Same Page SF | Climate dystopias, oral histories, and family sagas
Plus: Join our book club!
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 can’t resist a surprisingly tender dystopia
Susanna Kwan on Awake in the Floating City at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Monday 5/12, 7pm, free.
“Post-apocalyptic novels with themes of resilience and joy” is my subgenre bat signal, so Susanna Kwan’s debut Awake in the Floating City - about the unlikely bond between an artist and a 130-year-old woman unwilling to abandon their San Francisco home as floodwaters rise - has been on my radar for months. (I’m not the only one - the Chronicle, Electric Literature, and 7x7 counted it among their Most Anticipated.) Join Kwan, along with fellow novelist Shruti Swami, for a discussion of the book Rachel Khong called “an astonishing work of art, rich with attention, patience, and love.”
2) You’re seeking trans stories and histories
Caro de Robertis on So Many Stars at Booksmith and Alex L. Combs on Trans History at Fabulosa, both Tuesday 5/13, 7pm, free.
The Booksmith is welcoming Caro de Robertis for a celebration of their new book So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color (registration requested). In their own words, this deeply personal book and collective coming-of-age story shares “behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant - and still means - to create an authentic life, against the odds.” At the same time, Fabulosa is hosting Alex L. Combs, whose extensively researched and beautifully illustrated Trans History: A Graphic Novel from Ancient Times to the Present Day serves as essential reading.
3) You’re looking for a poetry collection that’s “exquisitely tender … alive with the unresolvable”
Mia Malhotra on Mothersalt at Green Apple Books on the Park and via Zoom. Wednesday 5/14, 7pm, free.
Mia Ayumi Malhotra - award-winning poet and founding member of The Ruby - is celebrating the launch of Mothersalt, which explores the intimacies and bewilderment of early motherhood. (Early reviews are reminiscent of The Wilderness by Ayşegül Savaş, one of my favorites in this genre.) The first 30 folks to register and pre-order Mothersalt from Green Apple will receive a limited-edition book bundle, including a hand-bound journal, furoshiki wrapping cloth, and a surprise object or two from the book.
4) You’re into family sagas - imagined or real
I try not to mash multiple events into one category, but here we are. There’s too much good stuff happening! What a problem to have.
Jemimah Wei is celebrating her hotly anticipated debut The Original Daughter, a page-turner about sisterhood, ambition, and betrayal in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore, at Green Apple Books on the Park (Tuesday 5/13, 7pm, free).
Hit podcaster Jonathan Hirsch (Dear Franklin Jones) is speaking with Alexis Madrigal about The Mind is Burning: Losing My Father to a Cult and Dementia, his stranger-than-fiction tale of family and the particular grief of losing a loved one who mistreated you (Thursday 5/15, 5:30pm, $16 includes audiobook).
Grace Loh Prasad, whose memoir The Translator’s Daughter recounts her journey to reclaim her Taiwanese heritage after her family’s exile to the United States, is speaking with Jennifer Hu at On Waverly on the intersections of personal history, family inheritance, and cultural identity (Friday 5/16, 5:30pm, free).
5) You’re joining our book club!
Same Page x Black Bird Book Club feat. Tilt by Emma Pattee. Mark your calendars for Sunday 6/8, 7pm, free.
I started Same Page to summarize and signal-boost the many literary events our city has to offer, but I’ve lost count of the number of readers who’ve asked for a way to connect with other Same Pagers. So I’m delighted to announce the first meeting of the Lit Fic Book Club, a long-time-coming partnership between Same Page and Black Bird. Each month, we’ll select a discussion-worthy novel with a connection to San Francisco, whether through the topic or the author. (Speaking of - whenever possible, the author will join part of the conversation!)
Our inaugural selection is Tilt by Emma Pattee, the propulsive tale of a pregnant woman who’s shopping in IKEA when The Big One hits. Everyone who’s read the book is welcome, but if you buy your copy from Black Bird, enjoy a free cafe drink at the time of purchase! (The store’s currently low on stock, so call to confirm it’s on hand before heading over.)
Also
MONDAY Babes Who Book at Sour Cherry Comics, with 10% off for all attendees | National Book Award recipient Arthur Sze on his two latest books, a poetry collection and a broader craft interrogation, at City Lights | Christopher Moore on Amina Rising, “a hilariously deranged tale of a mad scientist, a famous painter, and an undead woman,” at Books Inc. Opera Plaza | Virtual Poets hosted by Kim Shuck via Bird & Beckett | Bestselling author and sociologist Anna Malaika Tubbs in a fireside-style chat via City Arts & Lectures | Craig Mod on Things Become Other Things: A Walking Memoir at Booksmith is sold out, but you can try your luck as a walk-in
TUESDAY On the Page, Off the Page at SFPL Park | Historian Pat Thomas on Evergreen Review: Dispatches from the Literary Underground: Covers & Essays 1957-1973 at City Lights | Nura Maznavi on Yours, Eventually, a tale of love and second chances in a close-knit Pakistani-American community, at Book Passage
WEDNESDAY Open Mic Night at Black Bird | Book-signing with bassist Colin Greenwood for How To Disappear: A Portrait Of Radiohead at City Lights | Omo Moses, son of legendary civil rights organizer Bob Moses, on The White Peril: A Memoir at Manny’s | Christina Li on her adult debut The Manor of Dreams, described as “Mexican Gothic meets Evelyn Hugo,” at Book Passage | Neoglyphic Media presents Love vs the World, a tour to celebrate new publications, at Silver Sprocket | Rebecca Solnit on No Straight Road Takes You There: Essays for Uneven Terrain at Mechanics’ Institute is sold out, but you can join the online waitlist
THURSDAY Dennis McNally, publicist for The Grateful Dead turned bestselling author, on The Last Great Dream: How Bohemians Became Hippies and Created the Sixties at Green Apple Books on the Park | Award-winning translator Dr. Jon Cho-Polizzi on migration and multilingualism in contemporary German literature at the Goethe-Institut in partnership with the Center for the Art of Translation | AI experts Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna on The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want at City Lights | Speaking Axolotl, a long-running BIPOC reading series, featuring Hector son of hector and Jesús de la Garza at Medicine for Nightmares | Poetry Jam celebrating non-English poetry at SPFL Main | Poolside Poets at The Phoenix Hotel (dress code “dreamscape”)
FRIDAY Greg Sarris on his acclaimed short story collection The Forgetters at the College of Marin and via Zoom | Michelle Gagnon on her thriller Slaying You at Book Passage | Book-signing with Jyoti Chand for Fitting Indian at Pyarful
SATURDAY Poets Robin Walter (Little Mercy) and Tiff Dressen (Of Mineral) at Adobe Books & Art | Food demo and book-signing with Rick Martinez for Salsa Daddy: Dip Your Way Into Mexican Cooking at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market | Book-signing with Hugh D’Andrade for his graphic memoir The Murder Next Door at Mission: Comics & Art | Michael King on Be There When I Return: A Memoir of Epilepsy, Love, and Success at Book Passage | Rhythms & Rhymes at Telegraph Hill Books | Launch party for the spring edition of Forum Magazine at Medicine for Nightmares
SUNDAY Silent Reading Party at Bazaar Cafe with the WNP Book Club [mistakenly included last week!] | Blair Fell on Disco Witches of Fire Island, a queer romance with elements of fantasy, at Fabulosa | Aimee Phan on The Lost Queen, the first book in a YA fantasy duology inspired by Vietnamese lore, at Book Passage | 826 Valencia presets Storytellers’ Showcase at Yerba Buena Gardens
Book news and book-adjacent gatherings
Last week, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) under the Trump administration abruptly terminated or rescinded grants to cultural institutions across the country, including nonprofit publishers and literary organizations - sending a clear and chilling message all are expected to operate “in furtherance of the Administration’s agenda.” The cuts will be felt locally by beloved publishers and presses including Aunt Lute Books, Transit Books, the Center for the Art of Translation, and Zyzzyva. If you want to understand the short- and long-term impacts, here is a good starting point.
Books (and those who create, sell, and read them) have always been resources and tools of resistance during dark times, and now is no exception. So on that note, here are a few book-adjacent gatherings happening this week that feel more relevant than ever:
Medicine for Nightmares is partnering with the San Francisco/Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLGSF) for a bilingual training on making a family plan in case of a detention by ICE. Tuesday 5/13, 7pm, free.
Unapologetic joy is resistance, too! Manny’s is welcoming BITS, a traveling comedy show of “mostly queer, slightly crazy, funny people,” for an evening of laughs. Saturday 5/17, 7pm, $18.
Let’s keep Same Page going, together.
Did you reach the end of this issue and think, wow, Same Page must be a lot of work?
It is! Same Page is a labor of love, but it’s still a labor - one that requires time and focus. So I’m seeking 200 paid subscribers by July to make it sustainable.
Paid subscribers get weekly book recommendations, priority access to giveaways, and sneak peeks for events likely to sell out. (Founding subscribers also get personalized book suggestions on request!)
THANK YOU to those of you who have upgraded. I’m encouraged by your support and kind words.
I'm grateful to you for doing time-consuming but necessary work to help strengthen the fabric of the Bay Area's in-person literary community.
It would also mean a lot if you pass Same Page along to a bookish friend or two (or more, but let’s be real, we’re all introverts here).
As always, if you have a question to ask or an event to share, I’d love to hear from you! Reply to this email or find me at hello@samepagesf.com.
Cheers,
Christina
Books are my love language.
I read well over 200 books each year, and keep even more on my radar - so it’s rare to get a recommendation for a backlist book I’ve never heard of, let alone one I wind up loving. But that’s what happened this week, thanks to fellow bookseller Jax from Christopher’s.
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