{"id":1676,"date":"2010-09-07T16:23:53","date_gmt":"2010-09-07T20:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lettersandsodas.com\/books\/?p=1676"},"modified":"2010-09-07T16:23:53","modified_gmt":"2010-09-07T20:23:53","slug":"san-francisco-bookstores-and-other-highlights-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lettersandsodas.com\/books\/san-francisco-bookstores-and-other-highlights-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"San Francisco Bookstores and Other Highlights: Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

In my last post, I talked about Book Bay Fort Mason and what I bought there. Here are the rest of the bookstores I found noteworthy on my San Francisco trip. But first, a photo. I didn’t take any bookish pictures, but here’s one from my favorite long walk (Day 2, see the end of this post for more on my walks through the city):
\n


\n\"Baker<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

Now, onto the bookish stuff:<\/p>\n

Needles & Pens<\/a> is “an emporium of zines, d.i.y. goods, and an art gallery,” to quote their description of themselves from their website, and I went there because I like zines and I was walking around in the Mission anyhow. Unfortunately, the kind of zines I like did not seem to have much overlap with the kind of zines they stock, which is not really a negative comment about them: I’m really picky. I like zines that are text-heavy and personal rather than political; I like poetry zines if they’re good poetry (Katie Haegele’s<\/a> poetry zines come to mind); I don’t like punk zines; I don’t like comics; above all, the writing has to be good, and by “good” I mean “readable, but ideally also graceful” and “smart.” Speaking of which: do any of you read zines, and do you have any recommendations? None of the zines I picked up at Needles & Pens excited me, but I am still glad I went there: I did like their cards and postcards, and bought one of Anandi Worden’s Future History of San Francisco<\/a> postcards and one of Riley Noehren’s turret<\/a> greeting cards (the green one). <\/p>\n

I stopped into Forest Books<\/a> after having walked 11.5 miles, so I wasn’t really in the best browsing mood, but it seems like a good used book store. I was tempted by a first edition of Written on the Body<\/em> by Jeanette Winterson and impressed by their poetry section. I also stopped into Dog Eared Books<\/a> (new\/used) in a bit of pre-dinner bleariness, and don’t remember too much of what I looked at there, though I remember it being a big and well-stocked shop. <\/p>\n

The Green Arcade<\/a> is another shop I went into after a long walk (are we sensing a pattern here?) but it was so good that I ignored my weariness and browsed for a while. They sell new books, with a focus on the environment\/sustainability\/urban planning; I like books about cities\/places\/spaces that are aimed at a general audience, and there was lots to see here. <\/p>\n

I also visited Get Lost Books<\/a>, a travel bookstore that is on the small side but seems to have a decent selection of travel writing + guidebooks. Another store I really liked was Modern Times<\/a>, where I spotted Wendy-o Matik’s<\/a> book on the shelves and realized I’ve been meaning to read it ever since, um, my summer internship in 2003, almost bought Donald Tetto’s small book\/zine of poems, Shine in 09<\/a>, which looked really satisfying. But I didn’t buy it, for some unaccountable reason—so I’m extra-pleased to see that I can read it on his website, yay! <\/p>\n

One day I was in the Inner Richmond and browsed the outside bins at Green Apple Books<\/a>, which I’ve heard described as the Strand of San Francisco, and I would believe it. Later that day, I walked past Thidwick Books<\/a>, but it was already closed for the day, which is too bad, because they supposedly have a great selection of kids’ books. And the last bookshop I visited was Book Passage<\/a>, in the Ferry Building, where I found TWO Diana Wynne Jones used paperbacks on an outside shelf (but didn’t buy them: I think both were second books in different series), and which seems to have lots of exciting author events. They have a good selection and a cozy kids’ books area, but I was feeling overburdened by my backpack + carry-on (I stopped here before taking the train to the airport), so I didn’t buy anything. <\/p>\n

I kept track of where I was walking, so I could see how far I went: this is what I mean when I said that traveling alone = walking as much as I want to: <\/p>\n