Staff Picks: SF Literary Scene | Mechanics' Institute

You are here

Staff Picks: SF Literary Scene

One of the greatest things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is its literary scene.  There are a number of independent bookstores, used bookstores, public libraries and, of course, the best membership library around, the Mechanics’ Institute.  Also, many wordsmiths call San Francisco and its expanse home.  As a way to honor and thank those authors who do live in the Bay Area, the current Staff Picks display will feature their works. A short list of selected authors can be found on top of the display bookcase. For more titles and authors please see one of our friendly and knowledgeable librarians.

Titles suggested by staff members  include:

Heather’s pick,

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
This genre-bending tale will make you laugh, will make you marvel, and will make you think. It starts off as a fantasy novel with young protagonists (think, Lev Grossman's Magicians series without the excessive exposition), but it then shifts sharply -- here's the bending of genre I mentioned -- into the characters' future, in which a billionaire is plotting to send 10% of Earth's inhabitants to space...

...but I don't want to give away too much of the plot! Trust me, this book is not your run of the mill [insert-genre-here] story -- it's wry, it's complex and original, with great dialogue and a charming cast of characters. One reviewer compared the book to something William Gibson might write, but I enjoyed this more than anything I've read by Gibson. Check it out, and you may come away with another favorite author. Charlie Jane Anders is definitely a mainstay on my must-read list!

Taryn’s picks,

As Above, So Below: A Novel of Peter Bruegel by Rudy Rucker
Rudy Rucker is a writer/mathematician who is a computer scientist and master of science-fiction who received the Philip K. Dick Award twice. What's he doing writing an historical novel? You'll just have to find out!

Mary : a novel by Janis Cooke Newman
A juicy portrait of Mary Todd Lincoln - a woman hungry for love, shopping, and a little understanding. Very much "fictionalized" but still fun!

Richard Brautigan's Trout fishing in America, The pill versus the Springhill mine disaster, and In watermelon sugar
Mind blowing - try it!

Erik picks two works by Gene Luen Yang. A graphic novelist from Oakland: Boxers and Saints.

Kristin’s pick, Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond. A foggy beach, a lost child, life changing in an instant, all are major factors in this enthralling story from Michelle Richmond.

Sou’s pick is Epitaph for a Peach by David Mas Masumoto. She loved every page of this book!

Posted on May. 23, 2016 by Kristin McCarthy