Library Habit, a Monday Musing

Library Habits meme:
1. If you don’t frequent your local library, why not?
At the moment, I haven’t been checking books out because my branch has been closed for renovation for over a year. The Main Library is not on the way to work or anywhere. The popular new fiction titles have long queue and I usually [...]

Could This Be It? Book Group

As well-read as San Francisco claims to be (it’s the, let’s have a roll of drum, third most bookish city in the United States after Washington DC and New York City in terms of book sales; Seattle has the most bookstores per capita), book groups are hard to come by, at least for me. I’ve [...]

On Bookstores, a Monday Musing

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book stores…
How do you choose what do buy from your local bookstore? Do you have a list, or just browse? What is the selection in your book store like? Do you find what you’re looking for? Do you feel pressured to buy the kind of books the store [...]

Local Bookstore Defies Gravity

With the talks of the decadence of independent bookstores, it’s hard to think of a less promising investment than opening an indie bookstore. Despite the grim outlook of bookstores in the age of booming internet sales and big-chain dominance, indie bookstores are still thriving in San Francisco. I just came back from Booksmith on Haight [...]

Demise of Indie, a Matt’s Musing

Like many retailers, I have been dreading a domino effect of store closures after New Year. I can smell it, and I can see it coming. The very first that loses its battle against economic downturn is Stacey’s Bookstore, which has called Market Street in the financial district home for all of its 85 years [...]

Booking Through Election

Some interesting reflections on Election 2008:
1. I have received through the mail 542 flyers. Talk about killing trees.
2. My precinct number is 3333. The poll is in the fire house. The ballot machine jammed three times when I inserted my ballots.
3. I’m an independent voter.
4. Election literature arriving in their mailbox gets a one-way ticket [...]

Incarnation of Erasmus: On Buying Books

I am not a regular participant pf Musing Mondays but I have been musing about the question of how the stagnant economy and financial meltdown have impacted my book buying. Declining (or nose-diving) house prices, rising job layoffs, skyrocketing oil costs and a major credit crunch have brought consumer confidence to its lowest point in [...]

The Sunday Salon: SF Main Library

I had a very laid-back, relaxing Labor Day long weekend, which signifies the end of summer but in San Francisco, September is the beginning of Indian summer. I’m looking forward to enjoying a stretch of blue sky and mild temperature—perfect for sitting outside and reading under a tree. On Saturday, I spent the day finishing [...]

Favorite Bookstores

Today’s question: Favorite bookstores. What’s your favorite bookstore? Is it an online store or a bricks-and-mortar store? How often do you go book shopping? Is your favorite bookstore (or bookstores) listed as a favorite in LT? Do you attend events at local bookstores? Do you use LT to find events?
Graced with so many independent, neighborhood [...]

Frameline32 | SF GLBT Film Festival: Were The World Mine

The eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man’s hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report, what my dream was. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 4, Scene 1
If you had a love-potion, who would you make fall madly in love with [...]