Same Page SF | A brand-new book club, Banned Books Bingo, and a silent reading party
AKA events worth putting on pants for
Welcome back to Same Page SF, your home for all things local and literary!
I’m Christina, your friendly, well-informed, and unabashedly nerdy bookseller. Each week, I summarize and signal-boost author events, book clubs, and new releases happening across our city.
It’s another great week to be a reader in San Francisco. Here’s what you’ll want to attend if:
1) You’re looking for a stunning short story collection
Lori Ostlund on Are You Happy? at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Tuesday 5/6, 7pm, free.
Lori Ostlund, winner of the coveted Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, is back with Are You Happy?, nine stories exploring class, desire, identity, and the spectrum of American violence against women and the LGBTQ+ community. It’s received rave reviews, with Andrew Parker calling it “as near to perfect as a short story collection can get.” She’ll be in conversation with Oscar Villalon of ZYZZYVA, who always brings thoughtful questions and commentary.
2) You’re an aspiring mycologist
Gordon Walker on Dr. Fun Guy’s Passport to Kingdom Fungi at Bookshop West Portal. Tuesday 5/6, 7pm, free.
Join biochemist, expert forager, and endearingly nerdy social media star Gordon Walker to celebrate Dr. Fun Guy's Passport to Kingdom Fungi: A Scientist's Guide to the Wild and Wonderful World of Mushrooms, Molds, and More. Along with local chef and fellow mushroom enthusiast Chad Hyatt, he’ll discuss best foraging practices, culinary techniques, and identification skills. (Speaking of which: Please don’t buy books on Amazon, but especially don’t buy AI-generated books on mushroom identification on Amazon!)
3) You’re wondering what solidarity really means
Sarah Schulman on The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity at City Lights and via Zoom. Thursday 5/8, 7pm, free with registration).
Increasingly, I’ve been hearing “solidarity!” to signal lighthearted commiseration, making me wonder whether it’s on a similar path to appropriation and dilution as “self-care” - rooted in the Black Power movement but now more closely associated with bath bombs and cancelled plans. Sarah Schulman’s take, which examines the inherent psychological and social challenges to solidarity movements, feels powerful and timely. She’ll speak with Caro de Robertis, whose So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color comes out later this month.
4) You’re curious about the world, literally
Ferris Jabr on Becoming Earth: A Journey Through the Hidden Wonders that Bring Our Planet to Life at the SF Botanical Garden. Saturday 5/10, 4pm, $10 suggested donation.
In partnership with Green Apple Books on the Park and the Helen Crocker Russell Library, join nature journalist Ferris Jabr for a garden-based discussion of Becoming Earth, an exhilarating journey through the hidden workings of our “planetary symphony” and an invitation to reexamine our place in it. He’ll be speaking with Pulitzer winner Ed Yong, whose An Immense World remains one of my all-time favorite books in the genre.
5) You’re craving literary community
You’ve got options! On Tuesday, gather with Christopher’s Books to discuss the delightfully offbeat Sky Daddy by Kate Folk for their inaugural book club (5/6, 6pm, RSVP requested). They’ll meet across the street at Ruby’s Wine, where anyone who bought their book from the store will get 20% off libations. On Thursday, compete for bragging rights and prizes in Banned Books Bingo at The Pig & Whistle, with all proceeds to Island Press (5/8, 4:45pm, $20). And on Saturday, join the Silent Reading Party at Bazaar Cafe hosted by the Western Neighborhoods Project (5/10, 11am-1pm, free). As someone whose bachelorette was BYOB - meaning, of course, Bring Your Own Book(s) - reading parties have an extra-special place in my heart.
Also
MONDAY Hailee Catalano of 2peoplecooking on By Heart: Recipes to Hold Near and Dear at Omnivore
TUESDAY Sarah Maria Griffin on Eat the Ones You Love, a story of “dreams, desire, decay - and working retail at the end of the world,” at Booksmith | Scholar-author Hannah Zeavin on Mother Media: Hot and Cool Parenting in the Twentieth Century at City Lights | Coauthors Rich Fernandez, Carolina Lasso, and Steph Stern on The Purpose Reset: How Reconnecting With What Matters Most Drives Fulfillment and Success at Book Passage
WEDNESDAY Black Bird Writing Club (“we meet, we write, and then we mingle”) | Makenna Held on Mostly French: Recipes from a Kitchen in Provence at Omnivore | Jon Hickey on Big Chief via City Lights Zoom
THURSDAY Marie Arana on LatinoLand: A Portrait of America’s Largest and Least Understood Minority at KALW | Karen Wang Diggs on The Book of Awesome Asian Women: Empresses, Warriors, Scientists, and Mavericks at Mechanics’ Institute | Lucinda Scala Quinn on Mother Sauce: Italian American Family Recipes and the Story of the Women who Created Them at Omnivore | Nicole Terrizzi on her memoir Learning in Free Fall: A Testimony of Mental Health, Poverty, and Race in American Education at Book Passage | Author/illustrator pair Jenny Andrus and Julie Downing on their children's book Elsa’s Chessboard at Bookshop West Portal | Activist and trainer Kazu Haga on Fierce Vulnerability at the California Institute of Integral Studies | Chris Carlsson on the latest edition of Hidden San Francisco: A Guide to Lost Landscapes, Unsung Heroes, and Radical Histories at Medicine for Nightmares
FRIDAY Vicki Tan, along with her 120lb Great Pyrenees Charlie, on Ask This Book a Question at On Waverly | Anwar BEY on Book of WOLDU and the larger PLASMAworlds universe at 826 Valencia
SATURDAY Aloud / Out Loud, Telegraph Hill Books’ new monthly author series, on the theme of “secret blossoming” and where you keep your joy | Podcasters Julie Krafchick and Yue Xu on How to be Dateable at Books Inc. Marina | Milo Starr Johnson on Miss Experience White, award-winning podcast turned book, at Clarion | Grammy-nominated spoken word artist Shawn William on Tall, Dark & Healing, “a conversation in book form,” at Medicine for Nightmares
SUNDAY Meeting of the QSF&F Book Club for Future’s Edge by Gareth L. Powell at Borderlands | Luka Yuanyuan Yang on Dance in Herland, following a special community screening of Chinatown Cha-Cha, at On Waverly
Book-adjacent gatherings
Not *about* books, but around them
📍 San Francisco Center for the Book is holding an opening reception for Crossing the Line: The Passport Re-Imagined, an exhibition of artists’ books delving into the injustices associated with borders and identity documents - and possibilities for a different future. Friday 5/9, 6-8pm, free with RSVP.
🎶 On Waverly in Chinatown, one of the newest additions to San Francisco’s indie bookstore scene, is welcoming indie-pop/R&B artist FIG for an intimate performance. Come for the music, stay for the mysterious craft activity! Saturday 5/10, 5:30pm, free (RSVP appreciated).
🧵 Black Bird Bookstore & Cafe is welcoming Lena Corwin for a “morning [of] simple and joyful ways of reusing textiles” - the start of a monthlong community art piece. It’s in celebration of her new book Touch Cloth, which spotlights artists using and reinventing heritage techniques. Sunday 5/11, 10am-12pm, free.
💭 For folks seeking to broaden their perspectives in service of activism and community-building, City Arts & Lectures is partnering with Grey Area for a workshop on reimagining technopolitical futures and building alternatives in the present. Sunday 5/11, 1-3:30pm, free with RSVP.
Psst - want more beyond-the-book content? Check out !
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Cheers,
Christina
Books are my love language.
This week’s recommendation is a novel that’s finally out tomorrow - one I’ve been bursting to discuss since I read an advance copy back in February! If you’re intrigued by family sagas, parallel storylines, and fate vs free will, this is for you.
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