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Forum

Forum Book Club

KQED’s Forum Launches Book Club

Forum regularly brings listeners conversations with authors, but we decided to create a special offering: Forum Book Club. Our goal is to dive deeper into the books we feature on Forum and give readers a chance to ask questions and talk directly with authors about their work. Each month, we will select a work of fiction written by an author with California roots.

We’ll announce the latest selection a few weeks ahead of our live interview with the author to give listeners a chance to read the book and share questions and insights over social media using the hashtag #readwithForum. Readers can also share their comments and questions during the live show, as always. We’re excited to read with you!

How to participate:
1. Obtain the book via links provided by Forum or from your local library
2. Make note of your favorite characters, scenes, and reactions to the book
3. Post those reactions and any questions using #readwithForum or by leave us a voice memo at 415-553-3300.
4. Listen to the live show and submit questions and feedback:

5. Submit your suggestions for a book or California fiction writer we could consider.

October 2021 Selection: “Parable of the Sower” by Octavia E. Butler

The Forum Book Club pick for October 2021 is Octavia Butler’s 1993 acclaimed science fiction novel “Parable of the Sower.” The novel begins in 2024, in a Los Angeles buckling under the effects of climate change, privatization, class polarization, drugs and violence. The story is told through the journals of Lauren Olamina, a 15-year-old who feels above-average empathy and sensitivity to the emotions of others. When the gated enclave Lauren lives in is destroyed, she sets out on journey for survival and conceives of, and spreads, a revolutionary new faith to bring salvation to humanity.

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We’ll discuss the book at 9 a.m. PT on Oct. 29 with host Alexis Madrigal.

You can buy the book here, or directly from San Francisco independent bookseller Green Apple Books here.

Readers, tell us:

  • What connections can you draw between our world today at then futuristic world described in the book?
  • What is your favorite quote from Parable of the Sower?
  • What is the takeaway that stayed with you from the book?

September 2021 Selection: “How Much of These Hills Is Gold” by C Pam Zhang

A photo of C. Pam Zhang next to the cover of her book "How Much of These Hills Is Gold"

The Forum Book Club pick for September 2021 is C Pam Zhang’s award-winning debut novel “How Much of These Hills Is Gold.” It’s about two children of Chinese immigrant laborers who are traversing the California hills during the Gold Rush, on a quest for a place to bury their father. The landscape is beautiful and surreal, a place where tigers roam alongside buffalo; it’s also hostile, populated by violent railroad bosses and treacherous prospectors. Zhang has said she wrote the novel in part to counter fairy tale-like depictions of immigrant life and American opportunity, wishing instead to tell stories reflecting the hardship and full complexity of the immigrant experience.

We’ll discuss the book at 10 a.m. PT on Sept. 29 with host Mina Kim.

You can buy the book here, or directly from San Francisco independent bookseller Green Apple Books here.

Readers, tell us:

  • How were you taught about the Gold Rush and Chinese immigration to California?  Which myths about the period have you noticed still persist?
  • What part of the book has stayed with you?
  • Did you relate to any character, scene or image?
  • Do you have a favorite line or passage?

August 2021 Selection: “Radiant Fugitives” by Nawaaz Ahmed

The Forum Book Club pick for August 2021 is Nawaaz Ahmed’s debut novel “Radiant Fugitives.” Set in San Francisco in and around 2010, it tells the story of Seema, a lesbian and political organizer with doubts about the efficacy of politics even as she works on the campaigns of President Obama, District Attorney Kamala Harris and California’s 2008 proposition on gay marriage. Over the course of the final five days of her pregnancy, she tries to reconnect with her estranged, terminally ill mother who has travelled from India for the birth, and her devout Muslim sister, in from Texas. Narrated by Seema’s newborn son, the novel weaves together three generations’ stories, drawing inspiration from the Quran and the poetry of Wordsworth and Keats.

We’ll discuss the book at 9 a.m. PST on August 30 with host Alexis Madrigal.

You can buy the book here.

Readers, tell us:

  • Were you part of the mid- to late-2000s political or queer scenes in San Francisco? How does your experience compare?
  • How did its themes of religion, family, politics and queer identity resonate?
  • Did you relate to any character, scene or image?
  • Do you have a favorite line or passage?

July 2021 Selection: “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces” by Maceo Montoya

Headshot of Maceo Montoya and cover of his book “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces”
The first Forum Book Club pick for July 2021 is Maceo Montoya’s “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces.” The book uses narrative storytelling, drawings and scholarly footnotes to tell the story of an aspiring painter who has grand ambitions of moving to Paris. This would-be artist faces several roadblocks: he is coming of age in 1940s New Mexico with no economic means to support his dreams and, instead of drawing or painting, he writes long notes for future works of art. Montoya takes readers along the narrator’s quest to become a celebrated artist — a journey that takes unusual turns including runs in with Chicanx historical figures such as activist Reies Lopez Tijerina and writer Oscar Zeta Acosta. In this comical and satirical tale, Montoya takes aim at what it means to tell a Chicano story, which Chicano narratives are elevated and who gets to become an artist.

You can buy the book here.

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Readers, tell us:

  • What was your favorite illustration in Maceo Montoya’s “Preparatory Notes for Future Masterpieces” and why?
  • What did you keep thinking about after you finished reading?
  • What were some of your favorite characters, scenes or passages
  • What did you think of Maceo Montoya’s use of footnotes?

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