Book Discussions/Events

Book discussion, author talks, Friend's book sales, Foundation events that are free and open to public.

BPL Book Club

This online book group will discuss recent literary fiction books, on the last Tuesday of the month.

April 27: The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are

May 25: A River of Stars by Vanessa Hua

June 29: The Library Book by Susan Orlean

All sessions meet at 2pm

The discussion will take place over Zoom and include 15 participants with a waitlist.

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Obi Kaufmann: California Field Atlas Author Talk

Join us for a conversation with author and visual artist, Obi Kaufmann. Obi will share his work and discuss his books with program attendees at this virtual event hosted in Zoom. 

Registration in Zoom is required to access this event. 

The Library thanks the Friends of the Berkeley Public Library for generously funding the event.

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Teenagers of Peoples Temple with Judy Bebelaar

The Peoples Temple is notorious for the way it ended—mass death in a jungle in Guyana. Few people realize that half of those who died in Jonestown were in their twenties or younger; one-third under eighteen. Judy Bebelaar got to know the kids of the San Francisco Temple. They were vibrant, talented, full of spunk. Bebelaar brings out their stories, sometimes in their own words, in the book she wrote with fellow teacher Ron Cabral, And Then They Were Gone: Teenagers of Peoples Temple from High School to Jonestown. Join us for an online return to that fascinating and turbulent time.

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Virtual Book Discussion: Hamnet, A Novel of the Plague

Join us for a virtual book discussion of Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O'Farrell. A historical fiction re-imagining of the death of Hamnet, Shakespeare's 11-year-old son. Agnes, a young healer who strolls about with a falcon on her shoulder, happily marries an impecunious Latin tutor and aspiring writer. He is just emerging as a gifted dramatist when their son falls victim to the bubonic plague, and what's left is a couple shattered by grief.

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BPL Book Club

This online book group will discuss recent literary fiction books:

March 30: Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

All sessions meet at 2pm

The discussion will take place over Zoom and include 15 participants with a waitlist. Registration is now closed.

Participants can pick up a free bundle of all three books (to keep!) at the Central Library, once registered. You will receive an email from Berkeley Public Library when you are registered, otherwise you will be placed on a waitlist.

Register here:

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