It’s Bookchella Month at Bel Canto Books

Happy(ish, cuz, you know - WKOFIT) April, book peeps, as we get ready for Bookchella Month at Bel Canto Books! This will be our very first time participating as a vendor at the LA Times Festival of Books (LAT FOB), the “biggest book festival in the country” (according to their website) - make sure you come see us at Booth 854 in the Green Zone!

We’re also partnering with Penguin Random House on a very special event with Aiko Bethea + Brené Brown on Tuesday 4/21, celebrating Indie Bookstore Day on Saturday 4/25, along with hosting our plethora of author events and eight (count ‘em, 8!!!) book clubs. Before we get to all the April fun, here’s:

Jho’s March Moments of Joy

• EXPERIENCE: We hosted our very first BCB Members Gathering at our 4th Street/Retro Row to show our appreciation for your sustaining commitment to our mission. We enjoyed snacks from local Filipino owned businesses San + Wolves Bakeshop and Gemmae Bake Shop, hung out with old friends and made new ones — and we even made some Blind Date with a Book fun! Our next Member Snail Mail will be going out in the next week or so - if you’re not already a member, you can learn more and sign up here.

• MEDIA: I’m not sure if I love it, but I did binge-watch Pluribus while being out sick this week. It has elements of A Man Called Ove, Humans, and Star Trek’s The Borg, set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone on the planet has succumbed to a “happy hive mind” alien virus, except a (un)lucky few. Shout out to Sabrina for the recommendation - you know how much I love an “unlikeable female character.”

• FOOD: Thanks to our now retired Big Sis, we road-tripped to San Diego for a mini Spring Break vacay with our siblings, nieces, and Mama Bel Canto before all the high schoolers leave us for college next year! Our first night, we tried Gaslamp Lumpia Factory which did not disappoint, although some of us may have way overeaten after some humungous Halo Halo for dessert.

• JOURNALING: I’m practicing the mantra “done is better than perfect or on time” these days, since the excitement of my daily Hobonichi journaling earlier this year has given way to catching up a few days (or even a week) at a time. I’ve been reminding myself that: my journal is only for me, I can just put one word or a sticker or a doodle on a page and call it done, and if it’s not bringing me joy or comfort, I can skip it and start again another day. Always good reminders to be gentle with ourselves.

• BOOKS: I know when the world is going to hell in a hand basket because my comfort reading ratchets way up! I read nine books in March, all of them good, some of them excellent, including: 1) AMERICAN HAGWON by the Min Jin Lee (shout out to my friend Erica at Belonging Books for scoring me an advanced copy!!!) - sooooooo worth the almost 700 pages, it made me laugh, cry, and squirm in my seat! (out 9/29); 2) THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF by Evelyn Clarke (out 4/7) and 3) COYOTELAND by Vanessa Hua (out 5/12) - new pageturner books from authors I love; and out now: 4) SKATING WILDER by Brandon Dumais and AJ Dungo (a sweet love letter to skating, childhood friendship, and the punk rock power of creating community - we have signed copies!), and 5) CARELESS PEOPLE by Sarah Wynn-Williams (which confirms all your worst fears about social media and Big Tech and makes me question every day what we can do to resist these uncaring, greedy MFers and their resource stealing companies).

If nothing else, at least it’s going to be a great year for books! Read on for more info and signup links to our exciting roster of author events and book clubs.

Here’s to books, laughter, and joyful resistance!

Jhoanna
Head Booknerd + Owner of Bel Canto Books

Saddle up, book peeps, and meet us at Bookchella, aka the LA Times Festival of Books, held at the USC Campus on Saturday 4/18 from 10am to 6pm and Sunday 4/19 from 10am to 5pm! You’ll find us at Booth 854 in the Green Zone along with a ton of amazing authors and artists (see our full author signing schedule in the Events section below).

Join Aiko Bethea in conversation with Brené Brown for an exclusive virtual event on the launch day (April 21) of her new book ANCHORED, ALIGNED, ACCOUNTABLE: A Framework for Transcending Bullsh*t and Transforming Our Lives and Work. We’re one of the exclusive partners for the event - register here to get your virtual event ticket which includes a copy of the book!

We’re thrilled to partner with Libro.fm again for an Indie Bookstore Day Scavenger Hunt at our 4th Street and KUBO LB locations, along with IBD exclusives, store specials, and more, on Saturday 4/25! Follow us @belcantobooks for all the IBD fun!

We’re proud to host these amazing authors and artists this month! Bel Canto Books events are free to attend, unless otherwise noted. Please join us in supporting our authors by RSVPing in advance and purchasing their books from us (or requesting them from your local library)!

Fri 4/3 + 5/7, 6pm-9pm @ KUBO LB
First Fridays

Sat 4/4, 4pm @ KUBO LB cancelled
Khiara M. Bridges + Dr. Whitney N. Laster Pirtle

Sat 4/18, 10am to 6pm @ USC, Booth 854
LAT Festival of Books with:
11am - Susie Yi, CAT & CAT ADVENTURE books
1pm - Chris Sasaki + Family of Minoru Tonai, UNBREAKABLE
3pm - C. B. Lee, COFFEESHOP IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE + Georgia K. Boone, I’LL BE GONE FOR CHRISTMAS

Sun 4/19, 10am to 5pm @ USC, Booth 854
LAT Festival of Books with:
11am - Nydia Armendia-Sanchez, FRIDA KAHLO’S FLOWER CROWN
1pm - Tori Drew It Doodle Booth
3pm - Elizabeth Su, THE EVERYDAY MILLENNIAL ORACLE

Thu 4/23 to Sun 4/26 @ BCB Retro Row
Indie Bookstore Spirit Week

Fri 4/24 + 5/22, 6pm-9pm @ BCB Retro Row
Fourth Fridays

Sat 4/25 - all locations
Indie Bookstore Day + Libro.fm Golden Ticket Scavenger Hunt (4th St + KUBO only)

**Please note: Queer Book Club and Graphic Novel Book Club are meeting early this month on Saturday 4/11, due to our participation at the LAT Festival of Books. Hope to see you then!

Book clubs are free to join and attend. We appreciate your support of our work and our featured authors and encourage you to buy from our stores, Bookshop.org, Libro.fm, and/or request books from your local library. Learn more and kindly RSVP here.

Bel Canto Book Club
Thursdays, 6:30pm at BCB Retro Row
NIGHT OWL (4/16)

Burning Issues Book Club
Sundays, 12pm PT (virtual)
THE SOUND OF A WILD SNAIL EATING (4/26)

Graphic Novel Book Club
Saturdays, 10am PT (virtual)
TOXIC TROPICS (4/11)

Queer Book Club
Saturdays, 7pm at BCB Retro Row
LEGENDS AND LATTES (4/11)

AI Ethics Book Club
EMPIRE OF AI
Wed 5/20, 6:30pm at Ambitious Ales

Movies N’ Books Club
OPPENHEIMER screening + discussion
Wed 4/8, 7pm at Art Theatre LB

Death & Dying Book Club
SMOKE GETS IN YOURS EYES
Thu 4/9, 6:30pm at BCB Retro Row

TIMPLA Cookbook Club
A FEATHER AND A FORK meeting + potluck
Sun 4/26, 12pm at KUBO LB