While I didn't actually make it to the San Francisco independent bookstore walking tour on Saturday led by folks from the blog Conversational Reading, SF's Center for the Art of Translation, and online magazine The Quarterly Conversation, I wanted to make sure to call out the bookstores on their agenda here on my blog, especially because they visited many shops that I love. This would make a lovely self-guided stroll any day in the city:
- Get Lost Books (1825 Market) - Pure travel crack, whether practical or inspirational.
- The Green Arcade (1680 Market) - Newish store specializing in titles about the environment, sustainability, slow food, etc.
- Symposium (325 Hayes) - Classics classics classics yay.
- Books Inc. (2275 Market) - Though they have locations all over the city, the Castro outpost is a fantastic one-stop shop for art-book remainders, magazines, and smut. And hurry over to the Opera Plaza storefront at noon tomorrow for an appearance by Dave Eggers as he reads from his new book Zeitoun, a real-life story from Hurricane Katrina.
- The Booksmith (1644 Haight) - Last but definitely not least, the Booksmith has hosted more amazing readings over the years than I can even capture here. I've heard Chris Ware, David Sedaris, Francesca Lia Block, Harvey Pekar, William T. Vollmann, John Wesley Harding, Dan Savage, Greil Marcus...the list goes on and on.