The Asian American Center of Frederick is teaming up with the Iguana to present a three-book discussion series exploring the works of Asian-American writers. Featured titles are discounted 20% four weeks prior to discussion. Free; no registration required.

The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka’s long awaited follow-up to When the Emperor Was Divine, is a tour de force of economy and precision, a novel that tells the story of a group of young women brought over from Japan to San Francisco as picture brides nearly a century ago. In eight incantatory sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces their extraordinary lives, from their arduous journey by boat; to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; to their backbreaking work picking fruit in the fields and scrubbing the floors of white women; to their struggles to master a new language and a new culture; to their experiences in childbirth, and then as mothers, raising children who will ultimately reject their heritage and their history; to the deracinating arrival of war.

At Curious Iguana, 12 N. Market St., Frederick, MD. Click here for more info.