Book talks and author readings on the Peninsula — 12 upcoming

Dave Eggers & Shawn Harris - Her Right Foot

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power Book TalkWorkshop / PracticeBookshopSalon Free

Sat, Oct 24 ·2:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Join Kepler's Community Reads program for an interactive event centered on *Her Right Foot*, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris's illustrated exploration of America's identity, borders, immigration, and Lady Liberty's meaning. The afternoon features a collage workshop led by illustrator Shawn Harris (2:00–2:45 PM, all ages welcome) followed by an open community discussion (3:00 PM) about the book's themes of resistance, oppression, and American ideals as the nation marks its 250th anniversary.

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Climate Action Book Club: The Art of Gathering

Culture & HumanitiesCivics & Power SalonBook Talk Free

Sat, Oct 24 ·3:00 pm ·Washington Park ·Burlingame

A bimonthly book club discussion of Priya Parker's *The Art of Gathering*, exploring how to create meaningful, intentional gatherings. Hosted by Climate Action Club, a Bay Area community turning climate anxiety into collective action and civic power. Participants bring snacks and discussion, meeting in Washington Park in Burlingame. No prior experience required. Friends, children, and furry companions welcome.

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Andrew Miller with Yangsze Choo - The Land in Winter

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Wed, Oct 28 ·7:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Booker Prize-shortlisted author Andrew Miller discusses his novel *The Land in Winter*, a masterpiece set in December 1962 in the English countryside. The story follows two couples—doctor Eric and his pregnant wife Irene, and farmer Bill with his expectant wife Rita—whose quiet lives unravel when the mildest December gives way to the harshest winter in living memory, exposing secret resentments in both marriages. Miller, whose debut *Ingenious Pain* won the James Tait Black and International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, has established himself as a chronicler of the human heart across 14 acclaimed novels, including *Pure* (Costa Book Award) and *Now We Shall Be Entirely Free*. *The Land in Winter* won the Winston Graham Historical Prize and the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In conversation with Yangsze Choo at Kepler's Books.

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Douglas Stuart with Karen Joy Fowler - John of John

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Thu, Oct 29 ·7:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Douglas Stuart, Booker Prize–winning author of *Shuggie Bain* and *Young Mungo*, discusses his Booker Prize Longlisted novel *John of John*. Set in the remote Outer Hebrides, the novel follows John-Calum Macleod's return home after art school, navigating family secrets and fractured relationships with his father John, a sheep farmer and lay preacher, and his grandmother Ella. In conversation with fellow acclaimed author Karen Joy Fowler, Stuart explores this intensely character-driven story of impossible struggles and hidden truths unfolding across a single transformative season.

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Story Is the Thing

Culture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Wed, Nov 4 ·6:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

A signature reading series featuring four Northern California fiction authors sharing work from their debut and latest titles. The evening includes a reception with authors at 6:00 PM, followed by readings, discussion, and Q&A, concluding with a book signing at 7:30 PM.

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Asya Pereltsvaig - Murder in Petrograd

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop Free

Sat, Nov 7 ·2:00 pm ·Peninsula Books ·Daly City

Author and historian Asya Pereltsvaig discusses her novel *Murder in Petrograd*, a historical thriller set in Imperial Russia's final years. The story follows a young Oxford graduate working for British Intelligence tasked with stopping Rasputin—and eliminating him if necessary. Pereltsvaig, a native of Saint Petersburg with a doctorate in Linguistics and teaching experience at Cornell and Stanford, blends archival research with espionage, romance, and moral suspense to explore the people behind one of history's most infamous murders and the ethical questions surrounding political assassination.

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Bryant Lin with Laurel Braitman - Sunshine

Science & TechCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Tue, Nov 10 ·7:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Leading cancer researcher and physician Bryant Lin discusses his memoir *Sunshine*, which explores living with terminal illness from both a doctor's and patient's perspective. After his own lung cancer diagnosis, Lin created a Stanford Medical School course called "From Diagnosis to Dialog: A Doctor's Real-Time Battle with Cancer," which gained international attention. In conversation with Laurel Braitman, Lin offers philosophical and scientifically grounded insights into navigating medical crises, finding hope and resilience, and making meaning in life's most challenging moments.

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Bing Gordon & Chloe Gordon with Paul Saffo - Everybody Wins

Business & EconomyCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Thu, Nov 12 ·7:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Bing Gordon, legendary video game industry strategist, and his daughter Chloe discuss *Everybody Wins*, their guide to applying game design psychology to product development and customer engagement. Drawing on four decades shaping companies like EA Sports, Amazon Prime, Spotify, and Duolingo, Gordon presents his "Gamification Checklist"—eight core principles including Wow Moments, Social Integration, Retention Hacking, and Game Loops—with Paul Saffo moderating. The event explores how the psychological drivers that make games irresistible can unlock better business strategy and user experience across industries.

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Abraham Verghese - An Evening with Kepler's

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshop Free

Mon, Nov 16 ·5:30 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

A celebration of bestselling author Abraham Verghese and over 70 years of Kepler's Books. Verghese, author of *The Covenant of Water* and *Cutting for Stone*, discusses his work and the power of literature with the Kepler's community. Part of the bookshop's anniversary benefit honoring its legacy as a hub for readers and writers in the Bay Area.

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Daniel Duane - Yosemite Falls

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Tue, Nov 17 ·7:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Nature writer Daniel Duane discusses his memoir *Yosemite Falls*, which traces his family's devotion to John Muir and Yosemite National Park while reckoning with the park's violent and absurd history. Duane explores his childhood worship of Muir's wilderness gospel through climbing, backpacking, and reading—only to confront the writer's Victorian worldview and the legacies of white supremacy, cultural theft, and Indigenous erasure embedded in California's conservation mythology. Drawing on his family's stories alongside figures like Ishi, the last Yahi person, Duane offers a vital correction to the wilderness canon, blending memoir, environmental history, and wry humor.

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Jen Murphy Parker with Irena Smith - Fault Line Boy

Culture & Humanities Book TalkBookshopLecture / Forum Free

Thu, Nov 19 ·6:00 pm ·Kepler's Books ·Menlo Park

Jen Murphy Parker discusses her memoir *Fault Line Boy*, a lyrical account of raising her youngest son through severe pediatric epilepsy—the seizures, ICU nights, medication trials, and slow recalibration of family life. Parker explores how she and her family found resilience, joy, and endurance amid uncertainty, alongside the strange intimacy that grows in long-term caregiving. In partnership with her son's neurologist, Dr. Joseph Sullivan, Parker has raised over $2 million to establish a pediatric epilepsy center at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. For readers of Joan Didion and Emily Rapp Black seeking narrative nonfiction on medical motherhood and marriage under pressure.

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Tom Molanphy - Marie's Tree: Implosions and Injustice in San Francisco

Civics & PowerCulture & Humanities Book TalkLecture / ForumBookshop Free

Sat, Dec 5 ·6:00 pm ·Peninsula Books ·Daly City

Tom Molanphy discusses his book *Marie's Tree: Implosions and Injustice in San Francisco*, a chronicle of environmental activist Marie Harrison's three decades fighting to protect San Francisco's Bayview Hunters Point from development, pollution, and contamination. Molanphy, a journalist whose work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and who teaches at the Academy of Art University, traces Harrison's battles against the implosion of Geneva Towers, the removal of PG&E stacks, and cleanup of a major superfund site. Half of book proceeds benefit the Marie Harrison Community Foundation. Endorsement from Bill McKibben, author of *Here Comes the Sun*.

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