Book Nut

By Byron Spooner Book Nut is a series of reminisces gleaned from thirty years of selling books.  This is the first in the series. Jonathan calls and tells me he’s got a lead on some books.  This is more than twenty years ago. “They’re in a house in Ross.” “Lots of rich people in Ross,” [...]

Spring has Sprung!

By Michelle Jeffers Could it be any clearer that spring has arrived in the Bay Area? San Francisco is practically bursting with blooms.  A stroll through Golden Gate Park from the waterfall at Prayerswood Cross to the Rose Garden is particularly inspiring, with bright orange poppies, creamy white calla lilies and the first peek of [...]

Daily Treat

Huh.  I thought “Gas in the Kitchen” usually means Beano in the medicine cabinet.  This gem comes from an ad on the back of a 1920′s English cookbook. Daily Treats are sweet finds from our Treat Avenue Donation Center. Hungry for more collectibles?  Find us at Amazon and AbeBooks.

The Writer's Life: Victoria Zackheim

By Mary Ellen Hannibal Reading a book is most often an interaction with a single sensibility; a wonderful exception, of course, is the anthology.  Victoria Zackheim is one of our best anthologizers, because she asks interesting questions of interesting people.  To read her books is to know that the human heart is various and experience [...]

Thoughts on Saving the Book Business

By Marcia Schneider Change is upon us in the world of publishing, with print competing with electronic books and e-reading devices slugging it out with one another. One cannot open a newspaper or magazine without reading about the implications of Apple’s new i-Pad and its potential effects on people’s reading habits, not to mention providing [...]

Further Thoughts on Murder City

By Oscar Villalon In my mixed review of Charles Bowden’s book on the wholesale killing in Juarez, I thought, despite its faults, Murder City was at least trying to make Americans wake up to the enormity of the drug war in Mexico. It’s incredible that so much destruction has been wrought so close to home, [...]

Monday Afternoon Shape-up

By Katie Sue Ambellan Feeling a little sluggish at the tail end of your Monday workday?  Try the Betty Glover Library Workout to get your blood pumping! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k8BKX2eQ0Q&feature=player_embedded]

One City, Many Books indeed

By Katie Sue Ambellan I know we have been gushing a lot over here at The Readers Review over the 14th Annual Library Laureates Dinner on April 16th. I’d like to say sorry for gloating about the amazing time we had, drinking fine wine and craft beers among the literary lore of the Main Library, [...]

Book Jazz

By Byron Spooner The first time I met David Meltzer, I asked him to sign a couple of books for me that he had edited.  He seemed genial enough.  I shoved my copies of Reading Jazz and Writing Jazz (both Mercury House; 1993 & 1999 respectively) under his nose and said, “These are some of [...]

Earth Day

By Katie Sue Ambellan Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day—a day that highlights the plight and triumphs of our incredible planet.  Founded by Wisconsin U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1970, Earth Day is now acknowledged and celebrated as an awareness day for the environment internationally.  Pretty incredible that one man with a passion [...]