Comic Book Collecting San Francisco

Brief meet at SF Historium - Cosplay encouraged!

My husband and I are interested in meeting up with other Santa Cruz County folk who are at the festival who like to attend events like these. Brief meet up at San Francisco Historium event, near the "I've Seen the Elephant Saloon." We might be in the seating right near there, or at the bar. I will be wearing a long 1800's red skirt, probabably with a hoop skirt or bustle. Husband might dress up, too. Please come up and say hi! RSVP so we know who to look out for! Get your ticket to the festival at [https://sanfranciscohistorium.com/](https://sanfranciscohistorium.com/) See the picture for a map of the event site. The website has great parking advice on the page labeled "getting there."

East Bay Women's Book Club August Meetup: Yesteryear

Hello, fellow female readers -- The book for the August Meetup is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke For those of you who are new, I will send out the address to my house by Monday, August 17. Looking forward to gathering together and discussing the book. Bonnie

Photo Book Talk - Bookshop West Portal

Book 91: Endling by Maria Reva

I heard a review of this book on Fresh Air https://www.npr.org/2025/06/23/nx-s1-5440259/endling-review-maria-reva-ukraine *Starting out as a straightforward story about a Ukrainian biologist, this witty, shape-shifting book turns into something trickier and more interesting.* This sounds like the kind of book I love -- Martha \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- **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! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Set in Ukraine, an eccentric scientist breeding rare snails crosses paths with sisters posing as members of the marriage industry to find their activist mother. As Russia invades, they embark on a wild journey with kidnapped bachelors and a last-of-its-kind snail. This darkly comic novel explores survival, love, and hope in times of encroaching darkness. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORKER, NPR, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, THE GUARDIAN, LIBRARY JOURNAL “Startling and ambitious.”—New York Times • “Virtuosic.”—NPR, Fresh Air • “Brilliant and heart-stopping.”—Los Angeles Times Ukraine, 2022. Yeva is a loner and a maverick scientist who lives out of her mobile lab.She scours the country’s forests and valleys, trying and failing to breed rare snails, while her relatives urge her to settle down and finally start a family of her own. What they don’t know: Yeva already dates plenty of men—not for love, but to fund her work—entertaining Westerners who come to Ukraine on guided romance tours believing they’ll find docile brides untainted by feminism and modernity. Nastia and her sister, Solomiya, are also entangled in the booming marriage industry, posing as a hopeful bride and her translator while secretly searching for their missing mother, who vanished after years of fierce activism against the romance tours. Together they embark across hundreds of miles: three angry women, a truckful of kidnapped bachelors, and Lefty, a last-of-his-kind snail with one final shot at perpetuating his species. But their plans come to a screeching halt when Russia invades. In a stunningly ambitious and achingly raw metafictional spiral, Endling brilliantly balances horror and comedy, drawing on Reva’s own experiences as a Ukrainian expat tracking her family’s delicate dance of survival behind enemy lines. As fiction and reality collide on the page, Reva probes the hard truths of war: What stories must we tell ourselves to survive? To carry on with the routines of life under military occupation? And for those of us watching from over-seas: Can our sense of normalcy and security ever be restored, or have they always been a fragile illusion? Endling is a tour de force from an author who weaves a story of love, loss, humor, and devastation that only she can tell.

Plus Arcade Party

Oakland BYO Book Club (First timers welcome & introvert friendly)

[Partiful RSVP Link for location ](https://partiful.com/u/XzH5cT2AssuzPtiJRwFe) On Tuesdays, we have a book club with a twist. Bring any book you are currently working on or want to start. We spend the first part reading in silence together (until about 8:15 pm) and the last part discussing what we are each reading, what inspired our reading choices, and a nugget from what we read. 📕 Great way to learn about new topics, books, authors, and about each other with our rich discussions 🧠 😌 Newcomers welcome and Introvert-friendly. An Oakland Muslim Bookclub gathering — bringing Muslims together through books, conversation, and adab. Partifull RSVP (we have an average of 5-15 regulars who attend bookclub weekly, most rsvps are via Partiful): [Partiful RSVP Link](https://partiful.com/u/XzH5cT2AssuzPtiJRwFe)

Pink Flamingo Bingo

The Legacy of the Grateful Dead - Haight Street Art Center

Meet to draw each other in San Francisco!

Take a turn modeling (nude) then just draw for the rest of the session. Looking forward to seeing old and new friends! Optional $10 donation to cover studio rent is suggested but not required. We will supply chairs but bring your own drawing materials, such as pencil, paper, and drawing board if you have one. (No oil paints, solvents, or fixative inside the building.) Open to all levels of experience.

Photowalk: Mission Streets Color Hunt

Plastic Fantastic Closing show

I Love Boosters @ The New Parkway