In Partnership with the Santa Barbara Public Library
We are switching things up in a major way for the Indy Book Club in 2023. Instead of doing monthly reads and discussions, we will be hosting quarterly meet-ups. Our hope is to create more opportunity for readers to come together and share their love of reading. Our first meet up is at the end of January and is centered around book clubs. More details below. I hope you'll join us!
To find out more about the Indy Book Club, keep an eye on the print issue and this page, as we will be announcing more details as they unfold.
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2023 Book Events
Book Club Extravaganza
January 31, 6 p.m. @ SB Biergarten
Join Santa Barbara Public Library and the Santa Barbara Independent for a Book Club Extravaganza at SB Biergarten in the Funk Zone! Hear from SBPL librarians about the new, upcoming Book Club in a Bag sets and get early access to the holds list, learn about the Library’s book club picks for Fiction, Crime, and Romance as well as special book club discussions happening throughout the year. Mix and mingle with other readers, get personalized recommendations for books your book club will love from SBPL librarians, and check out books from the Library on the Go van.
2022 Book Selections
Memoirs & Biographies
January
Book of the Month: Disability Visibility, edited by Alice Wong
Publisher's Synopsis: One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people.
Get Your Copy: Borrow a physical copy from the Santa Barbara Public Library, listen to the audiobook on Libby, or read the ebook on Libby.
January Book Discussion: Wednesday, January 26, 6pm, Location: On Zoom - Join Here
February
Book of the Month: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, by Roxane Gay
Publisher's Synopsis: In her phenomenally popular essays and long-running Tumblr blog, Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and body, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she explores her past—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers along on her journey to understand and ultimately save herself.
Get Your Copy: Borrow a physical copy from the Santa Barbara Public Library, listen to the audiobook on Hoopla or Libby, or read the ebook on Hoopla or Libby.
February Book Discussion: Wednesday, February 23, 6pm, Location: On Zoom - Register Here
Roxane with One N: Roxane Gay comes to UCSB Arts & Lectures - Friday, February 25 @ 7:30pm | Granada Theater | Get Your Tickets
March
Book of the Month: Vincent & Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers, by Deborah Heiligman
Publisher's Synopsis: The deep and enduring friendship between Vincent and Theo Van Gogh shaped both brothers' lives. Confidant, champion, sympathizer, friend, Theo supported Vincent as he struggled to find his path in life. They shared everything, swapping stories of lovers and friends, successes and disappointments, dreams and ambitions. Meticulously researched, drawing on the 658 letters Vincent wrote to Theo during his lifetime, Deborah Heiligman weaves a tale of two lives intertwined and the love of the Van Gogh brothers.
Get Your Copy: Borrow a physical copy from the Santa Barbara Public Library, listen to the audiobook on Hoopla, or read the ebook on Libby.
March Book Discussion: Wednesday, March 30, 6pm, Location: Municipal Winemakers, 22 Anacapa St.