Prospect Park Books: 64 books

A new strawberry varietal has someone seeing red in this “intricate whodunit” featuring the curmudgeonly Japanese American gardener and reluctant sleuth (Kirkus Reviews). Hiroshima survivor Mas Arai first arrived in Watsonville, California in the 1940s. Now a semi-retired gardener living...

From the creator of the popular Instagram account of the same name: More than 300 stunning photographs of Paris’s most enchanting doorways. What’s behind the doorways of the world’s most beautiful city? History. Mystery. Refuge. Beauty. Love. Possibility. Doorways of Paris...

From auto-tune to evites, and TED talks—this compendium of the most annoying people, places, and things will make you roll your eyes and laugh out loud. This revised edition of Things I Want to Punch in the Face includes humor writer Jennifer Worick’s newest and most popular diatribes about...

“Here is the master in all of his certainty, humor, and undertow”—this book**“wonderfully underscores how contemporary Mark Twain is and always will be” (Ken Burns).** Curated by a noted Mark Twain scholar who mined many of his lesser-known texts, speeches, and notebooks, this collection...

An “insightful” portrait of Huell Howser, California’s favorite tour guide, by his longtime cameraman and partner in crime: “It’s amaaaazing” (Adam Carolla). Huell Howser, the exuberant, hugely popular host of California’s Gold and other public-television shows, was always exclaiming...

A heartbreaking and hopeful portrait of a Puerto Rican family struggling in the states: “Not one line is wasted and every single word rings true” (Alice Walker). Arcelia Perez fled Puerto Rico to escape a failed marriage and a history of abuse, but instead of finding her piece of the American...

Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award: The women of the Bible are radiantly brought to life in an “original and thought-provoking” story collection (Kirkus Reviews). Informed by the author’s deep knowledge of the Old Testament and vividly reimagined with contemporary clarity, each...

A California beach town is flooded with movie stars and the occasional murder in this “funny, sexy mystery” from the Desperate Housewives staff writer (Publishers Weekly). As movie stars descend on Santa Barbara for an international film festival, smart-talking deputy chief detective Nola...

Paperback LA is a surprising and witty collection of some of the best writing ever about Los Angeles. More than a dozen major selections include new work and fresh discoveries: a radio broadcast, a ballad, a magazine article, excerpts from prizewinning novels and memoirs. These pieces are punctuated...

Writing a friend’s obit might be the death of a quirky young librarian in this “fresh and funny, romantic and sunny” mystery (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).** Riley Ellison, a young library assistant, has become known in her hometown of Tuttle Corner, Virginia, as Riley Bless-Her-Heart....

When Zerbe, the honorary brother (and roommate) of LA’s toughest bodyguard/bouncer, Crush, is kidnapped, Crush springs into action to save him. Unraveling the mystery takes him to Zerbe’s estranged billionaire father, who’s obsessed with building California’s long-promised bullet train, as...

The Los Angeles Times–bestselling “deliciously witty romp” about a wife and mother who loses it all only to find herself—and a whole lot more (Caroline Leavitt). Helen Fairchild is living a privileged life in a Pasadena paradise. She’s married to a supposed pillar of the community....

The historic, handsome city in the shadow of Los Angeles has been a creative hotbed since the Arroyo Arts & Crafts scene of the early twentieth century. This literary journal gathers short fiction by such Pasadena-area writers as Michelle Huneven (Blame), Victoria Patterson (This Vacant Paradise),...

An “entertaining, funny, and thoughtful” tale of three homeschooling families that “readers who enjoyed Tom Perrotta’s Little Children will want to try” (Library Journal, Editor’s Pick). Patterson, a straight-laced insurance adjuster who recently discovered both surfing and God,...