Wednesday, July 1, 2026 Sign In

What to Read, and Why, This Summer

A roundup of Santa Barbara authors and the community’s favorite books.

What to Read, and Why, This Summer
Courtesy of Unsplash

What to Read, and Why, This Summer

A Roundup of Santa Barbara Authors and Our Community’s Favorite Books

By Matt Kettmann | July 15, 2021

Even in this digital age, few things are as pleasurable as digging into a book on the warm sand, or on your couch, or while falling asleep in bed, and that’s whether you prefer e-readers or still like turning the page. In this week’s issue, we’re presenting a wide range of books to expand that enjoyment, most of which ​— ​whether international best sellers or self-published projects ​— ​come with Santa Barbara ties. And then we’ve got the latest on the Indy Book Club, which is reading thrillers for July. Read on, and then go read a book.


The Goleta Connection to ‘The Devil You Know’

Eileen Horne Co-Authors Bestselling Book about Evil with Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Adshead


Credit: Courtesy

How Bicycling Empowered Feminism

Author Peter Zheutlin Discusses ‘Spin: A Novel Based on a (Mostly) True Story’


Credit: Courtesy

Indy Book Club: Thrillers for July

Discuss Peter Swanson’s Thriller with Book Clubbers on August 6

By Caitlin Fitch


Credit: Courtesy

Recent Books by Santa Barbara Authors

New Pages from Jeff Arch, John Houchin, Nicole Black, and Scott Addeo Young


Courtesy of OC Gonzales/Unsplash

Colleen McCarthy-Evans’s ‘Why Am I’

Longtime Santa Barbara Creative Discusses New Children’s Book and Seven Seas Press


Credit: Courtesy

Cynthia Hamilton’s ‘Houses of Deception’

Mystery Writer of Madeline Dawkins Series Sets Stories in Santa Barbara


Credit: Courtesy

Kathleen Klawitter’s ‘Direct Hit’

Santa Barbara Author’s Medical Memoir Is Subtitled ‘A Golf Pro’s Remarkable Journey Back from Traumatic Brain Injury’


Credit: Courtesy

Peggy O’Toole Lamb’s ‘Darling: Letters from WWII’

Santa Barbara Author Relies on Family Correspondence to Tell Universal Tale of Soldiers Abroad


Credit: Courtesy