Same Page SF | A quiet holiday week feat. a short story collection, a thriller, and a historical epic
A good time to make a dent in your TBR!
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 share and signal-boost author events, book clubs, new releases, and community gatherings happening across our city.
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What’s happening?
With the Fourth of July Thursday, it’s a quiet week on the local and literary front!
Speaking of holidays, I had a few readers ask why I didn’t highlight Juneteenth a few weeks back. It’s a good question, and one I wrestled with. The short answer: Same Page focuses on local and literary happenings, and while there were a number of Juneteenth celebrations and commemorations, none (at least that I could find) were literary in nature.
Maybe that’s a function of the lack of Black-owned bookstores in San Francisco (though Marcus Books, the oldest Black-owned bookstore in the nation, is always worth a trip to Oakland). Maybe it’s because Juneteenth is a day of celebration, and as powerful as literature can be, it isn’t always synonymous with festivity. Probably it’s both and more. Regardless, I should’ve shared this proactively, and I deeply appreciate the feedback! You can always reach me by replying to any Same Page email - I read and value every note.
This week, here’s what you’ll want to attend if:
1) You like your short stories surreal, intimate, and fantastically weird
Ananda Lima on Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Monday 7/1, 7pm, free.
If you read last week’s newsletter, you saw me rave about Ananda Lima’s Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil. (The giveaway was so popular I’m working to double it!) In this eerie collection, the narrator - who, like the author, was born in Brazil but lives in in the US - first meets the Devil at a Halloween party, though he’s far from the strangest entity she encounters (that’d be a tie between snack-sized people in vending machines and the ghost of her still-living mother). She’ll be in conversation with Jon Hickey, and I’ll be in the audience; say hello if you’re there too!
2) You’re looking for Single White Female meets The War of the Roses
Swan Huntley on I Want You More at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Tuesday 7/2, 7pm, free.
Join Swan Huntley, in conversation with Esmé Weijun Wang, for the release of her fourth novel I Want You More. Per an interview with Autostraddle, it’s a thriller that “traps a lesbian ghostwriter in a Hamptons manor with a devious Food Network star” and was inspired by a strange invitation from a Real Housewives personality. Juicy!
3) You want a historical epic about politics and friendship
Marjan Kamali on The Lion Women of Tehran at Book Passage. Sunday 7/7, 2pm, free.
Join bestselling author Marjan Kamali to celebrate the launch of The Lion Women of Tehran, which follows a complex friendship - and a massive betrayal - from girlhood to adulthood amidst decades of political turmoil in Tehran. Shelf Awareness called it “gorgeous, gripping … expertly grounded in historical detail” in a rave review (and I devoured it in an afternoon).
Also
A short list this week!
The Ruby is holding a ticketed BIPOC writing workshop on writing into grief with Bushra Rehman (funds to be shared with Palestine Children's Relief Fund) Tuesday | YA novelists Dallas Woodburn (Before and After You and Me) and Carol Van Dan Hende (Orchids Blooming) will speak at Book Passage Wednesday | LaborFest Writers is holding a group reading at Bird & Beckett Wednesday | Enjoy Zine Festival, a chance for zine creators to connect with the community and other creatives around the Bay Area, will be at Medicine for Nightmares Saturday
Book-adjacent gatherings
Not *about* books, but around them
🎞️ Manny’s is holding movie night featuring Forrest Gump. Popcorn included! Tuesday 7/2, 6-9pm, $5.
🎶 City Lights is hosting First Fridays: Music in the Alley with performances by Corazon de Cedro: Fandango de Mujeres. Find them in Jack Kerouac Alley between the bookstore and Vesuvio Cafe. Friday 7/5, 5pm, free.
♟️ Medicine for Nightmares is holding their monthly “super-chill” community chess club. Hang out, talk chess, and play a few games. All ages and skill levels welcome! Sunday 7/7, 4-7pm, free.
Thanks for reading!
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Cheers,
Christina
Book recommendations Advance notice is my love language.
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Read on for the details of the July events I’d suggest planning for now:
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