Same Page SF | Author talks, a musical interlude, and two massive book sales
"Bring plenty of bags and maybe a wagon." Noted!
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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Paid subscribers get perks like curated sneak peeks, thoughtful book recommendations, and early access to book giveaways to support local and visiting authors - not to mention the warm fuzzies of knowing you’re helping make Same Page sustainable.
On to the goings-on!
It’s another great week to be a book-lover in San Francisco. Here’s what you’ll want to attend if:
1) You’re looking for a provocative, propulsive read
Shilpi Somaya Gowda on A Great Country at Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe. Saturday 4/20, 7pm, free.
Meet Shilpi Somaya Gowda for an evening of chai and conversation to celebrate her latest novel A Great Country. A powerful look at the model-minority myth, it explores the ties and fractures of a close-knit Indian-American family in the aftermath of 12-year-old Ajay’s violent encounter with the police. Publishers Weekly called it “scorching … readers won’t want to put it down” in a starred review.
2) You’re curious about the future of food (and you’re hungry!)
Nina Guilbeault on The Good Eater at Manny’s. Tuesday 4/16, 6-8pm, free (registration requested). ✨ Gifted copies available - last chance to enter here! ✨
Join sociologist and UC Berkeley educator Nina Guilbeault to celebrate the launch of her first solo-authored book The Good Eater: A Vegan’s Search for the Future of Food, an enlightening look at how vegans - and their critics - are redefining the way the world eats in the twenty-first century. Appropriately scheduled for Earth Day, the evening will include Q&A, book-signing, and seasonal vegan hors d’oeuvres from Uproot Culinary.
3) You’re living in the Grishaverse
Leigh Bardugo on The Familiar at Sydney Goldstein Theater via City Arts & Lectures. Friday 4/19, 7:30pm, $36+.
Ninth House, Shadow and Bone - any of those ring a bell?! Join #1 NYT bestselling fantasy writer Leigh Bardugo for a fireside-style chat with podcaster Joanna Robinson about her latest book and first foray into historical fiction The Familiar, which was praised by The Washington Post as “a magical tale based in real Spanish history … an essential read about oppression and liberation.”
4) You’re craving a tale of self-discovery and “the fight for our best life”
Ethel Rohan on Sing, I at Bookshop West Portal. Thursday 4/18, 7pm, free. ✨ Gifted copies available - last chance to enter here! ✨
Join Dublin-born, San Francisco-based author Ethel Rohan, in conversation with Matthew Clark Davidson, to celebrate the launch of her much-anticipated second novel. Set in Half Moon Bay, Sing, I is a story of self-discovery, music, and romance - with a touch of vigilantism. Don’t expect blandly likable characters - that’s not Rohan’s style, per an interview with LitHub a few years back:
My storytelling isn’t concerned with the widespread dictum that characters, especially women characters, should be likable and stories comfortable … We’ve been conditioned to uphold tropes of nice girls, virtuous women, and violent men, and to turn away from inconvenient truths regarding oppression and complicity. Instead, I’m open to portraying the full range of human emotions and experiences as they arise in my stories, and to witnessing the full truth of the society and culture therein.
5) You’re looking for work by Vietnamese writers
You’ve got options!
Christina Vo on My Vietnam, Your Vietnam at Adobe Books. Thursday 4/18, 7-8:30pm, free.
Experience a convergence of literature and music in celebration of My Vietnam, Your Vietnam, an intergenerational memoir co-written by Christina Vo and her father Nghia M. Vo. The evening will combine a book talk with a musical performance by indie-rock artist see night, “bridging the gap between two distinct art forms while honoring shared Vietnamese heritage.”DVAN Reading Series at The Ruby in partnership with SFPL. Saturday 4/20, 7-8:30pm, free (RSVP and proof of vaccination required).
Join the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network for their quarterly reading series celebrating Southeast Asian writers. This installment will feature writers and poets Susan Lieu, Thy Hope Luong, Aimee Phan, and Alexandra Huynh.
6) Your idea of “spring cleaning” looks suspiciously like “making room for more books”
Gird your TBR, because once again, you’ve got options! Closest to home is the Warehouse Sale at Books Inc. Opera Plaza (Saturday 4/20 and Sunday 4/21, 10am-5pm). This massive sale spans genres, with brand-new titles maxing out at $10. Their advice? “Bring plenty of bags and maybe a wagon.” Noted! And conveniently on Caltrain is Burlingame’s Library Benefit Book Sale (Thursday 4/18 through Sunday 4/21, hours vary).
Also
The Writers Grotto, a nonprofit collective and inclusive community of professional writers offering co-working space, workshops, and networking, is open for membership applications through April 30 | Michael Ondaatje on A Year of Last Things is sold out Monday | Amor Towles on Table for Two at Calvary Presbyterian Monday | IRL tickets for Eddie Ahn on Advocate are sold out, but there’s a waitlist and a livestream Tuesday | Elwin Cotman on Weird Black Girls: Stories at City Lights Tuesday | Kathya Alexander on Keep A’Livin via the Sistah Scifi Series Tuesday | The Last Supper Party at Medicine for Nightmares Wednesday | Experiential poetry workshop at Telegraph Hill Books Thursday | Ana Raquel Minian on In the Shadow of Liberty: The Invisible History of Immigrant Detention in the United States at City Lights Thursday | Speaking Axolotl, the Bay Area’s long-running Latinx reading series, featuring Xavi Burgos & Elvira Prieto Thursday | Lissa Soep on Other People’s Words: Friendship, Loss, and the Conversations that Never End at Green Apple Books Thursday | Nicole Haroutunian in collaboration with Recess Collective on her novel-in-stories Choose This Now at Black Bird Friday | George Albon on The Built World at Green Apple Books Friday | Ajay Singh Chaudhary on The Exhausted of the Earth: Politics in a Burning World at Medicine for Nightmares Saturday | Release party for Deep Vellum’s Best Literary Translations 2024 Saturday | Donna Levin on The Talking Stick at Book Passage Sunday | Reading featuring California poets Karla Brundage, Ashia Ajani, Kevin Dublin, & Arthur Kayzakian Sunday | Ticketed event with Lois Lowry at Mrs. Dalloway’s in Berkeley Sunday
Book-adjacent gatherings
Not *about* books, but around them
🏀 2025 will be the inaugural season of the Golden State WNBA team! Join recently-appointed team president Jess Smith for a conversation at Manny’s about the future of the team and the impact it’ll have on our city. Wednesday 4/17, 6-7pm, $15.
🎶 Bursting to discuss your new favorite musical artist or song? Adobe Books is hosting a music appreciation night - bring some music you’d like to hear, listen to, and appreciate alongside other melophiles. Wednesday 4/17, 7-10pm, free.
🧶 If crafting while surrounded by books is your idea of a good time, come by Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe for a knitting and crochet circle. You’ll need to bring your own supplies - but if you’re craving a snack, their olive-oil spelt cake with Earl Grey drizzle is exquisite. Sunday 4/21, 5-6pm.
Looking ahead: Independent Bookstore Day is coming!
Same Page is partnering with our friends at Green Apple Books for a bookmark design contest in honor of Independent Bookstore Day. The winner will have their design printed on a limited run of bookmarks available at Green Apple Books on the Park - plus, they’ll receive a $50 gift card redeemable at any Green Apple location! Learn more and submit your design HERE.
Thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed this issue of Same Page, please pass it along to a bookish friend or two (or more, but let’s be honest, we’re all introverts here!).
As always, if you have questions, ideas, or events to share, I’d love to hear! Just reply to this email or message me on Instagram.
Cheers,
Christina
Book recommendations are my love language.
A bonus for paid subscribers: each week I feature a book I’ve recently read and wholeheartedly loved.
Coincidentally, the last two novels I finished were both set in New Zealand (and written by New Zealand authors). One of them was a literary thriller; the other was a veritable warm hug of a book, and that’s the one I’m excited to share.
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