Books and Drinks

## Details The title of the event is a paradox! Read in silence and then discuss with like-minded folks! :-) 📝 **How does this work?** We will meet in the Bartley's Restaurant area from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM for silent reading and followed up by discussion. **During silent reading, you're expected to remain silent and read.** Please bring your headphones and refrain from the discussion during the first one hour in the area. 👥 **Socialising** After an hour, at 8:15 PM, we'll discuss and socialize about the book you're reading. We highly encourage you to move between tables and strike up conversations with fellow book lovers. These discussions about literature and reading recommendations are often the highlight of the event! Feel free to join at any point during the event. The event is indoors, hopefully, we can continue the tradition of the silent reading in the winter! **📌 Helpful Tips and Notes** * Bring headphones to block out surrounding noise * I will post a comment on the event page when I arrive to indicate where we're seated, so everyone can find us * If you prefer to skip the silent reading, you can join directly at the bar at 8:15 PM ⚠️**Something Happened?** If something unpleasant happened to you, it may happen to others. It may be small but don't hesitate to reach out to me. Looking forward to meeting you all 😊

**A quest, a literary thriller and a love story, *What We Can Know* spans the past, present and future to ask profound questions about who we are and where we are going.** **2014:** A great poem is read aloud and never heard again. For generations, people speculate about its message, but no copy has yet been found. **2119:** The lowlands of the UK have been submerged by rising seas. Those who survive are haunted by the richness of the world that has been lost. Tom Metcalfe, a scholar at the University of the South Downs, part of Britain's remaining archipelagos, pores over the archives of the early twenty-first century, captivated by the freedoms and possibilities of human life at its zenith. When he stumbles across a clue that may lead to the great lost poem, revelations of entangled love and a brutal crime emerge, destroying his assumptions about a story he thought he knew intimately. ***What We Can Know* is a masterpiece that reclaims the present from our sense of looming catastrophe, and imagines a future world where all is not quite lost.**

• What we'll do About us: The Tibetan Dharma and Meditation Group is part of a Buddhist organisation based in Taiwan, which is centred on one of the greatest living rinpoches (teachers) in the world at the moment. It aims to introduce people living in Ireland to Buddhist teachings and practices that have been passed to Rinpoche through his masters and their masters going back many, many generations in order to benefit and bring peace to all sentient beings. Location: We hold our meetings in the small hall at Sandyford Community Centre, Lambs Cross, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

About us: The Tibetan Dharma and Meditation Group is part of a Buddhist organisation based in Taiwan, which is centred on one of the greatest living Rinpoches (teachers) in the world at the moment. It aims to introduce people living in Ireland to Buddhist teachings and practices that have been passed to Rinpoche through his masters and their masters going back many, many generations in order to benefit and bring peace to all sentient beings. Location: We hold our meetings in the small hall at Sandyford Community Centre, Lambs Cross, Sandyford, Dublin 18.

This month we are reading "The Chemist" by Stephanie Meyer and/or "We, The Drowned" by Carsten Jensen. Join us for chats about the book or anything else. Location TBC

Hello Everyone! Let's read something before coming to the event. It can be a few pages from a book, an article, a poem, an advertisement, a joke, a recipe, a quote, social media content - anything you find interesting. We meet and chat about it, as a starting point of conversation. Please feel free to bring books :)

**Registration/booking on our system at least 24 hours before class is necessary. We do not take walk ins/your rsvp on meetup is not a booking.** BOOK [HERE](themovementstudio.ie/handstandsandcoffee) From beginner to winner! We have a special weekly 2 hour class that is more like a weekly workshop. It's a very social class, with amazing coffee, great coaching, and smiles and good work being done. Fancy trying something new? Spending time safely outside your comfort zone? Please visit themovementstudio.ie/handstandsandcoffee to book your spot Registration/booking is necessary. We do not take walk ins.

📚 Pride Month is a chance to come together around stories that feel lived-in, complicated, and real, and this discussion invites us to sit with those voices rather than just skim them. Its roots go back to the Stonewall Riots, and since then Pride literature has grown into a bold, varied body of work—from Giovanni’s Room to A single man and Normal People, each capturing different shades of love and identity. As we read, the aim isn’t just analysis but conversation—what resonates, what challenges us, and what these stories say about how people find themselves and each other. Let's grab a drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and discuss books on pride —whether poetry, fiction, or non-fiction. Bring your physical book or e-reader. There's no formal structure or agenda—just books and good conversation.💬 It's a perfect place to get book recommendations and rediscover your reading momentum if you've hit a slump. We welcome readers of all backgrounds and interests! ⚠️**Something Happened?** If something unpleasant happened to you, it may happen to others. Even if it seems minor, don't hesitate to reach out to me. 🔍 **How to find us?** * When I reach the venue, I'll leave a comment in the meetup where the group is seated. Normally, the booking is in my name, so you can ask the staff for the group. * If you're unable to find us, leave a comment in the meetup page. I'll be able to guide you. We highly encourage you to move between tables and strike up conversations with fellow book lovers. These discussions about literature and reading recommendations are often the highlight of the event! As an organizer, I'm always looking for feedback about the event and suggestions for new events, so feel free to suggest ideas to me. 💡 I look forward to seeing you all! 😊

**Friday\, 5 June 2026 \| [6pm Free Event and Ticket is mandatory](https://moli.ie/events/first-fridays-june-2026)** Join us on Friday, 5 June, for First Fridays! The museum will be open late from 6pm until 9pm, with free admission and special events throughout the evening. **Erin Fornoff and Patrick O’Laoghaire** Presenting *We Are An Archipelago,* a critically acclaimed, immersive spoken-word and live music performance. 8pm \| Discussion **Joanna Walsh and Temmuz Süreyya Gürbüz** In conversation with Tim Groenland about their new books, *Amateurs!* and *Judith Butler & Film*. We will meet in the cafe and head to the event. See you all!

Join the group for coffee, a chat and bring your project upstairs in Starbucks on Westmoreland Street from 12-2.30pm (or sometimes longer!). There is a lift for those with mobility issues but please check with staff if it's working. There's no charge for the meetup but we ask please that you join our Whatsapp group if you plan on staying with the group. Cost is only €5 a year to pay for Meetup subs etc.

Welcome, readers! Our June read is ***Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible*** ***Voyage*** **by Alfred Lansing.** A work of nonfiction, and one of the most astonishing survival stories in history, we follow Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew after their ship is crushed by Antarctic ice. Stranded in one of the harshest environments on Earth, the men endure months of isolation, freezing temperatures, and near starvation—yet refuse to give up hope. Lansing brings their ordeal to life through vivid detail and firsthand accounts, capturing both the brutality of nature and the resilience of the human spirit. At its core, the story is a powerful testament to leadership, perseverance, and the unbreakable will to survive against impossible odds. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **all** **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Welcome, readers! Our May read is **_Kindred_ by Octavia E. Butler.** The story follows Dana, a Black woman living in 1976 California, who is suddenly pulled back to a Maryland plantation before the Civil War. She learns her survival is tied to a white slaveholder’s son. Forced to move between centuries, she must endure the brutal realities of slavery while fighting to hold on to her identity. Tense, intimate, and unforgettable, Kindred explores how the past refuses to stay buried. Looking forward to discussing with everyone! We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar.** Happy reading! 📖

Join us for Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn! Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the unsolved murder of a preteen girl and the disappearance of another. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story-and survive this homecoming.

Welcome, readers! Our July read is ***A Short Walk Through a Wide World*** *by Douglas Westerbeke*. We'll follow a young woman bound by a mysterious condition that forces her to keep moving across the globe. As she journeys through vibrant cities, quiet landscapes, and centuries of time, each stop reveals new connections, fleeting relationships, and deeper questions about belonging. The novel blends adventure with introspection, exploring what it means to search for home when you can never stay in one place. It’s both a love letter to the vastness of the world and a poignant meditation on identity, memory, and human connection. Looking forward to discussing with everyone We will meet at Zaftig Brewing Co in their event room in the back. We are welcome to bring in our own food, but **drinks must be purchased at the bar** Happy reading!

Big Ohio Book Con "A convention for book lovers all over Ohio (and beyond)! Author panels, signings, bookish vendors, meet & greets, and more!" Featuring more than 100 authors, more than 50 bookish vendors, and plenty of exciting activities throughout the event! Travel with fellow book lovers or meet us at the event. Park for free at the Medina Convention Center, 735 Lafayette Rd., Medina, Ohio 44256, then hop aboard one of the free shuttles whenever you’re ready for your next bookish adventure! The convention spans three neighboring locations, giving you even more to explore and enjoy.

**Our June novel is: *The Eights* by Joanna Miller** **This month’s novel is set during World War I. It’s a 20th-century historical fiction story about friendship and war, with coming-of-age elements and a slightly haunted tone. The book is 384 pages in print and 10 hours and 9 minutes on audiobook.** Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its one-thousand-year history, Oxford University officially admits female students. Burning with dreams of equality, four young women move into neighboring rooms in Corridor 8. Beatrice, Dora, Marianne, and Otto—collectively known as The Eights—come from all walks of life, each driven by their own motives, each holding tight to their secrets, and are thrown into an unlikely, unshakable friendship. Dora was never meant to go to university, but, after losing both her brother and her fiancé on the battlefield, has arrived in their place. Politically-minded Beatrice, daughter of a famous suffragette, sees Oxford as a chance to make her own way - and some friends her own age. Otto was a nurse during the war but is excited to return to her socialite lifestyle in Oxford where she hopes to find distraction from the memories that haunt her. And finally Marianne, the quiet, clever daughter of a village pastor, who has a shocking secret she must hide from everyone, even her new friends, if she is to succeed. Among the historic spires, and in the long shadow of the Great War, the four women must navigate and support one another in a turbulent world in which misogyny is rife, influenza is still a threat, and the ghosts of the Great War don’t always remain dead.

[Columbus library link to book](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3351321) Location: The Goat River South 219 S High St, Columbus, OH 43215 Street parking is free on Sundays [Menu](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/686d3ed16745133042482c5f/t/68ff654dbb03b96875430bde/1761568077220/all_brunch-20250311.pdf) Book summary: On a hot day in Bethlehem, a twelve-year-old Palestinian-American girl is yelled at by a group of men outside the Church of the Nativity. She has exposed her legs in a biblical city, an act they deem forbidden, and their judgement will echo on through her adolescence. When our narrator finally admits to her mother that she is queer, her mother's response only intensifies a sense of shame: 'You exist too much,' she tells her daughter. Told in vignettes that flash between the U.S. and the Middle East--from New York to Jordan, Lebanon, and Palestine--Zaina Arafat's debut novel traces her protagonist's progress from blushing teen to sought-after DJ and aspiring writer.