Bay City Books: New Books from Bay Area Authors – May 2021

New books, and new in paperback, from San Francisco Bay Area authors, listed by release date.


New in Hardcover


Are You Enjoying?

by Mira Sethi (San Francisco)

(Knopf, April 20)

Debut stories by a young writer from Pakistan, upending traditional notions of identity and family, and peering into the vulnerable workings of the human heart.

Luck of the Titanic

by Stacey Lee (Silicon Valley)

(Putnam Books for Young Readers, May 4)

Valora and Jamie Luck, twin British-Chinese acrobats traveling aboard the Titanic on its ill-fated maiden voyage.


Right Back Where We Started From

by Joy Lanzendorfer (Petaluma)

(Blackstone Publishing, May 4)

A multi-generational California saga about a woman who will do anything to get back what her family lost—except face the truth about herself. 

You Look Tired

by Jenny True (Oakland)

(Running Press, May 4)

A humorous guide to parenting by the Romper columnist and Pushcart-nominated author Jenny Pritchett.


A Good Mother

By Lara Bazelon (San Francisco)

(Hanover Square Press, May 11)

Two young mothers, one grisly murder, and the lengths both women will go in the name of their children.

Italian Love Cake

by Gail Reitano (Bolinas) 

(Bordighera Press, May 11)

In a historical moment overshadowed by fear, economic uncertainty, and the controlling behavior of men, a powerful line of women—living and dead—helps Marie Genovese navigate her path to independence.


Loving Before Loving

By Joan Steinau Lester (Berkeley)

(University of Wisconsin Press, May 18)

Braiding intellectual, personal, and political history, Lester tells the story of her fight for love and justice before, during, and after the Supreme Court’s landmark 1967 decision in Loving v. Virginia.

Beyond: How Humankind Thinks about Heaven

By Catherine Wolff (Stanford)
(Riverhead Books, May 25)

A cultural history of heaven across faith traditions and millennia.


New in Paperback


Mule Kick Blues: And Last Poems

by Michael McClure (Oakland)

(City Lights Publishers, April 20)

A final book of poems by Beat Generation poet during the last years of his life, with thoughts about his own mortality.

A Fire Story (updated and expanded)

by Brian Fies (Northern California)

(Abrams, April 20)

A firsthand account in graphic novel form of the Northern California wildfires of 2017—revised and expanded.


Seeing Silicon Valley

Marybeth Meehan and Fred Turner (Stanford)

(University of Chicago Press, May 12)

An unseen view of the heart of the tech world.

In the Event of Contact

by Ethel Rohan (San Francisco)

(Dzanc Books, May 18)

Fourteen stories set in Ireland, England, and America of crises of contact, various forms of injury, and survivors surprising bids for recovery.


The End of the Golden Gate

Edited by Gary Kamiya (San Francisco)

(Chronicle Prism; May 25)

An anthology of current and former San Francisco writers reflecting on the enduring beauty and ever-changing nature of their city.

 

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