What’s better than a good book? A good book written by your neighbor. Brew up a batch of your favorite tea or coffee and get ready to meet your next read, because we’re talking about locally written books in San Jose.
📖 Fiction
- “Volaria” by M.D. Neu | Release date: Oct., 1, 2022 | A supernatural, erotic thriller set in San Jose — 100 years in the future.
- “Nothing Got Broke” by Larry Slonaker | Release date: June 28, 2022 | A Bay Area reporter gets caught in the death of a San Jose man.
- “Bestiary” by K-Ming Chang | Release date: Sept. 29, 2020 | A woman grows a tiger tail in this debut novel about myth and memory.
- “The Aloha Spirit” by Linda Ulleseit | Release date: Aug. 18, 2020 | This domestic romance is set in 1920s Hawaii.
- “A Thousand Ways to Fail & Other Stories” by Charles Joseph Albert | Release date: Nov. 23, 2019 | These stories range from speculative sci-fi to magical realism.
- “TAD” by M. D. Neu | Release date: Sept. 23, 2019 | A disgraced angel of death and a drag queen become friends in New York City.
- “Had He Worn a Different Body? and 20 other Unexpected Tales” by Brad Ashmore | Release date: Aug. 30, 2019 | These absurd + soft sci-fi stories include inverse guacamole, lunar poles, and wearable bodies.
- “Kankin’s Kingdom, Foreseen” by Enrique S. Flores | Release date: Aug. 2, 2019 | This sci-fi novel explores family, Catch-22 situations, and metaphysics.
- “The Antiquities Hunter” by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff | Release date: Oct. 2, 2018 | This mystery novel follows a private eye on the hunt for stolen Mayan artifacts.
- “Hicks Road: Jacob’s Story” by Julian P. Flores |Release date: Jan. 6, 2017| Set in 1850s Almaden, an outcast boy discovers a mystic secret around Mount Umunhum.
- “The Sympathizer” by Viet Thanh Nguyen | Release date: | Apr., 12, 2016 | This Pulitzer Prize winning novel follows a Vietnamese spy life as a refugee after the Fall of Saigon.
📖 Expand your worldview
- “Our National Monuments” by QT Luong | Release date: Nov. 9, 2021 | Discover spectacular landscapes less traveled than our bustling national parks.
- “We Can: Portraits of Power” by Tyler Gordon | Release date: Sept. 28, 2021 | This 15-year-old, nationally-recognized artist shares some of his bold artwork of iconic leaders.
- “Seductive Venice” by Kathleen Ann González | Release date: Jan. 3, 2021 | Take a walking tour of Venice following Casanova’s historic footsteps.
- “Helen and the Masters: A Portrait of A California Mystic” by Lisa Francesca | Release date: July 9, 2020 | A family biography about a Bay Area transplant with alleged medium abilities.
- “Frida in America: The Creative Awakening of a Great Artist” by Celia Stahr | Release date: Mar. 3, 2020 | Explore Frida Khalo’s time living in San Francisco, Detroit, and New York.
- “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin Jeanne DiAngelo | Release date: June 26, 2018 | Better understand concepts around internalized racism and “color blindness.”
- “MINE: El Despojo de María Zacarías Bernal de Berreyesa” by Jenny Clendenen | Release date: Dec. 1, 2017 | Part biography, part nature writing — this story about California history involves murder, betrayal, and theft.
- “Thread of the Silkwormk” by Iris Chang | Release date: Nov. 15, 1996 | Meet the Chinese scientist who assisted on the Manhattan Project + started the Chinese space program.
📖 Local interest
- “Haunted San Jose” by Elizabeth Kile | Release date: Sept. 12, 2022 | Creepy local legends abound — with haunting stories about the Sainte Claire Hotel, Overfelt High, and more.
- “Silicon Alleys: Selected Metro Columns, 2005-2020" by Gary Singh | Release date: Nov. 16, 2020 | Discover the unseen stories from San Jose’s alternative scene.
- “Secret San Jose: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure” by Cassie Kifer | Release date: Sept. 15, 2020 | Test your knowledge of obscure San Jose landmarks and facts.
- “Haunts of San Jose” by David Lee | Release date: Sept. 12, 2008 | Even more contemporary stories of local ghosts + haunted houses.
Art Rodriguez’ memoir “East Side Dreams” is available at Recycle Bookstore.
Photo by SJtoday staff
📖 Personal stories
- “Power to Change Lives” by Helen Chong | Release date: Apr. 6, 2021 | The story of a Hong Kong immigrant seeking the American Dream and finding financial success.
- “Creole Son: An Adoptive Mother Untangles Nature & Nurture” by E. Kay Trimberger | Release date: Apr. 1, 2020 | Explore the connections between birth families and adoptees of different races.
- “Mozart in the Garden” by Tom Liggert | Release date: Jan. 3, 2020 | This snapshot of mid-century California features the unlikely friendship between a child of dysfunction and a “witch” on a hill.
- “East Side Dreams” by Art Rodriguez | Release date: Jan. 15, 2010 | A local’s story of finding hope and success after incarceration.
📖 For the family
- “Peach and Plum: Here We Come!” by Tim McCanna | Release date: Aug. 2, 2022 | School’s out for these rhyming fruits in this graphic novel series.
- “In My Life” illustrated by Genevieve Santos (with lyrics by John Lennon + Paul McCartney) | Release date: Feb. 2, 2021 | A story about memories across three generations in a family that are meant to be treasured.
- “Harvest” by Casey Jane Satterlund | Release date: March 2021 | A child learns to plant the seeds of positive thoughts to build self-esteem.
- “The Peculiar Pig” by Joy Steuerwald | Release date: June 8, 2019| Will a group of piglets accept a puppy among their group?
📖 Poetry
- “Like A Solid to A Shadow” by Janice Lobo Sapigao | Release date: Apr., 26, 2022 | This recent Santa Clara County Poet Laureate writes about her father’s love letters to her mother.
- “Sweet Nothings” by Dan Brook | Release date: Sept. 21, 2020 | Explore the combination of prose and haiku known as a haibun.
- “The Behavior of Clocks” by Sally Ashton | Release date: Apr. 1, 2019 | An exploration of time and memory inspired by Einstein’s theories about relativity.
- “Erratic Facts” by Kay Ryan | Release date: Oct., 6, 2015 | This US Poet Laureate’s latest collection deals with loss.
Is your favorite not on our shelf? Let us know .
Need more recommendations? Stop by Hicklebee’s or the Recycle Bookstore to get expert advice from San Jose’s local booksellers. 📚