Book Swaps Los Angeles

Book Discussion: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Read as much as you can and then let's meet up to discuss our thoughts on the book One Hundred Years of Solitude. "Gabriel García Márquez's most famous book is "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (1967), a multi-generational saga about the Buendía family in the fictional town of Macondo. It is widely considered his masterpiece, a quintessential example of magical realism, and one of the best novels of the 20th century, having sold over 30 million copies worldwide. Plot: The novel chronicles the rise and fall of the Buendía family over a century, filled with epic events, love affairs, and magical occurrences. Significance: It is praised for its innovative narrative structure and its profound exploration of Latin American identity, often cited as a work that compresses the history of the continent into its pages. Legacy: The book's success led to García Márquez's international fame and was a key factor in his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982. "

August Book Club - The Library Book by Susan Orleans

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who? Weaving her lifelong love of books and reading into an investigation of the fire, award-winning New Yorker reporter and New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean delivers a mesmerizing and uniquely compelling book that manages to tell the broader story of libraries and librarians in a way that has never been done before. In The Library Book, Orlean chronicles the LAPL fire and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson and attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. Along the way, Orlean introduces us to an unforgettable cast of characters from libraries past and present—from Mary Foy, who in 1880 at eighteen years old was named the head of the Los Angeles Public Library at a time when men still dominated the role, to Dr. C.J.K. Jones, a pastor, citrus farmer, and polymath known as “The Human Encyclopedia” who roamed the library dispensing information; from Charles Lummis, a wildly eccentric journalist and adventurer who was determined to make the L.A. library one of the best in the world, to the current staff, who do heroic work every day to ensure that their institution remains a vital part of the city it serves.

Book Club: Storybook Ending by Moira Macdonald

*Storybook Ending* by Moira Macdonald is a charming story about romance, friendship, and a love of books, in which two women—a lonely remote worker and a widowed single mom—and a handsome local bookstore clerk find themselves in an unusual love triangle when an anonymous note left in a book finds the wrong recipient. Looking forward to enjoying brunch at True Food Kitchen in Pasadena. The menu can be found here: https://share.google/Y5Gn8RwSbwZlGOmvy 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 Secret History- Donna Tartt

Queer Book Club- "Under the Udala Trees" by Chinelo Okparanta

August: "Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage" by Belle Burden

**LOCATION:** Susan's house! Address will be mailed the Friday before. (North Redondo Beach) **WHAT WE'RE READING:** *It was a great love story, one for the ages. The speed of our beginning and the speed of our ending felt like matching bookends. They both came out of nowhere. He wanted it, he wanted me. And then he didn’t.* In March 2020, Belle Burden was safe and secure with her family at their house on Martha’s Vineyard, navigating the early days of the pandemic together—building fires in the late afternoons, drinking whisky sours, making roast chicken. Then, with no warning or explanation, her husband of twenty years announced that he was leaving her. Overnight, her caring, steady partner became a man she hardly recognized. He exited his life with her like an actor shrugging off a costume. In *Strangers,* Burden revisits her marriage, searching for clues that her husband was not who she always thought he was. As she examines her relationship through a new lens, she reckons with her own family history and the lessons she intuited about how a woman is expected to behave in the face of betrayal. Through all of it, she is transformed. The discreet, compliant woman she once was—someone nicknamed “Belle the Good”—gives way to someone braver, someone determined to use her voice. With unflinching honesty and profound grace, Burden charts a path through heartbreak to show the power of a woman who refuses to give up on love. *Strangers* is a stunning, deeply moving, compulsively readable memoir heralding the arrival of a thrilling new literary talent. **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.

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

WHAT WE'RE READING: *A Brief History of Seven Killings* by Marlon James WHAT IT IS ABOUT: "In *A Brief History of Seven Killings*, Marlon James combines brilliant storytelling with his unrivaled skills of characterization and meticulous eye for detail to forge an enthralling novel of dazzling ambition and scope. On December 3, 1976, just before the Jamaican general election and two days before Bob Marley was to play the Smile Jamaica Concert to ease political tensions in Kingston, seven gunmen stormed the singer’s house, machine guns blazing. The attack wounded Marley, his wife, and his manager, and injured several others. Little was officially released about the gunmen, but much has been whispered, gossiped and sung about in the streets of West Kingston. Rumors abound regarding the assassins’ fates, and there are suspicions that the attack was politically motivated. *A Brief History of Seven Killings* delves deep into that dangerous and unstable time in Jamaica’s history and beyond. James deftly chronicles the lives of a host of unforgettable characters – gunmen, drug dealers, one-night stands, CIA agents, even ghosts – over the course of thirty years as they roam the streets of 1970s Kingston, dominate the crack houses of 1980s New York, and ultimately reemerge into the radically altered Jamaica of the 1990s. Along the way, they learn that evil does indeed cast long shadows, that justice and retribution are inextricably linked, and that no one can truly escape his fate. Gripping and inventive, shocking and irresistible, *A Brief History of Seven Killings* is a mesmerizing modern classic of power, mystery, and insight." 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

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). August 19th's selection is "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" by Richard Feynman. 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! 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!

Korean-English Language Exchange

The Atomic Habits Bookclub

LWS August Book Club: 'North Woods' by Daniel Mason

It's time for August Book Club and our selection is.... **'North Woods' by Daniel Mason** *NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR* *A WASHINGTON POST TOP TEN BOOK OF THE YEAR • FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD AND THE MARK TWAIN AMERICAN VOICE IN LITERATURE AWARD* **Book Summary:** A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries. When two young lovers abscond from a Puritan colony, little do they know that their humble cabin in the woods will become the home of an extraordinary succession of human and nonhuman characters alike. An English soldier, destined for glory, abandons the battlefields of the New World to devote himself to growing apples. A pair of spinster twins navigate war and famine, envy and desire. A crime reporter unearths an ancient mass grave—only to discover that the earth refuse to give up their secrets. A lovelorn painter, a sinister con man, a stalking panther, a lusty beetle: As the inhabitants confront the wonder and mystery around them, they begin to realize that the dark, raucous, beautiful past is very much alive. **[Amazon Link.](https://www.amazon.com/North-Woods-Novel-Daniel-Mason/dp/0593597044/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3QIWHW82S8CRA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._N7d5GZnMv9UlWlkFrbLt0JF6zNMQa_NahkLDGypRdUSPXpBSgzPAHxpYxBqxUajEK5MJKRQC2kYUfLGH5Tp_5gWYw_SljE182O5eZyIXOi4mB3YAUwFpycuPf8VawuM8bx_UUVoBsw-Sr0YZu3Sv3JrCiqNmd8VkOhgk0AK8KnFQPwEgszjMvHpW7uIzb6DNeDWJpsmTuWQH2o_y1TiLG8bmxb-Bs9alIQd08QjFQ8.E1Ytwxw6Is1rOGrO-bW1brM26jvwGDocF9tzSWFVWTM&dib_tag=se&keywords=north+woods+daniel+mason&qid=1781568691&sprefix=north+wood%2Caps%2C263&sr=8-1)** **Book Details:** Page Count: 384 Publish Date: September 19, 2023 Audiobook: 11 hours, 5 minutes. Narrated by Mark Bramhall (Road to Tender Hearts) + full cast **Location:** Augustine Wine Bar. Counter service, Wine and light bites.

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 two long tables reserved in the card game room from 2-6pm. 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!