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Book Clubs
Whether you're drawn to the rich textures of magical realism or the gripping depth of historical fiction, you're in the right place. Our book clubs are open, affirming spaces for readers of all backgrounds—especially BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ folks—to connect, reflect, and vibe over powerful stories.
Grab a coffee, bring a friend (or come solo!), and join us as we gather around books that move us, challenge us, and bring us closer together. Come as you are—whether you’ve finished the book or just cracked it open.
Coming soon:
Walking Book Club + Spanish Book Club
Magical Realism
Book Club
Sunday, March 29 | 12–1:30 PM
Cooperative Coffee Shop | 210 Haywood Rd
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For March’s Magical Realism Book Club we’re diving into Brenda Peynado’s The Rock Eaters, a short story collection that blurs the link between the ordinary and the impossible.
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In these imaginative, genre-bending stories, portals open without warning, gravity shifts, daughters sprout wings, and families are reshaped by migration, climate disaster, and quiet longing. Peynado uses the surreal not as escape, but as a lens — revealing the emotional truths of displacement, inheritance, love, and survival.
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Each story feels like stepping into a slightly tilted version of our own world, where magical elements illuminate very real questions: What do we carry with us? What do we leave behind? And how do we rebuild when the ground beneath us changes?
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Perfect for readers who love speculative twists, magical realism with emotional depth, and stories that linger long after the last page. Come ready to discuss your favorite story, the symbols that stood out, and how the fantastical reveals deeper truths about belonging and home.
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Historical Fiction
Book Club
Friday, March 27 | 5–6:30 PM
Battlecat Beverly Hills | 885 Tunnel Road
Mirta Ojito’s Deeper Than the Ocean, is a sweeping multigenerational novel that explores family, migration, and the powerful bonds that echo across oceans and time.
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The story begins in 1919 on the small Canary Island of La Palma, where Catalina Quintana, the fiercely independent daughter of silkworm farmers, dreams of building a life with her childhood love. But when disaster destroys her family’s livelihood, Catalina is forced into a marriage she never wanted and onto a journey across the sea to Cuba, aboard a ship whose fate will become part of history.
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A century later, journalist Mara Denis travels to La Palma to report on a modern-day disaster. What begins as a work assignment soon turns personal when her mother asks her to track down a missing birth certificate. As Mara begins digging into her family’s past, she uncovers a hidden history tied to Catalina—her great-grandmother, who is believed to have died in the infamous Valbanera shipwreck. Following Catalina’s trail from Spain to Cuba to Key West, Mara slowly pieces together a story of resilience, love, and the secrets that ripple through generations.
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Moving between past and present, Deeper Than the Ocean is a powerful reflection on the strength of women, the enduring power of a mother’s love, and the ways family stories shape who we are.
Spanish book
pick
La Bruja de lo Salvaje
Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
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La Bruja de lo Salvaje by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is a lush, magical tale of family, folklore, and the wild power of womanhood.
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Sage Flores has spent eight years running from her family—and from the “gifts” that have haunted her since the death of her younger sister, Sky. But when she’s finally pulled back to her hometown, Sage slips into her old life like a worn, comforting sweater. She returns to her job at the Cranberry Rose Company, using her ability to communicate with plants to uncover rare heritage specimens hidden in the nearby lands.
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What should be a simple task becomes complicated when she’s paired with Tennessee Reyes, the boy who broke her heart in high school and the man she’s never quite stopped loving. As they work side by side, old tenderness begins to bloom again, and new feelings take root—despite Sage’s insistence that she doesn’t have time for romance. After all, she’s juggling rare botanical mysteries, a dead sister who still brings her coffee, and another whose anger literally sparks lightning across the sky.
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Interwoven with mythology, romance, and a fierce connection to the land, La Bruja de lo Salvaje is a story of grief, growth, and reclaiming one’s power. Being with Tenn feels like standing in a summer thunderstorm—charged, dangerous, and utterly inevitable.
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