One of the many things we love deeply about our hometown of Long Beach, Calif., is its vibrant Little Free Library community. More than 80 homes have registered with FreeLittleLibrary.org — and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds of “unofficial” tiny libraries have popped up outside houses all over town, particularly during the pandemic, and we couldn’t be happier about it. So, in the spirit of holiday fun, we’ve created a scavenger hunt of sorts. We’ve placed 25 of our books in 25 Little Free Libraries throughout the city, and created a Google map to help guide your way.
Holiday Gift Guide for Book Lovers
When I was a kid, “bookish” was a word that referred to people, not to things. Times have changed. There has never been a better time to be a bookworm, not just because there are literally more books on the market right this second than ever before — that will always be true! — but because the literary gift market is on fire. All this year, we’ve been scouring the Internets for the best and coolest book-related ideas. And the best part? Not one of these comes from Amazon.
Let’s talk about publishing’s lack of diversity
Publishers agree that diversity in book publishing is a net positive. Yet, as Lee & Low Books revealed in a 2019 research study pertaining to diversity in book publishing, astonishingly little room for minorities has been carved out of the largely cis, white, straight, able-bodied tradition that is the book publishing industry.
‘Crybaby’ book tour kicks off
Please join us as we celebrate the launch of our ninth title, Crybaby: Infertility, Illness, and Other Things That Were Not the End of the World by Cheryl E. Klein, a “propulsive memoir” (FOREWORD REVIEWS) whose “raw emotionality lands like a gut-punch" (PUBLISHERS WEEKLY).
‘Postcards’ clear up common misconceptions
What gets our goat…
Long Beach teens ask us to Celebrate — not ban — their favorite books
Chinese edition of 'ParentShift' offers alternative to 'Tiger Mom'
We have a confession to a make...
Friends, we have failed you. Not Twitter-selling-out-to-Elon-Musk-level failure, but still. In all the time we’ve been pointing out useful and aesthetically pleasing book stuff in Notes in the Margins, we have never once acknowledged the Internet’s most useful and aesthetically pleasing thing of all…
Non-Fiction caps now in the shop
We are big fans of Uli Beutter Cohen at Subway Book Review in NYC and were thrilled when she agreed to let us be a vendor of her custom-designed Non-Fiction hats. We wear ours all the time.
'Hidden' Photographer Klenz shares story of fires and feminism
When word came to the newsroom that there was severe rioting in Los Angeles, all the Press-Telegram photographers were sent — except for Cristina. The only woman. She was apoplectic. “No one sent me out to shoot anything,” Cristina told me. “I was so angry. I left the paper on my own without telling anyone and drove around Long Beach with a photographer from a wire agency.”
5 reasons to give memoir a chance
Until a couple of years ago, BPP intern Kaylee May despised nonfiction. Autobiography, biography, history, self-help, philosophy, and — you guessed it — memoir. She refused to give any of it a chance, believing that nonfiction was nothing more than a boring recitation of facts and that memoir was a pretentious pseudonym for autobiography. Then, all that changed.
Our (other) favorite books about the Roma
Hidden: Life With California’s Roma Families by Cristina Salvador Klenz, which pubs on April 5, will join the ranks of a small but important group of artists raising awareness about a subculture historically reduced to stereotypes and subject to relentless prejudice. (And that’s when they’re acknowledged at all.)
5 little lies readers tell about ‘A Little Life’
Intern Sofie Parker originally was scared away from ‘A Little Life’ by the multitude of extremely negative comments on Goodreads. After seeing the title recommended repeatedly on BookTok, however, she finally ordered it. She’s so glad she did. Without giving away any spoilers, here are five things readers routinely get wrong about A Little Life.
A new book trailer for ‘Hidden’
We’re excited to share our first-ever book trailer in anticipation of the April release of Hidden: Life With California’s Roma Families. Considering that this is our only photography book to date, creating the trailer seemed like the perfect way to showcase Hidden’s individuality; it’s also a great opportunity for us to share some of our favorite photos from the book!
The best news! Canada has criminalized ‘conversion therapy’
We are celebrating. Four years after the release of Peter Gajdics’ thought-provoking memoir, The Inheritance of Shame, the Canadian parliament voted this week to criminalize the practice known as “conversion therapy” nationwide. The unanimous decision is a huge win for the LGBTQ+ community, and is particularly important to Peter.
Holiday Gift Guide
Crybaby Cover Reveal
It was hard to choose just one cover for 'Hidden'
Thrilled to share with you the title and cover for our next book, Hidden: Life with California's Roma Families (April 2022) by Cristina Salvador Klenz. For this one, we were lucky enough to work with designer Evan Backes, who designed I’m Dyin’ Here for us back in 2015. We ended up with several cover options, and — thanks to Evan’s skills — there wasn't a weak one in the bunch. Take a look. What do you think? Which would you have chosen?
'Crybaby' pens new memoir
We have just acquired a fantastic memoir about marriage, miscarriage, infertility, cancer, and the pursuit of open adoption — five hugely stressful things in their own right. And yet Cherly E. Klein, a self-described “crybaby,” tackles them all at once in a poignant, honest memoir that also manages to be deeply, consistently funny.