Notes & Words 2025 | The Masonic | April 5
When writers and musicians take charge of The Masonic stage in San Francisco in the annual event to benefit UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals, lit and music lovers don’t want to be anywhere else. Hosted by event co-founder, former Piedmonter and New York Times best-selling author Kelly Corrigan, this year’s musical talent includes Grammy winning singer/songwriter Gary Clark Jr., and Grammy-nominated vocalist and songwriter Grace Potter, one of the best female guitarists in the country. Best-selling author Gabrielle Zevin and poet/essayist Cat Bohannon bring on the words. Oakland-based music artists MeloDious and CO-LLAB Choir add local flare. A not-to-miss after-party’s vibe is powered by DJ David Carvalho and DJ Jeff straw, who plays saxophone while spinning funky, electronic tunes. The event launched in 2010 has raised multiple millions for Children’s Hospital.
April 5 @ 7:30 p.m. | $125 and up | notesandwords.org
Adam Plantinga presents “Hard Town” | Book Passage (SF Ferry Building) | April 10
The East Bay-based author of USA Today bestseller “The Ascent,” returns with his second outing featuring ex-Detroit cop Kurt Argento. Last time, the cranky fellow managed to survive a terrifying prison break, but Argento never shook the grief of his wife’s death and dark inner gloom travels with him daily. Seeking to escape the inner shadows and find a life under the radar, or at least, off the grid, he retreats with his best canine buddy, Hudson, to a quiet town in Arizona. Plantinga as author has other plans and sure enough, his protagonist tumbles back into the spotlight searching for a lost man and his son in a community trying and failing to harbor its secrets. Plantinga’s day job is working as a patrol sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department. His first two nonfiction books, “400 Things Cops Know” and “Police Craft” were a fitting springboard into the fiction thriller genre. Publication date is April 8; the book is available for preorder.
April 10 @ 5:30 pm | Free | bookpassage.com
Renee Swindle book launch | Great Good Place for Books | April 15
Oakland author Swindle visits the Montclair Village independent bookstore with her new novel, “Francine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn.” When ten-year-old Davie is bullied and turns up at her door, Francine leaps into rescuer role. A bond forms, one that works like a salve on Francine’s wounded heart after the recent death of her mother. An encounter with Davie’s foster family tightens relationships, eventually twisting them into knots and toxic entanglements. This new novel is well-crafted, zippy, and deftly handles universal touchpoints of love and identity, as did her previously books, “Shake Down the Stars” and “A Pinch of Ooh La La.” An opportunity to hear Swindle read and discuss her book promises to be informative, intimate, and fun.
April 15 @ 7 p.m. | Free | ggpbooks.com
Independent Bookstore Day 2025 | Indie bookstores throughout the Bay Area | April 26
The American Booksellers Association’s all-day, cross-country event is well served in the Bay Area. With literature supported in favorite local bookshops, advocacy spreads through outreach into community centers, neighborhoods, and even on BART, where it’s not unheard of to be handed a book by a complete stranger and told, “Read and enjoy!” Nearly every location offers special author appearances, sales, hands-on activities, swag, prizes, and more. Pump your dollars into the local business community and support everyone’s right to read.
Alka Joshi with “Six Days In Bombay” | Mrs. Dalloway’s | May 1
The scheduled date of this event being the first day of the next month makes it worthy of this month’s listings. New York Times bestselling author Joshi returns to the Berkeley bookstore with her new historical novel, a story set in Bombay, Prague, Florence, Paris and London. The sweeping, mystery-packed saga has protagonist Sona in search of three paintings by renowned painter Mira Novak, one of her dearest friends. After Novak dies suddenly, Sona hopes the missing artwork might uncover the cause of Novak’s inexplicable death. The historical novel was inspired by Amrita Sher-Gil, often referred to as the real life “Frida Kahlo of India.” Joshi has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. Her debut novel, “The Henna Artist,” instantly became a New York Times bestseller, Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, and was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. “The Secret Keeper of Jaipur” and “The Perfumist of Paris” completed the Jaipur Trilogy. The event is free; advance registration highly advised.
May 1 @ 7 p.m. | Free | mrsdalloways.com