All Books
Prospect Park Media is a Pasadena-based publisher and distributor of high-quality books, e-books, websites and apps. Our publications are smart, witty, colorful, informed and always fun to read.
The Neurotic Parent's Guide to College Admissions
By J.D. RothmanAdmissions rates of 6%? Kids applying to 32 colleges? Sixteen-year-olds with more impressive resumes than Fortune 500 CEOs? Has the nation lost its mind? Why yes, it has! The college admissions process now sucks approximately 1250% more time, money and psychic energy than it did when today's parents were going through the same process. Thank God author J.D. Rothman is here to shine a light on the insanity with laugh-out-loud wit and incisive anthropological observations. To laugh along with Rothman and understand today's crazy process of getting into (and going to) college, click here.
ISBN 978-0-9834594-1-5; e-book ISBN 978-0-9834594-2-2; 256 pages; 2-color softcover with illustrations; $16.95
The Spa Less Traveled – Discovering Ethnic Los Angeles, One Massage at a Time
By Gail Herndon & Brenda GoldsteinEthnic spas have exploded in popularity across Los Angeles, and here's the first and only book to guide you to the best. The authors spent five years visiting hundreds of spas and massage-therapy centers, and they share their favorites here, along with explanations of the various techniques; tips on what to expect, what to wear, where to park and how much to tip; and even advice on where to eat and shop while you're in the neighborhood. It's one of the hottest holiday gifts for true Angelenos this season! To find out more about The Spa Less Traveled, click here.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-7-9; e-book ISBN 978-0-9834594-3-9; 172 pages; 4-color softcover with color photos; $24.95.
Helen of Pasadena
By Lian DolanFinalist, Best Fiction 2010, Southern California Independent Bookseller Awards
With its keen social observations, laugh-out-loud scenes and whip-smart dialogue, Lian Dolan's best-selling novel is a romantic comedy about a woman's quest to find balance, love and her true self. The Satellite Sister and popular blogger, podcaster and author has outdone herself with Helen of Pasadena, a page-turner with laughs and heart alike. To find out more about Helen of Pasadena, click here.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-2-4; 304 pages; trade paperback; $14.95 E-book ISBN 978-0-9844102-4-8; e-books available on Amazon.com, BN.com & the iBooks store
EAT: Los Angeles 2012 - The Food Lover's Guide to Los Angeles
Finalist, best nonfiction, Southern California Independent Booksellers Award
Winner, PubWest Design AwardSavvy food lovers know it. Booksellers know it. And now it’s time for all of L.A. to know it: EAT: Los Angeles is hands-down the best food lover’s guide in town. Thoroughly updated and rich with new discoveries, it has a new section that showcases short lists of the authors' personal favorites, expanded food-truck coverage, more than 150 new listings, and a dazzling new cover. And despite being the biggest edition yet, it’s more compact and more bag- and car-friendly than ever. From taco trucks to French bistros, wine shops to caterers, butchers to brew pubs, Thai markets to Chinese dim sum houses, you'll find L.A.'s best food in this acclaimed book. And don't miss the companion website, with hundreds of searchable listings.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-8-6; 400 pages, flexibound, die-cut tabs; 2-color printing; retail price $19.95 E-book ISBN 978-0-9834594-0-8; available on Amazon, BN.com & iBookstore
Celebrating with Julienne
By Susan CampoyWinner Best Nonfiction, Southern California Independent Bookseller Awards
Celebrating with Julienne takes you into the kitchens of one of California's most acclaimed cooks, Susan Campoy, the founder and chef of Julienne, a romantic French-California spot in the pretty Los Angeles suburb of San Marino. Susan shares the best recipes of her career, along with stories, tips, and advice for the budding cook, caterer or restaurateur.
ISBN 978-0-9753939-8-7; 192 pages, hardcover with dust jacket, four-color photography; retail price $40. Royalties from this new edition benefit the Susan Campoy Nurse Education Program at City of Hope.
Hometown Santa Barbara: The Central Coast Book
Hometown Santa Barbara explores the capital of the Central Coast and her neighbors like no traditional guidebook can. This new sibling of the Hometown bestsellers is like having a dyed-in-the-wool local—five of them, actually—introducing you to the most interesting people in town, telling you the most fascinating stories, and whispering in your ear where to find the best antiques store, oceanview restaurant, surf spot, art gallery, peaceful hiking trail or convivial coffeehouse. From Carpinteria and Montecito to Goleta and Santa Barbara wine country, this witty, richly colorful book unlocks the insider secrets of the Central Coast. With a foreword by Academy Award-winning author Fannie Flagg and cover art by Hank Pitcher.
ISBN 978-0-9753939-5-6; 284 pages, four-color, flexibound; retail price $24.95
Hometown Pasadena: The San Gabriel Valley Book
Finalist, best nonfiction, Southern California Independent Booksellers Award
Now in its second, thoroughly updated edition, Hometown Pasadena is a new kind of city book, written by longtime locals who dig deep to reflect the place they find so special. Hometown Pasadena has won acclaim from the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine and Westways, earned nominations and awards from such organizations as the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association and the Independent Publisher Book Awards, and has sold like gangbusters. You'll find its companion online magazine at hometown-pasadena.com.
ISBN 978-09753939-4-9; four-color, flexibound; retail price $24.95
The Complete Guide to Check Collecting
The Complete Guide to Check Collecting is a comprehensive, illustrated resource for collectors of bank checks, autographs, revenue stamps, and paper ephemera. Author Michael Reynard makes it clear why check collecting has been increasing in popularity over the last decade, as financial transactions become more digital and check writing becomes less common. Reynard explains the history of how checks came to be used and accepted as financial instruments, reviews the types of checks and what makes them collectible and valuable, shares tips on buying, selling, storing and displaying collections, and provides resources for novice and experienced collectors alike.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-5-5; trade paperback; illustrated; retail price $19.95 E-book ISBN 978-0-9844102-9-3; available for Kindle, Nook & other e-readersOur other titles include:
Hometown Santa Monica: The Bay Cities Book
Winner, Gold Medal, Independent Publisher Book Awards
Written by locals for locals, with a foreword by acclaimed crime novelist April Smith, Hometown Santa Monica is the book Santa Monica and her neighbors have been waiting for. Its 256 color-charged pages celebrate the savvy, the friendly, the smart, the fashionable, the beachy, the fun and the historic in Santa Monica, Venice, the Palisades, the Marina, Malibu, Topanga and Brentwood. It’s a friend who tells you about a great restaurant and introduces you to some amazing people. It’s an educated resource showcasing the region’s world-class art, architecture, natural beauty, culture and fun stuff to do. And it’s a great gift.
ISBN 978-0-9753939-2-5; four-color, hardcover with dust jacket; retail price $24.95
At Home Pasadena
Winner, PubWest Book Design Award
At Home Pasadena is the first book to showcase the range and diversity of the San Gabriel Valley’s exceptional homes and gardens. With lush color photographs and evocative text, At Home Pasadena celebrates how Pasadenans live at home—where they cook, eat, sleep, work, play, socialize, garden, grow, learn, collect, retreat, dress, bathe and even save the world. The homes reflect the architectural richness of Pasadena and her design-loving neighbors, including Altadena, South Pasadena, Sierra Madre and San Marino. You’ll step inside much more than the Arts & Crafts bungalows that have brought these communities international fame—there are midcentury moderns both grand and small, kitchen gardens and rose gardens, a clean-lined loft and a rustic rental cottage, a Wallace Neff hacienda and a Madison Heights colonial, a sustainable mini-farm and an historic observatory/home . . . and many, many more. With a foreword by David R. Brown, executive director of Descanso Gardens, former president of Art Center College of Design and owner of an historic Greene & Greene home.
ISBN 978-0-9753939-3-2; four-color, hardcover with dust jacket; retail price $39.95
A Pocket of Paradise: The Story of Beach Road
By Joe Dunn
It's a mile and a half of asphalt. On one side of the road are railroad tracks; on the other are houses crammed onto narrow lots. It may not sound like paradise, but to the residents of and visitors to Beach Road, it is. In A Pocket of Paradise, Joe Dunn tells the story of Capistrano Beach's Beach Road, from the days of Junipero Serra, to the early development by the Doheny family, to the creation of the Hobie Cat sailboat right there on the beach. He introduces the locals, tells the stories, and brings to life the small Southern California beach community that's had a big impact on the country's surf and beach-lifestyle culture.
ISBN 978-0-9753939-7-0; four-color, paperback; retail price $30
The Santa Monica Farmers' Market Cookbook: Seasonal Foods, Simple Recipes, and Stories from the Market and Farm
By Amelia Saltsman
Just published by Blenheim Press and already a hit, this exciting new cookbook is being distributed by Prospect Park Books. Author Amelia Saltsman celebrates the famed Santa Monica Farmers' Market, provides advice on choosing, storing and using seasonal ingredients, shares tips from chefs and farmers, and gives readers more than 100 simple but fabulous recipes inspired by the market. With a foreword by Deborah Madison, a gorgeous design by Ph.D (including color photos of the market and the farmers), and rave reviews from everyone from Alice Waters to Lynne Rossetto Kasper, this book is the essential companion to farmers' market shoppers across the nation.
ISBN 978-0-9790429-0-4; two-color with four-color insert, paperback; retail price $22.95
Altadena Town & Country Club: A Centennial History 1910-2010
By Kathleen Tuttle
A fascinating local history book that takes readers on a trip across 20th-century Altadena and Pasadena, this book was produced by Prospect Park Media for the Altadena Town & Country Club to celebrate its centennial. Author Kathleen Tuttle brings personality, life and tremendous research into a book that's as much a history of an early California community as it is of a seminal country club.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-0-0; four-color, hardcover with dust jacket; retail price $45
Holy Family Church: 1910-2010
This centennial history book celebrates 100 years in the life of one of California's largest Catholic parishes, Holy Family Church in South Pasadena. Produced by Prospect Park for the church's 100th anniversary, the book uses words and images to honor the heritage, traditions and modern-day life of this thriving community.
ISBN 978-0-9844102-3-1; four-color, hardcover with dust jacket; retail price $40
Mammoth from the Inside: The Honest Guide to Mammoth & the Eastern Sierra
This savvy book is both fun to read and loaded with essential information for everyone headed to the Eastern Sierra: rock-climbing 20somethings to car-camping seniors, skiing families to fishing buddies, backpacking adventurers to spa-loving sybarites. Mammoth from the Inside provides readers with in-the-know reviews of the best places to stay, camp, eat, snowboard, hike, fish, bike and play in this mountain paradise. It's also full of great tips: where to rent and buy gear, how to find a babysitter, where to find Mammoth's best margarita, how to avoid speeding tickets on the 395, how to prevent altitude sickness, where to find a romantic cabin and much, much more.
ISBN 0-9753939-0-1; paperback; retail price $15.95