Book Drives San Francisco

May · Cuba · The Tyranny of Flies

For May, we're reading the novel The Tyranny of Flies by Elaine Vilar Madruga (Cuba). Please see the Goodreads link for the complete description: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199865473-the-tyranny-of-flies?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_13](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199865473-the-tyranny-of-flies?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_13). 256 pages, audiobook and e-book available.

East Bay Women's Book Club May Meetup: Best Offer Wins

Hello, fellow female readers -- The book for the May Meetup is 'Best Offer Wins,' by Marisa Kashino, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick and An ELLE Best Mystery/Thriller. For those of you who are new, I will send out the address to my house by Monday, May 18. Looking forward to gathering together and discussing the book. Bonnie

Book, Coffee, Chit Chat, etc. (Wednesday Edition)

ATTENTION: We are now meeting in person again! Please follow current recommendations around mask usage to keep everyone safe. Masks are always welcome and accepted, no matter the current regulations. If you'd like to meet online check out our meeting on the first Wednesday of every month. It's that time again! Let's chit chat about the books we exchanged last time and welcome newcomers bringing their first book. If you've been before you know the deal, otherwise just bring a book to share and expect to say both a few words about it and why you want to share it.

June Book Club: Go As a River by Shelley Read

ABOUT THE BOOK Seventeen-year-old Victoria Nash runs the household on her family’s peach farm in the small ranch town of Iola, Colorado—the sole surviving female in a family of troubled men. Wilson Moon is a young drifter with a mysterious past, displaced from his tribal land and determined to live as he chooses. Victoria encounters Wil by chance on a street corner, a meeting that profoundly alters both of their young lives, igniting as much passion as danger. When tragedy strikes, Victoria leaves the only life she has ever known, fleeing into the surrounding mountains, where she struggles to survive in the wilderness with no clear notion of what her future will bring. As the seasons change, she also charts the changes in herself, finding in the beautiful but harsh landscape the meaning and strength to move forward and rebuild all that she has lost, even as the Gunnison River threatens to submerge her homeland—its ranches, farms, and the beloved peach orchard that has been in her family for generations. Inspired by true events surrounding the destruction of the town of Iola in the 1960s, Go as a River is a story of deeply held love in the face of hardship and loss, but also of finding courage, resilience, friendship, and, finally, home—where least expected. This stunning debut explores what it means to lead your life as if it were a river—gathering and flowing, finding a way forward even when a river is dammed.

May Book Club: Solaris by Stanisław Lem

Book 88: Brother Bronte by Fernando Flores

I saw this on a New York Times list of recommended books and thought it looked interesting. According to their review, “Fernando A. Flores’s new novel imagines a bleak world where books are illegal and deprivation is the norm. It’s a blast.” Excited to dive into this one with you all! -Jessica \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **How it works:** We’ll meet at a local brewery for some drinks and conversation. Finishing the book is not a requirement to attend—as long as you don't mind spoilers! We’ll have an unstructured, informal discussion of the book and the themes that the book brings up. We hope to see you there! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Two women fight to save their dystopian border town―and literature―in this gonzo near-future adventure. The year is 2038, and the formerly bustling town of Three Rivers, Texas, is a surreal wasteland. Under the authoritarian thumb of its tech industrialist mayor, Pablo Henry Crick, the town has outlawed reading and forced most of its mothers to work as indentured laborers at the Big Tex Fish Cannery, which poisons the atmosphere and lines Crick’s pockets. Scraping by in this godforsaken landscape are best friends Proserpina and Neftalí. One of Three Rivers’ last literate citizens, Neftalí hides and reads the books of the mysterious renegade author Jazzmin Monelle Rivas, whose last novel, Brother Brontë, is finally in Neftalí’s possession. But after a series of increasingly violent atrocities committed by Crick’s forces, Neftalí and Proserpina, with the help of a wounded Bengal tigress, three scheming triplets, and an underground network of rebel tías, rise up to reclaim their city―and in the process, unlock Rivas’s connection to Three Rivers itself. An adventure that only the acclaimed Fernando A. Flores could dream up, Brother Brontë is a mordant, gonzo romp through a ruined world that, in its dysfunction, tyranny, and disparity, feels uncannily like our own. With his most ambitious book yet, Flores once again bends what fiction can do, in the process crafting a moving and unforgettable story of perseverance.

Bonus Discussion: Sunrise on the Reaping

Let's finish off the series and read the next prequel -- Sunrise on the Reaping! These meetings will happen in addition to our regular book club discussions, so don't worry if you are not into the series. We will still meet regularly for our monthly discussions. ***Book Summary***: When you've been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for? As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch's name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He's torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who's nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he's been set up to fail. But there's something in him that wants to fight... and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

Read in the park: 4th meetup

Grab your book, a blanket, and come read with us in Golden Gate Park 📚 ​Read in the Park is a laid-back, in-person gathering for people who love books and good company. No agenda, no book club assigned reading, just show up with whatever you're currently reading and spend a couple of hours outside with like-minded people. ​Our first event brought together 20+ readers and it was honestly everything. So we're doing it again. ​**What to bring:** ​→ Your current read - physical book, Kindle, or audiobook → A blanket or something to sit on → A jacket! SF weather is unpredictable and Golden Gate Park can get windy → Snacks if you want *** ​**What should I expect?** ​2:00 PM → Arrive, find a good spot, get settled 2:00–3:00 PM → We read! Settle in, get cozy, enjoy the park 3:00–4:00 PM → Conversations - get to know each other, share what you're reading or listening to, swap book recommendations, and chat about genres you love 4:00 PM → Wrap up, linger, make new friends *** ​**Who's invited?** ​Anyone who loves books, being outside, and meeting good people. Lots of folks came solo to our first event, don't be shy, you'll fit right in! *** ​**What about parking?** ​Golden Gate Park on a Saturday can get busy! We recommend arriving by 1:30–1:45 PM if you're driving. Free street parking is available in the area but spots fill up fast. Public transit is also a great option. *** ​**Will this event be photographed?** ​Photos and short video clips may be taken for promotional purposes. By attending, you consent to being photographed. If you'd prefer not to be in photos, just let us know when you arrive and we'll make sure to respect that!

Dungeon Crawler Carl @ Southern Pacific Brewing

Come enjoy a drink at Southern Pacific Brewing and discuss our May read! Our book for May is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Hope to see you there!

May 2026 Book Discussion: Aftertaste - Daria Lavelle

The results are in! The book we'll be reading and discussing for our May meetup is: Aftertaste by Daria Lavelle. ***Summary***: Konstantin Duhovny is a haunted man. His father died when he was ten, and ghosts have been hovering around Kostya ever since. Kostya can’t exactly see the ghosts, but he can taste their favorite foods. Flavors of meals he’s never eaten will flood his mouth, a sign that a spirit is present. Kostya has kept these *aftertastes* a secret for most of his life, but one night, he decides to act on what he’s tasting. And everything changes. Kostya discovers that he can reunite people with their deceased loved ones—at least for the length of time it takes for them to eat a dish that he’s prepared. He thinks his life’s purpose might be to offer closure to grieving strangers, and sets out to learn all he can by entering a particularly fiery ring of Hell: the New York culinary scene. But as his kitchen skills catch up with his ambitions, Kostya is too blind to see the catastrophe looming in the Afterlife. And the one person who knows Kostya must be stopped also happens to be falling in love with him. Set in the bustling world of New York restaurants and teeming with mouthwatering food writing, *Aftertaste* is a whirlwind romance, a heart-wrenching look at love and loss, and a ghost story about all the ways we hunger—and how far we’d go to find satisfaction. Lavelle’s debut is a multi-course tasting menu of a book that will sate, delight, excite, comfort, and inspire even the pickiest of readers.

FICTION: The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett

**For our May pick, I've chosen The Road to Tender Hearts, by Annie Hartnett.** I'm a sucker for a good cross-country road trip story. This one is described as "**A darkly comic and warm-hearted novel about an old man on a cross-country mission to reunite with his high school crush—bringing together his adult daughter, two orphaned kids, and a cat who can predict death".** https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218460347-the-road-to-tender-hearts "In an author's note at the end of the book, Hartnett explains that THE ROAD TO TENDER HEARTS was born out of a challenge she set herself --- to write a funny novel about some of the worst tragedies that can befall people. It’s safe to say that she succeeds. The book is wise, witty and emotional without ever veering into sappiness. PJ's journey is a literal one, but it's also metaphorical." - [Norah Piehl, bookreporter](https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/the-road-to-tender-hearts) Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Thanks!

Let’s read “Isola" by Allegra Goodman