Same Page SF | Historical fiction, not-quite book clubs, and "two-book minimums"
Happy Valentine's Day - here's double the book love! đ
Welcome back to Same Page SF, home to all things local and literary - your friendly, well-informed, and spectacularly nerdy source for author events, book clubs, new releases, and other bookish gatherings.
Thanks to a shout-out in Black Birdâs monthly newsletter, we have nearly a hundred new readers this week. If youâre one of them, welcome! Iâm Christina - local bookseller, literary entrepreneur, and unreasonably avid reader. I started Same Page SF to summarize and signal-boost the many great things happening across our cityâs independent bookstores, library branches, cultural centers, and third spaces - to help our literary community not just survive but thrive.
If that resonates, please read, engage, and share. And if the work I do is worth $5 per month to you, become a paid subscriber. Because while Same Page is a labor of love, itâs still very much a labor!
As a thank-you, paid subscribers get access to weekly book reviews, regular giveaways to support local and visiting authors, and personalized book recommendations - not to mention the warm fuzzies of knowing youâre helping make Same Page sustainable.
Speaking of warm fuzzies, this Wednesday is Valentineâs Day - and as my gift to you, this issue features đ double đ our usual number of events. Read on for the five TEN things youâll want to attend this week ifâŠ
1) Youâre a fan of historical fiction
Vanessa Chan on The Storm We Made at Book Passage Ferry Building. Saturday 2/17, 3pm, free.
Join Vanessa Chan, in conversation with Jemimah Wei, to celebrate her just-released - and already-acclaimed! - debut novel. Set during WWII, The Storm We Made tells the story of a Malayan mother who becomes a spy for the invading Japanese forces. Nguyá» n Phan Quáșż Mai hailed it as âheart-breaking, beautiful, and moving ⊠a significant contribution to the worldâs literature.â
2) You loved The Silent Patient and Glass Onion
Alex Michaelides on The Fury at Books Inc. Opera Plaza. Friday 2/16, 7pm, $31.50.
Join bestselling suspense writer Alex Michaelides on his first American book tour in celebration of his newest thriller The Fury, the tale of a reclusive ex-movie star and her famous friends whose spontaneous trip to a private Greek island is upended by a murder. Ticket price gets you a seat and a signed copy!
3) Youâre looking to make new bookish friends Â
âNot Quite a Book Clubâ at Bazaar Cafe. Saturday 2/17, 11am-1pm, free.Â
Bring a book (any book!), grab a beverage, and meet in Bazaar Cafeâs vibrant back garden for a fresh take on the traditional book club format. Rather than gathering to discuss the same selection, everyone will have a chance to share the different books theyâre reading. Gird your TBR!Â
4) You wouldâve rooted for Zuck in the cage matchÂ
ZoĂ« Schiffer on Extremely Hardcore: Inside Elon Muskâs Twitter at Mannyâs. Tuesday 2/13, 6-8pm, $15 (comped tickets available).Â
Join author and labor reporter ZoĂ« Schiffer to celebrate the release of Extremely Hardcore, the âdefinitive, fly-on-the-wall story of how Elon Musk lit $44 billion on fire and burned down Twitter,â in conversation with fellow journalist Casey Newton. Ticket price is admission only (though Mannyâs never turns anyone away for lack of funds), with copies available for purchase.Â
5) Youâre really going through it
Marisa Renee Lee on Grief is Love: Living with Loss at Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe. Monday 2/12, 6:30pm, free.Â
Join Marisa Renee Lee, in conversation with therapist and fellow author Claire Bidwell Smith, for a conversation about her new book Grief is Love: Living with Loss. Offering wisdom about what it means to grieve and heal, Grief is Love is about claiming space for the transformation that a significant loss requires.
6) You like true crime that blurs genre lines
Roger D. Rapoport on Searching for Patty Hearst at Green Apple Books on the Park and via livestream. Tuesday 2/13, 7pm, free.
In 1974, journalist Roger D. Rapoport was early on the scene when heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped down the street from his home - and he continued coverage through her infamous involvement in her captorsâ bank robbery and her subsequent trial and presidential pardon. Join him for a discussion of his account, which heâs novelized as âinformed historical fiction.â
7) You donât really understand art - but you want to!
Bianca Bosker on Get the Picture at Book Passage Ferry Building. Friday 2/16, 5:30pm, free.
Join award-winning journalist Bianca Bosker, in conversation with bestselling author Mary Roach, for a discussion of her new book Get the Picture, a chronicle of her journey to understand art. Named one of the most anticipated books of 2024 by NPR, Kirkus called it âa delightful book on an inspiring topic by a writer who could make dust sparkleâ in a starred review.
8) Youâre delighted by the concept of a âtwo-book minimumâ
Wine & Book Tasting at The Hyatt Regency. Friday 2/16, 7:30-9:30pm, free entry.
Mix and mingle with authors in an open event for the San Francisco Writers Conference. Your âtwo-book minimumâ at the on-site bookstore gives you access to three floors of book-signings, where their dedicated sommelier will pair each book with the perfect beverage. (Not a drinker? Theyâll have hot chocolate too!)
9) You're in the mood for an âoptimistic disaster novelâ
Chris Carlsson on When Shells Crumble at Bird & Beckett Books & Records. Tuesday 2/13, 7pm, free.Â
Join Chris Carlsson - local writer, historian, bicyclist, photographer, and blogger - for a talk about his recently published sci-fi novel When Shells Crumble. It takes place in a world of intelligent fungi, martial law, atmospheric rivers, and other catastrophes - yet the Chronicle reviewed it as âone of the most optimistic disaster novels youâll ever read.â Intriguing!Â
10) Youâre looking for a bookish way to celebrate Valentineâs Day
Valentineâs Day at Bookshop West Portal. Wednesday 2/14, 10am-7pm.
Stop by Bookshop West Portal for a curated three-book bundle, featuring a delightfully wide variety of themes. At 20% off, theyâre great gifts for people you love - including (especially) yourself!
âš BONUSÂ âš If you love poetry and planning ahead
Next Thursday 2/22, stunning wordsmith and two-time US Poet Laureate Ada LimĂłn will be speaking with KQEDâs Alexis Madrigal via City Arts & Lectures. Grab your tickets now - and use SAMEPAGESF for a $5 discount.
Also
If you missed last weekâs gut-punch of a reading of Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear with Mosab Abu Toha and friends, you can watch the recording and donate to Middle Eastern Children's Alliance here | Sheila Hetiâs Monday-night event at Booksmith is sold out đą but you can try your luck as a walk-in |  City Lights and MCD Books are hosting a launch party for Brontez Purnell to celebrate Ten Bridges Iâve Burnt, his memoir-in-verse |  Pride in Panels: SF Queer Comics Fest is happening at the SFPL next weekend |  Dr. Akilah Cadet is speaking Sunday about her new book White Supremacy is All Around: Notes from a Black Disabled Woman in a White World
Book-adjacent gatheringsÂ
Not *about* books, but around them
đș Mannyâs is hosting a watch party for the second debate between the four candidates for California Senate, enhanced by drinking games and snacks. Monday 2/12, 7-8pm, free.Â
đ€ Ready to share your work at an open mic night? Youâve got options! The Park SFPL branch is holding one for poetry and music on Tuesday 2/13, while Black Bird Bookstore and Cafe is holding one for poetry and prose on Wednesday 2/14. Both start at 7pm and are free and open to all.Â
đAce Makerspace in Oakland is holding a two-day book safe-making workshop (just what it sounds like!). Learn to convert weathered tomes into the perfect place to stash your treasures. Saturday 2/17 10am-12pm and Sunday 2/18 1-4pm, $95.
On a sad note
Last Monday, Noe Valleyâs Folio Books announced that theyâre shutting down after 10 years. Their sweet storefront will close at the end of the month; until then, stop in for discounts and goodbyes. If you have a memory to share, theyâd love to hear it!
I donât know why the owners have chosen to close - but I do know itâs HARD to run an independent bookstore in the age of Amazon. Like all of us, Iâm a consumer, and I get the allure of (artificial) cheapness and convenience - but itâs increasingly clear that, when taken to late-stage capitalismâs inevitable extremes, theyâre fundamentally incompatible with community and connection. As the American Booksellersâ Association says, letâs keep indie bookstores from becoming a work of fiction.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, Iâd be grateful if youâd share it with a bookish friend or two (or more, but weâre all introverts here!).
Have an upcoming event youâd like me to include? Want to share an idea or ask a question? Iâd love to hear from you! Just reply to this email or message me on Instagram.
Cheers,
Christina
Same Page SF
Book recommendations are my love language.
A bonus for paid subscribers: each week I feature a book Iâve recently read and wholeheartedly loved.
This weekâs recommendation is a memoir - heartbreaking, harrowing, and unforgettable. Iâm extraordinarily grateful to the author for putting it into the world.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Same Page SF to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.