About us
Our mission is to foster feminist community in San Diego primarily via a shared love of books, but also through a shared love of movies, plays, speaker series, food, drink, and whatever other shared loves we discover. We're a social group open to people of all identities who consider themselves feminist and want to expand their feminist network and knowledge.
A $2-3 donation is requested at all of our events, but definitely not required. This group is a labor of love for me, and it's important to me that our events remain free and accessible to as many people as possible. That said, my time is valuable, and organizing is work, so if I collect any money over what is needed to pay the Meetup fees, I keep it. To pay me for the work I do here, you can give in person, or through PayPal or Venmo (@Jessica-Cole-100)
We also have a storefront at https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG.
San Diego Feminist Book Group was founded in January 2009 by Keely Hyslop. It has since been organized by Jess Reliford, Rainey Reitman, Angela Thelan, and Christine Grisham, before Jessica Cole took over organizing duties in July 2015. The following is its original description, written by Keely Hyslop, which still holds pretty true, though our ballots are pretty casual so I don't know that they can truly be called secret.
We will read promiscuously from a variety of feminist camps like 2nd wave, 3rd wave, pro-sex feminism, anti-porn feminism, Black feminism (or womanism as coined by Alice Walker), lesbian feminism, MTF/FTM transgender rights, riot grrrl movement, third world feminism, radical feminism, eco feminism, post-modernist feminism, women's suffrage, etc. We're going to look at feminism from a big picture perspective and then take a fine-tooth comb and look for the feminism that is hidden under a rock in the corner. No feminist subject will be taboo! The meetings will be a safe-space for open discussions of different viewpoints where everyone gets a fair chance to express their opinion and no one gets shouted down (unless they're using outright hate speech). Books will be selected democratically with a jury style discussion of book suggestions followed by a secret ballot, so think of a book or two you'd like the group to read and bring it up at the meeting.
Upcoming events
3
June 2026: Dawn by Octavia Butler
Location not specified yetIt's time for in person book club! We'll chat for 15-20 minutes to start, then get into the book. Around 4:45, we'll vote for future books, so please bring suggestions.
(We know this one is a little short notice, so please join us even if you haven't read/finished the book!)StoryGraph description for Dawn: Lilith Iyapo has just lost her husband and son when atomic fire consumes Earth—the last stage of the planet’s final war. Hundreds of years later Lilith awakes, deep in the hold of a massive alien spacecraft piloted by the Oankali—who arrived just in time to save humanity from extinction. They have kept Lilith and other survivors asleep for centuries, as they learned whatever they could about Earth. Now it is time for Lilith to lead them back to her home world, but life among the Oankali on the newly resettled planet will be nothing like it was before.
The Oankali survive by genetically merging with primitive civilizations—whether their new hosts like it or not. For the first time since the nuclear holocaust, Earth will be inhabited. Grass will grow, animals will run, and people will learn to survive the planet’s untamed wilderness. But their children will not be human. Not exactly.
* * *
SDFBG currently costs the group moderator about $30/month to run, plus her time. It is free to attend, but if you would like to contribute monetarily, it would be appreciated. You can contribute directly through
Venmo: @Jessica-Cole-100
Paypal: paypal.me/SanDiegoFeminist
T
Shop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG4 attendees
July 2026: You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson
Location not specified yetIt's time for in person book club! We'll chat for 15-20 minutes to start, then get into the book. Around 4:45, we'll vote for future books, so please bring suggestions.
StoryGraph description:
You Better Be Lightning by Andrea Gibson is a queer, political, and feminist collection guided by self-reflection. The poems range from close examination of the deeply personal to the vastness of the world, exploring the expansiveness of the human experience from love to illness, from space to climate change, and so much more in between. One of the most celebrated poets and performers of the last two decades, Andrea Gibson's trademark honesty and vulnerability are on full display in You Better Be Lightning, welcoming and inviting readers to be just as they are.
* * *
SDFBG currently costs the group moderator about $30/month to run, plus her time. It is free to attend, but if you would like to contribute monetarily, it would be appreciated. You can contribute directly through
Venmo: @Jessica-Cole-100
Paypal: paypal.me/SanDiegoFeministShop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG
Shop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG
4 attendees
August 2026: Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly
Park Social, 8720 Ariva Ct, Unit 10, San Diego, CA, USIt's time for in person book club! We'll chat for 15-20 minutes to start, then get into the book. Around 4:45, we'll vote for future books, so please bring suggestions.
From the StoryGraph description:
Following in the footsteps of classic feminist manifestos like The Feminine Mystique and Our Bodies, Ourselves, Rage Becomes Her is an eye-opening book for the twenty-first century woman: an engaging, accessible credo offering us the tools to re-understand our anger and harness its power to create lasting positive change.
* * *
SDFBG currently costs the group moderator about $30/month to run, plus her time. It is free to attend, but if you would like to contribute monetarily, it would be appreciated. You can contribute directly through
Venmo: @Jessica-Cole-100
Paypal: paypal.me/SanDiegoFeministShop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG
Shop at our bookstore. 10% of your purchase will support this group. https://bookshop.org/shop/SDFBG
4 attendees
Past events
230
Group links
Organizers
Members
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