

The New Canon

Why I Write: To See My People’s Stories in Books

From Riverside to the Coachella Valley, Susan Straight writes to see her people—and their hidden California kingdoms—on the shelves of the library.

5 min

Why You Should Read This: ‘Mecca’

4 min

Why You Should Read This: ‘The Flowers’

4 min

Why I Write: To Give Voice to the Unheard

4 min

janet fitch, dylan landis, john freeman, white orleander, california book club, special guest

Event Recap: ‘White Oleander’

5 min

ABSENCE AND LOSS

A Kind of Sublimity

Newly reissued by New York Review Books, Baby Driver reveals Jan Kerouac’s fierce, unsentimental vision of freedom—shadowed by her father, but wholly her own.

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MORE THAN 300 BOOKS

A Book Club in Santa Barbara County Jail

Incarcerated women find the outside world—and some inner peace—talking about books together.

10 min

THE MONDAY BOOK REVIEW

Sign-up for our weekly book review email.

privacys defender by cindy cohn, book review

Recruiting You to the Barricades

In Privacy’s Defender, Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director Cindy Cohn illuminates highs and lows of her career and life.

Alta’s Recently Reviewed

young man in a hurry by gavin newsom, book review

Gavin Newsom’s Bid for Likability

book cover of paradiso 17 by hannah lillith

Memory House

the glorians by terry tempest williams, book review

Dream of Life

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earthship, tres piedras, new mexico, renegade architect michael reynolds. atlantis earthship

A BEER CAN MANIFESTO

Your Next Home Could Be an Earthship

THE WEEKLY ALTA NEWSLETTER

New stories from California and the West sent to your inbox every Thursday.

After the Fire Comes a Musical Evolution

Robert Francis evacuated his family from the Los Angeles fires. His new album was recorded using his sister’s soot-covered synths.

7 min

California’s Oscar Nominees

7 min

the optimist movie, stephen lang, elsie fisher

‘The Optimist’ Review

4 min

A Wolf in Los Angeles

5 min

callifornia longboard skiing, longboarding, plumas ski club

Dope, Wood, and Speed

6 min

sunset over palisade region of the eastern sierra nevada, view from the white mountains above california owens valley

FROM THE ARCHIVES

An Owens Valley Travelogue

A journey through an arresting landscape of craggy mountains and ancient trees, where parched land reveals how California has been shaped by water throughout history.