On the same page Book Club

July’s book is East of Eden by John Steinbeck 🌾 one of those books people keep calling their favourite, so we’re finally finding out what all the fuss is about. if you’d like to read it with us, join via the link in bio

Set in the rich farmland of the Salinas Valley, California, this powerful, often brutal novel, follows the interwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations hopelessly re-enact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel. Here Steinbeck created some of his most memorable characters and explored his most enduring themes: the mystery of indentity; the inexplicability of love, and the murderous consequences of love's absence.

june bookclub pick just dropped 🌿 this month we’re reading Dezrădăcinare by Sasa Zare. a tender, sharp, beautifully disorienting book about identity, belonging, migration, memory, and trying to figure out where “home” actually is.

Dincolo de talentul de povestitoare desăvârșită al autoarei și de narațiunea hipnotizantă, volumul acesta se numără printre puținele de la noi care reușesc să articuleze o existență de frontieră trăită intens la toate nivelurile. De la experiența vieții între două lumi (Rep. Moldova și România), până la cea a sexualității și a rațiunii de frontieră, personajul Sașei Zare deschide înaintea ochilor noștri o istorie a Celuilalt spusă chiar de el, o istorie pe care am încercat atât să o controlăm și s-o reprezentăm în și prin literaturile noastre normative. Alienarea la care au fost supuși ei, non-normativii, este numită aici simplu, Dezrădăcinare. Simțim însă ca e vorba de mai mult: o pierdere irecuperabilă și o suferință încă prezentă acolo, în corpul-mărturie. Care rămâne. (Iulia Militaru)

quite excited for the May book 😌

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle - and has the social media accounts to prove it. Her charming farmhouse on her working ranch is artfully cluttered, her husband is a handsome cowboy, her homemade sourdough boules are each more beautiful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers and industrial-grade ovens behind the scenes? What Natalie’s followers don’t know won’t hurt them.

for April, we’re picking up Political Girl by Maria Alyokhina — part memoir, part manifesto, all nerve. it’s a raw, powerful story of protest, resistance, and what it really costs to stand up against authority. join us this April 🖤 enroll via the form in bio to register and wait for our confirmation that we have saved you a pot 🫶🏻

2014: Russia prepares to host the Winter Olympics. Russia invades Crimea. Putin is re-elected president. Several political prisoners are amnestied and released early from prison. Maria Alyokhina is among them. She had spent two years in a penal colony after performing the punk prayer ‘Virgin Mary, Banish Putin’ with her friends in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. They had warned the rest of the world of the dangers of authoritarianism, but the Russia she finds when she gets out of prison is even more oppressive. What can you do, she asks, when your country has been seized by all-powerful men who are waging war against another country and their own citizens?

March is about celebrating the women in our lives, and we’re doing it with a little surprise (actually more surprises, but you will find out about them during the event) 👀 in the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life as they fight, sew, skirt, cheat, cry, and lie their way through their tangled circumstances. it’s messy. it’s political. it’s painfully human. it’s about the girls who hustle, pray, dream, and fight in a world that was never built for them. 💄🔥 so we’re gathering to Speak\&Sip about it properly. and we’re very excited about this part: our friends at @aerium\_coffeeshop will be our chiefs of the bar for the day ✨ they’re crafting special signature themed cocktails especially for this event — available in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions (same bold energy, no hierarchy, obviously). drinks with attitude. just like the book. this Women’s Day, we’re not just celebrating women. we’re listening to them. and we listen to each other.

"Life's a bitch. That's why you gotta rattle her cage, even if she's foaming at the mouth." In the linked stories of Reservoir Bitches, thirteen Mexican women prod the bitch that is Life and become her. From the all-powerful daughter of a cartel boss to the victim of transfemicide, from a houseful of spinster seamstresses to a socialite who supports her politician husband by faking Indigenous roots, these women spit on their own reduction and invent new ways to endure, telling their own stories in bold, unapologetic voices. At once a work of black humor and social critique, Reservoir Bitches is a raucous debut from one of Mexico's most thrilling new writers.

What do we do with great art made by deeply flawed people? Part memoir, part cultural critique, Monsters explores creativity, power, morality, and the complicated feelings we have when admiration collides with disappointment. It’s bold, uncomfortable, and perfect for deep, honest conversations. ✨ Seats are very limited, so if you want to be part of this month’s discussion, don’t wait. 👉 Enroll via the link in bio and grab your spot before it’s gone. Can’t wait to read (and debate) this one together.