Book Swaps New York

(In-Person) Book Club Meeting and Bookmark Exchange

**Greetings Mocha Girls!** ***We are so excited to announce that after 6 years, in-person book club meetings for the Harlem Chapter will resume in December 2026 (virtual meetings for all chapters will continue)!*** We have missed seeing your beautiful faces so please join us! Our monthly in-person meetings will be held every 1st Sunday from 3PM - 5PM at [Buunni Coffee - Haven Plaza (711 W 168th St, NY, NY 10032)](https://www.buunnicoffee.com). For our inaugural post-pandemic meeting, we will have a bookmark exchange, so ***please bring a bookmark to give away***! ***Book Discussion Details:*** ***Our November 2026 monthly book selection is "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan.*** Remember, if you don't finish the book, you are still welcome, so come anyway! **R.S.V.P. Etiquette:** *As space is limited, please make sure to RSVP to an event or book club meeting ONLY if you are going. Do not RSVP if you are thinking about going or would like to go.* Thanks in advance and I can't wait to see you all! **REMEMBER:** Support a Black-owned Bookstore called [RESIST BOOKSELLERS](https://resistbooksellers.com/) and get 15% off when you use the code MGR22. **About the Book:** In 1949, four Chinese immigrant women living in San Francisco begin gathering regularly to play mahjong, share stories, enjoy food, and find comfort in one another’s company. United by memories of their lives in China, personal losses, and hopes for their futures, they call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. Each woman carries a history shaped by hardship, sacrifice, tradition, and survival. As they build new lives in America, they hope to give their daughters opportunities they themselves never had. But their American-born daughters, raised between two cultures, often struggle to understand their mothers’ expectations, beliefs, and seemingly endless advice. Through sixteen interconnected stories, Amy Tan takes readers between China and the United States, revealing the experiences that shaped these women and the secrets that continue to influence their families. As mothers reflect on the lives they left behind and daughters confront their own challenges, both generations begin to discover how deeply their identities are connected. First published in 1989, *The Joy Luck Club* is a moving exploration of the bonds between mothers and daughters, the importance of family history, and the ways love, memory, and cultural traditions are passed from one generation to the next. At its heart, this is a story about women finding strength in one another, learning to understand their past, and discovering that even the most complicated relationships can hold extraordinary love. **About the Author:** **Amy Tan** is an acclaimed American author whose writing explores family relationships, cultural identity, immigration, memory, and the experiences of Chinese American women. Born in Oakland, California, in 1952 to Chinese immigrant parents, Tan grew up surrounded by different languages, family traditions, and stories of her mother’s life in China. These experiences would later become an important influence on her writing. Her debut novel, *The Joy Luck Club*, was published in 1989 and became an international bestseller. The novel was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award and was adapted into a successful feature film in 1993, with Tan serving as a co-screenwriter and co-producer. In recognition of her contributions to American literature, Tan received the National Humanities Medal in 2023. Through her storytelling, Amy Tan continues to explore how family histories, personal experiences, and the relationships between generations shape the people we become.

Linden Silent Book Club: November Meetup

📚 Linden Silent Book Club: November Reading Meetup Join us for a relaxing Saturday of reading, community and bookish conversation! Date: Saturday, November 14th Time: 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Location: Inspo Nutrition, 27 E Elizabeth Ave., Linden, NJ 07036 Schedule: 11:00 – 11:30 AM 📖 Arrive, settle in, grab a drink or snack and chat with fellow readers 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM 🤫 Silent reading hour (B.Y.O.Book) 12:30 – 1:00 PM 💬 Optional discussion about what you're reading, book recommendations and general conversation Whether you're halfway through a physical novel, listening to an audiobook, reading manga or diving into nonfiction, all readers are welcome. Come as you are and enjoy a calm morning of books and community! 📚 All readers welcome • No assigned reading • Free to attend

Book Club en Español: El Alquimista 📚☕️

Manhattan Smutty Book Club - Dearly Departed by Chip Pons

The book for each month will be chosen at the book club before. So come with your suggestions! Please join us at Cornerstone Tavern, 961 2nd Ave, New York, NY (51st and 2nd) for great conversation, laughs, and friendship. Look for our signs, and listen for the laughter. We are often in the back of Cornerstone behind the curtain, which is actually a different restaurant called the Stags Head. We start at 7pm, but feel free to come early before happy hour ends at 7. People usually start to drift in by 6:30pm.

The Touch Grass Book Club Meet-Up: Mary Oliver's Upstream

Bring your journal and your sense of wonder (and maybe a pair of binoculars) to the first Touch Grass Book Club meet-up! In this session, we'll be exploring Mary Oliver's iconic essay collection Upstream and then venturing out to do some nature observation and writing of our own. From there, we'll reconvene to discuss what we experienced and learned. Light snacks will be provided! (And if you need help getting a copy of the book, hit me up, and I'll do my best to hook you up.)

November Book Club: The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott

For our November meetup, we're celebrating some of the **best books thus far!** This will also be **our last book club meetup of 2026 before we break for the holidays**, so we're adding a little something extra to close out the year! ### This Month's Book **The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott** *Three women. Three murderous husbands. One killer mystery.* It's 1966 in sunny California, where Beverley, Elsie, and Margot have something rather unusual in common: they were all married to notorious serial killers. Now trying to rebuild their lives under the weight of scandal and suspicion, the three women form an unlikely friendship. But when a new string of murders rocks their community, they decide to investigate themselves. After all, who better to catch a killer than women who once shared a home with one? Part murder mystery, part female friendship, and full of secrets, this one should give us plenty to talk about! ### 📚 Bonus: Bring a Book, Take a Book! Since this is our last meetup of the year, we're adding a little **book swap** to the fun! Have books sitting on your shelves that you've finished, don't plan to reread, or are ready to donate? Bring them along and give them a second life with a fellow book lover! Bring a book(s), or browse what others have brought. **No pressure to participate!** The swap is completely optional. **When: Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 12:00 PM (Noon)** **Where: Bronx Alehouse** 216 W 238th St, Bronx, NY Whether you've been coming all year or are joining us for the first time, we'd love to see you as we close out our 2026 book club season. **Let's end the year on a high note. See you at noon! 🍻📚**

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

This month’s read: **As I Lay Dying** by **William Faulkner** Join us to discuss this modernist novel, published in 1930, about a family making their way across rural Mississippi to bury their mother. Told through multiple narrators, the novel explores grief, loyalty, and family relationships. Spaces are limited; RSVP required. You are welcome to participate regardless of whether you've finished the book. Looking forward to seeing you there! **New Attendance Policy:** Because our events often have a waitlist, if you **miss 2 events without updating your RSVP**, you may be removed from the group to give other members the opportunity to attend.

QQRTT

**Queer Quiet Reading Talk & Trade** **We have launched a new event for our book lovers and those wanting to get more into Queer centered reading.** **Books really do change peoples lives.** **Hosted by Queer Social host Zoe D.** **This event will have:** **-beginning host & guests intro. (Please be early or on time)** **-time for quiet reading** **-discussion on the book section we just consumed** **-book recommendations** **-book swap with other guests if you have a book or books to give away.** **-Community building & connection** **\*\*Paper backs, Hard bound & Kindles Welcome.** **\*\*\*Friends & Allies Welcome.** **\*\*\*\*Please bring book with a LGBTQ topic as the central theme, Fiction or Non-Fiction.**

The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson

"The Wager," by David Grann

We have some nonfiction for November! The Wager by David Grann, author of Killers of the Flower Moon, is a true story about a shipwreck and mutiny off the coast of Patagonia. **From Goodreads:** On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty's Ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While the Wager had been chasing a Spanish treasure-filled galleon known as "the prize of all the oceans," it had wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The men, after being marooned for months and facing starvation, built the flimsy craft and sailed for more than a hundred days, traversing 2500 miles of storm-wracked seas. They were greeted as heroes. But then ... six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. The thirty sailors who landed in Brazil were not heroes - they were mutineers. The first group responded with countercharges of their own, of a tyrannical and murderous senior officer and his henchmen. It became clear that while stranded on the island the crew had fallen into anarchy, with warring factions fighting for dominion over the barren wilderness. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death--for whomever the court found guilty could hang. *The Wager* is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers. Grann's recreation of the hidden world on a British warship rivals the work of Patrick O'Brian, his portrayal of the castaways' desperate straits stands up to the classics of survival writing such as *The Endurance*, and his account of the court martial has the savvy of a Scott Turow thriller. As always with Grann's work, the incredible twists of the narrative hold the reader spellbound.

"When the Cranes Fly South" by Lisa Ridzén

[Amazon:] INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • WINNER OF THE SWEDISH BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD • A profoundly moving debut novel that follows an elderly man’s attempts to mend his relationship with his son before it’s too late: an emotional story of love, friendship, fatherhood, dogs, and atonement that is already an international sensation. Bo is running out of time. Yet time is one of the few things he’s got left. These days, his quiet existence is broken up only by daily visits from his home care team. Fortunately, he still has his beloved elkhound Sixten to keep him company … though now his son, with whom Bo has had a rocky relationship, insists upon taking the dog away, claiming that Bo has grown too old to properly care for him. The threat of losing Sixten stirs up a whirlwind of emotion, leading Bo to take stock of his life, his relationships, and the imperfect way he’s expressed his love over the years.

Booze & Books in Brooklyn

In addition to draft beers, **LoFi Bar in Park Slope** features craft cocktails, curated wines, and small bites. Non-alcoholic options are also available. Bring your latest read (and maybe a book light!) and **enjoy $1 off all drinks**. **[LoFi Bar](https://www.lofibrooklyn.com/)** is conveniently located near the F/G/R lines. Please note, this is not a private event and LoFi will be open to the public. **There is seating available for 40 people, available on a first-come basis.**