Events

Local author and NPR personality AISHA HARRIS comes to Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Wednesday, June 14th, 7pm to launch her new book Wannabe: Reckonings with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me. Aisha will read from and discuss her book and will sign copies after the presentation. In nine lively, incisive essays, the NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour co-host reflects on the cultural touchstones of her childhood and adolescence that have shaped her, setting them in context with current sensations transforming culture now. (Aisha's photo courtesy of Sheilby Macena)

This event is free, but you must register on Eventbrite or contact us a the store prior to the talk.

NPR listeners trust Aisha Harris for her engaging and incisive insights on popular culture and the music, television, movies, and more that are influencing our lives today. In this insightful collection, she uses her keen analytical skills to examine her own life and the culture that defined who she is and how she thinks. In essays that span the personal and political, the high-brow and low, she explores how elements of popular culture became the formative touchstones of her youth in the 1990s. Aisha probes the most personal aspects of her life, including her family, her adolescence, her relationships, and her work. In the opening essay, an interaction with Chance the Rapper prompts an investigation into the origin myth of her name that becomes an ode to Stevie Wonder, Roots, and her parents. In another, she takes us back to the days of the Spice Girls and being pressured by friends to dress up as Scary Spice even though she preferred Ginger—and how perfectly that feeling is captured in an episode of the award-winning series Pen15 streaming on Hulu. She traces the evolution of the “Black Friend” trope from its Twainian origins through Clueless and She’s All That to New Girl and the recent Sex and The City reboot. She also zooms way out into the overlap of taste and identity today, arguing for us to let go of the patriarchal ethos of selfhood that limits us to “you are what you like.”

Wannabe is a peak into Aisha’s brilliant mind and caring heart, an opportunity and a pleasure to sit back and jam with a smart, hilarious, pop-culture obsessed friend who opens new worlds with each entertaining and thought-provoking observation.

AISHA HARRIS is the co-host of the popular NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour. From 2012 to 2018, she covered culture for Slate magazine as a staff writer, editor, and host of the film and television podcast, Represent. She joined the New York Times in 2018 as the assistant television editor on the Culture Desk and became culture editor for the Opinion Desk, where she wrote and edited a variety of pieces on the arts, society, and politics. Born and raised in Connecticut, she earned her bachelor's degree in theatre from Northwestern University and her master's degree in cinema studies from New York University. She lives in Oakland, California. Wannabe is her first book.

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on June 14th.

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.

Our annual tradition continues as THOMAS LYNCH continues his Bloomsday reading of James Joyce's Ulysses on Friday, June 16, 1pm in the store. At this performance, Thomas will be reading the second half of Chapter 10, "The Wandering Rocks." Reservations not required. This is a free event, but part of our tradition calls for passing the hat for Thomas following the reading.

Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Sunday, June 18th, 2:00 PM when author-illustrator SENDY SANTAMARIA comes to present her debut picture book at her launch event for Yenebi's Drive to School, a vibrant story that puts a whole new spin on one family's morning drive to school. "A trip to school takes on new meaning with the addition of a border crossing". --Kirkus, starred review

This is a free event, but attendees must register through Eventbrite or at the bookstore. Click Here to preorder a copy of Yenebi's Drive to School.

Every morning, I'm up at four o'clock.

I brush my teeth, get dressed, and drag my sister Melanie to the car where Mami's waiting for us.

¡Se nos va hacer tarde! ¡Apurarse!

For the next two hours, we'll be in the car driving—past tamale vendors (my favorite part), through la linea (my least favorite part), and across the US border. That's how we get to school every day. This is our normal. ¡Vamos!

In a winning, sunny voice in a bright, friendly palette, debut author-illustrator Sendy Santamaria tells the story of one girl's commute—a commute Sendy herself made growing up as an American citizen living in Mexico. Yenebi's Drive to School takes readers on a trip to school that many will recognize as very similar to their own.

SENDY SANTAMARIA is an Oakland-based Xicana author and illustrator. She received her BFA in Illustration from California College of the Arts. She grew up along both sides of the border between San Diego and Tijuana and spent a lot of time daydreaming on the San Diego Blue Line trolley. Her work celebrates everyday narratives and Chicanx culture. She is inspired by migration, perseverance, pigeons and love. 

THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 12:00 pm on June 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 1:45 and 2:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

Bestselling author ELISSA SUSSMAN comes to Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Thursday, June 22nd at 7:00 pm to read from, discuss, and sign her new novel Once More With Feeling. Elissa is being joined in conversation by local author KATHERINE LIN (right). In Elissa's latest, a former pop star finds herself back in the spotlight—along with an old flame from her past—in this friends-to-lovers meets enemies-to-lovers story from the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask, the sensational TikTok romance! (photo (c) John Petaja)

In order to attend, you must register on Eventbrite or at the store. Click here to preorder a copy of the book.

Then. Katee Rose is living the dream as America’s number one pop star, caught in a whirlwind of sold-out concerts, screaming fans, and constant tabloid coverage. Everyone wants to know everything about her and her boyfriend, Ryan LaNeve, the hottest member of adored boy band CrushZone. Katee loves to perform but hates the impossible demands of stardom. Maybe that’s why she finds herself in the arms of another CrushZone member, Cal Kirby. Quiet, serious Cal, who’s always been a good friend to Katee, is suddenly Cal with the smoldering eyes and very good hands. One unforgettable night is all it takes to blow up Katee’s relationship with Ryan, her career, her whole life.

Now. Kathleen Rosenberg is okay with her ordinary existence, and leaving her pop star image in the past. That is, until Cal Kirby shows up with the opportunity of her dreams—a starring role in the Broadway show he’s directing and a chance to perform the way she’s always wanted. The two haven’t spoken since the joint destruction of their careers, and each of them blames the other, making their reunion a tense battle of wits and egos. Kathleen reluctantly agrees to the musical, as long as she keeps her guard up around Cal. But rehearsals are long, those eyes still smolder, and those hands are still very good. Despite everything, Kathleen can’t deny the chemistry between them. Is it ever a good idea to reignite old flames? Especially if you’ve been burned in the past?

“This book is catnip for those of us who love boybands, musical theater, and second chances at first love. Written with humor and a fan's eye for adoration, Elissa Sussman has given us another hit.”—Emma Straub, bestselling author of This Time Tomorrow

ELISSA SUSSMAN is the bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask and three young adult novels. She received her BA from Sarah Lawrence College and her MFA from Pacific University and lives in her hometown of Los Angeles with her family.

KATHERINE LIN is an attorney and writer based in the San Francisco Bay Area and a graduate of Northwestern University and Stanford Law School. You Can’t Stay Here Forever (Harper Books) is her just published debut novel.

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