In 1899, Allie Rowbottom's great-great-great-uncle bought the patent to Jell-O from its inventor for $450. The sale would turn out to be one of the most profitable business deals in American history, and the generations that followed enjoyed immense privilege - but they were also haunted by suicides, cancer, alcoholism, and mysterious ailments. Genre: Memoir

In 2014, novelist Leslie Schwartz was sentenced to 90 days in Los Angeles County Jail for a DUI and battery of an officer. It was the most harrowing and holy experience of her life. Following a 414-day relapse into alcohol and drug addiction after more than a decade clean and sober, Schwartz was sentenced and served her time with only six months' sobriety. The damage she inflicted that year upon her friends, her husband, her teenage daughter, and herself was…

Circa is a dark comedy featuring Henry Colmes, a high school sophomore trying to find his place in school and life. In alternating chapters, it is also the story of Henry as a thirty-something cub reporter trying to track down an elusive cult leader in order to interview him for the man’s own obituary. Genre: Fiction

Since she was seven years old, Yvonne has had her trusted violin to keep her company, especially in those lonely days after her mother walked out on their family. But with graduation just around the corner, she is forced to face the hard truth that she just might not be good enough to attend a conservatory after high school. Genre: Young Adult

Chuck Restic, HR manager and part-time private investigator, has a problem: the consultant guru Julie St. Jean is the bane of his existence. Over his twenty-year HR career, he's been forced to partner with her on inane employee engagement programs whose only value has been to Julie's sizable bank account. When Julie is suddenly wanted for the murder of an associate, Chuck sees his chance to rid himself of her forever, until the corporate tables are turned on him and…

Roxana Olsen has always dreamed of going to Paris, and after high school graduation finally plans to travel there on a study abroad program—a welcome reprieve from the bruising fallout of her parents’ divorce. But a logistical mix-up brings Roxana to Copenhagen instead, where she’s picked up at the airport by Søren, a twenty-eight-year-old guide who is meant to be her steward. Instantly drawn to one another, Roxana and Søren’s relationship turns romantic, and when he asks Roxana to accompany…

In January 1969, before the world heard a note of their music, The MC5 was on the cover of Rolling Stone. The missing link between free jazz and punk rock, they were raw, primal, and, when things were clicking, absolutely unstoppable. Led by legendary guitarist Wayne Kramer, The MC5 was a reflection of the times: exciting, sexy, violent, chaotic, and out of control, all but assuring their time in the spotlight would be short-lived. They toured the country, played with…

In 1587, 115 men, women, and children arrived at Roanoke Island on the coast of North Carolina. Chartered by Queen Elizabeth I, their colony was to establish England's first foothold in the New World. But when the colony's leader, John White, returned to Roanoke from a resupply mission, his settlers were nowhere to be found. They left behind only a single clue--a "secret token" carved into a tree. Neither White nor any other European laid eyes on the colonists again.…

Rainy Cain is a troubled and street smart seventeen-year-old whose mother suffers from crippling depression and whose father is long dead—or so she believes. As if her life weren’t already in disarray, things take a chaotic turn when she arrives home one day to find her mother has taken her own life. Genre: Mystery | Crime | Horror | Thriller

A manifesto for the fat revolution. Growing up as a fat girl, Virgie Tovar believed that her body was something to be fixed. But after two decades of dieting and constant guilt, she was over it—and gave herself the freedom to trust her own body again. Ever since, she’s been helping others to do the same. Genre: Healing | Self-Help | Motivational

The case was closed, but for journalist Nancy Rommelmann, the mystery remained: What made a mother want to murder her own children? On May 23, 2009, Amanda Stott-Smith drove to the middle of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and dropped her two children into the Willamette River. Forty minutes later, rescuers found the body of four-year-old Eldon. Miraculously, his seven-year-old sister, Trinity, was saved. As the public cried out for blood, Amanda was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to thirty-five…

Biker Party is Matt Hewitt's follow-up to the gleefully idiotic and grotesque Corky Burger. In it a biker chieftain is found dead in the desert by his minions, which inspires the deranged motorcycle club to throw him an orgiastic bacchanale of murder and mayhem. They descend upon a sleepy, harmless and decidedly beige suburb to wreak havoc, but eventually they push a simple father too far. Both a love letter to and satire of the all-American vigilante fantasy. Genre: Graphic…

Los Angeles is... surfing waves and fashion faves, citrus fruits and long commutes, lowrider cruising and poolside snoozing, zipping cars and Hollywood stars. From taco trucks to tar pits, this stylish primer to California's City of Angels, illustrated by Alexander Vidal, is spot-on for toddlers and first-time travelers. Genre: Art

Holed up with other mothers-to-be in a secret maternity home in Los Angeles, Scarlett Chen is far from her native China, where she worked in a factory and fell in love with the owner, Boss Yeung. Now she's carrying his baby. Already married with three daughters, Boss Yeung is overjoyed because the doctors have confirmed that he will finally have the son he has always wanted. To ensure that his child has every advantage, Boss Yeung has shipped Scarlett off…

A must-have for Percy Jackson fans, this deluxe gift edition of the internationally bestselling first book in the series features gorgeous full-color artwork on nearly every page by series illustrator John Rocco, along with shiny foil type on the front cover, a red marker ribbon, and full-color endpapers. Genre: Speculative Fiction, Young Adult

Poet and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated web series Brown Girls captures her experience as a Pakistani Muslim woman in contemporary America, while exploring identity, violence, and healing. Genre: Poetry

Emerson, Georgia, and Marley have been best friends ever since they met at a weight-loss camp as teens. When Emerson tragically passes away, she leaves one final wish for her best friends: to conquer the fears they still carry as adults. As Marley and Georgia grow stronger, the real meaning of Emerson’s dying wish becomes truly clear: more than anything, she wanted her friends to love themselves. Genre: Fiction

The Last Bookstore is pleased to present Agustin Melendez-Eyraud and his new book The Sanctuary and other Attacks. There will be a panel discussion of the book’s themes and the latest developments in immigration issues as confirmed by Los Angeles Spanish-speaking journalists, media, and civil rights advocates. Also there will be held a cold theatrical reading of the short play The Sanctuary – don’t miss it! Genre: Dramatic Writing

Anya Yurchyshyn grew up in a narrow townhouse in Boston, every corner filled with the souvenirs of her parents' adventurous international travels. On their trips to Egypt, Italy, and Saudi Arabia, her mother, Anita, and her father, George, lived an entirely separate life from the one they led as the parents of Anya and her sister - one that Anya never saw. The parents she knew were a brittle, manipulative alcoholic and a short-tempered disciplinarian: people she imagined had never…