Among its disruptions to normal life, the pandemic has left many of us spending more time alone. For readers, that isn’t always entirely a bad thing, but still: Sometimes, you think, wouldn’t it be nice to hang out with other people – say, some fellow book nerds like yourself?
Jhoanna Belfer, the owner of Bel Canto Books in Long Beach, may have just the thing for that: bookstore field trips.
Belfer, who opened her store in late 2019 after 15 years in the hospitality business, credits her friend, writer Christy Krumm Richard, with the field trip idea.
“She reached out to say, ‘Hey, I would love to find a way to go into more independent bookstores; do you think that we could get a group together to do this?’” Belfer recalls. “And I said, ‘Yes, absolutely!’”
Inspired by Zibby Books’ #22in22 campaign, which aims to inspire readers to visit 22 bookstores in 2022, co-leaders Belfer and Richard have plotted out a series of monthly field trips to independent bookstores, the first coming on Saturday, Feb. 26, with a trip to two Culver City bookstores, Village Well Books & Coffee and The Ripped Bodice.
Saturday’s field trip will visit both stores — which Belfer notes are both women-owned establishments — and give field trippers the chance to talk about their new purchases and take a group photo. Belfer said the event is sold-out with 30 people attending and other hopefuls on a waitlist.
This all sounded great to me, and I wasn’t alone: Belfer said the event is sold-out.
“It’s essentially a casual, fun, social gathering for readers and lovers of independent businesses,” says Belfer. “We just figured that this would be a fun way to make it a little bit more social and also to give us a reason to explore bookstores that we’ve maybe always wanted to see – or had never even heard of – and to go outside of our comfort zone if we have our normal handful of stores that we usually go to.”
What did the two inaugural stores think of this?
“They were delighted,” she says. “They’re both smaller bookstores so I think their main concern was like, How many people are there going to be? [laughs] But they’ve both said they are excited for us to be able to see the stores and to meet with them.”
So don’t worry if you don’t make this first event, there’s always next time. Belfer was kind enough to share the link to her Eventbrite page for future field trips.
“I’m hopeful that we’re picking bookstores in different parts of Southern California so that folks from different neighborhoods are able to join and don’t feel like, ‘Oh, they’re only going to XYZ area.’ So I’m hopeful that we’ll get different people at different events – and then there might be some people who are going to come to every single one.”
That sounds like a great way to spend 2022.
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There’s another opportunity to get out with book people this weekend, as well. The South El Monte Arts Posse and ActiveSGV are sponsoring a free, family-friendly bike ride and poetry reading on Saturday, too. Called “A New Cartography of Greater El Monte: The Asian American Experience,” the event, which is scheduled for 1-4 p.m., will begin with a bike ride that starts at the Jeff Seymour Family Center in El Monte.
At 3 p.m., at the Matilija Lending Library, there will be a reading moderated by Wendy Cheng featuring poets Amy Wong, Christine Tran and Steve Valenzuela. (Note: A Google search shows the library as not yet open, but I’m told that it will be for this event.) As part of an upcoming L.A. Public Library exhibit, attendees can also take part in an exercise called “Collective Shade,” which asks readers to deconstruct and respond to a 1930s-era poem that depicts the area largely through the eyes of White settlers, excluding the region’s indigenous Tongva community and People of Color.
“Collectively, we’ll be exploring the history of Asian Americans in greater El Monte. We’ll be looking at their arrival, their settlement, the ways in which they were pushed out, and ultimately we’ll also be hearing from Asian Americans themselves to understand their place and their future in El Monte,” says Romeo Guzmán, who is co-director of South El Monte Arts Posse with author Carribean Fragoza, during a phone conversation earlier this week.
For more information, go here. Or to RSVP, email semartsposse@gmail.
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Now let’s move on to a Q&A with Mark Greaney, links to some terrific author interviews, and the week’s best-sellers.
Thanks, as always, for reading.
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Mark Greaney found a book in a Memphis grocery store. It changed his life.
“Sierra Six” author Mark Greaney (Photo credit: Claudio Marinesco/ Berkley Books)
Best-selling author Mark Greaney has just published the latest military thriller in his Gray Man series, “Sierra Six.” Greaney, who co-wrote Tom Clancy’s final three Jack Ryan books and then wrote four of his own, has something else in common with the late “Patriot Games” author: Film adaptations. The first Gray Man novel has been adapted into a Netflix movie starring Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans and Ana de Armas. (There’s an image from the film, which is due this summer, at the end of this newsletter). Greaney responds to The Book Pages Q&A below.
Q. Most writers dream about having their work transferred to the screen, but you seem to have hit the jackpot with the Netflix adaption being made with Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling, Ana de Armas. What can you tell us about that?
I wrote my first novel “The Gray Man” in 2007, it was published in 2009, and it’s been knocking around in Hollywood ever since. A few years ago, [“Avengers: Endgame” directors] the Russo Brothers were attached to it, and I went out and met with them before they wrote the screenplay. The project languished for a few years, but last year they shot the film and now Joe and Anthony Russo are finishing up post-production. It’s due to come out in July, and if it’s successful they plan on shooting more films in the future. I never thought for a second this would actually happen, and I can only describe it as surreal.
Q. You co-wrote three Tom Clancy books about Jack Ryan: What was it like taking on a character so well-known by readers?
I did three Jack Ryan books with Tom before he passed away, and then his family hired me to write four more after his death in 2013. All the characters in the Jack Ryan universe are so beloved by his readers, but I was as big a fan as anybody, so I knew the characters, their relationships, histories, etc. It was a very daunting task to coauthor with him, and even more so to take over the series after Tom died, but by then I had the confidence that I could turn out good contemporary novels based on Clancy’s storied cast of characters.
Q. How would you describe “Sierra Six,” the latest book in the Gray Man series?
“Sierra Six” is an espionage/military thriller that takes place in two timelines. Twelve years ago, Court Gentry is a young and cocky CIA officer who joins a paramilitary unit and is sent to Pakistan to stop a terrorist from detonating dirty bombs against coalition troops. And in the present, an older, wiser, more world-weary Court is a freelance intelligence asset on a simple job when he sees a ghost from his first mission, and realizes he has just days to unravel a mystery about the past in order to prevent a catastrophic attack in Mumbai.
Q. Is there a book or book you like to recommend to other readers?
I really enjoyed “Damascus Station” by David McCloskey and am steering readers towards this riveting and authentic-feeling tale.
Q. What are you reading now?
I’m reading a galley of Dan Fesperman’s next novel, “Winter’s Work.” It’s terrific Cold War fiction based on a true CIA operation.
Q. How do you choose what to read next?
First, I read for research of my own novels, then I read books that have been sent to me by writer friends, and then, when I can, I reach for the ever-growing stack of “pleasure reads.” I always have a couple of books going at the same time, and I listen to audiobooks when I’m walking my dogs, so I get through a decent number of books each year in my limited downtime.
Q. Do you remember the first book that made an impact on you?
The first thriller I ever bought was “Patriot Games” by Tom Clancy. I was a history and current-events buff at the time, and I read a ton of nonfiction, but I learned more in “Patriot Games” about the IRA than I had in any textbook. I fell in love with the genre immediately and read every other thriller I could find. Picking up “Patriot Games” in a grocery store in Memphis in 1987 changed the course of my life.
Q. Is there a book you’re nervous to read?
A few of the books that I loved when I was 20 or 25, novels that I’ve always considered classics, don’t really hold up upon rereading. That’s always sad to me, but I guess I’ve matured and my tastes have changed somewhat. I always approach rereading something I used to love with a little trepidation, and it’s such a relief when an old classic tale feels as good and as fresh now as I remembered it.
Q. Do you have a favorite book or books?
My favorite novels are Nelson DeMille’s “The Charm School,” Frederick Forsyth’s “The Devil’s Alternative,” Ralph Peters’ “The War in 2020,” Jason Matthews’ “Red Sparrow,” Tom Clancy’s “Clear and Present Danger,” Dean Koontz’s “Dark Rivers of the Heart,” and Gerald Seymour’s “The Heart of Danger.” My favorite nonfiction works are Anthony Lloyd’s “My War Gone By I Miss It So” and David Bellavia’s “House to House.”
Q. What books do you plan, or hope, to read next?
“Berlin Noir” by Philip Kerr was given to me by my agent with a ringing endorsement. Can’t wait to dig into it, since my agent has never led me astray with a recommendation.
Q. Is there a person who made an impact on your reading life — a teacher, a parent, a librarian or someone else?
My father took us to the library every Tuesday night, and he read voraciously. After I grew up, I continued going to libraries and became more and more passionate about books because of what he instilled in me at a young age.
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“The Christie Affair” author Nina de Gramont. (Photo credit: Tasha Thomas/Courtesy of St. Martin’s Press)
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This photo provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Tom Hardy, center, as Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron, right, as Imperator Furiosa in Warner Bros. Pictures? and Village Roadshow Pictures? action adventure film, ?Mad Max:Fury Road,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. (Jasin Boland/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
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Picture perfect
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The week’s best-sellers
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What’s next on ‘Bookish’
The next free Bookish event will be March 18 at 5 p.m. and feature writers John Cho, Wajahat Ali and Kristina Wong.
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In a scene from “The Gray Man,” Ryan Gosling plays the character Six. (Courtesy of Netflix)