Novel Reading

📚 Do you love reading, but wish you had a structure and a community to share your insights with? Join our small circle of curious minds (just 4 members per gathering) as we come together for an hour of focused reading—in the calm setting of a library or the cozy atmosphere of a café. Here’s how it works: First part: Quiet reading on your own—bring a book you’re exploring, whether it’s philosophy, history, psychology, literature, or anything meaningful to you. Second part: We regroup and each person shares key takeaways, insights, or questions sparked by their reading. This sparks a structured yet free-flowing conversation around ideas, perspectives, and personal reflections. Why join? Add structure to your reading habit. Discover new books, authors, and ideas through others’ choices. Build real connections by sharing and listening deeply. Socialize around something meaningful instead of small talk.

Join us for another lowkey writing session! Bring your laptop, iPad, or notebook so that you can get some words down! We will start around 6:00 as people filter in. Writing, chatting, and casual introductions will go on until 6:30 as people arrive and grab food and drinks, when we will do a round-table to introduce ourselves, our genres and writing styles, and what we are looking for from the group. After that, we can buckle down to do some writing and make ourselves be productive! I will try to snag the big community table to the right of the registers at Tatte, or sit against the back wall with a couple of tables pulled together, so you can look for me there. I'll post in the comments when I arrive, so feel free to check there or message me if you are feeling lost or having difficulty finding the group. I'll look forward to meeting you all! Our next workshop will take place on the Monday following this one, so look forward to that, as well!

**New Ride w/GPS below**: Loop the Lakes (LTL) plus Lollipop Loop - Ride is through biking trails around both Mercer plus Lollipop Loop and Burke Lakes with dirt, gravel, & paved surfaces. There are some hills on this ride. Helmets are required to participate in all NOVA-CBG rides. **+++++++++++++++++++++** **The Ride: Summary** **(Must Read)** **+++++++++++++++++++++** * RIDE NAME: Loop the Lakes plus Lollipop Loop (14.8 Miles) * START LOC: South Run Rec Center * START GPS: [https://goo.gl/maps/tac8sEttpFm](https://goo.gl/maps/tac8sEttpFm) * START PARKING PIC: [https://goo.gl/pz8LWb](https://goo.gl/pz8LWb) Drive all the way to the very end and park directly in front of the South Run Field House at the very bottom of parking area. * ARRIVAL: 6:00pm * SPEECH: 6:10pm * ROLLING: 6:15pm * LEVEL: Medium skill, \~50% packed gravel. * PACE: 10+ mph * DISTANCE: 15 miles * TERRAIN: dirt, gravel, & paved trails * **NEW RIDEWITHGPS ROUTE:** CBG_LTL_15_N_LOLLY_CW_2019 https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28697888 **NOTES:** * It's cooler in the shade. * This is not your normal CBG ride - READ THE MEETUP! * Show up with FULL water bottles. * Carry a spare inner tube that fits your bike. (Restroom are open in South Run Recreation Center at the Start). * Rocks, Roots, and Gravel-oh my **+++++++++++++++++++++** **The Ride : Detail** **+++++++++++++++++++++** For your riding pleasure, NoVA CBG presents Loop the Lakes plus and Additional Loop. Come on out and try a Medium skill level trail and gravel ride. Please note, this is not your normal CBG ride. If you are unsure of your riding ability in general, then this in NOT the ride for you. However, if you are a solid beginner(+) cyclist and you can handle some hills and gravelly situations you will have to "up your game" a little but please come on out and give this ride a try!! It's really something different and fun!! 1. This ride loops around the mostly paved but hilly Lake Mercer (clockwise) but halfway through at the Dam we take a group picture and go accross Hoos Lane for an additional loop then... 2. We finish going around Lake Mercer (with some fun hills) and when done we... 3. Head over to Burke Lake to do a loop there (also clockwise and gravelly) and then... 4. Finish it all up back to where it started. A hybrid, gravel, or mountain bike is required (NO SKINNY TIRES / NO ROAD BIKES). **+++++++++++++++++++++** **The Meeting Spot:** **+++++++++++++++++++++** South Run Rec Center 7550 Reservation Dr Springfield, VA 22153 * GPS: [https://goo.gl/maps/tac8sEttpFm](https://goo.gl/maps/tac8sEttpFm) * PARKING INFO: [https://goo.gl/pz8LWb](https://goo.gl/pz8LWb) Drive all the way to the very bottom end of parking and park directly in front of the South Run Field House. **+++++++++++++++++++++** **Ride after the Ride** **+++++++++++++++++++++** Ride After the Ride (RAtR): Google Maps Hyperlink: [Anita's](https://www.google.com/maps/place/9278+Old+Keene+Mill+Rd,+Burke,+VA+22015/@38.7763792,-77.2650376,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x89b652129574e76b:0x215f0e7c2b3c254b!8m2!3d38.7763792!4d-77.2650376!16s%2Fg%2F11bw4fz95_?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDUwNi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D), 9278 Old Keene Mill Rd, Burke, VA \~3 miles by car from ride location. **+++++++++++++++++++++** **Ride Level Chart** **+++++++++++++++++++++** NoVA CBG tries to accommodate all levels of cyclists by offering different types/levels of rides. We just ask that you come to the ride that suits your current riding ability the best. * Introductory Level: If you haven't ridden a bike in a number of years (or are uncertain of your abilities on a bicycle). * Beginner Level: You can ride for 10+ miles at a pace of 10+ to 12+ mph with potentially minor hills involved. * Medium Level: You can ride for 20+ miles at a pace of 13+ to 15+ mph with potentially moderate hills involved. * Advanced Level: You can ride for 20++ miles at a pace of 15+ mph with potentially major hills involved. Both Medium and Advanced Levels might require handling various challenges such as reading cue sheets, using a Garmin or navigation app, night riding, out of town travel, or any other odd cycling situations. **+++++++++++++++++++++** **The Fine Print:** **+++++++++++++++++++++** An RSVP of 'YES' is your digital signature and means you have read and understood MEETUP.com's: * "Terms of Service : Section 6. Release" found at https://www.meetup.com/terms/ * NOVA-CBG's "Assumption of Risk Agreement" found @ https://www.meetup.com/novacbg/pages/1942951/NOVA-CBG_Waiver/ Helmets are required to participate in all NOVA-CBG rides. All riders ride at their own risk and with the understanding that cycling is an inherently dangerous activity. When coming to the meetup you do so voluntarily and are ready and able to participate in the ride as described under the conditions of the day. Be on time for the "pre-ride" preparation. If you do not attend the pre-ride preparation you will not be allowed to participate on the ride. There are NO exceptions to the above. ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

We’re excited to bring the community together for an evening of learning and connection. This time, we'll have a community member from PagerDuty sharing a use case and, as usual, an Elastic employee sharing their expertise as well. Come support your fellow developers, learn something new, and meet others who are passionate about search, observability, and security. **Date and Time:** Monday, June 29th, from 5:30-7:30 pm EDT **Location:** Elastic Arlington Office - 4100 Fairfax Drive, Ste 500, Arlington, VA 22203 **Agenda:** * 5:30 pm: Doors open; say hi, grab a seat, and eat some food. * 6:00 pm: **Beyond the Alert: Scaling Incident Response with Elastic, PagerDuty, and MCP**, by Nick Worthington, Senior Solutions Consultant at PagerDuty * 6:30 pm: Q&A with Nick * 6:40 pm: **Observability AI Agents - Behind the Scenes,** by Josh Phifer, Principal Solutions Architect at Elastic * 7:10 pm: Q&A with Josh * 7:20-7:30 pm: Networking & refreshments **Talk Abstracts:** **Beyond the Alert: Scaling Incident Response with Elastic, PagerDuty, and MCP** In this session, we will dive into the next generation of the Elastic and PagerDuty integration. Discover how to leverage Model Context Protocol (MCP) and advanced automation workflows to ingest telemetry, contextualize alerts, and trigger automated remediations. Learn how to reduce MTTR and eliminate alert fatigue, turning your incident management framework into a scalable operation. **​** ​**Observability AI Agents - Behind the Scenes** ​In the age of AI, nearly every observability platform offers some form of intelligent assistance — from automated root cause analysis and incident triage to query generation and dashboard creation. Yet for most users, these AI agents remain black boxes: powerful, but opaque. ​What principles guide their design? How do they reason over telemetry data? And what if you need to customize, extend, or build agents tailored to your organization’s workflows? In this talk, we’ll peel back the curtain on observability AI agents. We’ll explore the reasoning strategies, and orchestration tools that power them. Finally, we’ll dive into how Elastic’s AgentBuilder and Workflow ecosystem enable teams to move beyond out-of-the-box automation - empowering you to shape and build the agent experience your operations demand. **Parking:** * The building’s parking garage is operated by Colonial Parking and is located off N. Randolph Street * Book a spot on[ SpotHero](https://spothero.com/search?kind=address&latitude=38.8818514&longitude=-77.1095268&search_string=4100+Fairfax+Dr+%23500%2C+Arlington%2C+VA+22203%2C+USA) * A Metro Station is located across the street

Call 202-797-9826 with any questions and to register! You are welcome to arrive 15 minutes early for refreshments! Are past negative experiences hindering your ability to live a happy life? Are you ruled by negative emotions? Possibly you have a thought or emotion that hangs around for days and you just can't shake it. What is all this stress, anxiety, insecurity, drama and self doubt? It's just crazy! It's not the real you. You **can** find out what is at the root of all this. There **IS** technology to relieve the pain of a lifetime. This in-person event is an introduction to how to handle irrational emotion. Areas you can be helped with: Control of unwanted emotions Lack of confidence Grief Anxiety Anger management Creating ideal relationships Depression Memory and more... This is an in-person class that can start you on the way to a better life, more confidence and less negativity. All the happiness you have lies within you. Let's find it! We only use natural proven techniques, called Dianetics; no drugs or labeling. This Zoom webinar is an introduction to proven techniques from the book "Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health". This group is sponsored by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Washington, D.C.

No sign\-ups required \| All levels welcome \| 21\+ If you're looking for a casual game of chess in a fun atmosphere, this event is for you! Members range from beginner to master level, and games are played both with and without time controls. There are dozens of players each week, with only a fraction of the participants registering on meetup. This event is held at a bar, the Board Room, in Washington, DC, and is intended for 21+ players. We meet upstairs, on the mezzanine. Upon arrival, fill out a name tag and indicate your relative skill, to facilitate match-ups. Chess sets and boards are provided. We don't have club clocks, but most people use the Chess Clock app from Chess.com to play timed games.

This meeting will be dedicated to talking about the entirety of "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon Due to recent high popularity of our meetings, we will be having a temporary moratorium new members until a level of member cultivation has occurred. We estimate this will end around July 1st. We will be meeting in the National Portrait Gallery Atrium. To stay up to date with events and discuss meetings or books, you can join our Discord group. Please message me to get added.

We will meet outside as long as the weather is nice. If not, we will move inside. Look out for a comment the morning of each meeting with our exact location. As we are meeting in person, please remember to bring something to read as we usually spend some time sharing our current reads and/or reading when meeting in person. As a reminder, there is no assigned reading; please bring whatever you are currently working on. This group is super casual, sometimes we read and sometimes we talk the whole time. **** NO SHOW POLICY: Due to the high number of members on the waitlist recently we are having to reinstate our no-show policy. If you sign up and no-show to 2 events you will be removed from the group. Reminders are provided weekly to change your RSVP to allow those on the waitlist a chance to come to the meet-up, no 3rd chances with be given. Please be considerate to your fellow members. Thank you! I look forward to reading you!

This is our final discussion of **Jules Verne’s** timeless adventure, **Journey to the Centre of the Earth.** We'll be discussing chapters 31 to the end of the book. We always keep a relaxed pace of about 70–100 pages per week so there is plenty of time to enjoy the story before we gather over coffee, tea, or wine to discuss. **Location:** Busboys and Poets, 235 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park **Metro:** Just 1 block from Takoma Station on the Redline **RSVP Deadline:** Thursday, July 2 (so we can give the venue an accurate headcount) Logistics for the Meetup **Venue courtesy:** Please start a tab at the bar for any food or refreshments. We kindly ask that everyone purchase at least one beverage (coffee, smoothie, wine, etc.) to thank our hosts for providing the meeting space. **The Book Edition:** Warning: Because there are many heavily altered translations of this book, we highly recommend purchasing the Oxford World's Classics edition. It features the complete 45 chapters so we can all stay on the same page! You can order the book from our host Busboys and Poets [at this link.](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-extraordinary-journeys-journey-to-the-centre-of-the-earth-jules-verne/1aafdcac17641bfe?ean=9780199538072&next=t) Or you can order from Amazon [at this link](https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Centre-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0199538077). RSVP to reserve your spot, and feel free to ask questions. Your RSVP helps our host plan for space to accommodate everyone. Can't wait to read with you! [](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=38.974945%2C%20-77.015358) Busboys & Poets 235 Carroll St NW · Washington, DC ##

📚 Do you love reading, but wish you had a structure and a community to share your insights with? Join our small circle of curious minds (just 4 members per gathering) as we come together for an hour of focused reading—in the calm setting of a library or the cozy atmosphere of a café. Here’s how it works: First part: Quiet reading on your own—bring a book you’re exploring, whether it’s philosophy, history, psychology, literature, or anything meaningful to you. Second part: We regroup and each person shares key takeaways, insights, or questions sparked by their reading. This sparks a structured yet free-flowing conversation around ideas, perspectives, and personal reflections. Why join? Add structure to your reading habit. Discover new books, authors, and ideas through others’ choices. Build real connections by sharing and listening deeply. Socialize around something meaningful instead of small talk.

Join us for a discussion of ***The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet* by John Green.** Here's the summary: The Anthropocene is the current geological age, in which human activity has profoundly shaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his ground-breaking, critically acclaimed podcast, John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet - from the QWERTY keyboard and Halley's Comet to Penguins of Madagascar - on a five-star scale. Complex and rich with detail, the Anthropocene's reviews have been praised as 'observations that double as exercises in memoiristic empathy', with over 10 million lifetime downloads. John Green's gift for storytelling shines throughout this artfully curated collection about the shared human experience; it includes beloved essays along with six all-new pieces exclusive to the book. **Let’s meet at Caboose Commons in Fairfax to enjoy some good discussion and meet new friends.**

Come join us to discuss our July pick "Tusk Love" by Thea Guanzon! Book description: A merchant’s daughter who yearns for adventure gets more than she bargained for when she falls for a broodingly handsome stranger in this saucy romantasy from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Wars. “A true delight of a book! Spicy and heartfelt—this one is a winner all around.”—Katee Robert, author of Neon Gods As the daughter of an ambitious merchant, Guinevere’s path has been predetermined: marry into a noble house of the Dwendalian Empire, raise her family’s station, and live quietly as a lordling’s obedient wife. But Guinevere longs for a life unbounded by expectations, for freedom and passion and adventure. Those distant dreams become a sudden reality when her caravan is beset by bandits, leaving her guards slain and Guinevere stranded alone on the dangerous Amber Road. Her only chance of survival is to travel alongside Oskar, the aloof half-orc who saved her during the attack. Unlike Guinevere, Oskar’s path is not so set in stone. With his mother dead and his apprenticeship abandoned, all that’s left is a long, lonely walk to a land he’s never seen to find family he’s never met. The last thing he needs is a spoiled waif like Guinevere slowing him down—even if the spark between them sizzles with promise. Despite his cold exterior, Oskar is brave and thoughtful and unlike anyone Guinevere has ever met. And while Guinevere may be sheltered, she brings out a softness in him that he has never dared to feel before. As the flames of their passion grow, they realize that soon they’ll need to choose between their expected destinations or their blossoming romance. Written by New York Times bestselling author Thea Guanzon at the behest of Critical Role’s Jester Lavorre, Tusk Love brings the most romantic story on Exandrian bookshelves to life.

**Our July novel is: *Listen for the Lie* by Amy Tintera** **This month’s novel was named one of the best books of 2024. It’s a domestic thriller with crime, mystery, and murder, told from women’s perspectives. The story includes a detective, an unreliable narrator, and plenty of suspense. The book is 352 pages in print and 9 hours and 18 minutes on audiobook.** What if you thought you murdered your best friend? And if everyone else thought so too? And what if the truth doesn't matter? After Lucy is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, everyone thinks she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast "Listen for the Lie," and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it. The truth is out there, if we just listen.

This month we’ll be reading Masters of Death by Olivie Blake. Feel free to attend even if you don’t finish the book!

Let’s meet and discuss John Updike's Rabbit, Run, the first in his series of four novels following the life, hopes, and disappointments of former local basketball star, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, as he fitfully confronts and evades adulthood.

You might check out the [Columbus Book Festival](https://www.columbusbookfestival.org/) the weekend prior! Celebrating Pride Month and Juneteenth [Columbus library link to book](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3366564) We're going some place new! (to us) Location: [Tupelo Honey](https://tupelohoneycafe.com/) 1678 W. Lane Ave., · Columbus, US [Menu](https://tupelohoneycafe.com/columbus/menu/) Book summary: A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence