Silicon Valley Reads

Welcome to Silicon Valley Reads

Silicon Valley Reads is a community engagement program that brings people together through books and a shared annual theme. Each year, from January through March, we offer more than 150 free public events for all ages including author talks, book clubs, arts and music activities, movies, hands-on workshops, and creative experiences inspired by our theme.

Our 2026 Theme: Bridges to Belonging

In today’s world, the need for connection is more important and more powerful than ever. Our 2026 theme, Bridges to Belonging, explores how we can build bridges... to one another, to our families, and to our communities, to create genuine belonging.

Our Featured Books

The Power of Bridging by John A. Powell provides a thought-provoking framework for moving beyond “othering” and embracing inclusion, showing how communities flourish when differences are valued.
Mainline Mama by Keeonna Harris brings this theme to life through her memoir, sharing her journey of navigating family, class, and identity while finding resilience and love in the face of systemic challenges.
Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett uses humor and magic to remind us that belonging can come through the most unexpected connections—between neighbors, generations, and even the living and the dead.

Together, these books inspire reflection on the bridges we build and those still needed, sparking meaningful conversations about creating a more connected, compassionate community.

Mark Your Calendar

Our 2026 season kicks off on Thursday, January 15th, at 7 PM, with all of our selected authors in conversation with Sal Pizarro from the San Jose Mercury News. Registration and more details will be available on this site in December. Stay tuned as we continue to share creative programming and events around our books and theme throughout January, February, and March.

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Silicon Valley Reads 2025, Empowering Humanity: Technology for a Better World

2025 Silicon Valley Reads Kickoff Video

01:20:45

Sal Khan’s Brave New Words: AI and Education

01:23:51

Peter Brown Author Visit, The Wild Robot

50:21

2026 Books

We have carefully selected three diverse books that encapsulate the spirit of belonging and encourage meaningful community conversations.

Featured Books for Adults

The Power of Bridging: How to Build a World Where We All Belong

In The Power of Bridging, John A. Powell offers an essential roadmap for building bridges across our divisions and creating a society where everyone feels they belong. He explains how “othering” and “breaking” keep us apart—casting people as outsiders or excluding them altogether—while “bridging” invites connection, solidarity, and shared humanity. With a mix of personal insight and practical tools, Powell shows how each of us can become a “bridger” in our families, workplaces, and communities. This book is both a call to action and a guide, reminding us that bridging is not just a response to division, but a path toward co-creating a future grounded in belonging.

Mainline Mama

In this moving memoir, Keeonna Harris shares her journey of building bridges to belonging while navigating the isolating realities of the U.S. carceral system. Becoming a “mainline mama” at just fourteen, she raises her son while her partner is incarcerated, confronting stigma, shame, and systemic barriers along the way. Yet Harris’s story is also one of resilience, love, and community—finding strength in family bonds and solidarity with other women facing similar struggles. From everyday acts of care to moments of radical resistance, Mainline Mama shows how creating connection and community in the face of division becomes a powerful pathway to belonging.

Unlikely Animals

In this tender and humorous novel, Annie Hartnett explores how belonging can grow in unexpected places. When Emma Starling returns to her New Hampshire hometown to care for her dying father, she is drawn into a community grappling with crisis, loss, and disconnection. Through her search for a missing friend and reconnection with family, Emma discovers that even fractured places can be mended through compassion, community, and the bridges we build with one another.

2026 Books

Featured Companion Books for Teens/Children

2026 Companion Books

Thank You, Neighbor

Join a young narrator and her dog on their daily walk through a bustling, colorful urban neighborhood. They greet essential community helpers—the bus driver, the sanitation workers, the mail carrier—and chat with all the neighbors they know. In the flurry of a busy day, it’s easy to hurry past the people who keep our world running, but this charming book reminds us that patience and kindness can make your neighborhood truly feel like family.

Together, A Forest

In this visually stunning picture book, Joy and her diverse class explore a forest where every student, including those who are neurodivergent or use mobility aids, discovers their unique connection to nature. Joy is initially anxious about finding her "one thing" for a project, but she soon sees how her classmates' different ways of experiencing the world reflect the complex beauty of the ecosystem. The book compares the essential diversity of trees, fungi, and rushing water to the diversity of the class. It reminds readers of all ages that there is no "one right way" for a mind, body, or person to be, and that our unique differences are what create a truly vibrant, flourishing community.

Front Desk

Based on the author's real-life experience, Kelly Yang's award-winning novel follows 10-year-old Mia Tang, a recent Chinese immigrant whose family manages a rundown motel in California. While facing poverty, racism, and the unfairness of the American Dream, Mia bravely takes on the role of front desk manager—but her real job is building a community. Front Desk illustrates "Bridges to Belonging" as Mia, her parents, and the long-term tenants ("weeklies") transform the Calivista Motel into a sanctuary for close friends. Through compassion and courage, they stand up for one another against injustice, proving that a sense of belonging is a powerful force created not by wealth or status, but by kindness, solidarity, and finding your voice to fight for those who need a place to call home.

Give Me a Sign

For years, Lilah has felt suspended in a silent, lonely space -"stuck in the middle" between the vibrant hearing world and the rich, expressive Deaf one. Hard-of-hearing and tired of constantly navigating a world that wasn't built for her, she yearns for a place where she doesn't have to choose or apologize for who she is. That search for solid ground leads her to a life-changing summer where she worked as a counselor at a camp for Deaf and blind teens. It's here, within this community, that Lilah finds peace and a solid sense of belonging.

More about 2026 Companion Books

Recommended Reading

Silicon Valley Reads is pleased to provide a curated list of recommended reading for our Bridges to Belonging theme.

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting

Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley is a heartwarming story that proves the most rigid social contract—never talk to strangers—is meant to be broken. Iona Iverson, an eccentric advice columnist, lives by an ironclad rule: ignore everyone on her daily train ride, whom she knows only by self-assigned nicknames like "Smart-But-Sexist-Manspreader." But when a fellow commuter suddenly chokes, a single, life-saving act of intervention shatters Iona's carefully constructed isolation. Watch as this unlikely cast of characters—each dealing with their own private struggles with loneliness, aging, and career anxiety—evolves from anonymous passengers into a found family. This story explores how breaking down barriers of judgment and embracing vulnerability can lead to unexpected, life-altering connections, transforming a train car of strangers into a true community.

Connecting Dots

The memoir of MacArthur "Genius" award winner Dr. Joshua A. Miele is a powerful testament to finding connection and building a life of purpose in a world not built for you. Blinded at age four in a horrific accident, Miele refused to be a victim. Instead, his natural curiosity and problem-solving skills led him to the heart of the tech industry—from working at NASA to pioneering revolutionary accessibility technologies like screen readers and tactile maps. Connecting Dots is an unforgettable, funny, and deeply honest journey of a blind scientist who channels his experiences into creations that connect the disabled community to the world. Miele’s life demonstrates that the ingenuity spurred by necessity creates the strongest bridges to belonging, allowing millions to fully participate in a society designed for the sighted.

What it Takes to Save a Life: A Veterinarian's Quest of Healing and Hope

Dr. Kwane Stewart, founder of Project Street Vet and CNN's 2023 Hero of the Year, was a struggling veterinarian on the brink of burnout when a single, spontaneous act of kindness changed everything: offering free treatment to a homeless man's dog. This powerful, honest memoir takes you onto the streets of California and beyond, revealing the extraordinary bonds of unconditional love between unhoused individuals and their animal companions. For people facing extreme loneliness and invisibility, a pet is their only family, their lifeline, and their bridge to stability. In What It Takes to Save a Life, Kwane Stewart shows how healing these animals is a crucial step in recognizing the humanity of their owners. His journey is a profound reminder that we are all part of a wider community, and by extending compassion to our most vulnerable neighbors—and their beloved pets—we can save not just an animal, but a human soul.

View All Adult Recommended Reading

Youth Recommended Reading

Silicon Valley Reads is pleased to provide a curated list of Youth recommended reading for our Bridges to Belonging theme.

Becoming Boba

Milk Tea Town was steeped in tradition, and Mindy didn't fit the mold. While the classic brown flavors sipped from sensible straws, Mindy sparkled in green, white, and red. Worried she wasn't "milk tea enough," she dives into their history, seeking a way to belong. What Mindy and her friends discover on this journey isn't a lesson in conformity, but a surprising truth about milk tea's past—a secret that could redefine the entire town and prove that belonging isn't about being the same, but about claiming your own flavor. A delightful, heartwarming tale about self-love and the universal question: What does it mean to be enough?

View Youth Recommended Reading

Thanks to our Donors!

Silicon Valley Reads relies on the generous donations of our community partners and donors to run over 150 free events each year. For more information on donating, please visit the Donor Information page. Thank you for financially supporting Silicon Valley Reads programs!