One spot left. But fear not, we got a lot more coming.

Sam’s amazing. He launches books with us, attends book clubs and parties, hangs with folks. A true example of community at Stanza. So come out and show him some love. And, get a fun sneak-peak at his ALL NEW WIP novel.

Like a radio play - but more weird & crazy

Come to a live reading of the latest thriller by local author Sam Rebelein (“A major new talent!” – R.L. Stine), an entire year before the book even hits shelves! Read by a full cast of actors who will be fixing typos, patching plot holes, and more, as they read through the entire book together, over the course of five evenings. Folks who attend every show will recieve a special prize. There will also be exclusive merch and maybe a ghost or two.

Featuring:
Sam Rebelein
Kristin Battersby
Vin Craig
Michael Rinere

Think of this as a serial radio play. Bring your knitting, your coloring books, whatever helps you follow along. The manuscript will be projected behind the actors, so maybe you can catch a typo, too! Just remember: no matter how scary it gets, it’s only a game…or is it?

$20 at the door

Oh, we’ll prob have some snacks.

If you came to our Holiday Social, you know it was a “had to be there” night.

Friday, March 27, join us for a night of cleansing and renewal.

Andi will talk astrology of the season and lead some cleansing rituals to shake off the cold and kick off the Spring.

We’ll have food and beverages.

We’ll have Community.

Maybe a surprise or two. You gotta be there.

Several book club members call this a favorite, and it got a sizable percentage of the vote more than once.

This is a dense, filling book, jam-packed with sharply-drawn characters, complex politics, and challenging interpersonal relationships.

The book starts with Baru’s people subjugated by the Empire of Masks. And they mean literally. The Empire uses actual masks as what they consider an equalizer. It’s an interesting twist that sends the mind spiraling with possibilities. But Baru is about more than big, clever ideas. Dickerson creates real worlds with real people. In Baru’s homeland, Emissaries of the Empire sometimes remove their masks because it’s just too hot. A nice touch that illustrates Empire’s human practicalities.

Dickinson also sets up an unfortunate and all-too-familiar moral crisis. In Baru’s homeland, parents can come in threes. A mother and two fathers. The Empire of Masks finds this behavior deviant, and when they catch boys in school showing romantic affection for one another, they call it “playing at fathers.” The language here is another nice touch by Dickinson that balances fantasy with a familiarity that helps us invest in the story.

The Empire of Masks introduces fiat money to its conquered peoples, one of the quieter but most effective tools of conquest. Paper money is really only good for trading with the Empire, thus transferring the real wealth of fine metals and gems to the Empire. But, as with many conquered cultures throughout history, Baru’s people adapt. They learn quickly, paper money has value even among their own because the more you have, the more you have to trade with the Empire, so you can hoard goods they bring for selling to your own. And of course, this leads us to the book’s most exciting element:

Accounting

The book follows Baru’s journey from her conquered land, up the ranks of the Empire’s less sexy back office, where she’s assigned the role of Imperial Accountant to a region known for rebellion. From this position, Baru demonstrates an innate instinct for politics, and maybe a desire to bring the whole thing down from within.

Accounting

I won’t spoil any more, I just wanted to underline this is a rich, complex, and smart book, well worth the time of any fantasy fan. And even a non-fantasy fan who wants to dip their toes into the genre. Magic is non-existent, so far, and my book club tells me it may be light throughout, thus raising the question: Is this Fantasy at all?

Only one way to find out. Come get the book at Stanza, read the first half, and JOIN US.

And, as an added bonus, this book is dense enough, I broke it into two months. So, if you miss March, you can still come get the book and catch up for April!!!

-Mark

Caroline’s insights into the deeper themes of literature and how books can be (unknowingly!) in conversation with each other across time and space, make this book club entirely unique and wholly pleasurable for readers like me, who miss attending lectures and the excitement of (advanced) English classes. This one is a TREAT.

-Andi

I, Mark Harris, as a duly designated representative of Planet Earth, the Terran System, the Orion Arm, and the Milky Way Galaxy (where applicable under intergalactic law and custom as applies in the Local Group),

hereby DECREE:

Sci-Fi book club shall have good old-fashioned fun with this book.

This is a fantastic palette cleanser, between UBIK and Roadside Picnic. Don’t think about it too hard, and just enjoy the ride. The text is big and the pages go down easy.

Story-wise, it’s reminiscent of Tchaikovsky’s Shards of Earth trilogy, and a lighter Dawn. It’s got lots of weird aliens shaped like bugs and lobsters and whatnot, come to do us dirty. It’s got a sense that humans are pretty far down the intergalactic food chain. It’s got a serviceable analog to FTL, and what we might even call a space zoo(fight me, nerds!). It’s got a healthy dollop of slime and goop, if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s got scientists using their brains and skills to solve problems and fight back. It ain’t perfect, but I cannot wait to get back to it every time I put it down.

Come grab a copy at Stanza. You can easily squeeze it in before March 17. JOIN US!

-Mark

We know y'all are excited about this book. Wanna get even MORE excited?

Grace Byron will join us for a virtual author visit, after our discussion. As with our other book club author visits, this is a golden opportunity to dig even deeper into the writing, the story and world, and context only the author can provide.

We are thrilled and grateful to Grace for joining us.

So come grab the book at Stanza, get reading, and get ready for a great discussion.

Join us for a discussion of Divine Ruin, the third installment of the Sister Holiday series by author Margot Douaihy.

Imagine, if you will, an amateur sleuth who’s also a practicing nun, a nonpracticing lesbian, a former punk rock singer, and covered in tattoos beneath her habit. Set her in dark and steamy New Orleans and pair her with gritty PI Magnolia Riveaux, who also has a past.. Add to that a poetic and visceral narrative voice - NPR called it ‘hardboiled Patti Smith’ - and you get Sister Holiday, a passionate, dark, flawed, funny, and buoyant character who you’ll want to champion through her various crime cases across the Crescent City. The cases don’t point to just a singular bogeyman or evil villain, but rather they reflect the larger sins of man: climate change and eco-disaster, poverty, abuse of power, patriarchy; as much as everyday human failings. Graceful, noirish, gritty, and funny - I love these books.  

- Andi

I’ve finally delved into the Danish sensation that is the seven-volume set On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle and my only regret is not starting it sooner. We open on day #121 of our protagonist’s experience of November 18th. That is, she has woken up on November 18th 121 times and has taken up journaling to try and explain this baffling phenomenon. It’s a hypnotic, compelling, quietly powerful reflection of the intimate human life and its cycles, reminiscent to me of both Franz Kafka and Mary Oliver.

-Andi