Spring is a busy time for new book releases as publishers ready a slate of titles for summer reads and beyond. Here’s a look at 10 upcoming books that cover multiple genres including romance, mystery, thriller, memoir and World War II history, and most have related local events to mark on your calendar. Susan Meissner: ‘A Map to Paradise’ This San Diego native, best known for her women-centered novels like “Only the Beautiful” and “The Nature of Fragile Things,” publishes her latest title, “A Map to Paradise,” on Tuesday. Set in Malibu in 1956, its about a blacklisted film actress named Melanie Cole whose only friends are her housekeeper Eva, a European war refugee, and Elwood, an agoraphobic screenwriter. When he goes missing, it sends Melanie, Eva and Elwood’s sister on a hunt for answers. A book talk and signing is planned. 7:30 p.m. March 24. Warwick’s bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free to $30. warwicks.com/event/meissner-2025 RuPaul: ‘The House of Hidden Meanings’ This San Diego native and international drag superstar is on a book tour for his 2024 memoir. Warwick’s will host the ticketed event in North Park. In the book, RuPaul Andre Charles writes about the difficulties of growing up a queer Black kid in San Diego with an absent father and temperamental mother, before he found his identity in the punk and drag scenes of Atlanta and New York and rose to global fame as host and producer of the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” TV series. 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Observatory North Park, 2891 University Ave., San Diego. $71-$213. warwicks.com/event/rupaul-2025 Cory Doctorow: ‘Picks & Shovels’ Mysterious Galaxy bookstores hosts a book discussion and signing by this Canadian sci-fi and nonfiction author, blogger and journalist, whose latest work, “Picks & Shovels,” was released last month. The new book is the third to feature the character Martin Hench, a digital forensic accountant who was introduced in Doctorow’s 2023 techno-thriller “Red Team Blues.” The latest book will tell the origin story of Hench, who learned his craft during the nascent tech boom in Silicon Valley in 1986. 7 p.m. March 24. 3555 Rosecrans St., #107, San Diego. $28.99 (includes book). 619-539-7137, mystgalaxy.com/32425Doctorow Ron Currie: ‘The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne’ San Diego’s The Book Catapult shop, will host a Q&A between this Maine-based novelist and local author Jim Ruland. Currie’s 2007 novel “Everything Matters!” is a particular favorite of Book Catapult co-owner Seth Marko and he says “Babs Dionne” is just as excellent. It’s the story of Babs, a doting grandma and matriarch of an all-female crime gang in a small Maine town who run afoul of a vengeful regional drug kingpin. 6-8 p.m. March 30. 3010-B Juniper St., San Diego. Free. thebookcatapult.com/event/2025-03-30/ron-currie David Sheff: ‘Yoko’ Warwick’s has invited Union-Tribune music critic George Varga to lead a Q&A with David Sheff, who is the author of this new biography of 92-year-old artist Yoko Ono. Sheff met and befriended Ono and her husband, Beatles band member John Lennon, just months before he was killed in 1980. Varga has also interviewed Ono several times over the years, so it should make for a lively discussion. The book will be released March 25. 7:30 p.m. April 2. Warwick’s, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free to $30. warwicks.com/event/sheff-2025 Gretchen Rubin: ‘Secrets of Adulthood’ Adventures by the Book presents the bestselling author of “The Happiness Project” and host of the “Happier” podcast in a presentation, Q&A session and book-signing for her new book. In her latest work. In “Secrets of Adulthood,” Rubin shares her key tips for living with greater satisfaction, clarity and happiness. 7 p.m. April 7. Pacific Highland Ranch library, 12911 Pacific Place, San Diego. $20-$24 (includes copy of book). adventuresbythebook.com/calendar-event/gretchen-rubin-4-7-25 The San Diego Book Crawl In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, this annual event invites book-lovers to visit and support their neighborhood bookstores. Last year’s crawl featured 13 participating bookstore from South Bay to La Mesa to Del Mar Heights. Participants can print out a “passport” for directions to visit them all of the shops in one weekend. San Diego Public Library branches also support the event with discounted books in their resale bookshops. For details, visit instagram.com/sdbookcrawl/. Nana Malone: ‘Gold Coast Dilemma’ Bestselling romance novelist Nana Malone’s latest title is about a Ghanaian American heiress forced to choose between honoring her culture by marrying the man her mother has chosen for her or following her heart to the American man she met at a party. Malone has written more than 50 novels, including the popular eight-novel “Stilettos” series. Her latest hits store shelves April 29. San Diego’s Meet Cute Romance Bookshop is hosting Malone for a book-release party on April 30. Author Lauren Billings will interview Malone and she’ll sign pre-ordered copies of her book. 7-10 p.m. April 30. 8235 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa. $20.60. meetcutebookshop.com/events Becky Aikman: ‘Spitfires’ On May 6, author Becky Aikman will publish “Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II.” It’s the real-life story of 25 fearless American women pilots who ferried warplanes from base to base in England for refueling and re-arming during World War II. Many of these women died during the war, but Aikman chronicled the lives of nine Spitfires who survived for her book. No local book event dates have been announced yet, but the book has a strong local connection. All of the Spitfire squad’s memorabilia and diaries are archived at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. And the only remaining survivor of the nine women Aikman interviewed is 105-year-old Nancy Stratford of Carlsbad. Jim Lampley: ‘It Happened!’ This veteran sportscaster of more than 50 years has written a memoir of his life and career, subtitled “A Uniquely Lucky Life in Sports Television.” The books chronicles his years covering the NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, Olympics and HBO boxing. Lampley now lives in North Carolina but his book tour will visit San Diego in May. 7:30 p.m. May 7. 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. Free to $30. warwicks.com/event/lampley-2025