About the Book Club
The Beyond the Pages Staff Book Club seeks to create a space where UC San Diego staff can come together with fellow staff to read, discuss and learn from & with each other. Facilitated by the Cross-Cultural Center staff, we seek to uplift Black Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) authors, highlight stories that are often overlooked, and celebrate the tales of love, joy, struggle, survival, perseverance, family, friends, and community care.
Join our Spring Book Club!
Current read & meeting dates
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it's not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it's everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters' storylines intersect?
Weaving together multiple strands and generations of this family, from the Deep South to California, from the 1950s to the 1990s, Brit Bennett produces a story that is at once a riveting, emotional family story and a brilliant exploration of the American history of passing. Looking well beyond issues of race, The Vanishing Half considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person's decisions, desires, and expectations, and explores some of the multiple reasons and realms in which people sometimes feel pulled to live as something other than their origins.
Book Club Kick Off
- Week 4 Tuesday April 21st 12-1pm
- Week 10 Tuesday June 2nd 12-1:30pm
Past Books
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Recommended Book Stores and Businesses
Libelula Books and Co (Local bookstore to support/visit)
Libélula, Spanish for "dragonfly", is an Queer BIPOC/ felonista owned independent bookstore located in Barrio Logan. Libélula is filled with publications that are social-justice driven including books in Spanish, LGBTQ+ literature, graphic novels, books on Feminism and grassroots organizing, and so much more.
Address: 950 S 26th St, San Diego, CA 92113
Libélula is located in Barrio Logan. To get there from UCSD using the trolley, you can take the UC San Diego Blue Line from the central campus stop to Barrio Logan, then walk 15 minutes to Libelula- giving you the perfect opportunity to explore Barrio Logan!
https://www.libelulabooksandco.com/
Instagram: /www.instagram.com/libelula_books_co/
Native Ground Coffee (for your reading beverage needs)
Native Ground Coffee is a Native American owned Coffee Company from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community in Arizona. Their products include a variety of tea, coffee grounds, and coffee pods.
https://www.nativegroundcoffee.com/