When I travel I usually like to go into random stores and peruse through strange things I really don’t need. My top priority though is always to check out the local bookstores and see what goodies I can walk away with and I’m sure to check out the staff picks. Somehow I believe that if I am able to connect with the bookstore perhaps, just perhaps, I’ll be able to live there. No bookstore equals me not being able to live there, ever. Unfortunately, though, lots of independent, and now even the chain bookstores, are having to close their doors, and with that part of the heart of the community is lost.
This reminds me of a time when I went to see Sherman Alexie speak at the San Francisco War Memorial (which seemed more like a stand up comedy show). He asked, no, he begged us to stop buying books online and to support our local bookstores. That is why, until recently, he had not allowed his books to sell as ebooks. Going into the topic of whether you like ebooks or an actual paper book is another topic by itself and really comes down to preference. But I do agree with Sherman Alexie, and since that day I have made an effort to always buy my books at the bookstores I love. Even when the price and comfort of getting books dropped off at my door seems tempting, I still buy them at bookstores.
Now, one of the older bookstores that has been around since 1971 in San Francisco is struggling to stay open. Modern Times Bookstore would be a loss, not just for the community but to all San Francisco’s residents and the tourists that visit us every year, because Modern Times Bookstore is unique in what they sell. They are known to sell books published by small presses, books on politics, feminist books, they even have a sexuality and gender section, and a lot of writings on or by Latinos. I believe they are the only bookstore in San Francisco that holds a monthly book club on books written exclusively in Spanish. Well, more to come in a future post on this little bookstore with a big heart.
So, if you are traveling to San Francisco, let me leave you with a list of bookstores that you can checkout.
1.) Modern Times Bookstore Collective
2919 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
2.) Green Apple Books
506 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
3.) Alley Cat Books
3036 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
4.) City Lights Booksellers and Publishers
261 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
5.) Dog Eared Books
900 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110