Literary Loot

Living in San Francisco means I'm lucky: there are a plethora of great places to buy books. One such place is the San Francisco Public Library. A few weeks ago, I planned on stopping by the library to check out Readers Bookstore at the Main, the bookstore inside the main library run by the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library. It has a nice selection of books at affordable prices. But due to the maintenance being done on several of the Civic Center entrances/exits, I got turned around coming out of the transit station. I ended up at the Larkin Street entrance and pleasantly surprised by the Steps Sales. There were at least a dozen tables full of books -- all kinds of books! Cookbooks, new books, used books, nonfiction, reference -- and just as many different kinds of people browsing through them. I walked away with copies of Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones; Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles; and The Pentagon Papers: The Secret History of the Vietnam War by Neil Sheehan, Hendrick Smith, E.W. Kenworthy, and Fox Butterfield. Back in 2010, I had the privilege of watching a screening of The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers which was followed by a Q and A with Daniel Ellsberg, Senator Pete McCloskey, and moderated by Robert Rosenthal at the Marines Memorial Theatre. As someone who was previously unfamiliar with The Pentagon Papers and with only a mediocre understanding of the Vietnam War, the documentary was like a sucker punch. If you haven't seen it, you should pick up a copy. And that's what prompted me to pick up the old, yellowing paperback at the Steps Sale.

As for Tess of the D'Ubervilles, it's a classic on my to-read list and for $1, I just couldn't pass it up. Curiosity got the better of me when I came across The Lovely Bones. I didn't know much about it other than it had been made into a film, but when I started reading it I could hardly put it down. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

Other great places to buy and enjoy books in San Francisco are the many independent booksellers that call the city home. Green Apple Books, Books Inc., Book Passage, City Lights, and The Booksmith are a few of the more well-known stores. I came across Jonathan Franzen's Freedom: A Novel on the "value books" cart outside of another San Francisco indie bookstore: the Alexander Book Co. I was on my way to a luncheon in the area, but since I was early I thought I would stop and explore the bookstore to kill some time before my event. I was attracted to the $5.99 sticker like it was a beacon.

The last three books were purchased on a trip to Barnes and Noble with my mom. We thought we would pick up a gift especially for my cousin as her baby shower was the following day. How often does the mom-to-be get a gift just for her? She likes romance novels, so we settled on a Nicholas Sparks title. As we were looking through the New Fiction section, I found a copy of Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. The other Tators have been raving about it -- two of them cited it as their favorite read from 2012! As I clutched a copy, I came across a bargain table: buy two get one free. That table just so happened to have several books that were also sitting on my to-read list: Max Brooks' World War Z: An Oral Story of the Zombie War and Christopher McDougall's Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. The table was also sporting a copy of a book that I was already carrying in my hand. It was fate! And that's how those three came home with me.

My bookshelf is now officially too small for all of the wonderful books I have purchased, I have read, and I want to read. There are definitely worse problems to face in the world.

Book It: Events for Bibliophiles

Welcome to the second installment of Book It: Events for Bibliophiles. We hope you will enjoy the selection of book-related events we have compiled this week.

If you would like to see your city or event listed in future posts, please contact me via e-mail at: heather[dot]varanini[at]gmail[dot]com.

Without further ado, here are your book events for the week of April 29th through May 5th:

Monday April 29th

Lemony Snicket and John Klassen

Event: The author, Lemony Snicket, and illustrator, John Klassen, will be discussing their new book The Dark.

Learn more about the event by clicking here. 

Time: 3:30pm book purchase/4:30pm event

Location: Burlingame Library

480 Primrose Road

Children's Room

Burlingame, CA

Cost: The event is free, but if you'd like a signed copy of your book it must be purchased through Books, Inc.

Little America -- Co-sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Northern California and the Marines' Memorial Association

Event: Rav Chandrasekeran will be discussing his new book, Little America. Rav has spent over ten years reporting for The Washington Post, covering the war in Afghanistan. 

Learn more about the event by clicking here. 

Time: 6pm - 7pm

Location: Marines' Memorial Club & Hotel

609 Sutter Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free 

Tuesday April 30th

17th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture

Event: Eve Bunting will be the special guest speaker for this event.  Her theme will be: Picture Books That Can't Be Written: Social Issues in Children's Literature. Bunting has penned many children's books such as Green Apple and Fly Away Home.

Click here for more information. 

Time: 6pm - 8pm

Location: SF Public Library - Main

Koret Auditorium

100 Larkin Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Barbara Rose Booker -- The Viagra Diaries

Event: Author and professor at San Francisco State University, Barbara Rose Booker comes to talk about sex and love after sixty.

For more information, please click this link.

Time: 7pm

Location: Book Passage

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Corte Madera, CA

Cost: Free

Wednesday May 1st

RT 30th Annual Book Lover's Convention

Event: If you love all things bookish, you'll love this event. It's a five day event (runs through Sunday, May 5th) that includes speaker panels, author signings, writing competitions, and parties. There is something for everyone -- readers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and writers.

To learn more about the convention please click here. 

Time: 8:45am - 11:55pm

Location: Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center

2345 McGee Street

Kansas City, MO

Cost: Call 800-989-8816 x12 for details

Vali Nasr: The Dispensable Nation

Event: Val Nasr will be sharing insights from his book as well as his time as an advisor to the State Department on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Click here to purchase tickets and learn more about the event. 

Time: 5:30pm check-in/6pm program/7pm signing

Location: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $20 nonmembers/$12 members/$7 students

Thursday May 2nd

Kim Wong Keltner, Author of Tiger Babies Strike Back

Event: Kim Keltner discusses her new book and shares her experience growing up in the Chinese community and the product of a tiger mom.

For more information about the program and an exclusive essay by Kelther, click this link.

Time: 7pm

Location: Green Apple Books

506 Clement Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Search Inside Yourself: Chade-Meng Tan, Google's Jolly Good Fellow: I-House Speaker Series

Event: Tan, author of Search Inside Yourself, will be discussing his book as well as his experience working at Google.

To purchase tickets and learn more about the event click here.

Time: 7:30pm - 9pm

Location: International House at UC Berkeley

Chevron Auditorium

2299 Piedmont Avenue

Berkeley, CA

Cost: $10 public/free for IH residents and UCB students w/ID

Friday May 3rd

33rd Annual Steinbeck Festival

Event: Come and discover all things John Steinbeck during this three day festival that runs from May 3rd through May 5th in Salinas, California. The theme this year is "Home" -- the festival will explore the home of Steinbeck with tours, lectures, films and more.

Click here to purchase tickets and learn more about the event.

Time: All Day

Location: Steinbeck Center

1 Main Street

Salinas, CA

Cost: $10 - $175

Fabio Vivani -- Fabio's Italian Kitchen

Event: Fabio Vivani is most well-known for his time on Top Chef as a contestant during the show's fifth season. He now owns and operates two Italian restaurants in Southern California. This cookbook is his life's story in recipes.

Click here for more information.

Time: 6pm

Location: Book Passage

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free 

Eisner Award-Winner Hope Larson at Books Inc. in Berkeley

Event: Come and see Hope Larson share a slide show of her illustrations and discuss her work.

Click here for more information.

Time: 7pm

Location: Books Inc.

1760 Fourth Street

Berkeley, CA

Cost: Free

Saturday May 4th

The Big Yes Society Presents Maggie Oman Shannon at Books Inc. in Alameda

Event: Author Maggie Shannon comes to share about her new book, Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation. 

To learn more about this event, please click here. 

Time: 7pm

Location: Books Inc. Alameda

1344 Park Street

Alameda, CA

Cost: Free

Sunday May 5th

An Afternoon with Author Alan Fleishman

Event: Author Fleishman will be sharing from his new novel, A Fine September Morning.

Learn more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 3pm

Location: Belmont Library

1110 Alameda de las Pulgas

Belmont, CA

Cost: Free

An Evening with David Sedaris

Event: David Sedaris will be talking about his new book, Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls, and holding a book signing afterward.

To learn more about the event and purchase tickets, please click here. 

Time: 7:30pm

Location: War Memorial Opera House

301 Van Ness Avenue

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $57 - $77

SF Bookmobile

I missed Bookmobile Day, but better late than never!

Buried in my phone's photo album are some pictures from when my family and I went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco for one of their quarterly free days. (Hint: if you want to do that, go either really early or wait til the line dies down in the afternoon.) The SF library's bookmobile was parked outside, and I thought I'd go in and take a look. I was pretty impressed with it, but a little sad that I don't live in the area. The librarian who was staffing the bookmobile said they show up whenever CAS does these free days, so check the CAS website for future dates. Right across the courtyard is the de Young Museum as well; so get your literature, art and science all in the same place.

You can find more information on SF's bookmobiles here.

source: Karena Fagan

Source: Karena Fagan

Source: Karena Fagan

Source: Karena Fagan

Do you have an awesome bookmobile in your area?

CWAtC on the Go: Ep #1 SF Book Tour

Source: Jared Fagan

Introducing CWAtC on the Go, our special podcasts where we go on location to famous bookstores, book events, places of literary importance and the like. The first episode follows Jeane, Jared, and Karena along with their families and even a special guest, our newest Tator, Heather, on a tour of some of San Francisco's best bookstores. We start off at Green Apple Books, then to City Lights Books, followed by Borderlands and to finish a very long day with Books Inc. 

To listen, click here!

Do you have any bookish places you think we should cover? Right now our locations are Northern California, Northwest of Washington State and the Long Island area. Let us know!

Book It: Events for Bibliophiles

Welcome to the first installment of Book It: Events for Bibliophiles. This will be a weekly post dedicated to book-related events such as author talks and book signings in an effort to make the beautiful world of books more accessible.

To get us started, I have only included events happening in San Francisco for the upcoming week. The scope of book event locations will expand as the weeks progress. If you would like to see your city or event listed in future posts, please contact me via e-mail at: heather[dot]varanini[at]gmail[dot]com.

Without further ado, here are your book events for the week of April 22nd through the 28th:

Monday, April 22nd

"Someday" Never Comes: Conquer Life's Challenges with the Spirit of Adventure

Event: Rick Deutsch "Mr. Half Dome" and author of One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome will be speaking about his experiences hiking Half Dome -- he's done it a whopping 35 times! He will also be talking about how hiking one of Yosemite's most famous landmarks is a metaphor for life.

Click this link to purchase tickets and learn more information about the program. 

Time: 4:45pm networking reception; 5:15pm program

Place: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $20 nonmember/$7 students 

GRANTA Presents: The Best of Young British Novelists 4

Event: Nadifa Mohamed and Ross Raisin, two newly announced Best British Novelists will be reading from their works.

Click this link to learn more about the program. 

Time: 6pm hospitality; 7pm readings

Place: The Book Club of California

312 Stutter Street, Suite 500

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

David Kirp at Books Inc. in the Marina

Event: Professor of Public Policy at UC Berkeley and author of Improbable Scholars: The Rebirth of a Great American School System and a Strategy for American Schools comes to discuss how he thinks America can change the face of our educational system in order to better serve students. 

Click this link to learn more about the program.

Time: 7pm 

Place: Books Inc.

2251 Chestnut Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Alan Brennert at Books Inc. in Laurel Village

Event: Alan Brennert shares tales from his latest novel, Palisades Park.

Click here for additional details.

Time: 7pm

Place: Books Inc.

3515 California Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Hendrick Smith -- Who Stole the American Dream?

Event: Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and Emmy award-winning producer, Hendrick Smith, comes to discuss his new novel: Who Stole the American Dream?

Click here for tickets and event details.

Time: 7pm

Place: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

3200 California Street

Fisher Hall

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $15 nonmembers/$12 members/$10 students

Laura Antoniou at Books Inc. in the Castro

Event: Laura Antoniou, National Leather Association award-winning author, discusses her most recent book, The Killer Wore Leather.

Click here for additional details.

Time: 7:30pm

Place: Books Inc.

2275 Market Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Tuesday, April 23rd

World Book Night US: 2013

Event: In an effort to spread the love of reading, books are given (for free) to people who don't regularly read or have access to printed books at a local, participating bookstore.

Learn more about World Book Night by clicking here. 

Location: Click here to find an event near you!

Cost: Free  

Maria Semple -- Where'd You Go, Bernadette

Event: Author Maria Semple discusses her second novel, Where'd You Go Bernadette.

Click here to learn more about the event.

Time: 6:00pm

Place: Book Passage

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Gillian Flynn: Gone Girl

Event: Author Gillian Flynn talks about her latest book Gone Girl.

Click this link to purchase tickets and learn more about the event. 

Time: 7pm

Place: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco

3200 California Street

Kanbar Hall

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $25 nonmembers/$20 members/$15 students

Joyce Carol Oates

Event: Joyce Carol Oates reads from her novel The Accursed.

To learn more about the event click here. 

Time: 7pm

Place: City Lights Bookstore

261 Columbus Avenue at Broadway

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Parents Group SPEAK Presents Po Bronson

Event: Po Bronson is author of Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing

Learn more about this event by clicking here.

Time: 7pm

Place: Chinese American School

151 Oak Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Weighing the Economic Equation: Regulation vs. Growth

Event: Adat Admanti visits the World Affairs Council to discuss lessons learned from the 2007 financial crisis and share insights from her new book, The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong With Banking and What to Do About It.

Purchase tickets and learn more about the program by clicking here. 

Time: 7pm - 8pm

Location: World Affairs Council of Northern California

312 Sutter Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $15 nonmembers/$5 students 

Wednesday, April 24th

NY Times Reporter Mark Mazzetti: Inside the CIA and America's Covert Operations

Event: Mazzetti, author of The Way of the Knife, will be discussing America's covert operations in relation to the dark side of our country's foreign policy.

To buy tickets and learn more about this event, click here. 

Time: 5:30pm check in/6pm program

Place: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $20 nonmembers/$12 members/$7 students

Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead 

Event: Shannon O'Neil, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses her new book, Two Nations Indivisible and the future of US-Mexico relations.

Click here to purchase tickets and learn more about the event. 

Time: 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Place: World Affairs Council of Northern California

312 Sutter Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $15 nonmembers/$5 students

Mary Williams -- The Lost Daughter: A Memoir

Event: Mary Williams is a daughter of the Black Panther movement and tells her life story in her latest book. It details her time growing up amongst poverty and violence as well as the time she was adopted by Jane Fonda. It's also a story of Williams finding her way back home.

Click here to learn more about the author, her book, and the event.

Time: 6pm 

Place: Book Passage 

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA 

Cost: Free

Tosh Berman on his love affair with SPARKS

Event: Author Tosh Berman shares tales from his new book Sparks-Tastic: 21 Albums in 21 Nights in London with Sparks. 

Click here for more information.

Time: 7pm

Place: City Lights Bookstore

261 Columbus Avenue at Broadway

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Moses Gates, Author of Hidden Cities

Event: Author Moses Gates is also an urban planner. He will be sharing stories and signing copies of his new book, Hidden Cities: Travels to the Secret Corners of the World's Greatest Metropolises.

To learn more about the event, please click here.

Time: 7pm

Place: Green Apple Books

506 Clement Street

Granny Smith Room

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Thursday, April 25th

Peggy Riley -- Amity & Sorrow

Event: Author Peggy Riley comes to discuss her debut novel, Amity & Sorrow. Described as "fierce and disturbing" by Publisher's Weekly, Riley's novel has been garnering attention.

Click here for more information.

Time: 6pm 

Place: Book Passage 

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

David Talbot, Author of Season of the Witch

Event: To celebrate the paperback release of Season of the Witch, author David Talbot will be sharing from his book over cocktails at San Francisco's historic Elk Lodge.

Learn more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 7pm - 8:30pm

Location: San Francisco Elks Lodge #3

450 Post Street, 3rd Floor

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Regreturature 2013 

Event: Authors read works they regret -- when good writers write not-so-good stuff. Join the San Francisco Writers' Grotto to hear their stories.

Purchase tickets and find additional details about the event by clicking here. 

Time: 8pm

Place: Swedish American Hall (15th/Sanchez)

2174 Market Street

San Francisco, CA

Cost: $12 advance/$15 at the door

Friday, April 26th

What We Need to Build A Better Future, Orion Magazine and Thirty Writers

Event: Orion Magazine asked thirty of America's best writers to discuss what the country needs to do in order to create a better future. And Thirty-Year Plan: Thirty Writers On What We Need to Build A Better Future was born. Editor-in-Chief H. Emerson Blake of Orion Magazine will be present, along with authors Craig Childs of Apocalyptic Planet and Riane Eisler of The Blade, The Chalice, and the Real Worth of Nations, as well as Professor Rubén Martínez of Loyola Marymount University where he teaches Literature and Writing, he is also the author of Desert America.

Purchase tickets and learn more about the event by clicking here.

Time: 11:30am check in/noon program/1pm book signing

Place: Commonwealth Club of California

595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

San Francisco, CA

$20 nonmembers/$7 students 

Mary Roach -- Gulp

Event: America's funniest science writer, Mary Roach, takes us on a trip from tip to tail on what happens when we eat in her new book, Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal.

Click here to learn more about the event. 

Time: 6pm 

Place: Book Passage 

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Saturday, April 27th

Charles Dubow -- Indiscretion

Event: Come and hear stories from author Charles Dubow, founding editor at Forbes.com and former editor at Businessweek.com, discuss his most recent novel Indiscretion.

To learn more about this event click here.

Time: 6pm 

Place: Book Passage 

1 Ferry Building

San Francisco, CA

Cost: Free

Sunday, April 28th

No events listed.

Books, Inc.

After our meet and greet with Heather at the library, she took us to Books, Inc, the oldest booksellers in the West. We didn't get to take our group photo, but here are some other great shots.

Source: Jared Fagan

This was the Van Ness location in Opera Plaza. 

Source: Jared Fagan

 A few of the selections we'll probably read in our group! See any favorites?

Source: Jared Fagan

I should have grabbed this book, Secret Lives of Great Authors. It had some fun facts about some of our favorite writers!

Borderlands

Our third stop was to Borderlands, a San Francisco staple if you're looking for Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror!

Source: Jared Fagan

I battled Jeane for Solaris. Really, I beat her to it and handed it over. Remember, short but fiesty!

Source: Jared Fagan

Fun place to go to hang out with coffee and the latest George R.R. Martin.

Source: Jared Fagan

A very streamlined look.

City Lights Bookseller

We made our way to City Lights which is one of the most prolific bookstores in the city as it had a hand in the city's Beat Movement. We loved it!

Source: Jared Fagan

Down in the basement!

Source: Jared Fagan

The iconic front windows!

Source: Jared Fagan

The main floor.

Source: Jared Fagan 

Up to the Poetry Room where they keep the Ginsbergs, Burroughs and Kerouacs among others.