Cellar Door Books
5225 Canyon Crest Dr
Suite 30 A/B
951-787-7807
News and Events, January 2018
In This Issue
Try our NEW Subscription Box!

Our book clubs and their selected titles are some of the most popular and sought-after titles we offer, and now you can get your favorite book club's picks in a box delivered to your door. There are four subscription boxes to choose from:
  • Book Club Box: includes your choice of one adult book club ($110)
  • Kids' Book Club Box: includes your choice of either the Children's Book Club or Dumbledore's Army ($80)
  • Early Reader Book Club Box: includes the Early Reader Book Club ($45)
  • Picture Book Club Box: includes our staff's selection of 2 hardcover picture books per box ($120)

Here's how it works:

  1. Choose Your Book Club: Select one of the box options above. During checkout, be sure to list your chosen book club genre in the order comments section.
  2. Get Your Books: You'll receive 2 books per box, delivered every other month for 6 months. That means you get 3 boxes - one Jan/Feb box, one March/April box, and one May/June box - for a total of 6 books!
  3. Read: Enjoy your book club books! If you live in the area and would like to join us for any of the book club meetings, we'd love to see you there.

Visit our website here for more information and to order your subscription box! The deadline to order for Jan-June 2018 is January 1

Our One Community, One Read in 2018: 
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

A community that reads together will, in all likelihood, disagree on all kinds of things, but at least they will communicate, and it is time we do that. Sometimes there comes a book that begs to be discussed, one that takes a timely issue and gives it flesh in such a way that we can begin to peel back the layers of difficult problems. 

The Hate U Give is about Starr, a sixteen year old girl negotiating an awkward balance between the upscale prep school and the poor black neighborhood in which she lives. When a friend of hers is killed by a police officer, Starr, her community, and the wealthy suburb where she attends school are faced with what to do. There isn't a neighborhood in this country that hasn't been faced with these issues.  Lets use this book as a starting point to figure out what we need to do here to stop these tragedies. Discuss it in your book clubs, community centers, service clubs, country clubs, churches, mosques, temples, and synagogues. Discuss it with your older teens, with your Independent, Republican, and Democratic friends. Discuss it with all of your elected representatives. Just talk about it. 

Let us know how it's going on Facebook or Twitter, and let the conversations begin. - Linda
Cellar Door Staff's Best of the Year
A list of the best reads of 2017 as chosen by our staff.

Linda
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by Charmaine Craig
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Miss Burma is the story of a family: a man, woman, and children. It is the story of their loves, pains, betrayals, and secrets, but their stage is Burma from the 1940s to the 1960s, a country in upheaval, a country with a mix of ethnic minorities and the cruelties and hatred that seem to always come with such a mix. The best historical fiction gives us a view into the effects of history on ordinary people, and, in this case, shows us that people who survive the devious machinations of governments are anything but ordinary. Beautifully written, with characters you will dwell with for a long time, Miss Burma is one of my favorite books of the year. 

by Nnedi Okorafor
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Four teens with magical abilities, untrained but powerful; a mystical society that functions within the regular world, not openly, but with great impact; a mystical being who was trained within the rules of the Leopard Society but who as gone bad, really bad, and needs to be dealt with; and elders who must hand off this task to kids despite its danger. Yes, it sounds familiar, but this is not Harry Potter; rather, it is a coming of age story, a story about friendships, determining who you are and how you will be, about standing up to what is wrong with what has come before. It is, in other words, what makes an incredibly young adult book, and this one is indeed incredible. 

Store Hours

Mon-Saturday 10-8

Sunday 10-6

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Storytime

Saturdays at 11 am

Holiday Hours

Jan. 1          CLOSED

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CLOSED for inventory

Jan. 29-Jan. 31

December Bestsellers


1. The Art of Misdiagnosis
Gayle Brandeis
Penguin Random House
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2. Akata Witch
Nnedi Okorafor
Penguin Random House
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3. To the Bright Edge of the World
Eowyn Ivey
Hachette| 9780316242837

4. The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas
Harper Collins|9780062498533

5.  Wonder
R.J. Palacio
Penguin Random House

6. Sittaford Mystery
Agatha Christie
Harper Collins| 9780062074140

7. No Time to Spare
Ursula K. LeGuin
Houghton Mifflin| 9781328661593

8. Turtles All the Way Down
John Green
Penguin Random House

9. The Getaway (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #12)
Jeff Kinney
Abrams| 9781419725456

10. Obama: An Intimate Portrait
Pete Souza
Hachette| 9780316512589
January Staff Pick
 
This Could Hurt by Jillian Medoff (out 1/18):  "The story is a realistic and emotional view into the inner workings of a company floundering during the 2008 recession... carrying a powerful story with likable  characters. Whether you've worked in an office or are just a fan of The Office , you'll find something to relate to." - Jett

Friday, Jan. 5 at 6 pm

Sat., Jan. 13     7-9 pm

Join us for Game Nights every second Saturday of the month starting in January!

Chess Club Open Play
Sun., Jan. 14     1-3 pm
Destenie

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough (out 3/6/18)
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No words I write could do this book justice. It is powerful, it is artful, and it will go down as one of my favorite books of all time. Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi's true story is made visceral, her voice clear in the poetry of her narration. Taken for granted by her father, ignored by her brothers, and abandoned by her maid, Artemesia struggles as a woman, finding solace and identity in her art. But when even her art is attacked, when her male tutor takes advantage of his situation as men in power (even now) are wont to do, her world is shattered. It takes the biblical Susanna and Judith, reimagined and empowered in her mother's old stories, to give Artemisia the strength to face her attacker against insurmountable odds. Blood Water Paint carries a power and grace the likes of which you don't find often in young adult lit.
Elisa
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From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty
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Much like her first book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Caitlin Doughty offers a unique and open perspective on what so many people fear: death. She explores the diverse and often misunderstood death practices and rituals performed throughout the world, inviting the reader to keep an open mind and pull away from the norm that has been set by western mortuary practices. With style and finesse, Doughty traverses through a subject that is often avoided and invites her readers to break down established perceptions and gain new knowledge. 

Jett
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The Last Season by Eric Blehm
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Ever since becoming a teenager I've had a growing interest and love for the outdoors. Before coming to Cellar Door Books, I was a trail worker and sawyer for the California Conservation Corps. With this in mind, The Last Season hits a special chord in my heart. Blehm does an incredible job of creating a riveting narrative of the career and life of back country ranger Randy Morgenson, along with his compatriots. He shows their devotion to the wilderness, its visitors, and each other. The Last Season reads like a mystery or true crime novel, but is more of a love letter to nature and the men and women that serve it. 

Mikayla
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The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes
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This was one of my favorites this year, as it was a compelling story. Minnow Bly has spent the last twelve years sequestered in the mountains of Montana, having spent her life in a cult, questioning everything she is told and punished for it. But now she is seventeen, in custody for brutal assault, missing both of her hands, and has lost her family and her ability to believe in herself or anyone else; she has to adjust to her new reality and learn everything over again. I loved Minnow's rebellious spirit and her desire for enlightenment, unwilling to let her past control her. 
Cellar Door Book Clubs' Best of the Year
A list of our book clubs' favorite picks of 2017.

Cellar Door Book Club: The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as six other awards, this book is a blistering exploration of identity in America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.

Mystery Book Club: Rubbernecker by Belinda Bauer
Awards galore and our very own mystery book club loved this! Patrick is a young student in a British medical school who has no intention of becoming a doctor. He prefers anatomy - no live people to deal with. Patrick has Asperger's syndrome, a shaky relationship with his alcoholic mother, questions about what happened to his father the day he was killed, and to complicate things even more, the cadaver they've given his team to work on in anatomy class has a story to tell that only Patrick can see. Similar to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Rubbernecker allows us to view our world through an unusual perspective, and it's a finely wrought mystery as well. Enjoy! - Linda

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club: Stories of Your Life by Ted Chiang
An award-winning collection from one of today's most lauded writers, this book is a contemporary classic, and what Junot Diaz calls, "Shining, haunting, mind-blowing tales... Ted Chiang is so exhilarating, so original, so stylish he just leaves you speechless." 

Historical Fiction Book Club: Darktown by Thomas Mullen
Award-winning author Thomas Mullen is a "wonderful architect of intersecting plotlines and unexpected answers" (The Washington Post) in this vivid, smart, intricately plotted crime saga that explores timely issues of race, law enforcement, and the uneven scales of justice.

Agatha Christie Book Club: Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
In one of Christie's classic mysteries, a dying man's bewildering last words pull an inquisitive young man and his beautiful companion into a dangerous web of lethal secrets. 

Philosophical Horror Book Club:  The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
A classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, this book has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror, a story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House.

Black Lit Book Club: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Dear Inland Empire: this is a book that we need to read as a region, a community. It is a springboard for difficult conversations that we must have in order to make our streets safe for our young black men and women, and by doing so, please understand that we will make our streets safe for everyone. We are a community and we have a problem, and this book can help us tear off the Band-Aids and examine the wound. The Hate U Give is about community, family, race, love, and our humanity. Read it, gift it, and discuss it with everyone you know, 14 (or so) and up. - Linda

Speculative Fiction Book Club:  The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
One of NPR's Best Books of 2016, winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, the British Fantasy Award, and a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker Awards. A tribute to H.P. Lovecraft set in Jazz Age New York. 

LGBTQ Book Club: Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
The first of nine novels about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, this book is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

Not Your Father's Teen Lit: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
I would normally start by comparing this book to another similar fantasy series, but I simply can't. A Darker Shade of Magic was a breath of fresh air for me, a swashbuckling, magical, romping good time. Kell is from Red London - an alternate-universe version of our London, called Grey London. There's also White London, a bone-dry world ruled by malicious twins, and Black London, a world destroyed by hungry magic. As one of the last with the ability to travel between the worlds, the Antari, Kell is an ambassador for these kingdoms, delivering messages. Enter Lila Bard, a tough street thief from Grey London with a desire for adventure and more to her than meets the eye. Then add elemental magic, rich costumes, settings both lavish and decrepit, and all the swords and knives you can think of. I, for one, can't wait to read the next books in the series. - Destenie

Revolution or Revelation: The Black Count by Tom Reiss
Winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Biography, this book is what TIME magazine calls one of those quintessentially human stories of strength and courage that sheds light on the historical moment that made it possible, and a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father, General Alex Dumas, and son, novelist Alexandre Dumas. 

Bucket List Book Club: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
A fantastical, funny, and devastating satire of Soviet life written during the darkest days of Stalin's reign, and finally published in 1966 and 1967, this book became a literary phenomenon, signaling artistic and spiritual freedom for Russians everywhere. 

Phy-Sci Book Club: Gut by Giulia Enders
Research in the human gut is one of the hottest topics in medicine. Too often, though, we are confronted with tid-bits of information that may either be too anecdotal or speculative, or otherwise are faced with dry medical writing. Giulia Enders has written a unique piece that is eminently accessible - just look at the charming hand-drawn illustrations - while nailing the science that has fueled a revolution in how we understand human health. Her book is both insightful and endearing. I challenge you to find to any other book with a chapter on feces that you could honestly describe as cute. - Flip Tanedo, Phy-Sci book club moderator

Current Affairs Book Club: This Changes Everything by Naomi Kline
A brilliant explanation of why the climate crisis challenges us to abandon the core "free market" ideology of our time, restructure the global economy, and remake our political systems. 

Feminist Book Club: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Once again, Ng navigates the delicate intricacies of human nature, presenting us with delicious characters and a plot like a woven tapestry. Like her debut, Everything I Never Told You , this book explores the strained family dynamic, now between two very different families: the Richardsons, who live the idyllic upper-middle class lifestyle by the design of its matriarch, Elena, and the Warrens, a single mother and daughter, nomads and artists. When the Warrens decide to settle down in Mrs. Richardson's duplex, the neoliberal neighborhood of Shaker Heights gets a rude awakening. Seemingly small issues magnify larger questions, like the role wealth and race have in shaping our world views and the exact nature of motherhood. - Destenie

Early Reader Book Club: Dog Man by Dav Pilkey
From the creator of Captain Underpants comes this new series: with the head of a dog and the body of a human, Dog Man has a real nose for justice. But can he resist the call of the wild to answer the call of duty?

Children's Book Club: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Winner of the 2017 Newberry Medal, this book from the author of Iron Hearted Violet tells the tale of a kind witch, an ordinary child filled with extraordinary magic, and a woman with a Tiger's heart.

Dumbledore's Army: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
This comical, fantastical, romantical, New York Times bestselling, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey is "an uproarious historical fantasy that's not to be missed" (Publishers Weekly). 
Book Clubs for Adults

Cellar Door Book Club (Meets the fourth Sunday of the month at 3 pm)
Sunday, January 28: To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Sunday, February 25: The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni

Mystery Book Club (Meets the third Thursday of the month at 6 pm)
Thursday, January 18: IQ by Joe Ide
Thursday, February 15: Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart

Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club (Meets the third Saturday at 5 pm) 
Saturday, January 20: The Chimes by Anna Smaill
Saturday, February 17: The Just City by Jo Walton

Memoir & Biography Book Club 
(Meets the second Wednesday at 6 pm)
Wednesday, January 10: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher
*Tuesday, February 13: The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Latino Book Club (Meets the fourth Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm)
Tuesday, January 23: Gabbi, Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
Tuesday, February 27: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Historical Fiction Book Club (Meets the fourth Saturday of the month at 5 pm)
Sunday, January 27: A Column of Fire by Ken Follet

Agatha Christie Book Club (Meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm)  
Tuesday, January 15: The Sittaford Mystery
Tuesday, February 20: Sad Cypress

Philosophical Horror Book Club  (Meets the third Wed. of the month at 6 pm)
Wednesday, January 17: The Fifth House of the Heart by Ben Tripp
Wednesday, February 21: A Head Full of

Black Lit Book Club  
(Meets the final Friday of the month at 6 pm)
Friday, January 26: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Friday, February 23: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Speculative Fiction Book Club  
(Meets the second Fri. of the month at 6:30pm)
Friday, January 12: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
Friday, January 9: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchet

LGBTQ Book Club (Meets the third Friday of the month at 6 pm)
Friday, January 19: The Persian Boy by Mary Renault
Friday, February 16: Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker, ill. by Julia Scheele

Not Your Father's Teen Lit (Meets the first Saturday of the month at 6 pm)
Saturday, January 6: Stillwater by Nicole Helget
Saturday, February 3: Illuminae by Aimee Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Revolution or Revelation  
(Meets the first Sunday of the month at 12:30 pm)
Sunday, February 4: The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones

Bucket List Book Club (Meets the third Sunday of the month at 3pm)
Sunday, January 21: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Sunday, February 18: Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (The Complete Plays)

Phy-Sci Book Club (Meets the fourth Wednesday of the month at 6 pm)
Wednesday, January 24: Bonk by Mary Roach
Wednesday, February 28: If Our Bodies Could Talk by James Hamblin

Current Affairs Book Club (Meets the second Sunday of the month at 4 pm)
Sunday, January 14: The "S" Word by John Nichols
Sunday, February 11: We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Feminist Book Club  (Meets the first Tuesday of the month at 6 pm)
Tuesday, January 2: We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler
Tuesday, February 6: Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

NEW! Graphic Novel Book Club (Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm)
Wednesday, January 3: The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
Wednesday, February 7: Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, ill. by Fiona Stables

NEW! Libros en Espanol (Meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm)
Tuesday, March 13: Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Book Clubs for Kids and Youth

Early Readers Book Club (Meets the second Saturday of the month at 1 pm)
Saturday, January 13: My Life in Pictures by Deborah Zenke
Saturday, February 10: Deep-Sea Disaster (Shark School #1) by Davy Ocean

NEW! Spanish Readers Book Club (Meets the third Saturday of the month at 1 pm)
Saturday, January 20: El festival florestastico de Eva by Rebecca Elliot
Saturday, February 17: Hola, Hombre Mosca by Tedd Arnold

Children's Book Club (Meets the second Thursday of the month at 4 pm)
Thursday, January 11: Addison Cooke and the Treasure of the Incas by Johnathan Stokes
Thursday, February 8: This is Not a Werewolf Story by Sandra Evan

Dumbledore's Army (Meets the first Monday of the month at 3 pm)
*Monday, January 8: Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Monday, February 5: The Siren by Kiera Cass

*starred meetings are not being held at their regular date/time

Please visit our  Events Calendar  or Facebook Events page  for updates or changes.