About us
Meet other fans of Lesbian Literature here in Seattle. Chat about books while meeting fellow queer ladies who like to read and socialize. You can jump in and join anytime!
Meeting Structure: The meetings are structured to discuss the books and get to know each other. We start with introductions, something we thought about the book (longer than a paragraph, shorter than a page), then we launch into discussion. We discuss the book and the issues discussed in the book for about an hour and a half. Then we end with our names again, last thoughts on the book and any activities/events/announcements people want to share with the group.
You are welcome to attend the meeting if you haven't read the book or haven't finished the book, especially if you're trying to determine if it's the right fit for you. We have on average about 20 women at every book club, often more, sometimes less.
Where we meet: We meet at Gay City Health at 400 E. Pine St.
After book club: Many of us head over to Elliott Bay Book Store where we pick up the next month's book. We're an official book club with Elliott Bay, so they have enough books in stock for our group and we get a 20% discount. To get the book, simply go to the front counter and tell them you are there to get the Seattle Lesbian Literature Book Club Book. It's often helpful to know the title of the book. (They usually stock our books one or two months in advance.)
After Elliott Bay: Many of us go out for dinner after we pick up the next month's book. Sometimes during the summer it's just ice cream. We decide together where we go for dinner on the spur of the moment.
Occasional changes to meeting space: In the summer, we may head over to Cal Anderson Park and will discuss the book in the sun. Because Seattle weather is unpredictable, we try to post something a day before about the change in meeting space. We also put a note where we had previously said we would meet and one of the organizers typically meets people at the original meeting space and walks over while the other organizer starts the meeting. Other times of the year, we occasionally have a scheduling conflict with the other events that Gay City puts on, we try to make sure people know about this and the alternative space we are meeting.
Parking Advice: Seattle Central Community College has a lot on Pine and Harvard that is $15 all day and evening, so you don't have to worry about parking meter duration.
Picking Books: We are always on the lookout for for books that might be good. If you have any book suggestions, please fill out this form https://forms.gle/f3i2ikEYXgm62qBq8.
Upcoming events
4
May Book Club - "Thunder Song" by Sasha LaPointe
400 E Pine St, Seattle, WA, UShttps://www.elliottbaybook.com/item/bpbaCfxrCRbjisF42uSUwg
"Blending beautiful family history with her own personal memories, LaPointe’s writing is a ballad against amnesia, and a call to action for healing, for decolonization, for hope." —Elle
The author of the award-winning memoir Red Paint returns with a razor-sharp, clear-eyed collection of essays on what it means to be a proudly queer indigenous woman in the United States today.
Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.
Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue from the miraculous to the mundane, from the spiritual to the physical, as they examine the role of art—in particular music—and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.
7 attendeesJune Book Club - "The Grief Keeper" by Alexandra Villasante
400 E Pine St, Seattle, WA, UShttps://www.elliottbaybook.com/item/3bfSPEKfdTdDsJdLox22UA
LAMBDA AWARD-WINNER. Now in paperback. A tender and timely tale that explores the heartbreak and consequences of when both love and human beings are branded illegal.
Seventeen-year-old Marisol and her little sister Gabi are detainees of the United States Government. Fleeing the gang that killed her older brother in El Salvador and consumed by her guilt over his death, Marisol will do anything to keep Gabi safe--including consenting to an experimental procedure. For the chance to stay in the United States, Marisol becomes a grief keeper, taking the grief of strangers into her body, relieving them of their pain as she lives through it. Although Marisol agrees to risk her own health and mental well-being, she never imagined that one of the risks would be falling in love. Her shared connection with a troubled but beautiful teenage girl erupts into a powerful love that just might be enough to save each of them from their crushing grief.
3 attendeesJuly Book Club - "The Safekeep" by Yael van der Wouden
400 E Pine St, Seattle, WA, UShttps://www.elliottbaybook.com/item/gQpiPqSJBXhPnf53PmcUGg
* SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 BOOKER PRIZE *
* WINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION *
* WINNER OF THE 2025 WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION *Shortlisted for the 2025 Dylan Thomas Prize and Aspen Words Literary Prize • A Best Book of 2024: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Time, The Economist, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), Kirkus Reviews, The Independent, BookPage, The Sunday Times (London)
“Remarkable…Compelling…Fine and taut…Indelible.” —The New York Times • “Moving, unnerving, and deeply sexy.” —Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with the Pearl Earring • “A brilliant debut, as multi-faceted as a gem.” —Kirkus Reviews
A “razor-sharp, perfectly plotted” (The Sunday Times, London) tale of desire, suspicion, and obsession between two women staying in the same house in the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961—a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII and the darker parts of our collective past.
A house is a precious thing...
It is 1961 and the rural Dutch province of Overijssel is quiet. Bomb craters have been filled, buildings reconstructed, and the war is truly over. Living alone in her late mother’s country home, Isabel knows her life is as it should be—led by routine and discipline. But all is upended when her brother Louis brings his graceless new girlfriend Eva, leaving her at Isabel’s doorstep as a guest, to stay for the season.
Eva is Isabel’s antithesis: she sleeps late, walks loudly through the house, and touches things she shouldn’t. In response, Isabel develops a fury-fueled obsession, and when things start disappearing around the house—a spoon, a knife, a bowl—Isabel’s suspicions begin to spiral. In the sweltering peak of summer, Isabel’s paranoia gives way to infatuation, leading to a discovery that unravels all Isabel has ever known. The war might not be well and truly over after all, and neither Eva—nor the house in which they live—are what they seem.
Mysterious, sophisticated, sensual, and infused with intrigue, atmosphere, and sex, The Safekeep is “a brave and thrilling debut about facing up to the truth of history, and to one’s own desires” (The Guardian).
6 attendees
Past events
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