Book Swaps San Francisco

Books Not Bans presents Queer Book Cocktail and Reading Hour

Plant Swap - Luludi Living Art - FREE Community Event

**Join us for Luludi Living Art’s Spring Plant Swap, a free community event for plant lovers of all kinds.** Bring 1–3 healthy plants, rooted cuttings, plant babies, or small pots to exchange and take home the same number. It’s a fun and easy way to refresh your collection, share with others, and connect with fellow plant enthusiasts in the community. Whether you’re a seasoned plant parent or just starting your collection, all are welcome. Please bring only healthy plants and label them if possible so everyone can swap with confidence. Come spend a cozy spring afternoon surrounded by plants, creativity, and community at the Luludi Living Art Studio. **Event Details** Sunday, June 7th 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Luludi Living Art Studio 346 N Ellsworth Ave San Mateo, CA **What to Bring** * Houseplants * Rooted cuttings * Plant babies * Small pots **Admission** Free event – all are welcome

Books Not Bans presents Queer Book Cocktail and Reading Hour

# Cocktails, reading and book swap! **Be amongst your fellow book people! All welcome. Bring a book for the book swap.**

Book 88: Brother Bronte by Fernando Flores

I saw this on a New York Times list of recommended books and thought it looked interesting. According to their review, “Fernando A. Flores’s new novel imagines a bleak world where books are illegal and deprivation is the norm. It’s a blast.” Excited to dive into this one with you all! -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! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Two women fight to save their dystopian border town―and literature―in this gonzo near-future adventure. The year is 2038, and the formerly bustling town of Three Rivers, Texas, is a surreal wasteland. Under the authoritarian thumb of its tech industrialist mayor, Pablo Henry Crick, the town has outlawed reading and forced most of its mothers to work as indentured laborers at the Big Tex Fish Cannery, which poisons the atmosphere and lines Crick’s pockets. Scraping by in this godforsaken landscape are best friends Proserpina and Neftalí. One of Three Rivers’ last literate citizens, Neftalí hides and reads the books of the mysterious renegade author Jazzmin Monelle Rivas, whose last novel, Brother Brontë, is finally in Neftalí’s possession. But after a series of increasingly violent atrocities committed by Crick’s forces, Neftalí and Proserpina, with the help of a wounded Bengal tigress, three scheming triplets, and an underground network of rebel tías, rise up to reclaim their city―and in the process, unlock Rivas’s connection to Three Rivers itself. An adventure that only the acclaimed Fernando A. Flores could dream up, Brother Brontë is a mordant, gonzo romp through a ruined world that, in its dysfunction, tyranny, and disparity, feels uncannily like our own. With his most ambitious book yet, Flores once again bends what fiction can do, in the process crafting a moving and unforgettable story of perseverance.

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.

Dungeon Crawler Carl @ Southern Pacific Brewing

Come enjoy a drink at Southern Pacific Brewing and discuss our May read! Our book for May is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Hope to see you there!

Pride Month Book Club: Atmosphere

Book, Coffee, Chit Chat, etc. (Tuesday 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.

June Meeting: Zadie Smith - Grand Union

**Recommended Stories:** * The Lazy River * Two Men Arrive in a Village * Kelso Deconstructed Excited to dive into this collection, which was a narrow second to Octavia Butler in the last poll. See you soon! **For First-Timers:** We recommend reading at least one story, but feel free to read as little or as much as you'd like! Discussion is open, informal, and we try to focus on the recommended stories listed above. **About the Author:** Zadie Smith (born 1975) is a critically acclaimed British novelist, essayist, and professor. Born in North London to an English father and a Jamaican mother, Smith has become a leading voice in contemporary literature, celebrated for her sharp cultural commentary and exploration of identity.

The Odyssey Books 1-8

Discuss Books 1-8 of Homer’s Odyssey

Some Choose Darkness by Charlie Donlea

Good old “burning question” format!

Read/Discuss: the underground girls of Kabul by Jenny Nordberg