What we’re about
A book club for lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and queer people in Silver Spring and surrounding areas in MD and DC. We read a variety of genres, not limited to LGBTQ-themes, and meet once a month to discuss a book and socialize.
Our book club is way to meet other LGBTQ people in the area for socializing and friendship, and of course to read and discuss books. As a group we read one book a month and then get together to talk about it. Members suggest books to read and we select upcoming books as a group. We read a variety of genres, primarily fiction — novels and short story collections — with the occasional non-fiction book or memoir. We're not limited to LGBTQ authors or themes, although we read those too. See this page for how our members have rated our recent books.
We hold the book discussions at members' homes, on a rotating but voluntary basis, and the host provides light snacks and drinks. We generally meet on the third Thursday of the month, and our locations are usually not within walking distance to the metro.
We're looking for members who want to actively attend discussions so please don't join if you're not interested in participating.
Upcoming events (1)
See all- Guapa by Saleem HaddadNeeds location
We'll be discussing Guapa by Saleem Haddad, in person at a member's home. The address will be posted in the event chat a week before the meetup.
Find the book via Bookshop.org and Montgomery County Public Libraries. NOTE -- this book has limited availability through MCPL.
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A debut novel that tells the story of Rasa, a young gay man coming of age in the Middle East
Set over the course of twenty-four hours, Guapa follows Rasa, a gay man living in an unnamed Arab country, as he tries to carve out a life for himself in the midst of political and social upheaval. Rasa spends his days translating for Western journalists and pining for the nights when he can sneak his lover, Taymour, into his room. One night Rasa's grandmother — the woman who raised him — catches them in bed together. The following day Rasa is consumed by the search for his best friend Maj, a fiery activist and drag queen star of the underground bar, Guapa, who has been arrested by the police. Ashamed to go home and face his grandmother, and reeling from the potential loss of the three most important people in his life, Rasa roams the city’s slums and prisons, the lavish weddings of the country’s elite, and the bars where outcasts and intellectuals drink to a long-lost revolution. Each new encounter leads him closer to confronting his own identity, as he revisits his childhood and probes the secrets that haunt his family. As Rasa confronts the simultaneous collapse of political hope and his closest personal relationships, he is forced to discover the roots of his alienation and try to re-emerge into a society that may never accept him.
