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Special Section: We Love Book Clubs
Introduction
How my mother’s exasperation with her three boys ignited a devotion to literature and the questions it poses. By John Freeman • Illustration by Mark Smith
By the Numbers
By India Brown
Ask a Californian: No Faux Pas Zone
Didn’t read the book, huh? Our advice columnists tackle your etiquette questions. By Gustavo Arellano and Stacey Grenrock Woods
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. By Geoffrey Gray • Illustrations by Mark Smith
The Zamorano 80
Shh…We’re Reading
At a Silent Book Club meeting in Portland, attendees converse without saying a word. By Jamie Cattanach • Illustration by Mark Smith
Meet the Experts: Julie Robinson
By Jennifer Lewis
Trope Town
Samantha Yazzie is building community, one hashtag at a time. By Elizabeth Casillas
Alta Picks: Star Power
A cheat sheet to celebrity book Clubs. By Robert Ito
A Different Kind of Love Story
Romantasy fans engage their passions at L.A.’s Ripped Bodice bookstore. By Catherine Womack • Illustration by Mark Smith
Meet the Experts: Hannah Eko
By Jennifer Lewis
Clubgoer Confidential
Adventures in an elite—and elitist—Silicon Valley reading group. By Anonymous • Illustration by Melinda Beck
The Great Escape
Incarcerated women find the outside world—and some inner peace—talking about books together. By Donna Wares • Illustration by Mark Smith
Meet the Experts: Tess White
By Jennifer Lewis
30 Years and Counting
Since 1996, the shared experience of reading and gathering for dinners has sustained a group of Bay Area women through the highs and lows of life. Dress-up nights, themed meals, and a Vegas getaway have helped too. By Bonnie Tsui • Photos by Amy Osborne
Meet the Experts: Julie Goler
By Jennifer Lewis
Features
Billionaires and Bison
American Prairie wants to turn 3.2 million acres of Montana’s Great Plains into a wildlife preserve. Ranchers aren’t thrilled. Welcome to an impasse of Yellowstone proportions. By Blythe Roberson • Photos by Gordon Wiltsie
Driving the Duke
Finding family and a hero while serving as John Wayne’s chauffeur during the production of The Green Berets. By Charles Glass • Illustrations by Joe Ciardiello
Oceanside Is Cooking
How a sleepy naval hub became a culinary hot spot. By Jeff Gordinier • Photos by Andrea D’Agosto
That’s AJ in the Background
Each year, some 270,000 women and children are reported missing in the United States. This is the story of one of them. By Joy Lanzendorfer • Illustrations by Laura Perez
The Last Fillmore Generation
Residents who lived through urban renewal revisit memories of a once-thriving neighborhood. By Julie Zigoris • Photos by Carolyn Fong
Books
Why I Write: To Catch the World’s Movements
By Robert Hass • Photo by Carolyn Fong
Why You Should Read This: Praise
By David L. Ulin
Why I Write: To Give Voice to the Unheard
By Dagoberto Gilb • Photo by Dustin Snipes
Why You Should Read This: The Flowers
By David L. Ulin
Why I Write: To See My People’s Stories in Books
By Susan Straight • Photo by Dustin Snipes
Why You Should Read This: Mecca
By David L. Ulin
The Habit Jane Smiley Could Not Get Rid of
In her forthcoming book, Lidie: The Further Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton, the novelist returns to women’s lives, curiosity—and horses. By Anita Felicelli • Photo by Christie Hemm Klok
Upcoming Releases: A Host of Spring Reads
Return engagements from Dave Eggers, Jane Smiley, and various other worthies. By Paul Wilner
Here in Spirit
How Julia Cameron’s “small California book” continues to unblock creativity for millions. By Mary Melton
A WRITING GUIDE PRIMER
By Alta Editors
Recently Reviewed: From Artists to a Dancing Detective
Highlights from our Monday Book Review newsletter.
A Kind Sublimity
Getting lost and found in Jan Kerouac’s Baby Driver. By Anna E. Clark
Writer’s Room: In the Shadow of Space Monkeys
Joshua Wheeler reimagines his ranching family’s stories in The High Heaven. By Anita Felicelli
Dispatches
The End of Web Surfing
As more people use AI instead of search results, online publishers will have to cultivate reader loyalty—or die. By Peter Rojas • Illustration by Martin Gee
Letter from Venice: High Hopes and Lost Senses
A literary power couple make their home in this famed city of canals. By Enrico Rotelli and Andrew Sean Greer • Illustration by Clay Hickson
Leave It to Beavers
These big-toothed dam builders can help protect us from wildfires and droughts. But first, we’ll need to coexist with them. By Lydia Lee
A Stone Fruit’s Fall from Favor
Inside the rabid cult of the (disappearing) Blenheim apricot. By Denise Hamilton • Illustration by Zoe Matthiessen
Culture
Poetry: “Smith River (Kaa-nvsh)”
By Heather Bourbeau
Poetry: “Bay Area Uta Nikki”
By Judy Halebsky
Fiction: “Glass Houses”
By José Vadi • Illustrations by Victor Juhasz
In Every Issue
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Against the Tide, Toward Imagination
By Will Hearst
CROSSWORD: BOOK CLUB PICKS
By Rebecca Goldstein and Rafael Musa
