Friends! Did you know that we are co-hosting our first-ever Tome Gnome Book Club in partnership with the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona and local solutions journalist Caitlin Schmidt TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY? It is going to be so fun 🙂 On Thursday, June 22, we will be meeting at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona at 5:30pm to discuss Monica Guzman’s I Never Thought of It That Way .

ABOUT THE AUTHOR, MONICA GUZMAN:

“Mónica Guzmán is a bridge builder, journalist, and entrepreneur who lives for great conversations sparked by curious questions. She’s director of digital and storytelling at Braver Angels, the nation’s largest cross-partisan grassroots organization working to depolarize America; host of live interview series at Crosscut; and cofounder of the award-winning Seattle newsletter The Evergrey. She was a 2019 fellow at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, where she studied social and political division, and a 2016 fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University, where she researched how journalists can rethink their roles to better meet the needs of a participatory public. She was named one of the 50 most influential women in Seattle, served twice as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes, and plays a barbarian named Shadrack in her besties’ Dungeons & Dragons campaign. A Mexican immigrant, Latina, and dual US/Mexico citizen, she lives in Seattle with her husband and two kids and is the proud liberal daughter of conservative parents.”

ABOUT THE BOOK FROM PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE:

“We think we have the answers, but we need to be asking a lot more questions.

Journalist Mónica Guzmán is the loving liberal daughter of Mexican immigrants who voted—twice—for Donald Trump. When the country could no longer see straight across the political divide, Mónica set out to find what was blinding us and discovered the most eye-opening tool we’re not using: our own built-in curiosity.

Partisanship is up, trust is down, and our social media feeds make us sure we’re right and everyone else is ignorant (or worse). But avoiding one another is hurting our relationships and our society.

In this timely, personal guide, Mónica, the chief storyteller for the national cross-partisan depolarization organization Braver Angels, takes you to the real front lines of a crisis that threatens to grind America to a halt—broken conversations among confounded people. She shows you how to overcome the fear and certainty that surround us to finally do what only seems impossible: understand and even learn from people in your life whose whole worldview is different from or even opposed to yours.

Drawing from cross-partisan conversations she’s had, organized, or witnessed everywhere from the echo chambers on social media to the wheat fields in Oregon to raw, unfiltered fights with her own family on election night, Mónica shows how you can put your natural sense of wonder to work for you immediately, finding the answers you need by talking with people—rather than about them—and asking the questions you want, curiously.

In these pages, you’ll learn:

• How to ask what you really want to know (even if you’re afraid to)
• How to grow smarter from even the most tense interactions, online or off
• How to cross boundaries and find common ground—with anyone

Whether you’re left, right, center, or not a fan of labels: If you’re ready to fight back against the confusion, heartbreak, and madness of our dangerously divided times—in your own life, at least—Mónica’s got the tools and fresh, surprising insights to prove that seeing where people are coming from isn’t just possible. It’s easier than you think.”

WANT TO JOIN US?

All are welcome to join us on June 22 – the event is free and open to the public!

There will be snacks! There will be drinks! There will be fun and engaging prompted conversation and activities! We will be raffling off several copies of our next book (for our next meeting in August)! In short, it’s going to be a VERY fun night full of community connections and curious conversations. You can RSVP HERE (this will help us make sure we have enough snacks and drinks).

If you’re a reader who cares about building a vibrant and equitable community in Southern Arizona, then this book club is for you. We hope to see you there 🙂