Same Page SF | A rave-reviewed debut, a queer vampire saga, and an Outer Sunset story
"Full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead," says Kaveh Akbar
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.
Before we jump into this week’s events, a moment to celebrate our inaugural Book Club Meeting. We gathered last night at Black Bird to discuss Tilt by Emma Pattee and it was a genuinely delightful time.
I shouldn’t be surprised that Same Page are such thoughtful readers and conversationalists, but I’m still impressed! Friendly book discussion, new connections, lots of snacks - is there a better way to spend your Sunday?
I’m thrilled to finally be bringing Same Page into the real world. Hope you’ll join us next time - stay tuned!
In the meantime, 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 an unputdownable debut
Rob Franklin on Great Black Hope at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Wednesday 6/11, 7pm, free.
When Kaveh Akbar calls a book “beyond thrilling - incandescent, even … full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead,” I take note! He’s speaking of Rob Franklin’s debut Great Black Hope, which follows a queer Black Stanford graduate caught between worlds of race and class after he’s arrested for cocaine possession in the Hamptons. Franklin will be in conversation with Leila Mottley (Nightcrawler), whose eagerly anticipated sophomore novel comes out later this month.
2) You want to better understand homelessness through real-world stories
On Thursday, longtime Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan will discuss The Lost and the Found, a deep dive into the lives of two unhoused San Franciscans, at the Mechanics’ Institute (6/12, 6pm, $15). Across the city at Green Apple Books on Park, journalist Brian Goldstone will speak on There Is No Place For Us, which explores the drastic rise of the working homeless through the lens of five Atlanta families (6/12, 7pm, free). Both authors will be interviewed by folks from KQED, so expect especially well-researched questions.
3) You’re ready for your new literary vampire obsession
V. E. Schwab on Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil at Internet Archive in partnership with The Booksmith. Friday 6/13, 7pm, $35 (includes book).
Prolific fantasist V. E. Schwab - best known for her #1 NYT bestseller Addie LaRue - is back! Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a lushly imagined tale of vampires, hunger, and immortality, following three women from sixteenth-century Spain to present-day Boston. Your ticket gets you a seat and a pre-signed copy, with a limited selection of Schwab’s other signed titles available for purchase.
(While we’re on the subject of vampires, allow me to share a funny book fact: Stephanie Meyer fought hard to call Twilight by its draft title Forks. Normally I side with the author when it comes to creative control, but in this case, good on her editor!)
4) You’re looking for a salon-style book discussion with local roots
WNP Book Club on Outer Sunset by Mark Ernest Pothier at Problem Library. Saturday 6/14, 6-8pm, free (RSVP requested).
Launched this January, WNP Book Club - a partnership between Western Neighborhoods Project, Problem Library, Bazaar Cafe, and Green Apple Books - describes itself as “the perfect excuse to read books and commune around a shared sense of place.” This Saturday, they’ll gather at Problem Library to discuss 90’s-set novel Outer Sunset - unnervingly characterized as historical fiction - by Mark Ernest Pothier, who will be in attendance. There will be snacks, discussion led by Humanities lecturer Sean Connelly, and historic photos from the OpenSFHistory archive.
5) You’re into books, coffee, and community
Less an event than a sweet piece of news: across-the-street neighbors Noe Valley Books and Bernie’s Coffee Shop have partnered to create The Annex, a shared space inside Bernie’s where book lovers can shop used books while sipping their favorite drink. We love to see two local gems supporting one another!
Psst - if you’re clearing out your shelves, they’re happily accepting book donations; email info@noevalleybooks.org if your haul is 100+ strong.
Excited about one of this week’s features? Invite a bookish friend to join you (or a full crew, but let’s be real, we’re all introverts here).
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Also
MONDAY Celebration of the San Francisco Writers Grotto at Green Apple Books on the Park | Meeting of Babes Who Book at Sour Cherry Comics | The Right Honorable Dame Jacinda Ardern on her memoir A Different Kind of Power at Sydney Goldstein Theater is almost sold out, but there are a handful of balcony seats left
TUESDAY National Book Award finalist Karen E. Bender on her speculative collection The Words of Dr. L & Other Stories at Book Passage | On the Page, Off the Page at SFPL Park | Meeting of the Manga Book Club for Even Though We’re Adults Vol. 1 at Sour Cherry Comics | Vina Patel on The Spice Collector’s Cookbook at Omnivore
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