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Longform Article Reading Club
Like a book club, but less commitment
 
In addition to picking the May selection in support of AANHPI month (see below), the big news is that we will meet on Zoom exclusively starting in May. This month we will be on Zoom, and the in-person event at North Beach in April will be our last meeting at a branch library. While the future is Zoom, we could decide to meet at a cafe or bar--or the Main Library--if we crave an in-person experience. Let me know your thoughts on this by emailing mnc@sfpl.org. 
 
The event listing for each selection denotes the guidelines for the club. It's important to read the article before joining, and observe our method for facilitating the discussion, but otherwise we have a lot of fun talking about all aspects of the selected article. 
 
If a friend forwarded this to you, sign up for this newsletter on the SFPL website.  
 
See you on Zoom on the 28th! - Kelci
  
Upcoming Meetings and Selections

"The Dementia Paradox"
by Katie Engelhart
A bitter family dispute hinged on an impossible question: When cognitive decline changes people, should we respect their new desires?
New York Times Magazine, May 14, 2023
  • Read on ProQuest, a library database that provides access to the NYT Sunday Magazine (SFPL card required)
  • Read on the NYT website 
  • Download the PDF
Virtual Library 
Saturday, March 28, 2026
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Register on Zoom 
 

"A Good Death"
by William Vollmann
It seems both rational and possible to minimize the likelihood of an unpleasant end. What then about a “good death?”
Harper’s, November 2010
  • Read on ProQuest, a library database that provides access to Harper's Magazine (SFPL card required) (this is a text-only version) 
  • Download the PDF
North Beach Branch Library
Saturday, April 25, 2026
10 - 11:30 a.m.
850 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133 (map)
 
 

"Clouds and Rain over Three Gorges"
by Xujun Eberlein
The man I’m now married to was a foreigner in 1987, when he and I took a heretical hike along the Yangtze. We went to the mountains of Wushan through which the renowned Three Gorges are carved. According to a Tang Dynasty poem, Water is hardly water after experiencing oceans / Clouds are no longer clouds apart from Wushan’s mountains. Until a dam—said to be the world’s largest—cut the Yangtze into two halves at the waist, those damned words were so poignant that they could make the stoic sentimental. 
American Literary Review, March 2014
  • Read on the American Literary Review website 
  • Download the PDF
Virtual Library
Saturday, May 30, 2026
10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Register on Zoom
Follow-Up From Last Month's Meeting
We discussed "Jenisha from Kentucky" in February at Ortega

By Jenisha Watts, the article is a moving portrayal of the intersectional experience of growing up poor and Black in a family struggling with substance abuse. Watts makes copious references to both Black writers and those of other races from whom she took inspiration, writers that struggled with class discrepancies between family and their aspirations to make a new home. We discussed many aspects of the dynamics between Jenisha and her family, as well as the people she met once she moved to New York City. We closed out the meeting by reading a poem by one writer that served as mentor and teacher to Jenisha, Nikky Finney. The poem is called The Greatest Show on Earth.
 
For further reading, check out this interview with Watts on the website the Cut:
What We Owe Our Families, and What We Don’t - By Kathryn Jezer-Morton
 
And in happy news, Editor & Publisher just announced that Watts was being promoted at the Atlantic. See: The Atlantic announces Sarah A. Topol and Jenisha Watts as staff writers 



Thanks for reading!
Selections are curated by librarians in the Magazines and Newspapers Center. See all 2026 selections. 
 
We welcome your suggestions!
Guidelines:
- Around 10,000 words in length
- Strong sense of plot driving the narrative
- Any topic or genre
- Preference given to articles from periodicals the library subscribes to   
 
Have questions? 
Contact us by phone at (415) 557-4453 or email at mnc@sfpl.org
 
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Magazines and Newspapers Center
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415-557-4400 https://sfpl.org/magsnews
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