Book Drives San Francisco

East Bay Women's Book Club September Meetup: The Correspondent

Hello, fellow female readers -- The book for the September Meetup is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans For those of you who are new, I will send out the address to my house by Monday, August 14. Looking forward to gathering together and discussing the book. Bonnie

Book 92: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine

NOTE: we had a conflict on the first Wednesday of October so we have two meetings in September. This one was recommended by a fellow book club member. A tragicomic love story set in Lebanon, a modern saga of family, memory, and the unbreakable attachment of a son and his mother. Excited to read it! \- 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! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “Alameddine is a writer with a boundless imagination.”—NPR From the winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction comes a tragicomic love story set in Lebanon, a modern saga of family, memory, and the unbreakable attachment of a son and his mother In a tiny Beirut apartment, sixty-three-year-old Raja and his mother live side by side. A beloved high school philosophy teacher and “the neighborhood homosexual,” Raja relishes books, meditative walks, order, and solitude. Zalfa, his octogenarian mother, views her son’s desire for privacy as a personal affront. She demands to know every detail of Raja’s work life and love life, boundaries be damned. When Raja receives an invite to an all-expenses-paid writing residency in America, the timing couldn’t be better. It arrives on the heels of a series of personal and national disasters that have left Raja longing for peace and quiet away from his mother and the heartache of Lebanon. But what at first seems a stroke of good fortune soon leads Raja to recount and relive the very disasters and past betrayals he wishes to forget. Told in Raja’s irresistible and wickedly funny voice, the novel dances across six decades to tell the unforgettable story of a singular life and its absurdities—a tale of mistakes, self-discovery, trauma, and maybe even forgiveness. Above all, The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) is a wildly unique and sparkling celebration of love.

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.

Reading Group #32: Behave

Thank you to everyone who voted for our next reading! We will be reading [Behave, by Robert Sapolsky](https://www.amazon.com/Behave-Biology-Humans-Best-Worst/dp/0143110918/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=185640360919&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8m5zMolcM56CW1dLiaitGI3e263eV1M7LIK_TqNqcGIfNFuf1r0Q8uyTCBGQE30qfnHSES0v7kzleJ5ZnV9dWsj8giV3SPFEsZIfSCmzQBKfYuoiv2YfzgDaIfqYexk2_TtO3huixKm1qPmdfzVRSH-DLGvDXG7HpBJJDugp-qerq6ICYSk_jP9A_aZKHBdRwR7-dFT7CDpom8SE-W2UEPwOu1kxbxWKk4_GpPlpbd0.d2xTbSMImYAyiirH3vgk8Bxn7d4omGqESe6yKpxkdHo&dib_tag=se&hvadid=792782291971&hvdev=t&hvexpln=0&hvlocint=9031944&hvlocphy=9208984&hvnetw=g&hvocijid=17402560853573214321--&hvqmt=e&hvrand=17402560853573214321&hvtargid=kwd-306996294457&hydadcr=14865_13744959_2453105&keywords=robert+sapolsky+behave&mcid=9ba5a3b845b738f490d5ff9b8bfbf4c0&qid=1783192780&sr=8-1) \- specifically\, the first 6 chapters\! If you're attending in person, please be sure to register here as well, so you can get into the building: https://luma.com/san-francisco-cognitive-science-reading--35cc If you'd like to dial in remotely, please leave a comment and we'll get that set up for you. If no-one comments, it'll be in person only. Thank you! Tom

September Book Club: The Poet Empress at Book Society

(4th Saturday Richmond District Edition). Books, Coffee, Chit Chat

Bring what you’re reading and we’ll have an interesting group conversation (novels, non-fiction, essays, poetry, romance, cookbooks, science fiction & fantasy, etc.) This “4th Saturday Richmond District Edition” is designed to accommodate the overflow from Emily’s 2nd Saturday Richmond District Book Chat. If you are not able to attend Emily’s Group, then please feel free to join this 4th Saturday version. We meet in the back patio of Bazaar Café (lovely place). If it rains, we’ll meet inside the Café.

Let’s read “How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water" by Angie Cruz

Rambler Readers September Meeting

Location: Margaret's house in Santa Clara. Attendees will receive an email with the address several days prior to the meeting. Potluck, Margaret will provide a main dish, we provide everything else. This month's book selection: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans About the book: Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime. Future Books: Oct: MB Nov: MR Dec: MT

Discussion: Kin by Tayari Jones

Soooo everyone has been reading and talking about this one — from [Oprah's Book Club](https://www.oprah.com/book/oprahs-book-club-kin-by-tayari-jones_1?editors_pick_id=26790) to [President Obama's Summer Reading List](https://www.obama.org/stories/president-obama-summer-favorites-2026/). Lets get into it and see what the hype is about, shall we?! Personal spoiler: I'M INTO IT (half way done). So many topics too explore! Excited for our lively discussion which will be facilitated by our lovely, long time member Kena! Brionna 🤎 **Book description:** Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood, but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother’s death, Vernice leaves Atlanta at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and marries into an affluent family. Annie, abandoned by her dissolute mother as a child, and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, and culminate in a battle for her life. **Getting the Book:** If you'd like to shop local and Black-owned there’s the beloved Marcus Books. You can give them a call to reserve a copy and visit them at: **Marcus Books - 1 (510) 652-2344** 3900 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94609 This book is also available at the Oakland Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library. The audiobook is also included in Spotify Premium subscription. Wanna suggest a book for our reading list? Fill out this [Book Recommendation Form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeylvP8o3M5ekE96RJTNSeSSmugeXzBFi4mY0Zc2BjAsasCTw/viewform).

September · Spain · Discontent

For September, we're reading the novel Discontent by Beatriz Serrano (Spain). Please see the Goodreads link for the complete description: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237687965-discontent?ref=nav_sb_ss_4_10](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/237687965-discontent?ref=nav_sb_ss_4_10). 194 pages, e-book and audiobook versions available.

September Book Club: The Ten Year Affair

The end of summer is quickly approaching, so it’s time to jump into a new book! For the next meet up in September, we’ll be reading The Ten Year Affair by Erin Somers. The Marin library system has plenty of copies available. Happy reading!

September’s Book: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

What if you woke up inside your favorite unfinished fantasy series — and discovered the world had no intention of playing by the rules? In Ilona Andrews' wildly imaginative new novel, Maggie goes to bed in her Texas apartment and wakes up cold, naked, and starving in the grimy streets of Kair Toren — the medieval city she knows chapter and verse from the dark fantasy series she's been obsessively rereading for a decade. Her encyclopedic knowledge of the plot should be her superpower. Except the story keeps going off-script, the characters she loves can die even if she can't, and knowing how things are *supposed* to end may not be enough to stop them. Part portal fantasy, part political thriller, part slow-burn romance — *This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me* is a love letter to fantasy readers that asks some surprisingly sharp questions: What does it mean to try to save a world you only know from the page? And what happens when the fictional people you love become real? Come ready to talk about Maggie's impossible choices, the meta layers of a reader trapped in her own fandom, and whether knowledge is truly power — or just another way to be surprised.