Mark Greenside Reads from (not quite) Mastering the Art of French Living, a sequel of sorts to I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do), about which the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Imagine Larry David . . . spending a summer in a French village--against his will, of course--and you get some sense of what Mark Greenside goes through." Every year […]

An unprecedented photography practice that guides you to the creativity at your our fingertips, calling for nothing more than your vision and any camera, even the one embedded in your phone. "Zen Camera is to photographers what The Artist's Way is to writers. This master class in creativity deserves a place in your home."--Create with Joy To reserve […]

Jason Dewees Join Mrs. Dalloway's and the Mediterranean Garden Society for a talk and signing by Jason Dewee's on his just released book, Designing with Palms (photography by Caitlin Atkinson). In this comprehensive guide, Dewees shares the many ways palms can transform courtyards, gardens and landscapes. Detailing the most important species and highlighted by striking photography, Designing with Palms imparts […]

Ted Scheinman reads from Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan. Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 7:30pm

  Twelve-year-old Lizzie is in trouble. She used to live a comfortable life with her loving father, but after the stock market crash of 1929 and his sudden death, she and her family now live in poverty. Lizzie is expected to help support the family, but she can't even cook without burning food. One day, […]

  To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of Foraged Art by speaking to a bookseller or ordering from our website. Thursday, June 14, 2018 - 7:30pm In the spirit of land artists like Andy Goldsworthy, the book is as much about discovery as it is about creation. Leaves shaped like lips might inspire a face; an […]

Join us for Irish soda bread as Thomas Lynch continues reading the whole of Ulysses. Chapter Nine up next.

Katharine Dion: Launch celebration for her debut novel, The Dependents, a wise and lyrical debut novel about a new widower confronting the truth about his long marriage. "A marvel of a novel. With great subtlety and tact, it evokes the love, devotion, and sadness that bind a grieving father to his troubled daughter. Its cumulative power comes from the depth […]

An experimental poem sequence inspired by a famous garden now in ruin. In Vigilance is No Orchard, Hazel White records her haunting romance with the Valentine Garden, created by landscape architect Isabelle Greene in the foothills of Santa Barbara, California. Jealous of its maker's power to affect a dynamic experience of space, White tries to make language […]

For Kids ages 4-8 Leslie Crawford Presents Sprig the Rescue Pig, inspired by the true story of a feisty swine who escapes a delivery truck and ends up at an animal sanctuary, this gently humorous tale introduces kids to an intelligent, inquisitive, and very appealing pig. "May Sprig help people to see what wonderful individuals pigs […]

Featuring Top Ten Lists and stunning photos of history-making moments, these comprehensive pro soccer collections catalog the greatest international players and the greatest Americans. These are the perfect books for young sports fans eager to kick off their soccer schooling. Ann Killion has covered American sports for more than a quarter century. An award-winning columnist […]

Jane Gregory's mystifying second collection begins with a "Knock knock," inviting the reader into a realm where "Everything is a pattern / of yesses and no." Within these pages we find Gregory constructing a multivalent world—ripe with struggle, prophecy, and, by the end, a resemblance of hope. Using her highly-tuned sensibility throughout, Gregory guides us through […]

Nimona meets Adventure Time in this full-color graphic novel as a singing skeleton continues to search for his origins alongside his gelatin monster sidekick! Sunday, July 29, 2018 - 3:00pm Rickety Stitch is a walking, talking, singing skeleton minstrel, the only animated skeleton in the dungeon who seems to have retained his soul. He has no idea who […]

Andrew Lawler presents The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a sweeping account of America's oldest unsolved mystery, the people racing to unearth its answer, and the sobering truths--about race, gender, and immigration--exposed by the Lost Colony of Roanoke.  "A fascinating account of one of our country's great historical mysteries. Fast-paced […]

Thor Hanson Presents Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees, a natural and cultural history of the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go round.  "A wondrous, action-packed journey to discover the secret lives of bees, flowers, and the unconventional men and women who study them. This book really is the buzz about bees, and it's destined […]

Katie Henry Launch for Heretics Anonymous, her hilarious debut YA novel about a band of misfits who set out to challenge their strict Catholic school, one nun at a time. When Michael walks through the doors of Catholic school, things can't get much worse. His dad has just made the family move again, and Michael needs a friend. […]

One boy's search for his father leads him to Puerto Rico in this moving middle grade novel, for fans of Ghost and See You in the Cosmos. Marcus Vega is six feet tall, 180 pounds, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you're only in the eighth grade, you're both a threat […]

Join us on first Fridays at 4:00pm to discuss our book of the month, enjoy snacks and make new friends. Each meeting will last one hour and end promptly at 5:00pm. Space is limited, so make your reservation on Eventbrite soon! For more information, contact Michael at (510) 981-6280.

Celebrating Ivy + Bean #11: One Big Happy Family. Ivy + Bean are back--and they're funnier than ever! Saturday, September 8, 2018 - 10:00am Meet author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie Blackall at a special launch celebration of the latest volume in the hit series. As One Big Happy Family begins, Ivy's worried. She's read a lot of books […]

Rebecca Clarren reads from her debut novel, Kickdown, a taut and moving novel of a family's struggle to sustain their land when fracking comes to the contemporary American West. "Deep, true, achingly pure, as stripped of glamour and pretense as the beautiful desolation it describes. With an unflinching eye for the unsettling political and environmental issues of […]

Rachel Neumann and Teen Subjects present I Am Home: Portraits of Immigrant Teenagers. To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of I Am Home by speaking to a bookseller or ordering via our website. Meet the faces and voices behind the conversations around immigration. These portraits and stories of teenagers who are recent immigrants to the US […]

Eighteen-year-old Vera, eager to start college and escape the celebrity her family has endured since her twin's disappearance twelve years earlier, finds her world turned upside-down again when Ava returns. Ava's disappearance was the crack in the Rivers family glacier. I wish I could explain to you how we were before, but I can't, because […]

Daniel Mason reads from his magnificent new novel, The Winter Soldier, a sweeping, unforgettable love story of a young doctor and nurse at a remote field hospital in the First World War. Vienna, 1914. Lucius is a twenty-two-year-old medical student when World War I explodes across Europe. Enraptured by romantic tales of battlefield surgery, he enlists, expecting […]

Featuring queer librarians reading from their works: Gr Keer, CSU East Bay Andrew Demcak, Oakland Public Library Rebekah Eppley, Oakland Public Library

The spirited, heart-driven people who populate these stories find surprising pockets of hope as they scrabble for ways to believe in themselves and the world. A woman returns to the Alaskan cabin of her survivalist childhood, full of misgivings and memories. A trip to Yellowstone sparks a crisis for a man who feels kinship with […]

Come celebrate the release of Aaron Southerland’s third graphic novel, SolForce: Alpha Kale! All ages welcome. Aaron Southerland, from Brooklyn, NY, currently works as a freelance art teacher & cartoonist in the Bay Area! He is the creator of the graphic novels Strawberry Dough & SolForce. More at www.baomerch.com.

Christopher Woods presents Gardenlust: A Botanical Tour of the World's Best New Gardens, a sumptuously illustrated survey and the perfect armchair travel guide to 50 of the most innovative modern gardens from around the world. In Gardenlust, adventurous biophiliac Christopher Woods takes readers on a worldwide tour that goes beyond the palace grounds of centuries past to transport you […]

Launch for You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P!, a novel that carries a strong social message as twelve-year-old Jilly learns how to support the marginalized people in her life when her sister is born Deaf and Jilly makes friends with Profound, a black, Deaf boy she meets online. Gino tackles powerful issues with grace and thoughfulness. […]

Juan Gabriel Vasquez reads from The Shape of the Ruins, his highly anticipated, deeply personal masterpiece that is being heralded as the most ambitious novel of his career. "A highly sophisticated, fast-moving political thriller set in Colombia and an excellent read."--Alan Furst "One of the great novels of recent years."--Mario Vargas Llosa To reserve your seat, purchase […]

Miriam Pawel in Conversation with T.J. Stiles discussing The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation. "A remarkable book--a generational biography of a political dynasty, ranging from the California Gold Rush to the presidency of Donald Trump. She recounts the pivotal governorship of Pat Brown and the even more significant […]

Georgia Freedman Come meet the author of Cooking South of the Clouds: Recipes and Stories from China's Yunnan Province. "More than a cookbook, it's an intimate journey through culinary traditions almost unknown in the West. Josh Wand's photos of the region's countryside, villages, markets, and dishes paint a stunning portrait of Yunnanese cuisine and life. . […]

Jaap Robben in Conversation with Jeroen Dewulf reads from his award-winning novel, You Have Me to Love, an unforgettable story about lost childhood innocence, isolation, guilt and mother-son relationships. "An intense and dramatic novel filled with meticulous use of detail and a forensic psychological accuracy. Its power comes from the fierce energy of the narrative structure, the […]

Jeffrey Meyers presents Resurrections: Authors, Heroes--and a Spy, portraits of writers and artists including Ian Watt, Paul Theroux, James Salter, and Anthony Blunt. " Intellectually stimulating . . . a portrait of the artist in portraits of other artists."--Kirkus Reviews To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of Resurrections by speaking to a bookseller or ordering via our website. In […]

Fox Butterfield presents In My Father's House: A New View of How Crime Runs in the Family, a pathbreaking examination of our huge crime and incarceration problem that looks at the influence of the family--specifically one Oregon family with a generations-long legacy of lawlessness. "A spellbinding book, brilliant and bone-chilling. In My Father's House will change the […]

Leif Enger OFFSITE @ Rialto Cinemas Elmwood celebrating the publication of his wonderful new novel, Virgil Wander, much of which takes place in and around a beloved old movie theater not unlike our own here in the Elmwood. There will be a special screening of Cinema Paradiso in connection with the reading and signing. Buy your tickets, with or without […]

Roshi Joan Halifax OFFSITE discusses Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet, with Gaetano Maida, sponsored by KPFA, St. John's Presbyterian Church, and Mindful Schools. Advance tickets: $12 : brownpapertickets.com :: T: 800-838-3006 Books Inc/Berkeley, Pegasus (3 sites), Moe’s, Walden Pond Bookstore, Mrs. Dalloway’s. East Bay Books, $15 door, Wheelchair Access Standing at the Edge is an evocative […]

Vijaya Nagarajan presents Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual and Ecology in India--An Exploration of the Kolam, the first comprehensive book in English on the kolam, a ritual rice flour drawing created by Tamil women. To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of Feeding a Thousand Souls by speaking to a bookseller or ordering via our website. Every day millions […]

Launch party for his terrific new novel The Dakota Winters, an evocative and wildly absorbing story about the Winters, a family living in New York City's famed Dakota apartment building in the year leading up to John Lennon's assassination. "Deft, funny, touching, and sharply observed, a marvel of tone, and a skillful evocation of a dark passage in […]