Book notes: Deal for a book on Jerry Brown, more LA authors

Jim Newton's next book is "Jerry Brown and the Creation of Modern California," auctioned last week to Little, Brown, per Publishers Marketplace. Newton's most recent book, with former defense secretary Leon Panetta, is "Worthy Fights: A Memoir of Leadership in War and Peace." Newton is the former editor at large, editorial page editor, columnist and City Hall reporter at the Los Angeles Times who this spring launched a new policy journal at UCLA. His previous books include "Justice for All: Earl Warren and the Nation He Made," and "Eisenhower: The White House Years."

More books and authors notes:

Diana Wagman "explores themes of immortality and time in her fifth novel, 'Life #6,' about 49-year-old Fiona, a part-time art educator at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles who gives tours to snickering, incurious teenagers and their disgruntled teachers." NYT

Holly Madison Reveals The Hell That Is Playboy Mansion Life, in Buzzfeed. Her new book is "Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny."

Josh Stephens reviews "Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles," by Les Standiford, in the Los Angeles Review of Books.

Beyond just a mere examination of the story, Standiford also has an agenda: he wants to give Mulholland more credit than he usually gets — for being a pragmatist, a genius, and a consummate public servant. Standiford largely succeeds.

For all the theorizing that surrounds some writings on Los Angeles, Water to the Angels is a refreshingly engaging tale.

Checking in on the Central Library exhibit for "To Live and Dine in LA," the book by Josh Kun based on the library's menu collection. Kun is in conversation with Roy Choi at Skylight Books on July 17. That's a date change. Downtown News, LA Eater

Bestsellers of the week in Southern California Independent bookstores.

Hardcover fiction
1. All the Light We Cannot See. Anthony Doerr
2. The Girl on the Train. Paula Hawkins
3. The Cartel. Don Winslow
4. In the Unlikely Event. Judy Blume
5. Our Souls at Night. Kent Haruf

Hardcover nonfiction
1. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. Marie Kondo
2. Modern Romance. Aziz Ansari
3. The Wright Brothers. David McCullough
4. Sick in the Head. Judd Apatow
5. Elon Musk. Ashlee Vance

More bestsellers