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Happy 2022, everyone, and welcome to the Book Pages. A new year means lots of things – optimistic resolutions, a hopeful start – but for our purposes, it means that all the books you meant to read in 2021 are about to be superseded by all the books you mean to read in 2022 (and let’s not even talk about all of 2020’s books).

Before we jump into what’s coming this new year – and we’re already working on some terrific upcoming stories with great local authors – I want to talk about one of my favorite things: holiday books and reading. I love using the last days of the year to catch up. This year, these included “Razorblade Tears” by S.A. Cosby, “The Copenhagen Trilogy” by Tove Ditlevsen, “Intimacies” by Katie Kitamura, all of which I’m sure some of you have read, too. I also listened to both the fun, self-referential mystery “The Word is Murder” by Anthony Horowitz, and while not technically a book, Malcolm Gladwell’s audio biography of Paul Simon “Miracle and Wonder,” which I checked out on the Hoopla Digital app (it’s free; you just need a library card), was wonderful.

As I mentioned in our first outing, I also love giving and getting books, and this year I received some good ones: a very cool 13-year-old I know chose “The Prophets” by Robert Jones Jr. for me; a favorite aunt sent me Peter Heller’s “The Guide”; and I may have possibly gifted myself a copy of Warren Ellis’ “Nina Simone’s Gum.” I also gave copies of the following to some people on my list: “True Grit” by Charles Portis, Simon Stålenhag’s “Tales from the Loop” and, using Maggie Smith’s fantastic poetry list as a guide, “The Blues of Heaven” by Barbara Ras.

The Three Musketeers. (Photo by Erik Pedersen)

Possibly my favorite book moment of the holidays was finding a lovely copy of the “Three Musketeers” for a history-minded 17-year-old I know. I figured it would be a perfect gift but then thought: That’s a lot of book to lay on someone as a gift. So, having already gotten The Teen several other books, I passed on it. And then LITERALLY the next day, I was talking to The Teen who asked me (I’m not kidding), “Have you ever read ‘The Three Musketeers?” and whether I had a copy. Ironically, the store where I’d seen it had sold that copy, but I tracked another one down and now That Teen I Know is reading it.

So let’s get on with this week’s list of stories, best sellers and a Q&A with author, filmmaker and TV personality Phillipe Cousteau. The grandson of legendary oceanographer Jacques Cousteau loves books and spoke with Peter Larsen last fall for the Book Pages.

Going deep with Phillipe Cousteau

Philippe Cousteau Jr., the grandson of the famed French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, has carried on the family legacy like his father and grandfather before him. An author, filmmaker, and TV personality, Cousteau will speak to Orange County youths on Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 as part of the Orange County Children’s Book Festival kickoff for S.T.E.A.M. Race to Space Reading Challenge. (Photo courtesy of EarthEcho International)

Q: Is there a book you like to recommend? A favorite book?

A: I would say that my favorite all-time book is “Zorba the Greek.” And I think it’s relevant because of its message about life, and how to celebrate life in the face of adversity. I just find it to be an inspiring book. In the face of all the challenges that we face in the world today, it’s just joyful, spiritually inspiring for me.”

Q: Do you remember the first book, or one of the first books, that really made an impact on you when you were young?

A: When I was around 12 or 13 I read “The Tao of Pooh.” And it, to this day, is probably my second-favorite book. But it had a big influence on me also about  how to be like the water, and how to let go of the bad and harness the good, and find opportunity and hope. ‘The Tao of Pooh’ is something I read pretty young, at a time in my life where I was struggling with not having a father and my legacy, and you know, being a teenage boy.

Q: How do you choose what to read next?

A: I don’t read a lot of fiction. It’s mostly nonfiction and it’s mostly looking for things that are kind of relevant to what we’re doing. You know, books about sustainable business and the blue economy we’re very interested in. I have been involved for many years in impact investing, and how do we use market-based approaches to solve these issues. It’s usually subject-based books that will come out or people that recommend them to me as interesting to continue to expand our thinking around these issues.

Subscribers should look for Bookish, SCNG’s Premium Magazine, launching Jan. 30. The issue includes Noteworthy, our first annual salute to 10 local authors who made an impact in 2021. There will be a special Noteworthy edition of SCNG’s virtual program Bookish on Feb. 4.

How to join the event: Click here for link.

“Fiona and Jane” author Jean Chen Ho. (Photo by Julian Sambrano/Courtesy of Viking)

Driving narrative 

Author Jean Chen Ho describes how navigating Southern California’s streets inspired her. READ MORE

Joan Didion, author of the White Album published by Simon and Schuster, pictured here in June of 1979. (AP Photo)

Remembering an original 

Samantha Dunn writes about the legacy of the late Joan Didion. READ MORE

“Termination Shock” is Neal Stephenson’s climate-change opus, coming in at over 700 pages. (Photo credit: Brady Hall/Courtesy of Harper Collins)

Hot topic

Neal Stephenson discusses his climate change epic “Termination Shock.” READ MORE

Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators books (Windward/Random House editions)(Image courtesy of threeinvestigatorsbooks.com)

Lost classics

Dan Epstein recalls a youthful obsession with Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigators. READ MORE

What books did you read over the holidays – or if applicable, give or receive as gifts? What are looking forward to this year?

Email me with “BOOK PAGES” in the subject header and let me know: [email protected] or just hit reply to this email.

“The Sentence” by Louise Erdrich is among the top-selling fiction releases at Southern California’s independent bookstores. (Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers)

THIS WEEK’S BEST SELLERS 

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. Cloud Cuckoo Land: Anthony Doerr

2. Call Us What We Carry: Poems: Amanda Gorman

3. Beautiful World, Where Are You: Sally Rooney

4. The Lincoln Highway: Amor Towles

5. The Sentence: Louise Erdrich

Want more? Get the week’s full lists here!

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