“Unplugged” follows Tom Freston from wandering traveler to architect of MTV’s global youth culture revolution. He recounts hitchhiking and hustling abroad, launching a clothing business from South Asia, then helping build MTV before running a vast constellation of TV networks and finally Viacom. Candid and fast‑paced, the memoir blends music, media, and adventure to argue that embracing detours, risk, and cross‑cultural connection can be its own unconventional route to lasting success.

“Pub Theory” is Jeff Shelton’s compact manifesto for reviving neighborhoods by restoring the humble pub—or any intimate, walkable gathering place—to the heart of urban design. With playful drawings and plainspoken commentary, he shows how car‑first planning isolated homes from everyday needs and from one another. His solution is to seed small pubs and third places through suburban fabric, turning streets into social rooms and shifting communities from drive‑through zones into walkable, lived‑in environments.

“California: Dream State” curates C Magazine’s best over 20 years, spotlighting luxurious homes, hidden gems, and influencers across Canyon, Coast, Valley, City, Garden, Mountain, and Desert. Vivid photos reveal Malibu retreats, Sonoma vineyards, Topanga domes, and desert oases, blending architecture, art, and lifestyle into a portrait of California’s dreamy essence. It’s a love letter to the state’s diverse beauty and innovative spirit.​

“Women” collects more than 250 Annie Leibovitz portraits into a powerful, slipcased two-volume celebration of female lives. From celebrities and CEOs to athletes, activists, and anonymous workers, the images chart an evolving landscape of womanhood, looking at how women inhabit authority, intimacy, and vulnerability. Essays by Susan Sontag, Gloria Steinem, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie frame the photographs as an ongoing conversation about how women are seen—and how they see themselves—in the 21st century.

Macduff Everton’s expanded “The Book of Santa Barbara” uses panoramic photos to showcase the city’s beaches, hills, missions, gardens, and people—from pioneers to protesters. With Mary Heebner’s captions, Pico Iyer’s foreword, and Nick Welsh’s afterword on recent upheavals, this 376-page second edition balances paradise with real life, blending archival shots and new images to affirm the town’s enduring allure, quirks, and community amid change.​

A Map to Your Soul (Rodale Books, $26), by Dr. Jennifer Freed, sheds light on the elements (fire, earth, air, water) that manifest in each of us. The guide helps readers discover their personal map, with self-care rituals to design their best life. “I wanted to share a pathway to full self-expression, turning gifts and strengths into community contribution,” says Freed, Goop’s resident psychological astrologer. “Getting elemental is the best way I know to teach the fundamental and worldwide basics of astrology.”

California Elegance: Portraits From the Final Frontier (Mondadori, available at Chaucer’s Books) profiles people who have shaped the destiny of the Golden State, including scientists, politicians, designers, firefighters, and, appropriately, treasured local denizen Mahri Kerley, who has elegantly helmed the venerable Chaucer’s Books since 1974.

(Flatiron Books, available at Chaucer’s Books) is an insightful (and often witty) firsthand account by UC Santa Barbara student Via Bleidner detailing her experiences attending high school in the land where McMansions and Kardashians are the norm.