Events

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Tuesday, September 26th, 7 pm when Bay Area author SARAH EZRIN reads from, discusses, and signcopies of her new book The Yoga of Parenting: Ten Yoga-Based Practices to Help You Stay Grounded, Connect with Your Kids, and Be Kind to Yourself. Sarah's book will help bring the wisdom of yoga into your parenting journey. She will be joined in conversation by SUZANNAH NEUFELD.

The event is free, but you must reserve through Eventbrite or at the store.  Click here to preorder a copy of The Yoga of Parenting.

Mom and yogi Sarah Ezrin offer 34 practices to find more presence, patience, and acceptance—with your child and with yourself.

“I can say without a doubt that the most advanced yoga I’ve ever done is raising a child,” writes Sarah Ezrin. While many people think of yoga as poses on a mat, The Yoga of Parenting supports people in bringing the spiritual principles of yoga into their lives—particularly their families. Ezrin, a longtime yoga teacher, supports readers and practitioners in slowing down, becoming present with our children and ourselves, and acting with more compassion.

Each chapter highlights a yogic posture and theme and explores how it relates to parenting, including presence, boundaries, balance, and nonattachment. Chapters include prompts such as intention setting, breathwork, and journaling. Ezrin also features the stories and insights of a wide range of yoga practitioner parents whose experiences include single parenting, grandparenting, and passing on intergenerational yoga traditions. In addition to the opening posture, each chapter includes:

• “Breath Breaks” invitations to mindfully breathe.
• “On the Mat” practices to show us how we can apply the lessons on our yoga mat in a more general sense.
• “Parenting in Practice” offering and advice from parents in the US and abroad.
• “Off the Mat and Into the Family” fun exercises to help us bring the work off the mat and into our homes.

Practicing yoga can help us become kinder to ourselves, more aware of our thoughts and actions, and more present in our lives. What more important sphere to want to become kinder, more aware, and more present than with our families?

SARAH EZRIN is a freelance writer, yoga educator, mama based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and author of The Yoga of Parenting. Her honesty and innate wisdom make her writing, classes, and social media sources of healing for many people. Sarah is a frequent contributor to Yoga Journal, as well as Yoga International and LA Yoga. She has been interviewed in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Bustle.com, and she has appeared on NBC News. She also writes for parenting outlets, including Scary Mommy, Motherly, Healthline, and Mind Body Green. For more information, please visit www.sarahezrinyoga.com.

SUZANNAH NEUFELD, MFT is a licensed psychotherapist, certified yoga therapist, and certified eating disorder specialist based in Berkeley, CA. She has been dedicated to supporting individuals and families with eating disorders, body image concerns, and maternal mental health since 2003. Suzannah is the author of Awake at 3 a.m.: Yoga Therapy for Anxiety and Depression in Pregnancy and Early Motherhood. Learn more at www.suzannahneufeld.com.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on SEPTEMBER 26th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's on Wednesday, September 27 at 7 pm when local favorite author and illustrator PAUL MADONNA presents his new mystery novel The Commissions. Paul will read from and discuss his book, answer questions, and sign copies after the presentation. In the third installment of the Emit Hopper Mystery series, The Commissions kicks off the origin story of what promises to be an unforgettable new eccentric detective, Ronnie Gilbert, in this rollicking and irresistible new mystery 

The event is free, but attendees must register through Eventbrite or at the store.  Click here to preorder a copy of The Commissions.

Amsterdam, 2019—following the conclusion of Come to Light. Former rock star-turned-artist Emit Hopper’s life has taken yet another strange turn. His old friend, the legendary San Francisco private detective Ronnie Gilbert, is dead, and his killer has just been acquitted. But when a disheveled acquaintance from Ronnie’s past walks into Emit’s shop, a puzzling mystery resurfaces, twenty years cold.

We’re transported back to San Francisco, 1999, when Emit and Ronnie first met. Emit has returned to taking commissions drawing people’s houses, only to be strong-armed by a shady police lieutenant into acting as her off-the-books spy. On top of that, a strange young woman claiming to be his daughter refuses to leave him alone. From there unfolds an intricate tale of corruption and murder that leads to an explosive scandal, with consequences that, two decades hence, are finally revealed.

In a mystery filled with suspense and surprises around every corner, Paul Madonna brings to life the last days of San Francisco before the turn of the millennium with dozens of his signature pen-and-ink drawings.

PAUL MADONNA is an award-winning artist and author known for combining drawing and stories in a wide range of genres, from his enigmatic art series All Over Coffee which ran for twelve years in the San Francisco Chronicle, to his large-scale public murals, to his entertaining and sharply-plotted mystery novels. Celebrated internationally in museums as well as in print, Paul’s unique blend of drawing and storytelling has been heralded as an “all new art form.” Paul’s current release, The Commissions, a riveting mystery set between San Francisco and Amsterdam, is available in hardback on September 5th.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 5:00 pm on September 27th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Local author SUZANNE WERTHEIM will launch her new book The Inclusive Language Field Guide: 6 Simple Principles for Avoiding Painful Mistakes and Communicating Respectfully on Wednesday, October 4th at 7pm. Suzanne will read from, discuss, and sign copies of her book, which is written to help you avoid inadvertently offending or alienating anyone. As a no-nonsense linguistic anthropologist and business consultant, she's developed six straightforward communication guidelines that show you the way to inclusive language.

The event is at capacity, but you can sign up on the Waiting List through Eventbrite.  Click here to preorder a copy of The Inclusive Language Field Guide.

In today's fast-moving and combative culture, language can feel like a minefield. Terms around gender, disability, race, sexuality and more are constantly evolving. Words that used to be acceptable can now get you “cancelled.” People are afraid of making embarrassing mistakes, or sounding outdated or out of touch, or not being as respectful as they intended. But it’s not as complicated as it might seem.

Linguistic anthropologist Suzanne Wertheim offers six easy-to-understand principles to guide any communication—written or spoken—with anyone:

• Reflect reality
• Show respect
• Draw people in
• Incorporate other perspectives
• Prevent erasure
• Recognize pain points

This guide clarifies the challenges—and the solutions—to using "they/them," and demonstrates why "you guys" isn't as inclusive as many people think. If you follow the principles, you'll know not to ask a female coworker with a wedding ring about her husband—because she might be married to a woman. And you'll avoid writing things like "America was discovered in 1492," because that's just when Europeans found it.

Filled with real-world examples, high-impact word substitutions, and exercises that boost new skills, this book builds a foundational toolkit so people can evaluate what is and isn't inclusive language on their own.

SUZANNE WERTHEIM is CEO of Worthwhile Research & Consulting. After getting her PhD in Linguistics from Berkeley, she held faculty positions at Northwestern, University of Maryland, and UCLA. In 2011, she left the university system in order to apply her expertise to real-world problems. Her clients have included Google, Reddit, Charles Schwab, One Medical, News Nation, Salesforce, and Shondaland, among others. She is the creator of a LinkedIn Learning course called Inclusive Language at Work that has been taken by tens of thousands of learners.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on OCTOBER 4th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Bay Area author KELLY SATHER appears on Thursday, October 5th at 7:00 PM to read from and discuss her new book of short stores Small In Real Life. Kelly will be joined in conversation by author YAEL GOLDSTEIN-LOVEand will sign copies of her book after the presentation. (Kelly's photo by Elisabeth Fall. Yael's photo by Laura Turbow Photography)

The event is free; register at Eventbrite or in the store prior to the evening. Click here to preorder a copy of Small In Real Life.

Winner of the 2023 Drue Heinz Literature Prize, Small in Real Life invokes the myth and melancholy of Southern California glamor, of starry-eyed women and men striving for their own Hollywood shimmer and the seamy undersides and luxurious mystique of the Golden State. Exiled to a Malibu rehab, an alcoholic paparazzo spies on his celebrity friend for an online tabloid. Down to her last dollar, a Hollywood hanger-on steals designer handbags from her dying friend’s bungalow. Blinded by grief, an LA judge atones after condescending to a failed actress on a date. When hunger for power, fame, and love betrays the senses, the characters in these nine stories must reckon with false choices and their search for belonging with the wrong people. Small in Real Life offers an insider’s view of California and the golden promises of possibility and redemption that have long made the West glitter.

“In Kelly Sather’s phenomenal short story collection, she compresses the daily commotion of life into riveting moments of reckoning, whether earned or forced. Desire can obscure or illuminate, and in these compelling stories, Sather’s characters deal with the complications of wanting and existing in the world. Sentence by sentence, Small in Real Life is one of the best debuts I’ve ever read.” —Michele Filgate, editor of What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About

KELLY SATHER is a former entertainment lawyer and screenwriter. She holds an MFA from Bennington and her fiction has appeared in Santa Monica Review, J Journal, Pembroke Magazine, PANK, and elsewhere. She grew up in Los Angeles and lives in Northern California.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on OCTOBER 5th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Please join us on Tuesday, October 10th at 7:00 pm to celebrate the extraordinary new anthology 50 Years Of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution and engage in critical conversation with (from left) Ms. executive editor KATHERINE SPILLAR, managing editor CAMILLE HAHN, and contributor and scholar NICOLE M. GUIDOTTI-HERNANDEZ. We’ll explore what the future of feminism and movement journalism demands - a vision that is bold, imaginative and collaborative. 

To reserve space for this special free event, register on Eventbrite or contact the store.  Click here to preorder a copy of 50 Years of Ms.

50 Years Of Ms. is a remarkable collection – five decades of the magazine’s most startling, audacious, and norm-breaking pieces. Filled with iconic covers, photos, and letters to Ms., it features a foreword from Gloria Steinem and contributions by bell hooks, Alice Walker, Pauli Murray, Eleanor Smeal, Billie Jean King, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Allison Bechdel, Brittney Cooper, Joy Harjo, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Adrienne Rich, Rita Dove and many more.

Ms. remains a trusted feminist source for news, analysis and commentary, and is more critical than ever as the fights for women’s rights and for democracy face new challenges. The book is as much a reflection of the past 50 years as it is a roadmap for the path forward.

For the past five decades Ms. has been the nation’s most influential source of feminist ideas, and it remains at the forefront of feminism today, affecting thought and culture with a younger-than-ever readership (ages 16-20!).

KATHERINE (KATHY) SPILLAR is the Executive Editor of Ms. and editor of and contributor to 50 Years of Ms: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine that Ignited a Revolution. Kathy is also the Executive Director of Feminist Majority Foundation and Feminist Majority, national organizations working for women’s equality, empowerment and non-violence; one of the founders, she has been a driving force in executing the organizations’ diverse programs securing women’s rights both domestically and globally since its inception in 1987.

CAMILLE HAHN is the managing editor of Ms.—and has also served as its research editor, associate editor, features editor, copy editor and proofreader in her 15-plus years with the magazine. Previously, she worked as an associate editor at Bon Appétit.

DR. NICOLE M. GUIDOTTI-HERNÁNDEZ is a Ms. contributor and a member of the Ms. Committee of Scholars. She is the inaugural executive director of the Mills Institute at Northeastern University’s Oakland campus and author of Unspeakable Violence: Remapping U.S. and Mexican National Imaginaries.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:00 pm on October 10th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's on Thursday, October 12th when organizing expert and local Berkeley author SHIRA GILL comes to launch her new book Organized Living: Solutions and Inspiration For Your Home. Shira will discuss her book, demonstrate techniques, take questions, and sign copies of her book after the presentation. Kickstart your organized life with this inspiring visual guide from the author of Minimalista.

Register for this free event at Eventbrite or sign up at the store. Click here to preorder a copy of Organized Living.

Preordering a copy of Organized Living grants the guest both priority event seating and priority in the signing line. The FIRST TWENTY preorders will also receive a limited edition Organized Living x Paper and Pear home organizing label pack and a treat bag from Shira. 

People are naturally curious about the homes of professional organizers. Organized Living was inspired by Shira's desire to provide a glimpse into a rarely-seen world: The homes of people who organize others. Shira showcases the homes of twenty-five international home organizers, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into this meticulously kept world. Organized Living introduces you to the aspirational spaces of the most organized people in the world, the organizers themselves, and the passion that fuels their work. Through stunning images and absorbing interviews, you’ll gain expert tips and resources, loads of visual inspiration, and clever organizing hacks you can use in your own home. 

If you’re seeking less clutter, overwhelm, and stress in your life, and are looking to create more time and energy for the things that matter most, Organized Living is your chance to learn directly from the best in the business.

SHIRA GILL is a globally recognized home organizing expert, bestselling author, and speaker. She has inspired thousands of people to clear clutter from their homes and lives, and developed a process and toolkit that applies to anyone, regardless of budget, space, or lifestyle. Shira is also the author of Minimalista and has been featured in 100+ print and media outlets including Vogue, Dwell, Better Homes & Gardens, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Domino, Forbes, Goop, Harper's Bazaar, HGTV, Today, InStyle, Parents, Real Simple, and The New York Times.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:00 pm on October 12th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Author EVELYN MCDONNELL comes to Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Wednesday, October 18th at 7:00 PM to read from, discuss, and sign copies of her new book The World According to Joan Didion. She will be joined in conversation by LISA REINERTSON. Evelyn's book is an intimate exploration of the life, craft, and legacy of one of the most revered and influential writers, an artist who continues to inspire fans and creatives to cultivate practices of deep attention, rigorous interrogation and beautiful style. (Evelyn's photo credit John Rou. Lisa's photo credit Kurt Fishback)

This a a free event, but you must sign up in advance through Eventbrite or in the store.  Click here to preorder a copy of The World According to Joan Didion.

Joan Didion was a writer’s writer; not only a groundbreaking journalist, essayist, novelist and screenwriter, but a keen observer who honed her sights on life’s telling details. Her insights continue to influence creatives and admirers, encouraging them to become close observers of the world, unsentimental critics, and meticulous stylists. An antidote to a global view that narrows our vision to the smallest screens, The World According To Joan Didion is a meditation on the people, places, and objects that propelled Didion’s prose and an invitation to journalists, storytellers, and life adventurers to “throw themselves into the convulsions of the world,” as she once said.

Evelyn McDonnell, the acclaimed journalist, essayist, critic, feminist, native Californian, and university professor who regularly teaches Didion’s work, is attuned to interpret Didion’s vision for readers today. Inspired by Didion’s own words—from her works both published and unpublished—and informed by the people who knew Didion and those whose lives she shaped, The World According to Joan Didion is an illustrated journey through her life, tracing the path she carved from Sacramento, Portuguese Bend, Los Angeles, and Malibu to Manhattan, Miami, and Hawaii. McDonnell reveals the world as it was seen through Didion’s eyes and explores her work in chapters keyed to the singular physical motifs of her writing: Snake. Typewriter. Hotel. Notebook. Girl. Etc.

One of the first books to be published after the revered writer’s death in 2021, The World According to Joan Didion is a literary companion for those embarking on new journeys and a guide to innovative ways of being. It will radically transform the way you explore the world, and will help you answer the question as you sit in a café, or on a plane or train, pondering the future: What would Joan Didion have seen?

EVELYN McDONNELL has written or coedited multiple books, including Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyonce, Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl and Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways. She has been a pop culture writer at the Miami Herald and a senior editor at the Village Voice. Her writing has appeared in anthologies and publications, including the New York Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Ms., and Billboard. She teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University and lives in San Pedro, California. https://populismblog.wordpress.com/

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on October 18th.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Sunday, October 22nd at 2 pm when Bay Area author NIDHI CHANANI  launches her new graphic novel for readers ages 8-12, Super Boba Cafe. First in a series, Nidhi's book is a sweet and magical graphic novel about a boba café, an earthquake-causing monster, and an unforgettable summer. Nidhi will read from and discuss her book and will sign copies at the end of her presentation.

To register for this free event, go to Eventbrite or contact the store.

Click here to preorder a copy of Super Boba Cafe in paperback.

Click here to preorder a copy of Super Boba Cafe in hardcover. 

In the fog laden hills of San Francisco sits a sleepy independent boba café. Run by Jing Li and guarded by her kitty Bao, it comfortably fades into the background. But inside the boba café, there’s a secret. Jing is the keeper of the monster of San Francisco. Each day she prepares one giant boba for nine hours to feed it.

When Jing’s granddaughter, Aria, comes to stay with her for the summer she makes it her mission to turn the café around. Aria is quickly aided by Bao, who gives birth to eight perfect kittens. Aria spreads the news of the boba cat café on social media and overnight it is overrun with excited customers. Each day Nainai Li (Grandma Li) finds reasons to close the café but the demand only increases.

When she opens, the hill monster is left hungry and small earthquakes begin to plague the city. When Aria secretly follows her Nainai to the hill monster cave she isn’t sure what awaits. Will Aria be able to reason with the monster or become its new favorite meal? Or will she disturb its underground existence and cause the Big One?

NIDHI CHANANI is a freelance illustrator, cartoonist, and writer. Born in Calcutta and raised in suburban Southern California, she creates because it makes her happy—with the hope that it can make others happy too. Her debut graphic novel, Pashmina, received starred reviews from School Library Journal and Publishers Weekly, was a JLG Selection, a YALSA Top Ten Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and was reviewed in the New York Times, among other honors. She has a number of other comics and picture books out in the world as well, including Binny’s Diwali, Jukebox, and What Will My Story Be? Chanani draws and dreams every day with her husband, kid, and their kittens in the San Francisco Bay Area.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is requested. Registration ends at 1:00 pm on October 22nd.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 1:45 and 2:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.