Book Drives Los Angeles

October Book Club Meet Up

This will be our first ever meet up! We will be discussing Verity by Colleen Hoover,a dark, twisty psychological thriller that will have us questioning who we can actually trust. Come hang out with us for an evening of books, conversation, and socializing. We’ll spend some time talking about Verity, sharing our thoughts and theories, and plenty of time just getting to know each other and hanging out. Didn’t read the book? Come anyway! You’re still completely welcome. Come meet some fellow readers, make new friends, and enjoy a night out.

Los Angeles Publish Ebooks with AI Fast

📖 **Write and Publish Ebooks with AI – Blueprint Session** Learn how to produce and publish ebooks at scale using AI tools. ⚠️ RSVP alone won't secure your seat — register via the link below. ### [🔗 CLAIM YOUR PLACE](https://aiventurelab.org/product/AIEbookBusiness?city=Los%20Angeles&groupurlname=francophones-and-friends-social-club-gatherings&startgmtdatetime=2026-10-26T04:30:00Z) --- What's covered: - Scale to multiple titles without burning out - Find profitable niches using AI research tools - Write full ebooks with AI in hours, not weeks *Your ebook empire starts here.* 📖

October Book Club - The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno Garcia

Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales. In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch. Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu

WHAT WE'RE READING: Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu WHAT IT IS ABOUT: "Based on Cartarescu's own role as a high school teacher, Solenoid begins with the mundane details of a diarist's life and quickly spirals into a philosophical account of life, history, philosophy, and mathematics. One character asks another: when you rush into the burning building, will you save the newborn or the artwork? On a broad scale, the novel's investigations of other universes, dimensions, and timelines reconcile the realms of life and art. The novel is grounded in the reality of late 1970s/early 1980s Communist Romania, including long lines for groceries, the absurdities of the education system, and the misery of family life. The text includes sequences in a tuberculosis sanatorium, an encounter with an anti-death protest movement, a society of dream investigators, and an extended visit to the miniscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide. Combining fiction with autobiography and history, Solenoid ruminates on the exchanges possible between the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present." WHERE WE'RE MEETING: 4100 Bar in Silver Lake A NOTE ON PARKING: Street parking should be more readily accessible on Sunset Blvd to the west of the meet-up location. A NOTE ON THE MEET-UP SEATING LOCATION: Meet-ups are generally held on the bar terrace, if sufficient seating is available. Please dress warmly in the event of cool evening weather! A NOTE ON RSVPING: If your name is on the attendee list for a scheduled meet-up and you no longer plan on attending the event, please remove your name from the attendee list at least a week before the scheduled event to allow individuals on the waitlist sufficient time to read the book beforehand (no worries if a cancellation has to be last-minute, though!). Happy reading! Colin

Book Discussion: optional 1st half/midpoint of Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Read as much as you can and then let's discuss our thoughts on the first half (up until chapter 17) of "Fall of Giants... the first novel in Ken Follett's Century Trilogy, a historical epic following five interconnected families through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the fight for women's suffrage. Published in 2010, it chronicles the lives of characters from different social classes—including a Welsh miner, an American law student, and aristocratic families in England and Germany—as their fates become entangled in the major events of the early 20th century. "

The Thief of Always by Clive Barker

**It’s spooky season!**

Book Discussion: Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, 1st half (Chapters 1-17)

Read as much as you can and then let's discuss our thoughts on the first half (up until chapter 17) of "Fall of Giants... Ken Follett's historical epic novel following five interconnected families through World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the fight for women's suffrage. Published in 2010, it chronicles the lives of characters from different social classes—including a Welsh miner, an American law student, and aristocratic families in England and Germany—as their fates become entangled in the major events of the early 20th century. "

These Savage Shores by Ram V - Graphic Novel

Two centuries after the first European ship sailed to the Malabar Coast and made landfall at Calicut, the East India Company seeks to secure its future along the lucrative Silk Route, in the year 1766. An old evil now sails aboard a company ship, hoping to make a home in this new found land. But he will soon find that the ground along the Indus is an ancient one with daemons and legends far older than himself. Along These Savage Shores, where the days are scorched and the nights are full of teeth. This is going to be a change of pace for us, this will be the first graphic novel we have read and shared together for the book club. If you utilize Hoopla it should give you unlimited copies through the Los Angeles County Library or whatever library system you are part of just use your library card. Of course you can find it on Kindle or call you local comic book store and they should have a copy of it for purchase. If you have any troubles getting a hold of it please let me know.

October Discussion: The Vegetarian by Han Kang

Our October Book Has Been Chosen! 📚 Thanks to everyone who voted! Our next Books & Brew read is: **The Vegetarian — Han Kang** Grab a copy, start reading, and join us for a great conversation! **About the Book:** After a series of disturbing dreams, Yeong-hye makes the seemingly simple decision to stop eating meat. But as her family reacts with increasing confusion, anger, and attempts to control her, that decision becomes the beginning of a much more profound transformation. Told through the perspectives of those around Yeong-hye, The Vegetarian explores autonomy, desire, conformity, violence, and the ways we understand—or fail to understand—the people closest to us. Originally published in Korean and translated by Deborah Smith, Han Kang’s unsettling novel won the 2016 International Booker Prize and invites plenty of questions about identity, choice, and what happens when someone refuses to live according to the expectations placed upon them.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

We are moving to Heylo.group

This book club was founded in November 2008 right here on Meetup. So many things have changed since then and yet we are still Adults Who Read Young Adult. One of the things that has changed is Meetup itself. It now costs over $350 a year to host this group on Meetup. To be clear: that is NOT what Panera Bread is charging us (Panera Bread doesn't charge us). That is what Meetup charges us. Because of the costs as well as the fact that we're not getting new people through Meetup, we have decided to move platforms to Heylo -- a free group platform. We will now be at [http://heylo.group/adults-who-read-young-adult](http://heylo.group/adults-who-read-young-adult) And we will be shutting down this Meetup. That will be the only thing changing. Still at Panera Bread, 12131 Ventura Blvd, still once-a-month on Sunday, etc. We hope you all join us on November 22. [Please go over to Heylo to see the details](https://www.heylo.com/events/20d2891d-046c-4748-b050-8891e8a94c26/-P2-xpCQQygcDMPc9tmA).

A Wound That Will Not Heal by Eric Beetner

Book 3 of 3: A Carter McCoy novel. Author will be present. Trilogy conclusion. No LAPL hard copies but available on Hoopla and for purchase @ Bookshop.org,, Amazon, etc. inc. Kindle and paperback. Our host Erik Grady will lead discussion as Peg is out of town. Carter McCoy is on borrowed time. The only thing that could get him to hit the road is a call for help from a friend. When that call comes in, he doesn't hesitate. Loading his dog Chester and his best friend, Ivana, into his truck, they head for California to help in a way only Carter can. Bree and Katie's idyllic life is shattered when a homegrown evil begins terrorizing their new home. They need the help of the man who got them out of the worst situation of their lives before. They need Carter McCoy. Carter must face down a gang of men emboldened by a culture of hate and intolerance to rescue innocent people being snatched from the streets. When someone close to him gets caught up in their illegal and immoral mission, the man they need to fear most is the one with the least to lose. Once again, Carter McCoy stands up for the innocent and the helpless. Once again, he faces the ticking clock on his own mortality. This is his last stand for justice. His last chance at redemption. His last few miles of road. It's time for the thrilling conclusion to the Carter McCoy saga.