Book Reading

Dani Shapiro reads from Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage, the novelist's most intimate and powerful work to date: a piercing, life-affirming memoir about marriage and memory, about the frailty and elasticity […]

Laura McBride reads from her new novel, 'Round Midnight, a story that follows the interconnected lives of four women in Las Vegas, each of whom experiences a life-changing moment at […]

Leslie Buck presents Cutting Back: My Apprenticeship in the Gardens of Kyoto

FOR KIDS: Meg Fleming presents Ready, Set, Build!  Get Ready for a day full of construction fun!

Robert Hass presents A Little Book on Form: An Exploration Into the Formal Imagination of Poetry, a rousing reexamination of our most enduring mode of literature from one of our greatest living […]

Mary Gordon reads from her new novel, There Your Heart Lies, a deeply moving novel about an American woman's experiences during the Spanish Civil War, the lessons she learned, and how her […]

Ada Calhoun & T.J. Stiles in Conversation about Calhoun's essay collection, Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give.

Cornelia Nixon reads from her new novel, The Use of Fame. "Rarely has a marriage so come alive in a work of fiction. This novel has the power of intensely lived […]

Rosalind Rosenberg reads from Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray, "a fascinating look at the incredible life of Pauli Murray, a mixed-race, transgender scholar, lawyer, activist, priest, and trailblazer […]

Thad Carhart reads from his delightful memoir, Finding Fontainebleau: An American Boy in France, just out in paperback. "While bringing alive this redolent Gallic chapter of his boyhood (baguettes from […]

Come by to meet Michael Carabetta, author of Words to Ride By: Thoughts on Bicycling, who will be on hand to sign and talk two-wheeled transport. This book is a perfect gift […]

Thomas Centolella presents his new poetry collection, Almost Human, winner of the Dorset Prize, selected by Edward Hirsch. As in a profound love affair, Thomas Centolella’s new poems register attraction, delight, […]

Join us to hear Thomas Lynch read the next installment from James Joyce's Ulysses. A classic depiction of exile, estrangement, paralysis, and the disintegration of a society, Ulysses records the events of […]

Launch party for her new book, Claymates, a Junior Library Guild Selection. "Silliness and deadpan humor combine into a hopping good story of being happy with who you are."--Booklist Meet […]

Saturday, July 8, 2017 - 2:00pm Arnold has a plan. The evil genius Zorgo--disguised as Mr. Zachary--will never stop him. That's because Arnold is . . . SUPER SAURUS! No […]

Tuesday, July 11, 2017 - 7:30pm Discussing Brownrigg's new novel, Pages for Her, the story of two women, Flannery and Anne, each at a personal turning point, and the circumstances that […]

The story of an unusual bond between a world-famous writer and his assistant--a richly plotted novel of friendship and love, artistic ambition, the perils of celebrity, and the power of […]

Celebrating the double launch for their YA novels just releasing: When I Am Through with You ("A tense, masterful thriller that gripped me from the first page."--Kara Thomas, author of The […]

This sweet, rhyming counting book introduces young readers to numbers one through fifteen as Grandma's family and friends fill her tiny house on Brown Street. Neighbors, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, […]

Celebrating the publication of Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook, the long-awaited memoir from cultural icon and culinary standard bearer Alice Waters who recalls the circuitous road and […]

  "We are in an overheated world--physically and spiritually. It is extremely powerful to read of people who have managed to escape that world, not by traveling to outer space […]

The winner of the Costa Book of the Year Award (his second), longlisted for the Man Booker prize, and just released in paperback. "A true leftfield wonder: Days Without End is a violent, […]

  Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. A stick is just a stick until an elephant turns it into a flyswatter, an alligator uses it […]

"Smart and lovely stories, perceptive, compassionate, and sometimes shocking. Who are these people, so helpless in the currents that surround them? Marburg reveals their cowardice, their flaws, and their deep capacities to […]

"Young readers will revel in the whimsical touches, like the peg-legged pigeon sailor and the imaginative map gracing the book's endpapers. This gorgeous, eye-opening adventure is an engrossing reading experience that proudly […]

The author of Mother Bruce and Hotel Bruce presents a riotous sequel in Bruce's Big Move. "Higgins turns classic picture-book scenarios upside down, then wrings them for contemporary laughs."--New York Times on Mother Bruce Bring your little […]

New York Times bestseller - Winner of the Sophie Brody Medal - An NBCC Finalist for 2016 Award for Fiction - ALA Carnegie Medal Finalist for Excellence in Fiction - Wall Street Journal's Best Novel of […]

A launch celebration and conversation about Doyle's exquisite short story collection, World Gone Missing. Mimosas, raffle prizes, and more! “Laurie Ann Doyle understands how to structure a story so that it sneaks […]

Truman Capote's classic story is read by Thomas Lynch the first week of December in a Mrs. Dalloway's tradition. Join us in celebrating the holiday season. Originally published in 1956, […]

Join the conversation about snipping and shaping your trees and shrubs! Buy a book (either one) to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. Every pruning decision comes down to […]

Robin Sloan reads from his novel, Sourdough, the much-anticipated new work from the author of the bestselling Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. Lois […]

Jessica Powers Launching her YA novel, Broken Circle, "a fast-paced, page-turning story!"--Skila Brown, author of Caminar. Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. Adam wants nothing more than […]

  Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. Here in Berlin is a portrait of a city through snapshots, an excavation of the stories and ghosts of […]

Jennifer Egan reading from Manhattan Beach, the long-awaited, daring, and magnificent novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad. Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the […]

  Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. Over the years that Victoria Sweet has been a physician, "healthcare" has replaced medicine, "providers" look at their […]

Fred Sasaki & Don Share, Editors, with Poets Ari Banias and Javier Zamora Present Who Reads Poetry: 50 Views from "Poetry" Magazine. Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the […]

  Buy a book to reserve your seat! Call the store 510.704.8222. In Private Gardens of the Bay Area (October 2017, The Monacelli Press), seasoned garden writers Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner […]

Philip Stead presents the never-before-published, previously unfinished Mark Twain children's story, The Purloining of Prince Oleomargarine. "Completing a story penned by arguably America's greatest author is no easy feat, but the Caldecott-winning […]

Alison Roman presents Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes, with tastes from the book. "This is not a cookbook. It's a treasure map. Alison Roman joyously leads you to the promised land of […]

Truman Capote's classic story is read by Thomas Lynch the first week of December in a Mrs. Dalloway's tradition. Join us in celebrating the holiday season. Originally published in 1956, […]

Launching Shames's new Samuel Craddock mystery, A Reckoning in the Back Country. Thursday, January 11, 2018 - 7:30pm When Lewis Wilkins, a physician with a vacation home in Jarrett Creek, is […]

"A powerful and moving story of travel, mountain culture and human relationships. His writing is sensitive, insightful, and unsparing and reveals the complex and tenuous lives of migrant people and […]

  The symmetrical, exuberant heart is everywhere: it gives shape to candy, pendants, the frothy milk on top of a cappuccino, and much else. How can we explain the ubiquity […]

Oliver James' Launch party for Birds of Berkeley, James's charming, full-color field guide to 25 birds easily found in Berkeley.  Sunday February 11th at 2pm at Mrs. Dalloway's "More than […]

To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of The Less Is More Garden by talking to one of our booksellers (510) 704-8222 or placing an order via our online store. Small […]

"Raeff writes with vivid assurance about Berlin, America, and Morocco, about men and women, about love and work. As the boundaries between characters shift, as past and present converge, Winter Kept […]

Calling all Treehouse Series fans! Join bestselling author Andy Griffiths as he presents the newest release in his award-winning series, The 78-Story Treehouse. Andy’s hilarious and highly interactive presentation will have your […]

In the diverse stories of Beautiful Days, Joyce Carol Oates explores the most secret, intimate, and unacknowledged interior lives of characters not unlike ourselves, who assert their independence in acts of bold […]

Peggy Orenstein The author of Girls & Sex and Cinderella Ate My Daughter delivers her first ever collection of essays--funny, poignant, deeply personal and sharply observed pieces, drawn from three decades of writing, which […]

"A beautiful, richly textured novel, ambitious and delicately crafted."-- Rabih Alameddine In this spellbinding novel, a young man journeys from California to Cairo to unravel centuries-old family secrets. Joseph, a […]

For Young Adults: Elizabeth Partridge Launch for Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam. Sunday, April 15, 2018 - 3:00pm

  To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of To Die But Once by calling the store (510) 704-8222 and speaking to one of our booksellers. During the months following Britain's declaration […]

  To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of Desert Gardens of Steve Martino in advance by speaking to one of our booksellers or ordering from our website. This survey of twenty-one […]

  Grow What You Love is designed to be a simple guide to growing vegetables, herbs and more that will add to the flavor and variety of fresh produce choices throughout […]

  Showing both the drama of familial intimacy and the ups and downs of the everyday, My Old Faithful introduces readers to a close-knit Chinese family. These ten interconnected short stories, […]

Georgeanne Brennan presents Windows on Provence: Musings on the Food, Wine, and Culture of the South of France, a book for travelers, for dreamers, for Francophiles, for lovers of Provencalcraft and cuisine, and […]

  Wednesday, May 2, 2018 - 6:00pm Rebound is a coming-of-age novel written in verse about basketball, family, and staying true to yourself. The main character, Charlie Bell, is the future […]

"A splendid book that pinpoints the moment at the start of the twentieth century when exile in Europe turned deadly in a way that foretold the end of everything. It […]

Mark Greenside Reads from (not quite) Mastering the Art of French Living, a sequel of sorts to I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do), about which the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Imagine Larry David . […]

An unprecedented photography practice that guides you to the creativity at your our fingertips, calling for nothing more than your vision and any camera, even the one embedded in your […]

Jason Dewees Join Mrs. Dalloway's and the Mediterranean Garden Society for a talk and signing by Jason Dewee's on his just released book, Designing with Palms (photography by Caitlin Atkinson). In this […]

Ted Scheinman reads from Camp Austen: My Life as an Accidental Jane Austen Superfan. Thursday, May 24, 2018 - 7:30pm

  Twelve-year-old Lizzie is in trouble. She used to live a comfortable life with her loving father, but after the stock market crash of 1929 and his sudden death, she […]

  To reserve your seat, purchase a copy of Foraged Art by speaking to a bookseller or ordering from our website. Thursday, June 14, 2018 - 7:30pm In the spirit of land […]

Join us for Irish soda bread as Thomas Lynch continues reading the whole of Ulysses. Chapter Nine up next.

Katharine Dion: Launch celebration for her debut novel, The Dependents, a wise and lyrical debut novel about a new widower confronting the truth about his long marriage. "A marvel of a novel. With great […]

An experimental poem sequence inspired by a famous garden now in ruin. In Vigilance is No Orchard, Hazel White records her haunting romance with the Valentine Garden, created by landscape architect Isabelle […]

For Kids ages 4-8 Leslie Crawford Presents Sprig the Rescue Pig, inspired by the true story of a feisty swine who escapes a delivery truck and ends up at an animal […]

Featuring Top Ten Lists and stunning photos of history-making moments, these comprehensive pro soccer collections catalog the greatest international players and the greatest Americans. These are the perfect books for […]

Jane Gregory's mystifying second collection begins with a "Knock knock," inviting the reader into a realm where "Everything is a pattern / of yesses and no." Within these pages we find […]

Nimona meets Adventure Time in this full-color graphic novel as a singing skeleton continues to search for his origins alongside his gelatin monster sidekick! Sunday, July 29, 2018 - 3:00pm Rickety Stitch is […]

Andrew Lawler presents The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a sweeping account of America's oldest unsolved mystery, the people racing to unearth its answer, and […]

Thor Hanson Presents Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees, a natural and cultural history of the buzzing wee beasties that make the world go round.  "A wondrous, action-packed journey to discover the […]

Katie Henry Launch for Heretics Anonymous, her hilarious debut YA novel about a band of misfits who set out to challenge their strict Catholic school, one nun at a time. When Michael walks […]

One boy's search for his father leads him to Puerto Rico in this moving middle grade novel, for fans of Ghost and See You in the Cosmos. Marcus Vega is six feet tall, […]

Join us on first Fridays at 4:00pm to discuss our book of the month, enjoy snacks and make new friends. Each meeting will last one hour and end promptly at […]

Celebrating Ivy + Bean #11: One Big Happy Family. Ivy + Bean are back--and they're funnier than ever! Saturday, September 8, 2018 - 10:00am Meet author Annie Barrows and illustrator Sophie […]

Rebecca Clarren reads from her debut novel, Kickdown, a taut and moving novel of a family's struggle to sustain their land when fracking comes to the contemporary American West. "Deep, true, achingly […]

Rachel Neumann and Teen Subjects present I Am Home: Portraits of Immigrant Teenagers. To reserve your seat, please purchase a copy of I Am Home by speaking to a bookseller or ordering via […]

Eighteen-year-old Vera, eager to start college and escape the celebrity her family has endured since her twin's disappearance twelve years earlier, finds her world turned upside-down again when Ava returns. […]

Daniel Mason reads from his magnificent new novel, The Winter Soldier, a sweeping, unforgettable love story of a young doctor and nurse at a remote field hospital in the First World War. […]

Featuring queer librarians reading from their works: Gr Keer, CSU East Bay Andrew Demcak, Oakland Public Library Rebekah Eppley, Oakland Public Library

The spirited, heart-driven people who populate these stories find surprising pockets of hope as they scrabble for ways to believe in themselves and the world. A woman returns to the […]

Come celebrate the release of Aaron Southerland’s third graphic novel, SolForce: Alpha Kale! All ages welcome. Aaron Southerland, from Brooklyn, NY, currently works as a freelance art teacher & cartoonist in […]

Christopher Woods presents Gardenlust: A Botanical Tour of the World's Best New Gardens, a sumptuously illustrated survey and the perfect armchair travel guide to 50 of the most innovative modern gardens from […]

Launch for You Don't Know Everything, Jilly P!, a novel that carries a strong social message as twelve-year-old Jilly learns how to support the marginalized people in her life when her […]

Juan Gabriel Vasquez reads from The Shape of the Ruins, his highly anticipated, deeply personal masterpiece that is being heralded as the most ambitious novel of his career. "A highly sophisticated, fast-moving […]

Miriam Pawel in Conversation with T.J. Stiles discussing The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty That Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation. "A remarkable book--a generational biography of a political dynasty, […]

Georgia Freedman Come meet the author of Cooking South of the Clouds: Recipes and Stories from China's Yunnan Province. "More than a cookbook, it's an intimate journey through culinary traditions almost […]

Jaap Robben in Conversation with Jeroen Dewulf reads from his award-winning novel, You Have Me to Love, an unforgettable story about lost childhood innocence, isolation, guilt and mother-son relationships. "An intense and […]

Jeffrey Meyers presents Resurrections: Authors, Heroes--and a Spy, portraits of writers and artists including Ian Watt, Paul Theroux, James Salter, and Anthony Blunt. " Intellectually stimulating . . . a portrait of the […]

Fox Butterfield presents In My Father's House: A New View of How Crime Runs in the Family, a pathbreaking examination of our huge crime and incarceration problem that looks at the influence […]

Leif Enger OFFSITE @ Rialto Cinemas Elmwood celebrating the publication of his wonderful new novel, Virgil Wander, much of which takes place in and around a beloved old movie theater not unlike our […]