Events
June 2023
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.

Author/Illustrator THIEN PHAM launches his new young adult graphic memoir Family Style : Memories of an American fro
m Vietnam on Tuesday, June 20 at 7pm. Originally posted on Instagram, the story details the author's childhood immigration to America with his family, through the lens of particularly meaningful food and meals. Thien will be joined in conversation by acclaimed author/illustrator GENE LUEN YANG and will sign copies at the event.
This is a free event, but you must register online at Eventbrite or contact us in the store prior to the event.
Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam.
After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity.
Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search—for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.
THIEN PHAM is a graphic novelist, comic artist, and educator based in Oakland, CA. He is the author and illustrator of the graphic novel Sumo and did the art for the middle-grade graphic novel Level Up, written by Gene Luen Yang. He is an ongoing comic contributor to EaterSF and as such eats. A lot. Follow Thien on Twitter at @CobraTalon, and Instagram at @thiendog .
GENE LUEN YANG writes, and sometimes draws, comic books and graphic novels. He was named a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature by the Library of Congress in 2016, and advocates for the importance of reading, especially reading diversely. His graphic novel American Born Chinese, a National Book Award finalist and Printz Award winner, has been adapted into a streaming series. His two-volume graphic novel Boxers & Saints won the LA Times Book Prize and was a National Book Award Finalist. His nonfiction graphic novel, Dragon Hoops, received an Eisner award and a Printz honor.
THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on June 20th.
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.

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 i
n 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.
July 2023
Bestselling author CRISTINA GARCIA comes to Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Tuesday July 18th, 7pm to read from, discuss, and sign
her new book Vanishing Maps. Cristina will be joined in conversation by CAROLINA DE ROBERTIS. The novel is a follow-up to Garcia's acclaimed Dreaming in Cuban that tracks four generations of the del Pino family against the tumultuous backdrops of Cuba, the U.S., Germany, and Russia in the new millennium.
The event is free, but attendees must register on Eventbrite or contact us at the store.
Celia del Pino, the matriarch of a far-flung Cuban family, has watched her descendants spread out across the globe, struggling to make sense of their transnational identities and strained relationships with one another. In Berlin, the charismatic yet troubled Ivanito performs on stage as his drag queen persona, while being haunted by the ghost of his mother. Pilar Puente, adrift in Los Angeles, is a struggling sculptor and the single mother of a young son. In Moscow, Ivanito’s cousin Irina has become the wealthy owner of a lingerie company, but she remains deeply lonely in the wake of her parents’ deaths and her estrangement from her Cuban heritage. Meanwhile, in Havana, Celia prepares to reunite with her lost lover, Gustavo, and wonders whether age and the decades spent apart have altered their bond.
Cut off from their Cuban roots, yet still feeling the island’s ineluctable pull, Ivanito and his extended family try to reimagine where—and with whom—they belong. Over the course of a momentous year, each will grapple with their histories as they are pulled to Berlin for a final, explosive reunion.
Set twenty years after the events in Dreaming in Cuban, Cristina García’s new novel is an epic tale of family, devotion, and the timeless search for home.
"A beautiful novel: hilarious one moment, haunting the next.” —Chris Bohjalian, author of The Flight Attendant and The Lioness
CRISTINA GARCÍA is the author of eight novels including Dreaming in Cuban, The Agüero Sisters, Monkey Hunting, A Handbook to Luck, The Lady Matador’s Hotel, King of Cuba and Here in Berlin. García’s work has been nominated for a National Book Award and translated into fifteen languages. She’s taught at universities nationwide and is currently resident playwright at Central Works Theater in Berkeley.
CAROLINA De ROBERTIS, a writer of Uruguayan origins, is the author of the forthcoming novel The Palace of Eros, as well as The President and the Frog, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award; Cantoras, winner of a Stonewall Book Award and a Reading Women Award, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice; The Gods of Tango, winner of a Stonewall Book Award; Perla; and the international bestseller The Invisible Mountain, which received Italy’s Rhegium Julii Prize.
THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on July 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 on Thursday, July 27th, 7pm, when author YAEL GOLDSTEIN-LOVE comes to the store to present her brand new novel The Possibilities. Yael will sign books after the presentation. From the intimate joys of parenthood to the cosmic awe of the multiverse, The
Possibilities is an ingenious and wildly suspenseful novel that stares down into the dizzying depths of maternal love, vulnerability, and strength. Yael will be joined in conversation by LAUREN SCHILLER (right). (Yael Goldstein-Love photo by Laura Turbow Photography. Lauren Schiller photo by Jen Werner)
This event is free, but you must register on Eventbrite or at the store prior to the talk. Click Here to preorder a copy of The Possibilities.
What if the life you didn't live was as real as the one you did? Hannah is having a bad day. A bad month. A bad year? That feels terrible to admit, since her son Jack was born just eight months ago, and she loves him more than anything. But ever since his harrowing birth, she can’t shake the feeling that it could have gone the other way. That her baby might not have made it. Terrifying visions from different paths her life could have taken begin to disrupt her cozy, claustrophobic days with Jack, destabilizing her marriage, and making her husband concerned for her mental health. Are the strange things Hannah is seeing just new mom anxiety, or is something truly weird and sinister afoot? What if Hannah really did unlock a dark force during childbirth?
When Hannah’s worst nightmare comes true and Jack disappears from his crib, she must tap into an extraordinary ability she never knew she had in order to save him: she must grapple with different versions of her life while holding onto what is most important to her in this one to bring her child back home.
YAEL GOLDSTEIN-LOVE is the author of The Possibilities and The Passion of Tasha Darsky. She is a psychotherapist, with a particular interest in the transition to parenthood, and the co-founder of the literary studio Plympton. She lives with her son in Berkeley, California.
LAUREN SCHILLER is an award-winning interviewer and the creator of numerous podcasts and radio shows including Inflection Point, about how women rise up, build power, and lead change. Her new book is It’s a Good Day to Change the World: Inspiration and Advice for a Feminist Future (Countryman Press). Find Lauren’s interviews at inflectionpointradio.org.
THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on July 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.

August 2023
Join us Tuesday, August 8th at 7:00 PM when bestselling author EDAN LEPUCKI visits Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore to present her new
novel Time's Mouth. Edan brings readers an enthralling saga about family secrets that grow more powerful with time, set against the magical, dangerous landscape of California. Edan will be joined in conversation by author KATE SCHATZ (right) and will sign copies of her book after the presentation. Edan's photo by Ralph Palumbo.
The event is free, but you must register to attend through Eventbrite or at the store. Click here to preorder a copy of Time's Mouth.
Ursa possesses a very special gift. She can travel through memory and revisit her past. After she flees her hometown for the counterculture glory of 1950’s California, the intoxicating potential of her unique ability eventually draws a group of women into her orbit and into a ramshackle Victorian mansion in the woods outside Santa Cruz. Yet Ursa’s powers come with a cost. Soon this cultish community of sisterhood takes an ominous turn, prompting her son, Ray, and his pregnant lover, Cherry, to flee their home for Los Angeles and reinvent themselves far from Ursa’s insidious influence. But escaping their past won’t be so easy. A series of mysterious events forces Cherry to abandon their baby, leaving Ray to raise Opal alone.
Now a teenager and still heartbroken over the abandonment of the mother she never knew, Opal must journey into her own past to reveal the generations of secrets that gave rise to the shimmering source of her family's painful legacy.
From the forests of Santa Cruz, to the 1980s glam of Melrose Avenue to a solitary mansion among the oil derricks off La Cienega Boulevard, and brimming with the double-edged capacity of memory to both heal and harm, Time’s Mouth is a poignant and evocative excavation of the bonds that bind families together.
EDAN LEPUCKI is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels California and Woman No. 17, as well as the editor of Mothers Before: Stories and Portraits of Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them. Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Esquire Magazine, and The Cut, among other publications. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
KATE SCHATZ is a feminist author, activist, public speaker, and educator. She's the New York Times bestselling author of the Rad Women book series; Rid of Me: A Story in the 33 1/3 series, and Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, co-written with United Shades of America host W. Kamau Bell.
THIS EVENT is free but pre-registration is required. Registration ends at 4:30 pm on August 8th.
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.
