Book Clubs Los Angeles

Book Club Meet Up

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

Jaycees November Book Club

**Pasadena Jaycees Book Club** It's time for our 2nd book club meetup! Join us on **Sunday, November 15** as we discuss *I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom* by Jason Pargin. Come hang out, share your thoughts on the book, and enjoy some good conversation! 📅 **Date:** Sunday, November 15 📍 **Location:** Playhouse Village Park 📖 **Book:** *I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom* by Jason Pargin Hope to see everyone there! 📚

Literary Open Mic

Bring a five-minute (maximum) original reading to share with a community of writers. Or just come drink beer and soak in the poetry, short stories, songs, monologues, and more! It's free to attend and free to read. Check out our [merch](https://noholitmic.threadless.com/)! **Please note that the only way to reserve a spot to read is to follow this link to our [sign-up form](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0) (or copy and paste the link below).** RSVPing on MeetUp doesn't guarantee you a spot! If you'd like to come listen without reading, you are very welcome to, and you do not need to sign up or RSVP. [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sYc12KZ9c_P_6jbylgF1R1ER03S35XghUYgCR52Irf8/edit?tab=t.0)

A Taste for Death by P.D.James

(Posting Early as I'll be gone until Nov 4th.) When the quiet Little Vestry of St. Matthew's Church becomes the blood-soaked scene of a double murder, Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh faces an intriguing conundrum: How did an upper-crust Minister come to lie, slit throat to slit throat, next to a neighborhood derelict of the lowest order? Challenged with the investigation of a crime that appears to have endless motives, Dalgliesh explores the sinister web spun around a half-burnt diary and a violet-eyed widow who is pregnant and full of malice--all the while hoping to fill the gap of logic that joined these two disparate men in bright red death. . . .

November Book Discussion: Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

# **Our November Book Has Been Chosen! 📚** Thanks to everyone who voted! Our next **Books & Brew** read is: ## 📖 *Man's Search for Meaning* — Viktor E. Frankl Grab a copy, start reading, and join us for a thought-provoking conversation! ### About the Book Drawing on his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, psychiatrist Viktor E. Frankl explores how people find purpose and meaning even in the face of unimaginable suffering. Part memoir and part psychological exploration, *Man's Search for Meaning* introduces Frankl's approach to psychotherapy, known as logotherapy, which centers on the human search for meaning as a fundamental source of motivation. Through his reflections on suffering, resilience, freedom, and personal responsibility, Frankl challenges readers to consider what gives life meaning and how we respond to circumstances beyond our control. A powerful and deeply reflective book, *Man's Search for Meaning* offers plenty to think about—and even more to discuss together.

CFI-West Skeptics Book Club

Join us for the CFI-West Skeptics Book Club monthly meeting! We meet both in person and on Google Meet. There's always a lively conversation, whether you've read the book or not (though... reading helps). November 18th's selection is "How to Be a Dictator: The Cult of Personality in the Twentieth Century" by Frank Dikötter. You can get 15% off at Skylight Books if you mention our book club in the comments at checkout. The in-person meeting will be hosted at the Center for Inquiry West at 2535 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026. Park in the lot off Rampart behind the building. The meeting is upstairs in the conference room. Bring any snacks you'd like to share! **We'll be extending a new practice: the in-person meeting will continue an additional half-hour after we say goodbye to our online friends at 9 PM.** Virtual attendees, join us on Google Meet. Use this link: https://meet.google.com/sqd-ujpn-nhf Bring your nominations for future books - we'll be voting at the end of the meeting!

Game Day at Geeky Teas & Games

**Please note the $8 fee for this event is NOT payable to the meetup group, it is the entrance fee to Geeky Teas & Games, paid directly to Geeky Teas. (Feel free to use your punch card instead!)** Join us at Geeky Teas & Games (Alameda & Main St, Burbank) for an afternoon of board gaming with fellow sci-fi/fantasy readers. We have tables reserved from 11am-3pm; staff can help you find us. In the past we've had people teaching Wingspan, Mysterium, We're Doomed, Monikers, Catan, Gloom, Everdell, Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, and Parks. If you have a game you know and want to teach, you are welcome to bring it - or grab it from the Geeky Teas library. More from their site: "In-store gaming is open for nice guests. Entry is $8 / person with all-day privileges and access to our large libraries of board games, tabletop terrain, and miniature paints." Their game library is truly impressive (https://www.geekyteas.com/game-library) and your entrance fee allows you to play for the full day until close, not just during the meetup. Looking forward to an afternoon of gaming with you!

November: "The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife" by Anna Johnston

**LOCATION:** Ellen's House! Address will be emailed and posted the Friday before! (South Redondo Beach) **WHAT WE'RE READING:** *‘Would you mind terribly, old boy, if I borrowed the rest of your life? I promise I’ll take excellent care of it.'* Frederick Fife was born with an extra helping of kindness in his heart. If he borrowed your car, he’d return it washed with a full tank of gas. The problem is there’s nobody left in Fred’s life to borrow from. At eighty-two, he’s desperately lonely, broke, and on the brink of homelessness. But Fred’s luck changes when, in a bizarre case of mistaken identity, he takes the place of grumpy Bernard Greer at the local nursing home. Now he has warm meals in his belly and a roof over his head—as long as his poker face is in better shape than his prostate and that his look-alike never turns up. Denise Simms is stuck breathing the same disappointing air again and again. A middle-aged mom and caregiver at Bernard's facility, her crumbling marriage and daughter's health concerns are suffocating her joy for life. Wounded by her two-faced husband, she vows never to let a man deceive her again. As Fred walks in Bernard’s shoes, he leaves a trail of kindness behind him, fueling Denise's suspicions about his true identity. When unexpected truths are revealed, Fred and Denise rediscover their sense of purpose and learn how to return a broken life to mint condition. Bittersweet and remarkably perceptive, *The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife* is a hilarious, feel-good, clever novel about grief, forgiveness, redemption, and finding family. **NO SHOW POLICY:** In April 2019, a new NO SHOW POLICY was put into place to help ensure people on the waitlist can get into each meeting with enough time to read the book while also weeding out flakey flakers who reserve a seat but don't use it. The new NO SHOW POLICY is in two parts: (1) If you RSVP 'Going' and cancel your RSVP within seven days of book club WITHOUT EXPLANATION, you'll be immediately removed from the group. (2) If you RSVP 'Going' and cancel your RSVP within seven days of book club with explanation, but for any reason, you'll be marked a 'No Show.' If you rack up three 'No Shows," you'll be removed from the group.

Book Club: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

In *Klara and the Sun*, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love? From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. Looking forward to enjoying afternoon tea at the Callisto Tea House in Pasadena. The menu can be found here: [https://callistoteahouse.com/pages/menu](https://callistoteahouse.com/pages/menu) The event fee will secure your reservation and be applied to membership dues, which covers the cost of the website. The event fee is NONREFUNDABLE unless the event is canceled by the organizer. To join the waitlist comment on the event page. If you have RSVPed and can no longer attend, please contact me directly and I will contact the people on the waiting list and then move you to "not going" when I find a replacement. Thank you and happy reading!

The Tusk That Did The Damage by Tania James

Orphaned by poachers as a calf and sold into a life of labor and exhibition, the Gravedigger breaks free of his chains and begins terrorizing the countryside, earning his name from the humans he kills and then tenderly buries. Manu, the studious younger son of a rice farmer, loses his cousin to the Gravedigger’s violence and is drawn, with his wayward brother Jayan, into the sordid, alluring world of poaching. Emma is a young American working on a documentary with her college best friend, who witnesses the porous boundary between conservation and corruption and finds herself in her own moral gray a risky affair with the veterinarian who is the film’s subject. As the novel hurtles toward its climax, these three storylines fuse into a wrenching meditation on love and betrayal, duty and loyalty, and the vexed relationship between man and nature. We read this book in the early days of the book club and it has always stayed with me, therefore I want to revisit again with all the new people that have made this book club a part of their reading life.

[Book Only] HORROR BOOK CLUB (November): “The Harrowing”