Women's Book Club for Introverts (30's & 40's)

For this event, I've chosen Chanel Miller's memoir from 2019. I've been wanting to read this one for a while. Miller writes about her experience being sexually assaulted by then Stanford University athlete Brock Turner in January 2015, as well as the aftermath and subsequent court case. I want to give a heads-up on this one as it involves sexual assault and will be an intense read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50196744-know-my-name

"When it was published in 2016, Miller’s letter stunned readers with the clarity of her voice, acuity of her rage and expansiveness of her empathy towards those in need of support. Her story offered other victims a shared language; Miller recalls receiving thousands of supportive letters from women recounting their own stories. Her memoir has this same mix of the intimate with the communal, placing her own pain against a backdrop of shared suffering. At the end of Turner’s sentencing, she feels as if she has climbed a high mountain of justice, a climb that many fellow victims have not been able to scale. Exhausted, she imagines looking down, 'where I imagined expectant victims looking up, waving, cheering, expectantly … What could I tell them? The system does not exist for you.' Against a system that leads victims to recede into their own spheres of private suffering, Know My Name creates a space where this pain can sit and receive support from others." — Rebecca Liu, The Guardian

*This event will be held at the Kitava location on Solano Ave in Albany. They have lots of allergen-friendly food options. You can find their menu here: https://www.kitava.com/kitava-albany-menus/

Please reach out if you have any questions. Thanks!

For this event, I've chosen this debut novel by Shoshana von Blanckensee. Shoshana lives in Berkeley and has a day job as an Oncology Nurse. I'm a sucker for a novel about San Francisco AND the 90s! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219301745-girls-girls-girls

"Girls Girls Girls is a gorgeous, tender, and hopeful coming-of-age novel. von Blanckensee writes with wisdom and insight about self-discovery, first loves, queer community in 90s San Francisco, what it means to carve out a life for yourself, and ultimately, what and who makes a home. It’s a road trip novel in the literal and metaphorical sense, a love letter to queerness, youth, and the courage it takes to leave so that one day you may return. Girls Girls Girls is a triumph, a big beating heart of a book, full of hard-fought victories. I loved every second of it.” —Marisa Crane, author of A Sharp Endless Need

*Note, this event will take place at Adega Azul, a local wine bar on Gilman Street. You can find their menu here: https://adegaazul.com/berkeley-westbrae-gilman-district-adega-azul-wine-bar-food-menu

Please reach out if you have any questions. Thanks!

For this event, I've chosen this memoir by Veena Dinavahi. If you're like me and have watched endless cult documentaries (NXIVM, anyone?), then I think this book might be for you. I'm excited and anxious at the same time. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215361994-the-true-happiness-company

"In this revelatory debut, Veena traces the contours of her life to explore the question that plagued her in the years afterward: how did I fall for that? And what will it mean to move forward?

Told with unflinching clarity and shot through with incisive wit, The True Happiness Company is Veena Dinavahi’s singular exploration of what it means to lose and reclaim your identity, rethink mental illness, and learn to trust your intuition in a world determined to annihilate it." — Nowhere Bookshop

*This event will be held at the Sana’a cafe location on New Montgomery Street in downtown San Francisco. https://www.instagram.com/sanaa_cafe

Please reach out if you have any questions. Thanks!

For this event, I've chosen Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. I've seen this book EVERYWHERE for the last few years, and I finally picked it up at a little free library. I'm ready to finally find out what all of the fuss is about! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58784475-tomorrow-and-tomorrow-and-tomorrow

"Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is as intricate as the games that Sadie and Sam devise, all of them stories-within-stories inside this novel. This is a sweeping narrative about a male-female relationship that's not romantic, but, rather, grounded on shared passions and fierce arguments. For instance, Sadie wants to make art: She wants their games to be difficult and beautiful. Sam, a former sick kid who cherished escapism, prioritizes entertainment...Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow satisfies the aspirations of both Sadie and Sam: It's a big, beautifully written novel about an underexplored topic, that succeeds in being both serious art and immersive entertainment." — Maureen Corrigan, NPR

*This event will be held at Gott's Roadside in the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco. They have a large outdoor patio plus indoor seating. You can find their menu here: https://www.gotts.com/menu/

Please reach out if you have any questions. Thanks!