Comic Book Collecting San Francisco

Three Books, Zero Pressure: Book Club Kickoff

This is the first meeting for this book club. I have chosen the following three books as they are popular, notorious classics across completely different genres, and most people would've read (or at least heard of) them! > **Please note:** You do **not** need to read all three books! Just having read (or being familiar with) **any one** of these books is more than enough to join the conversation. Here is our inaugural trio: * **[The Alchemist](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18144590-the-alchemist)** by Paulo Coelho * **[The Great Gatsby](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18401910-the-great-gatsby)** by F. Scott Fitzgerald * **[Neuromancer](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6088007-neuromancer)** by William Gibson

Rosewater @ Woods Lowside

Come enjoy a drink at Woods Lowside and discuss our July read! Our book for July is Rosewater by Tade Thompson. Hope to see you there!

August Book Club: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

We are mixing things up for August and meeting on a Wednesday as Tuesday is National Night Out. This also gives us a chance to visit La Loulou which is closed on Tuesdays. ABOUT THE BOOK #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this “propulsive” (Entertainment Weekly), cinematic thriller full of suspense, humor, and fascinating science—from the author of The Martian. HUGO AWARD FINALIST • NEW YORK TIMES READER PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Ryland Grace is the sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission—and if he fails, humanity and the earth itself will perish. Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it. All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company. His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

SF Art Book Fair - Bill Owens Photography Program

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

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/e/2avQBYJYbzI1XRgVHO2A?c=2hNQMujQ)

Spider-Man: Brand NEW Day (2026) 6:40 film @Alamo, discussion @So Pacific after

New Spider-Man properties aren’t surprising, but they still are a lot of sticky, springy, energetic fun. There are three steps to this meetup: 1) buy a ticket (drafthouse.com) 2) watch the film 3) come out afterwards to discuss Don’t sign up if you won’t do all three! And please update RSVP if you can’t make it. Thwack! Pow! Bam!

Book 90: Babylon, South Dakota by Tom Lin

“ A Chinese couple living on a 160-acre homestead in South Dakota begins to notice bizarre and mysterious happenings after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers builds a nuclear missile site nearby.” -New York Times This novel has come up on a few different lists of highly anticipated books this spring. Looking forward to discussing it with this group! -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! \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- From the author of the Carnegie Medal in Fiction winner The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu comes a tantalizing, American West saga about a Chinese American family trying to survive on their Dakota farm as a powerful, mysterious, and morally dubious military secret shapes their lives. "Lin's gossamer prose is patient and full of wonders."—Ed Park, author of Same Bed Different Dreams and An Oral History of Atlantis When Saul Keng Hsiu and his wife, Mei Lee, move from China to the United States to take possession of a 160-acre homestead bequeathed to them by a distant relative, all they have are the possessions on their back, some hidden gold, and a pocketful of chrysanthemum seeds. After a rocky start and a long, harsh winter, the couple find themselves successfully raising chrysanthemums and livestock, and soon after, a daughter, Mara. But when representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers buy an acre of the Hsiu’s farmland and begin building a missile silo, the inexplicable starts to occur: Mara can commune with the animals on the farm, Mei develops a hidden talent for augury, and the chrysanthemums become impervious to everything. When the Hsius learn that the project on their farm is an effort to make America’s nuclear deterrent invulnerable, they see firsthand the long arm of power and empire. In the years and generations that follow, increasingly impacted by the silo and its residue, the Hsius experience strange, wondrous, and tragic events on their farm. An ambitious epic and an ode to the beauty and glory of our connection to the natural world, Babylon, South Dakota upends the idea of "strangers in a strange land" to become a classic American story. It is a daring novel about how choices reverberate across generations and asks us what we owe to one another. TIME Magazine's Most Anticipated Books of the Year \| Town & Country's Best Books of Spring 2026

Drink and Draw: [Insert theme/prompt here]

Just some convivial folks hanging out at a neighborhood pub with their skechbooks. You don't have to be an "artist," or whatever that means, to be here. Bringing art supplies is a great idea though! Hydration is encouraged! The Flying Pig sells soft drinks and other n/a options as well as beer and cider. 
We come up with a theme or prompt for each week. You're free to use it or ignore it. It's about inspiring to stray from the norm. Speaking of which, this week's theme/prompt is [TBA]

Discussion: The Black Woman: An Anthology edited by Toni Cade Bambara

Hey y’all! We’re reading Toni Cade back-to-back, alongside a chorus of some of the most revered Black women writers of our times — Nikki Giovanni, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde all make appearances in this anthology. Published in a world where popular theory presupposed all the women were white and all the Black folks were men, this is a seminal text for Black feminism. Can’t wait to discuss with you all. (in the words of Toni Cade Bambara) Black Blessings, Jillian **Book description:** A collection of early, emerging works from some of the most celebrated African American female writers who remain strong when the weight of a world filled with racism and gender discrimination wants to drag them down. When it was first published in 1970, The Black Woman introduced readers to an astonishing new wave of voices that demanded to be heard. In this groundbreaking volume of original essays, poems, and stories, a chorus of outspoken women--many who would become leaders in their fields, such as bestselling novelist Alice Walker, poets Audre Lorde and Nikki Giovanni, writer Paule Marshall, activist Grace Lee Boggs, and musician Abbey Lincoln among them-- tackled issues surrounding race and sex, body image, the economy, politics, labor, and much more. Their words still resonate with truth, relevance, and insight today as the fight for racial and gender equality continues to rage on. **Getting the Book:** If you need a digital copy, reach out for the pdf. If you'd like to shop local and Black-owned there’s the beloved Marcus Books. You can give them a call to reserve a copy and visit them at: **Marcus Books - 1 (510) 652-2344** 3900 Martin Luther King Jr Way, Oakland, CA 94609 This book is also available at the Oakland Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library. Alternatively you can support Independent Bookstores via [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-light-of-the-world-a-memoir-thomas-e-donnelley-professor-of-african-american-studies-elizabeth-alexander/1c86c937bba610f5) Wanna suggest a book for our reading list? Fill out this [Book Recommendation Form](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeylvP8o3M5ekE96RJTNSeSSmugeXzBFi4mY0Zc2BjAsasCTw/viewform).

Free Film Premier, War Memorial Veterans Gallery

Drink and Draw at Jupiter

Come draw, paint, or do whatever other art you're working on! Bring your own supplies. We're usually on the second floor -- look for all the people with sketchbooks and/or drawing tablets. In case you'd like to share your art or just stay in touch, we have a Discord server: [https://discord.gg/k7Vbwgm5ey](https://discord.gg/k7Vbwgm5ey)

Make Your Own Free Framed Dried Flower Art @ Albany