Join us for the launch of PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF NIGHTMARES with author Tehlor Kay Mejia in conversation with THE LAST FALLEN STAR author Graci Kim. 

RSVP on Crowdcast here.

About PAOLA SANTIAGO AND THE FOREST OF NIGHTMARES 

Six months after Paola Santiago confronted the legendary La Llorona, life is nothing like she'd expected it to be. She is barely speaking to her best friends, Dante and Emma, and what's worse, her mom has a totally annoying boyfriend. Even with her chupacabra puppy, Bruto, around, Pao can't escape the feeling that she's all alone in the world.

Pao has no one to tell that she's having nightmares again, this time set in a terrifying forest. Even more troubling? At their center is her estranged father, an enigma of a man she barely remembers. And when Dante's abuela falls mysteriously ill, it seems that the dad Pao never knew just might be the key to healing the eccentric old woman.

Pao's search for her father will send her far from home, where she will encounter new monsters and ghosts, a devastating betrayal, and finally, the forest of her nightmares. Will the truths her father has been hiding save the people Pao loves, or destroy them?


About The Authors

Tehlor Kay Mejia is an Oregon native in love with the alpine meadows and evergreen forests of her home state, where she lives with her daughter. When she's not writing, you can find her plucking at her guitar, stealing rosemary sprigs from overgrown gardens, or trying to make the perfect vegan tamale. She is the author of Paola Santiago and the River of Tears and the YA fantasy novels We Set the Dark on Fire and We Unleash the Merciless Storm. Follow her on Twitter @tehlorkay.

Graci Kim is a Korean-Kiwi diplomat turned author who writes about the magic she wants to see in the world. The Last Fallen Star was her middle grade debut, and there are two more Gifted Clans novels to come: The Last Fallen Moon and The Last Fallen Realm. In a previous life she used to be a cooking show host, and she once ran a business that turned children's drawings into plushies. When she's not lost in her imagination, you'll find Graci drinking flat whites, eating ramyeon, and most likely hugging a dog (or ideally, many). She lives in New Zealand with her husband and daughter. Follow her on Twitter @gracikim and Instagram @gracikimwrites.

A special event featuring five authors trending on Booktok, Adam Silvera, Madeline Miller, Tiffany D. Jackson, Chloe Gong, and Tahereh Mafi. Moderated by the Booktok creator Selene Velez (moongirlreads_) credited for making SONG OF ACHILLES and THEY BOTH DIE AT THE END trending on TikTok, these authors will discuss their popularity on Booktok, what it is like being an author on Booktok, and the books themselves.

All books (except Chloe's) come with a signed bookplate. 

Chloe's books are available for signing and personalization.

RSVP on Crowdcast here will also be streamed on Youtube. 
 

What is Booktok?
 

A subsection of TikTok, Booktok has taken the platform by storm and influenced the publishing industry and sales of books across the country. Creators post videos reviewing and recommending books to an audience of often avid readers. Authors, reviewers, and readers, alike have joined the platform, creating a community of people who are deciding what the next big read is.
 

About the Moderator:
 

Selene Velez (she/her) is a book influencer who creates content highlighting diverse authors and stories as Moongirlreads_ on Tiktok. She has been featured in The New York Times, BBC World Service, international magazines, and her grandpa's Facebook (Hi Grandpa!). She is soon to enter her second year of studying English at the University of California Santa Barbara, and looks forward to finding ways to secretly read books during lectures again.
 

About the Authors: 
 

Adam Silvera (he/him) is the New York Times bestselling author of More Happy Than Not, History Is All You Left Me, They Both Die at the End, Infinity Son, and—with Becky Albertalli—What If It’s Us. He was named a Publishers Weekly Flying Start for his debut. Adam was born and raised in the Bronx. He was a bookseller before shifting to children’s publishing and has worked at a literary development company and a creative writing website for teens and as a book reviewer of children’s and young adult novels. He is tall for no reason and lives in Los Angeles. Visit him online at www.adamsilvera.com.
 

Madeline Miller (she/her) is the author of The Song of Achilles, which was awarded the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction and was a New York Times Bestseller. Miller is also the author of Circe, which was the winner of the Indies Choice Best Adult Fiction of the Year Award, and the Indies Choice Best Audiobook of the Year Award. Circe also received The Red Tentacle Award, an American Library Association Alex Award, the 2018 Elle Big Book Award, was short-listed for the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction, and was a number 1 New York Times Bestseller. She currently lives outside Philadelphia. 
 

Tiffany D. Jackson (she/her) is the New York Times bestselling author of Allegedly, Monday’s Not Coming, Let Me Hear a Rhyme, and Grown. A Walter Dean Myers Honor Book and Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award winner, she received her bachelor of arts in film from Howard University, her master of arts in media studies from the New School, and has over a decade in TV/Film experience. The Brooklyn native still resides in the borough she loves. You can visit her at writeinbk.com. 
 

Chloe Gong (she/her) is the New York Times bestselling author of These Violent Delights and its sequel Our Violent Ends. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York pretending to be a real adult. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok under @thechloegong or check out her website at TheChloeGong.com. 
 

Tahereh Mafi (she/her) is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series, the National Book Award longlisted and bestselling novel A Very Large Expanse of Sea, as well as Furthermore and Whichwood. You can find her online just about anywhere @Tahereh or on her website, www.taherehmafi.com.

Join local authors Matt Caprioli and Joe Okonkwo for a conversation about their books ONE HEADLIGHT and KISS THE SCARS ON THE BACK OF MY NECK.

All books will come signed!
 

On Crowdcast and Youtube. RSVP here
 

About ONE HEADLIGHT
 

Matt Caprioli never belonged in Alaska: too gay, too
bookish, a faltering vegetarian. As a spiritual and sensitive young
boy, he’s raised by the exuberant and radiant but deeply
impractical Abby Henry, who doesn’t view his baptism in a horse
trough or machete marks on their new apartment door as peculiar. 

As a young man, Caprioli leaves Alaska to chase his dream
of writing in Manhattan, along the way working as a journalist and
sex worker. His bond with his mother is tested as Caprioli tries to
forget where he comes from.
 

About KISS THE SCARS ON THE BACK OF MY NECK
 

The eclectic stories in this collection are bound by the threads of desire in its many forms, above all, the desire for love and a place of safety in a world where being Black and gay can thwart the fulfillment of that longing. The characters are complex, driven, difficult, and even, at times, unsympathetic, but always compelling. In other words: fully rounded human beings living complicated lives.
 

About the Authors
 

Matt Caprioli (he/him) is a queer Alaskan/NYC-based writer and CCE/tenure-track Lecturer in the English Department of Lehman College, City University of New York. His essays and fiction have appeared in Epiphany, Opossum Literary, Best Gay Stories 2017, Newtown Literary, and Worn Stories, which was adapted in the Netflix series produced by Jenji Kohan. He holds an MFA from Hunter College and is pursuing an MBA at Baruch College. Born in California in 1990, Caprioli now lives in Astoria, Queens with his partner, Adam.
 

Joe Okonkwo (he/him)  is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, and editor. His debut novel Jazz Moon won the Publishing Triangle’s prestigious 2016 Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction. A cum laude graduate of the University of Houston with a B.A. in theater, Joe made his living for a number of years as an actor, stage manager, director, playwright, and youth theater instructor. He also holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from City College of New York.

Join us as we celebrate the bookshop's 8th birthday online and in-person. 

In-Person Events:

• Free cupcakes (while they last)
• 4:00 - 5:00 PM: Live book signing with Victoria Lee
• Free 8th birthday bookmarks featuring our shop dog Quincy! (while supplies last)
• Activity sheets and stickers

Online events:

• 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM: Victoria Lee and Joan He for A LESSON IN VENGEANCE -- RSVP HERE
• 5 PM - 6 PM: Romance panel for bookstore romance day with Alyssa Cole, Preslaysa Williams, Sonali Dev, Thien-Kim Lam, Alexandria Bellefleur, Sonia Hartl, Moderated by Alison Cochrun Signed Bookplates Available -- RSVP HERE

 

Join Victoria Lee and Joan He for a conversation on Victoria Lee's newest novel A LESSON IN VENGEANCE.
 

This discussion will be hosted on Crowdcast and Youtube. RSVP here
 

AFTER THE VIRTUAL BOOK DISCUSSION VICTORIA LEE WILL BE SIGNING BOOKS AT ASTORIA BOOKSHOP FROM 4:00 - 5:00 PM. 
 

About the Book:
 

It’s Ellis Haley’s first year at Dalloway. A prodigy novelist at seventeen, Ellis is eccentric and brilliant, and Felicity can’t shake the pull she feels to her. So when Ellis asks for help researching the Dalloway Five for her second book, Felicity can’t say no.

Dalloway’s occult lore is everywhere, and the new girl won’t let Felicity forget it. But when the past begins to invade on the present, Felicity needs to decide where she stands. The soil under her feet is bloody with Dalloway’s history. But so is the present. Is it Dalloway—or is it her?

 About the Authors:
 

Victoria Lee (they/she/he) grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where she spent her childhood writing ghost stories and fantasizing about attending boarding school. She has a Ph.D. in psychology, which she uses to overanalyze fictional characters and also herself. Lee is the author of A Lesson in Vengeance as well as The Fever King and its sequel, The Electric Heir. She lives in New York City with her partner, cat, and malevolent dog. Visit her online at victorialeewrites.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @sosaidvictoria.
 

Joan He (she/her) was born and raised in Philadelphia but still, on occasion, loses her way. At a young age, she received classical instruction in oil painting before discovering that stories were her favorite kind of art. She studied psychology and Chinese history at the University of Pennsylvania and currently writes from a desk overlooking the city waterfront. She is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ones We're Meant to Find and Descendant of the Crane, her young adult debut novel.

 

 

Authors Alyssa Cole (Runaway Royals and Reluctant Royals series), Preslaysa Williams (A LOWCOUNTRY BRIDE), Sonali Dev (INCENSE AND SENSIBILITY), Thien-Kim Lam (HAPPY ENDINGS), Alexandria Bellefleur (WRITTEN IN THE STARS  and HANG THE MOON), Sonia Hartl (HEARTBREAK FOR HIRE), and moderator Alison Cochrun (CHARM OFFENSIVE) come together to discuss the Romance genre in this special event for the Astoria Bookshop's 8th Birthday and Bookstore Romance Day. 
 

Signed bookplates are available from ALL authors. 
 

Hosted on Crowdcast and Youtube. RSVP Here.
 

About the Authors:
 

Alyssa Cole (she/her) is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of romance (historical, contemporary, and sci-fi) and thrillers including An Extraordinary Union, A Princess in Theory, How to Catch a Queen, and many more. Her Civil War-set espionage romance An Extraordinary Union was the American Library Association’s RUSA Best Romance for 2018, and A Princess in Theory was one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2018. 
 

Preslaysa Williams (she/her) is an award-winning author who writes contemporary romance and women’s fiction with an Afro-Filipina twist. Proud of her heritage, she loves sharing her culture with her readers. Her books include A Lowcountry Bride and Healing Hannah's Heart.
 

Sonali Dev (she/her) writes Bollywood-style love stories that explore universal issues. Her novels have been named Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, NPR, the Washington Post, and Kirkus. Her books include Recipe For Persuasion, Incense and Sensibility, and Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors.
 

Thien-Kim Lam (she/her) writes stories about Vietnamese characters who smash stereotypes and find their happy endings. She is the founder of Bawdy Bookworms, a subscription box that pairs sexy romances with erotic toys. Her debut novel is Happy Endings.
 

Alexandria Bellefleur (she/her) is a bestselling and award-winning author of swoony contemporary romance often featuring loveable grumps and the sunshine characters who bring them to their knees. Her debut novel, Written in the Stars, was a 2021 Lambda Literary Award winner and a 2020 winner of The Ripped Bodice Awards for Excellence in Romantic Fiction. 
 

Sonia Hartl (she/her) is the author of The Lost Girls, Not Your #Lovestory, and Have a Little Faith in Me, which received a starred review in BookPage and earned nominations for the Georgia Peach Book Award, YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, Bank Street College of Education’s Best Children’s Books of the Year, and ALA’s Rise: A Feminist Book Project List. She’s also the author of an adult rom-com, Heartbreak for Hire.
 

Alison Cochrun(she/her) is a high school English teacher living outside Portland, Oregon. When she's not reading and writing queer love stories, you can find her torturing teenagers with Shakespeare, crafting perfect travel itineraries, hate-watching reality dating shows, and searching for the best happy hour nachos. Her debut novel Charm Offensive, comes out this September.