Patrick Renna, best known for his role in the 1993 film The Sandlot, offers baseball-themed anecdotes and affirmations. Heartfelt reminders that life’s a marathon, not a sprint, may be familiar, but many young readers will find them revelatory. The author also stresses that failure is just as much a part of life as success, encourages children to embrace individuality and work hard despite being the underdog, and emphasizes that practice shows commitment and “prepares you for the big game or the test.” All these lessons will be relatable to young people, and many are supported by real-life stories: basketball superstar Michael Jordan’s short-lived stint in minor league baseball, an unexpected victory during Game One of the 2015 World Series, and Renna’s willingness to swallow his fear when, as a young teen, he was handed a new script just an hour before shooting a pivotal scene inThe Sandlot. Each tidbit stands alone, but taken together, all 20 tenets provide a lively road map to life. The colorful spot art features images of diverse young baseball players, plus some visually appealing double-page spreads filled with movement and action. White space is used thoughtfully, allowing readers to reflect on how these words of wisdom might apply to them. A solid base hit, with guidance on the great American pastime–and life itself.

This ticketed event is a book signing & photo op only and tickets include a copy of A Little Slugger’s Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Baseball and Life, to be picked up at check in the day of the event.

Event Guidelines:

Patrick Renna will be signing the book only, no memorabilia.

Photo op pictures will be taken with your camera by a Vroman’s employee.plays

Questions? Please email us at email@vromansbookstore.com

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 Psilocybin is proving to have profound impact on health and wellness, particularly in the areas of mental health and addiction. From author and certified psychedelic therapist Stacey Simmons, MA, PhD, LMFT, Mushroom Pharmacy is the first comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to using mushrooms safely and effectively to alleviate symptoms, and potentially cure the underlying causes, of dozens of ailments from depression, anxiety, and addiction to OCD, PTSD, Lyme Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, Migraines and more. In this deeply researched, practically oriented guide, Dr. Simmons helps readers understand how psilocybin acts on the brain, the key elements of responsible psychedelic therapy, and how the effects of this practice can lead to deep and permanent healing. The book also educates readers in the practical aspects of how to responsibly forage for or grow their own mushrooms, how to identify and use different more than 30 different psychedelic mushroom varieties, and how to understand the dosing and administration of psychedelics.

Written by an expert in the field, this groundbreaking work is a mu dit-have for anyone interested in the brave new world of psychedelic medical treatment.staceyy Simmons

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“For the rom-com fans, you can never go wrong with a Julie Tieu book.”— Buzzfeed

Rachel Dang once voted “Most Likely to Succeed” in high school, is unemployed for the first time. After years of doing everything her boss asked, it’s time to say yes to new opportunities. So when she gets invited to her twentieth high school reunion by none other than her former frenemy, Danny Phan, Rachel agrees despite their unresolved past.

As a teenager, Danny was seen as smart, but unfocused. Teachers often paired him with Rachel, hoping her work ethic would rub off on him. Though Danny and Rachel weren’t exactly friends, she had seen a different side of him, one that only existed online over intimate late-night AIM chats that never translated into real life. When they meet again, Rachel discovers their roles have reversed. Danny is thriving in his career while she’s the one flailing.

The reunion takes an unexpected turn when a simple errand takes them into town for a night of mishaps and misadventures where they run into a colorful cast of characters from their childhood. Rachel and Danny soon rediscover the feelings they once shared and must decide if this is only a quick trip down memory lane or a second chance for their happily ever after.

Erin La Rosa is the author of The Backtrack, Plot Twist, For Butter or Worse, Womanskills, and The Big Redhead Book. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and four daughters (two human, and two feline).

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Following the success of Lover Girl, Raegan Fordemwalt returns with Prince of Hearts. An indirect sequel to her bestselling debut, this all-new collection of art and poetry takes readers along the narrator’s journey through abandonment and dismantled trust following the loss of significant relationships, both platonic and romantic.

 A far-too-relatable retelling of the courage required to survive young love, first heartbreaks, and your early-20s, Prince of Hearts is a look through both the rearview and the windshield along the journey to self-love.

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Tommy Siegel’s Candy Hearts comics reveal the most awkward and amusing truths about relationships, and since their viral debut in 2020, the inner world of Candy Hearts has only gotten stranger. This new collection of Candy Hearts comics explores topics like commitment, cohabitation, family dynamics, pets, dating apps, and wedding planning. With dozens of comics never before seen in print or online, The Secret Lives of Candy Hearts hits everything from disaster to happily-ever-after, with hilarious resu

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This event will take place at our outdoor paseo!

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Snapshots feature 36 such meditations from a diverse group of writers, each of whom draws on a photograph from their personal archive to inspire a short essay.

Intimate and powerful, these reflections exhibit a range of sensibilities and experiences, offering unique insight into the lives and interests of both established and emerging authors. Expressing a dynamic array of styles, relationships, landscapes, and preoccupations, Snapshots is an album for our life and

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Graham gives us permission to accept care—and accept that it’s ok to want care. They weave together personal stories and practical wisdom, grounded in their queer, chronically ill, and neurodivergent identities. They offer their take on managing symptoms, getting creative, setting boundaries, and healing from ableist tropes like “you don’t look that sick” and “we’re all a little ADHD.”

Graham also shares vulnerable personal history: the adverse childhood experiences that rewired their body and brain. The workaholism and addictions that kept their pain lying just below the surface. How illness and trauma intersect to obscure the knowledge that we’re each enough, wholly as we are.

Graham explores the parts of chronic illness life that don’t get enough airtime: how can we center sex and pleasure when pain gets in the way? How can we live well…while living through late-stage capitalist hell? How can we come into relationship with our pain without falling prey to self-blame, magical thinking, or toxic positivity?

Wise and embodied, fearless and necessary, Being (Sick) Enough is both a wild awakening and a love letter to your whole self: the pains and suffering, joys and brightness, and vital connections that hold each of us as we navigate what it means to be here, like this, right now.

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But the Crestmonts aren’t the only ones with secrets. Lauren O’Brian might be the new girl at school, but she’s never been a good girl. With a dark past of her own, she’s desperate for a fresh start. Except when she starts a no-strings-attached relationship with Robbie, her chance is put in jeopardy. During what’s meant to be their last weekend together, Lauren stumbles across shocking evidence that just might implicate Robbie.

With danger closing in, Lauren doesn’t know who to trust. And after a third death rocks the town, she must decide whether to end things with Robbie or risk becoming another cautionary tale. (Henry Holt & Company)

Alexa Donne is the author of Brightly Burning and The Stars We Steal, sci-fi romance retellings of classics set in space, and the YA thriller The Ivies, which Kirkus Reviews called “a thrilling boarding school story with a satirical edge.” A graduate of Boston University, Alexa works in TV marketing and has done pro bono college admissions mentoring since 2014. A true INFJ, in her “free” time she mentors with WriteGirl, organizes the Author Mentor Match program, and runs one of the most popular writing advice channels on YouTube. She lives in Los Angeles with two fluffy ginger cats named after characters from YA literature. You can find her online at alexadonne.com.

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“Love is our only hope,” Anne Lamott writes in this perceptive new book. “It is not always the easiest choice, but it is always the right one, the noble path, the way home to safety, no matter how bleak the future looks.”

In Somehow: Thoughts on Love, Lamott explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward. “Love just won’t be pinned down,” she says. “It is in our very atmosphere” and lies at the heart of who we are. We are, Lamott says, creatures of love.

In each chapter of Somehow, Lamott refracts all the colors of the spectrum. She explores the unexpected love for a partner later in life. The bruised (and bruising) love for a child who disappoints, even frightens. The sustaining love among a group of sinners, for a community in transition, in the wider world. The lessons she underscores are that love enlightens as it educates, comforts as it energizes, sustains as it surprises.

Somehow is Anne Lamott’s twentieth book, and in it she draws from her own life and experience to delineate the intimate and elemental ways that love buttresses us in the face of despair as it galvanizes us to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Full of the compassion and humanity that have made Lamott beloved by millions of readers, Somehow is classic Anne Lamott: funny, warm, and wise.  (Riverhead Books)

This ticketed event will take place in the Sanctuary at All Saints Church located at 132 N Euclid Ave, Pasadena.

Tickets include one copy of Somehow which will be handed out at check-in.
A book signing will follow the discussion.

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Gorrindo gives us an intimate look into the inner lives of a remarkable group of women and a tender, unflinching portrait of a marriage. A love story, an unforgettable coming-of-age tale, and a bracing tour of the intractable divisions that plague our country today, The Wives offers a rare and powerful gift: a hopeful stitch in the fabric of a torn America.

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