Queer Book Club - On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

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Age Group:

Adult, Senior
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Registration for this event is no longer open.
Allowed Ages: Over 18 and up

Program Description

Details

Join librarians virtually to discuss books centering on LGBTQ+ voices.

Meetings are on the second Wednesday of the month (January-December) from 6-7 pm.

For more information please visit: https://sonomalibrary.org/queerbookclub

Physical copies of the book are available (while supplies last).

May 11 - On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.

2022 Discussion Titles

June 8 - One Last Stop by Casey Mcquiston

July 13 - Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

August 10 - Ace: What Sexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen+

September 14 - In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado*+ 

October 12 - Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas*+

November 9 - Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction by Joshua Whitehead (Editor)*+ 

December 14 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker*+ 

* E-Books or e-audiobooks are available through Hoopla 
*Hoopla: https://sonomalibrary.org/library-collection/hoopla-digital-0
Books available through Hoopla are always available for unlimited checkout.

+ E-Books or e-audiobooks are available through Overdrive.
+Overdrive: https://sonomalibrary.org/library-collection/overdrive

Disclaimer(s)

Advance Registration Required - Virtual

Advance registration is required. Registered participants will receive the Zoom invite one hour prior to the scheduled event. 
Questions? Or if you need special accommodations, please let us know. Email: events@sonomalibrary.org or call your local library!

Print Copies for Virtual book clubs

Print copies are available while supplies last. Email events@sonomalibrary.org to have a copy sent to your local library for pickup. Leave your name, phone number, and requested library location in the message. Print books available upon request until 1 week before the program.

This program is offered in English.