Our Rotating Genre Book Club asks you to get out of your comfort zone. Exploring various genres is a great way to see art—and the world—through different perspectives. Things to expect: A different genre every other month, led by a different Book + Bottle host, genre-bending work, new and classic authors, and so much more! Together we’ll learn about each genre’s conventions and how certain authors follow and/or disrupt those expectations. Join us to read a novel that’s right in your wheelhouse or explore a genre you’ve never read before! All are welcome.
Schedule
We meet on the last Wednesday of every other month in the store from 6 - 7:30PM (Alternates with New + Noteworthy). We do announcements and intros, grab drinks, and get settled from 6 - 6:30 PM, then discussion runs promptly from 6:30-7:30. The store is open till 9PM so you can continue the conversation with your new friends!
This month discussing: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Hosted by: Bre Burrell
The English-language debut of one of Japan’s most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction—many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual—and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Managers come and go, but Keiko stays at the store for eighteen years. It’s almost hard to tell where the store ends and she begins. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action…
A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine.
