Happy effort to cover plenty of book events
It felt like “Mission: Impossible”: On a recent evening, three friends were launching their books, at three different bookstores in San Francisco. But how could I be in three places at once?
Every book is a miracle. So many false starts, so many rejections, doubts and frustrations often come along the way. Book launches — the culmination of those trials and tribulations — are joyous occasions, hosted by Bay Area booksellers who do much to encourage emerging and established writers.
It’s my habit and my nature to schedule multiple events, in an afternoon or evening, back when I was single and now with my husband and twin sons. I’m endlessly tempted by the opportunities for adventure and exploration, but usually one after the other, not all at once. If only I’d had Hermione’s Time-Turner from the Harry Potter series that would allow me to go back in time and attend each reading.
Maybe, I thought, I could stay for about 20 minutes in each place, but what was the best way to get from City Lights in North Beach, then across town to Booksmith’s the Bindery in the Haight, and onward to Green Apple Books in the Inner Sunset?
Chronicle colleagues Heather Knight and Peter Hartlaub will soon attempt to take every Muni line in a single day, but that night, the windows of time were too tight to depend on public transportation. I weighed other options: There were too many hills to rent an electric scooter, and ride-hailing would get expensive.
I’d drive. Ever since we left San Francisco for suburbia, I was determined to retain my city driving skills — that is, ability to park parallel on a steep slope and find my way around by memory. Parking, I knew, would be the wild card, and could sink my plan. How quickly you find parking can set the tone for the entire evening. Park easily, and the world’s your oyster, and the food, drink and conversation that follow are never better. But if you have to circle for a half hour, you become filled with increasing rage and desperation, cursing driveways and bus stops for raising your hopes of a spot.
I joined the crowd at the treasured bookshop that brought us the Beats, where Maw Shein Win — El Cerrito’s poet laureate — read from her stunning debut collection, “Invisible Gifts.” Making room for the attendees still streaming in, I headed to Yang Huang’s reading, scheduled to begin a half-hour later. I arrived just in time at the cozy lounge and bar to hear her teenage sons play a Chinese folk song on their saxophones and listen to her talk about her short story collection, “My Old Faithful.”
As the Q&A began, I slipped out and made my way to Rachel Levin’s launch for “Look Big,” where a lineup of hilarious storytellers detailed their animal encounters.
The parking gods shone down on me again and again, such a rarity in San Francisco it felt like I should buy a lottery ticket the next day. It was worth the effort to support these authors and these bookstores, which reflect and sustain the communities where they are based.
Saturday, April 28, is Independent Bookstore Day, a chance to support these vibrant and vital community centers; many will be holding special activities and giveaways. Even in the age of e-books, after a decade of decline, bookstores have rebounded. Last year, there were 1,757 independent bookselling companies running more than 2,300 stores in the U.S. We’re fortunate to have so many in the Bay Area — what are your favorites?
I’m grateful, as a reader, for the passionately curated picks I discover when I browse the displays. I’m grateful, as an author, to the bookstores where I’ve read, and will on tour for my debut novel this summer, and that have carried work by authors I love and admire. I’m grateful, as a mother, for the many story times I’ve visited with my sons, and the happy hours spent reading in the chairs and aisles. I’m grateful, as a resident, for the ways bookstores convene us, create jobs and circulate money locally.
This weekend, I’ll be shopping at my local bookstore and will also attend the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley. Go to http://indiemap.bookweb.org for a listing of all participating bookstores. Try, if you can, too. Let’s do our part to keep the literary scene here vibrant and strong.
“Consumers control the marketplace by deciding where to spend their money,” says Ann Patchett, novelist and owner of Parnassus Books in Nashville. “If what a bookstore offers matters to you, then shop at a bookstore.”
I’m grateful for the passionately curated picks I discover when I browse independent bookstore displays.