Join us Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Anguish and Anarchy. We will meet at 3828 Georgia Avenue, NW, Washington, DC (The Swift Petworth) for our next book club meeting and a potluck, so bring your book, your ideas, a dish, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Children of Anguish and Anarchy Description (368 pages):

‘When Zélie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.

Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.

But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha’s shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.’

Join us Saturday, July 6, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Michael Moss’s Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. We will meet at 300 Morse Street NE, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us Description (347 pages):

‘Every year, the average American eats thirty-three pounds of cheese and seventy pounds of sugar. Every day, we ingest 8,500 milligrams of salt, double the recommended amount, almost none of which comes from the shakers on our table. It comes from processed food, an industry that hauls in $1 trillion in annual sales. In Salt Sugar Fat, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter Michael Moss shows how we ended up here. Featuring examples from Kraft, Coca-Cola, Lunchables, Frito-Lay, Nestlé, Oreos, Capri Sun, and many more, Moss’s explosive, empowering narrative is grounded in meticulous, eye-opening research. He takes us into labs where scientists calculate the “bliss point” of sugary beverages, unearths marketing techniques taken straight from tobacco company playbooks, and talks to concerned insiders who make startling confessions. Just as millions of “heavy users” are addicted to salt, sugar, and fat, so too are the companies that peddle them. You will never look at a nutrition label the same way again.’

Join us Saturday, June 22, 2024 at 2:00 PM (CT) as we discuss Joél Leon’s Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man’s Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future. We will meet at Mo’ Better Brews (1201 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004), so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Everything and Nothing at Once: A Black Man’s Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future Description (304 pages):

‘Growing up in the Bronx, Joél Leon was taught that being soft, being vulnerable, could end your life. Shaped by a singular view of Black masculinity espoused by the media, family and friends, and society, he learned instead to care about the gold around his neck and the number of bills in his wallet. He absorbed the “facts” that white was always right and that Black men were either threatening or great for comic relief but never worthy of the opening credits. It wasn’t until years later that Joél understood he didn’t have to be defined by these and other stereotypes.

Now, in a collection of wide-ranging essays, he takes readers from his upbringing in the Bronx to his life raising two little girls of his own, unraveling those narratives to arrive at a deeper understanding of who he is as a son, friend, partner, and father. Traversing both the serious and the lighthearted, from contemplating male beauty standards to his decision to seek therapy to the difficulties of making co-parenting work, Joél cracks open his heart to reveal his multitudes.

In this book crafted like an album, each essay is a single that stands alone yet reverberates throughout the entire collection. Pieces like “How to Make a Black Friend” consider challenging, delightful and absurd moments in relationships, while others like “Sensitive Thugs You All Need Hugs” and “All Gold Everything” ponder the collective harms of society's lens.

With incisive, searing prose, Everything and Nothing at Once deconstructs what it means to be a Black man in America.’

Join us Saturday, June 1, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel. We will meet at 35 Parker Row SW, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel Description (400 pages):

‘In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.

As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.’

Join us Saturday, May 4, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Assata Shakur’s Assata: An Autobiography. We will meet at Bibliotheque, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this book club discussion.

Assata: An Autobiography Description (298 pages):

‘On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur (aka JoAnne Chesimard) lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that had claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder.

This intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the works of Maya Angelou.

Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides.’

Join us Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Jada Pinkett Smith’s Worthy. We will meet at Town Center Cold Pressed, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this book club discussion.

Worthy Description (416 pages):

‘Jada Pinkett Smith was living what many would view as a fairy-tale of Hollywood success. But appearances can be deceiving, and as she felt more and more separated from her sense of self, emotional turmoil took hold. Sparing no detail, Worthy chronicles her life—from a rebellious youth running the Baltimore streets as an observer and participant in the drug trade, to the deep bond she shared with Tupac Shakur from the moment they met, to her move to Los Angeles and the successful career she built on her own terms, to becoming the wife of superstar Will Smith and mother to Jaden, Willow and bonus-mom to Trey . A rollercoaster from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of self-acceptance and spiritual healing, Worthy is a woman’s journey to finding herself again.

In a media driven landscape that crafts narratives for our celebrities, Smith shares herself in an intimate conversation with readers. She answers questions about her difficult childhood, her marriage, her parenting style, her career choices, and the intense scrutiny that followed “the slap.” An impactful and rare memoir that engages and educates, Worthy shows why adhering to the status quo has never been the plan for Jada Pinkett Smith and why labels and stories crafted by others strip women of their authenticity. Worthy teaches us who Jada is, and how to embrace our most lovable qualities. Complete with thought-provoking writing prompts and meditations on how to discover who we really are and nourish our self-worth.’

Join us Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde. We will meet at 35 Parker Row, SW, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this book club discussion.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde Description (352 pages):

‘Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her. 

When regal nonagenarian, Ms. Della, invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmers. 

One evening in February as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way. 

Set against the backdrop of modern Harlem and Renaissance glamour, A Love Song for Ricki Wilde is a swoon-worthy love story of two passionate artists drawn to the magic, romance, and opportunity of New York, and whose lives are uniquely and irreversibly linked.’

Join us Friday, April 12, 2024 at 7:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Toni Morrison’s Sula. We will meet at Lawrence + Larimer, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Sula Description (192 pages):

‘From the acclaimed Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison: Two girls who grow up to become women. Two friends who become something worse than enemies. This brilliantly imagined novel brings us the story of Nel Wright and Sula Peace, who meet as children in the small town of Medallion, Ohio.

Nel and Sula's devotion is fierce enough to withstand bullies and the burden of a dreadful secret. It endures even after Nel has grown up to be a pillar of the black community and Sula has become a pariah. But their friendship ends in an unforgivable betrayal—or does it end? Terrifying, comic, ribald and tragic, Sula is a work that overflows with life.’

Join us Friday, April 5, 2024 at 7:00 PM (PT) as we discuss James McBride’s The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel. We will meet at Fixins Soul Kitchen, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel Description (400 pages):

‘In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new development, the last thing they expected to find was a skeleton at the bottom of a well. Who the skeleton was and how it got there were two of the long-held secrets kept by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side and shared ambitions and sorrows. Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Moshe integrated his theater and where Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. When the state came looking for a deaf boy to institutionalize him, it was Chona and Nate Timblin, the Black janitor at Moshe’s theater and the unofficial leader of the Black community on Chicken Hill, who worked together to keep the boy safe.

As these characters’ stories overlap and deepen, it becomes clear how much the people who live on the margins of white, Christian America struggle and what they must do to survive. When the truth is finally revealed about what happened on Chicken Hill and the part the town’s white establishment played in it, McBride shows us that even in dark times, it is love and community—heaven and earth—that sustain us.’

Join us Saturday, March 23, 2024 at 12:00 PM (CT) as we discuss Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. We will meet at Mo’ Better Brews, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this book club discussion.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents Description (388 pages):

‘Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their outcasting of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.

Original and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.’

Join us Sunday, February 4, 2024 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Rich Paul’s Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds. We will meet at 35 Parker Row, SW, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds Description: (247 pages)

‘There’s a story about Rich Paul that everyone knows: A twenty-one-year-old kid from Cleveland who sells sports jerseys out of his car meets a high school basketball phenom named LeBron James at an airport—the two become friends and forge a decades-long partnership that reinvents the business of sports. That random meeting might seem like the lucky break that changed Paul’s life. But a moment of good fortune means nothing without the struggle that gets you there. And the truth is, Paul had always been lucky.

Rich Paul became a gambler at an early age—his fast mind and gift for finding an edge made him a devastating dice roller who could hold his own with grown men, win big, and walk away alive. Shooting dice wasn’t just a pastime; it was a way to earn money for his family as his mother struggled under the weight of drug addiction. He learned the secret science of dice in the same place he found all the lessons of his young life: the corner store his father operated, the center of the neighborhood’s frantic action. Paul’s father had another family but kept his son close working at the store. Paul dreamed of becoming a star athlete, but the streets were where he thrived, building a lucrative enterprise on shaky ground. When he found himself at a dangerous crossroads, he summoned the teachings of his past to create a different future.

Readers will follow the riveting journey of a young Rich Paul narrated by the Paul of today, who looks back with wit and insight, drawing out the lessons he learned at every stage—about business, people, and the values that lead to success. It’s the inspiring story of the luck that’s all around us, if we know where to look.’

Join us Friday, January 26, 2024 at 7:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Charles E. Cobb, Jr.'s This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed. We will meet at Lawrence + Larimer, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed Description: (328 pages)

‘Visiting Martin Luther King Jr. during the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, journalist William Worthy almost sat on a loaded pistol. "Just for self-defense," King assured him. It was not the only weapon King kept for such a purpose; one of his advisors remembered the reverend’s Montgomery, Alabama, home as "an arsenal." Like King, many ostensibly "nonviolent" civil rights activists embraced their constitutional right to self-protection—yet this crucial dimension of the Afro-American freedom struggle has been long ignored by history. In This Nonviolent Stuff’ll Get You Killed, Charles E. Cobb Jr. recovers this history, describing the vital role that armed self-defense has played in the survival and liberation of black communities.  Drawing on his experiences in the civil rights movement and giving voice to its participants, Cobb lays bare the paradoxical relationship between the nonviolent civil rights struggle and the long history and importance of African Americans taking up arms to defend themselves against white supremacist violence.’

Step into the FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS celebration, where the spirit of friendship comes alive! Join us in a jubilant gathering, as we revel in the warmth of old friendships and the excitement of new connections. FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS was born from a simple yet powerful idea—to rekindle the bonds of camaraderie and foster a sense of togetherness that transcends time.

Beyond the joyous laughter and shared moments, FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS embodies a commitment to making a positive impact. In our journey together, we've distributed over 4,000 children's books, raised substantial funds for essential tuition needs, and constructed havens of knowledge across the nation. Each of these endeavors was made possible by the generosity and compassion of our incredible friends.

As we welcome you to FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS, envision a world where the spirit of friendship knows no bounds—a world where every gesture, every connection, and every shared joy contributes to a brighter future. Join us on this inspirational journey of celebration, connection, and giving, as we continue to build bridges of friendship that span far and wide. FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS is more than an event; it's a movement of hearts coming together to make a difference. Embrace the magic, share the love, and let's create memories that last a lifetime. Welcome to FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS! is more than just an annual holiday gathering - it serves the purpose of building community and supporting Black and Brown children in their educational pursuits and development.

WE NEED MORE THINKERS 501(c)(3), is a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit who donates books across the country in Knowledge Boxes - free libraries set up in Black and Brown neighborhoods - as well as donates books to children of incarcerated parents, children in foster homes, and to DC Public Schools in Wards 5, 7, and 8.

We look forward to hosting another successful FRIENDS🎅🏾MAS this year, and seeing the positive ripple effect this party will have on the larger community.

You can purchase your ticket or make a donation for the event here.

Join us Friday, December 16, 2023 at 7:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Charmaine Wilkerson’s Black Cake: A Novel. We will meet at 35 Parker Row, SW, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Black Cake: A Novel Description: (416 pages)

‘In present-day California, Eleanor Bennett’s death leaves behind a puzzling inheritance for her two children, Byron and Benny: a black cake, made from a family recipe with a long history, and a voice recording. In her message, Eleanor shares a tumultuous story about a headstrong young swimmer who escapes her island home under suspicion of murder. The heartbreaking tale Eleanor unfolds, the secrets she still holds back, and the mystery of a long-lost child challenge everything the siblings thought they knew about their lineage and themselves. Can Byron and Benny reclaim their once-close relationship, piece together Eleanor’s true history, and fulfill her final request to “share the black cake when the time is right”? Will their mother’s revelations bring them back together or leave them feeling more lost than ever? Charmaine Wilkerson’s debut novel is a story of how the inheritance of betrayals, secrets, memories, and even names can shape relationships and history. Deeply evocative and beautifully written, Black Cake is an extraordinary journey through the life of a family changed forever by the choices of its matriarch.’

Join us Friday, November 10, 2023 at 7:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s In the Blink of an Eye. We will meet at Lawrence + Larimer, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

In the Blink of an Eye Description: (256 pages)

"In an autobiography marked by staggering vulnerability, former NBA star Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf–whose given name was Chris Jackson before converting to Islam and changing it in 1991–recounts the twists, turns, trials, and triumphs of his life. He is perhaps most well-known for being exiled from the league for praying—instead of standing and saluting the flag – during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before games throughout the 1995–96 season. Abdul-Rauf’s protest sent shockwaves through the NBA that can still be felt today. With wit and candor, Abdul-Rauf tells the story of how he rose to the top of his game—only to have his career taken away in the blink of an eye when he stood up for his principles. He also recounts his experiences living with Tourette Syndrome, committing his life to the Islamic faith, and growing up estranged from his father. In the Blink of an Eye challenges readers to examine our own lives by asking what we value, how we want to be remembered, and how we can contribute to making the world a better place. Through evocative passages that place the reader in the heat of the moment as well as poignant portraits of the important people in his life, In the Blink of an Eye will capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. This book is a must-read for anyone who has faced down adversity by standing up for the integrity of their own life, path, and identity. From his confrontations with racism—including the burning down of his house—to his difficult relationship with some of his closest family members, Adbul-Rauf reveals in intimate detail the important and inspirational, if painful, episodes that shaped his life."

Join us Sunday, August 13, 2023 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Clint Smith III’s How the Word is Passed. We will meet at 110 36th Street NE, Washington, DC, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

How the Word is Passed Description: (352 pages)

"Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks—those that are honest about the past and those that are not—that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves. It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers. A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view... Smith's debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be."

Join us Friday, July 28, 2023 at 7:00 PM (PT) as we discuss Eboni K. Williams’ Bet On Black. We will meet at Bruce’s Beach at the Memorial Sign and walk to the beach, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Bet On Black Description: (256 pages)

Blackness is a rich, expansive place that centers resilience, excellence, beauty, panache, and brilliance. But these notions of Blackness have long been distorted by American racism, where for generations Black folks have been expected to live a subordinate, second-class existence in the country they call home. “No more!” Williams says, proclaiming that the good news about being Black today is that our community has unprecedented access to an array of tools to honor our Blackness however we see fit, whenever we see fit, wherever we see fit. Bet on Black is thus a call to action for Black people all over the world to adopt a fresh, highly informed mindset that will change lives. Wiliams boldly proclaims that Blackness is the single most misunderstood construct in America. And in Bet on Black, Williams invites you to join her on the quest to show the world what Blackness really is.

Join us Saturday, July 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Quarail Hale’s Tangential Thoughts. We will meet at 475 Technology Parkway, Peachtree Corners, GA 30092, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Tangential Thoughts Description:

"Tangential Thoughts is a guided journal crafted with the intention to elicit your opinions. You are being encouraged to pull your energy from your mind into the physical world by capturing your thoughts in this journal. You are being challenged to share your opinions with others to learn to appreciate different thought patterns. This is how we learn and grow." 

Join us on Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 5:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. We will meet at Lawrence + Larimer, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Harlem Shuffle Description: (336 pages)

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked..." To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time... Harlem Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

Join us on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. We will meet at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Harlem Shuffle Description: (336 pages)

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked..." To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time... Harlem Shuffle's ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

Join us on Thursday, March 9, 2023 at 7:00 PM (CT) as we discuss Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June. We will meet at the Canvas Hotel Rooftop, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Seven Days in June Description: (352 pages)

Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy-as-hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love.

Join us on Saturday, January 14, 2023 at 5:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Julian Rubenstein’s The Holly. We will meet at Lawrence + Larimer, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

The Holly Description: (400 pages)

On the last evening of summer in 2013, five shots rang out in a part of northeast Denver known as the Holly. Long a destination for African American families fleeing the Jim Crow South, the area had become an “invisible city” within a historically white metropolis. While shootings there weren’t uncommon, the identity of the shooter that night came as a shock. Terrance Roberts was a revered anti-gang activist. His attempts to bring peace to his community had won the accolades of both his neighbors and the state’s most important power brokers. Why had he just fired a gun?

In The Holly, the award-winning Denver-based journalist Julian Rubinstein reconstructs the events that left a local gang member paralyzed and Roberts facing the possibility of life in prison. Much more than a crime story, The Holly is a multigenerational saga of race and politics that runs from the civil rights movement to Black Lives Matter. With a cast that includes billionaires, elected officials, cops, developers, and street kids, the book explores the porous boundaries between a city’s elites and its most disadvantaged citizens. It also probes the fraught relationships between police, confidential informants, activists, gang members, and ex–gang members as they struggle to put their pasts behind them. In The Holly, we see how well-intentioned efforts to curb violence and improve neighborhoods can go badly awry, and we track the interactions of law enforcement with gang members who conceive of themselves as defenders of a neighborhood. When Roberts goes on trial, the city’s fault lines are fully exposed. In a time of national reckoning over race, policing, and the uses and abuses of power, Rubinstein offers a dramatic and humane illumination of what’s at stake.

Join us on Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Tiffany Aliche’s Get Good with Money: Ten Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole. We will meet at Capitol One Cafe, so bring your book, your ideas, and your beautiful mind.

Never Split the Difference Description: (368 pages)

Tiffany Aliche was a successful pre-school teacher with a healthy nest egg when a recession and advice from a shady advisor put her out of a job and into a huge financial hole. As she began to chart the path to her own financial rescue, the outline of her ten-step formula for attaining both financial security and peace of mind began to take shape. These principles have now helped more than one million women worldwide save and pay off millions in debt, and begin planning for a richer life.

Revealing this practical ten-step process for the first time in its entirety, Get Good with Money introduces the powerful concept of building wealth through financial wholeness: a realistic, achievable, and energizing alternative to get-rich-quick and over-complicated money management systems. With helpful checklists, worksheets, a tool kit of resources, and advanced advice from experts who Tiffany herself relies on (her “Budgetnista Boosters”), Get Good with Money gets crystal clear on the short-term actions that lead to long-term goals, including:

• A simple technique to determine your baseline or “noodle budget,” examine and systemize your expenses, and lay out a plan that allows you to say yes to your dreams.
• An assessment tool that helps you understand whether you have a “don't make enough” problem or a “spend too much” issue—as well as ways to fix both.
• Best practices for saving for a rainy day (aka job loss), a big-ticket item (a house, a trip, a car), and money that can be invested for your future.
• Detailed advice and action steps for taking charge of your credit score, maximizing bill-paying automation, savings and investing, and calculating your life, disability, and property insurance needs.
• Ways to protect your beneficiaries' future, and ensure that your financial wishes will stand the test of time.

An invaluable guide to cultivating good financial habits and making your money work for you, Get Good with Money will help you build a solid foundation for your life (and legacy) that’s rich in every way.

Join us on Sunday, November 20, 2022 at 12:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Christopher Voss’s Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It. We will meet at Calabash Tea & Tonic for the vibes, so bring your book, grab some tea and snacks, and your beautiful mind.

Never Split the Difference Description: (288 pages)

After a stint policing the rough streets of Kansas City, Missouri, Chris Voss joined the FBI, where his career as a hostage negotiator brought him face-to-face with a range of criminals, including bank robbers and terrorists. Reaching the pinnacle of his profession, he became the FBI’s lead international kidnapping negotiator. Never Split the Difference takes you inside the world of high-stakes negotiations and into Voss’s head, revealing the skills that helped him and his colleagues succeed where it mattered most: saving lives. In this practical guide, he shares the nine effective principles―counterintuitive tactics and strategies―you too can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal life.

Life is a series of negotiations you should be prepared for: buying a car, negotiating a salary, buying a home, renegotiating rent, deliberating with your partner. Taking emotional intelligence and intuition to the next level, Never Split the Difference gives you the competitive edge in any discussion.

Join us on Saturday, October 22, 2022 at 5:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June. We will meet at Lawrence & Larimer, so bring your book and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Seven Days in June Description: (352 pages)

Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy-as-hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love.

Join us on Saturday, September 10, 2022 at 1:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Tia Williams’ Seven Days in June. We will meet at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Rooftop, so bring your book and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Seven Days in June Description: (352 pages)

Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning novelist, who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York.

When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that fifteen years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. While they may be pretending not to know each other, they can’t deny their chemistry—or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to each other in their books through the years.

Over the next seven days, amidst a steamy Brooklyn summer, Eva and Shane reconnect—but Eva’s wary of the man who broke her heart, and wants him out of the city so her life can return to normal. Before Shane disappears though, she needs a few questions answered...

With its keen observations of creative life in America today, as well as the joys and complications of being a mother and a daughter, Seven Days in June is a hilarious, romantic, and sexy-as-hell story of two writers discovering their second chance at love.

Join us on Sunday, June 26, 2022 at 1:00 PM (ET) as we discuss Will Smith’s Will. We will meet at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library Rooftop, so bring your book and your beautiful mind. We can’t wait to see you for this discussion.

Will Description: (432 pages)

Will Smith’s transformation from a West Philadelphia kid to one of the biggest rap stars of his era, and then one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood history, is an epic tale—but it’s only half the story.

Will Smith thought, with good reason, that he had won at life: not only was his own success unparalleled, his whole family was at the pinnacle of the entertainment world. Only they didn't see it that way: they felt more like star performers in his circus, a seven-days-a-week job they hadn't signed up for. It turned out Will Smith's education wasn't nearly over.

This memoir is the product of a profound journey of self-knowledge, a reckoning with all that your will can get you and all that it can leave behind. Written with the help of Mark Manson, author of the multi-million-copy bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Will is the story of how one person mastered his own emotions, written in a way that can help everyone else do the same. Few of us will know the pressure of performing on the world's biggest stages for the highest of stakes, but we can all understand that the fuel that works for one stage of our journey might have to be changed if we want to make it all the way home. The combination of genuine wisdom of universal value and a life story that is preposterously entertaining, even astonishing, puts Will the book, like its author, in a category by itself.

Join us Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 5:00 PM (MT) as we discuss Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score. We will meet at Lawrence & Larimer, so bring your book and your beautiful mind. We look forward to seeing you at this discussion.

The Body Keeps the Score Description: (464 pages)

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.