fyi: miscellaneous bookstores

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I wonder how many tourists come to SF just to buy books. - Perdita

FROM SEX TO SPIRITUALITY, S.F. HAS THE BOOKSTORE - Bonnie Wach, SF Chronicle, Nov. 14, 2004
While most San Franciscans may not be represented in Washington, we can take solace in the fact that there's a bookstore in town to cater to each and every one of our special interests. A quick rundown:

A. Cavalli & Co. Purportedly the oldest bookstore in San Francisco (circa 1880), Cavalli features all manner of Italian-language books -- novels, cookbooks, classics -- as well as more than 100 Italian daily newspapers and magazines. 1441 Stockton St., (415) 421-4219, www.cavallibooks.citysearch.com.

A Different Light Founded more than 20 years ago, this small and fiercely independent bookstore is one of the few in the country devoted to gay and lesbian literature, and one of the oldest. 489 Castro St. (415) 431-0891, www.adifferentlightbookstore.com.

Borderlands Books Specializing in science fiction, fantasy and horror, this is the place to send your "Lord of the Rings"-obsessed types. The staff knows all -- even what is carved on the walls in Moria. 866 Valencia St., (415) 824-8203 or (888) 893-4008, www.borderlands-books.com.

Bound Together Book Collective Dissent is alive and well and living at this all-volunteer bookstore, which has sold books for budding anarchists since 1976. There are categories for conspiracy, drugs and the like, and the collective also serves as the mailing address for the Prisoners' Literature Project. 1369 Haight St., (415) 431-8355, www.boundtogether.org.

City Lights The Beat goes on at Lawrence Ferlinghetti's bookshop and publishing house, which still offers one of the West Coast's largest selections of poetry, vintage and modern, as well as a formidable fiction department and a well-stocked San Francisco section. 261 Columbus Ave., (415) 362-8193, www.citylights.com.

Fields Book Store Devoted to "soulful and scholarly books from the world's spiritual traditions," Fields' esoteric inventory ranges from tomes on crop circles and tarot kits, to the gospel of Mary Magdalene and the I Ching. 1419 Polk St., (415) 673-2027, www.fieldsbooks.com.

Globus Slavic Bookstore Out in the Richmond in the heart of Little Russia, this little bookshop features volumes on Russian history, culture and art, English translations of Russian classics and Russian language books. 332 Balboa St., (415) 668-4723, pweb.jps.net/~globus.

Kayo Books A shop for vintage paperbacks from the '40s to the '70s "and esoteric books of all persuasions ... dime-store novels, sleazy 1960s exploitation and 1970s pop culture." Store sections include hard-boiled mysteries, counterculture, juvenile delinquency, nurses and bizarre nonfiction. John Waters, who knows a thing or two about sleaze, has testified to the magic of this store. 814 Post St., (415) 749-0554, www.kayobooks.com.

Kinokuniya Bookstore This bookstore specializing in Japanese-language publications and English-language books about Japan and Asia is a must-stop for pop culture and anime hounds, as well as collectors of Japanese comics. Japantown Center, 1581 Webster St., (415) 567-7625, www.kinokuniya.com.

Limelight Film & Theatre Books A one-stop shop for aspiring filmmakers and screenwriters, with volumes on film technique, production and Method acting, the latest tell-all biographies, and a large selection of bound and unbound screenplays. 1803 Market St., (415) 864-2265, www.limelightbooks. com.

Marcus Bookstore One of the last remaining links to the Fillmore's roots as an African American community, Marcus specializes in "books by and about black people everywhere." 1712 Fillmore St., (415) 346-4222; also 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland, (510) 652-2344.

Maritime Store A dock where landlubbers can get their fix of ship tales, maritime history and other books about life on the high seas. 2905 Hyde Street Pier, (415) 775-2665, www.maritime.org/maristore. htm.

San Francisco Mystery Bookstore Celebrating 30 years of whodunits. 4175 24th St., (415) 282-7444, www.sfmysterybooks.com.

Socialist Action Bookstore The place to go for an undiluted dose of Marx, Malcolm X, Che Guevara and their ilk. Catch up on the latest plot to overthrow the government or oppress workers, or read up on capitalism or the history of labor strikes. 298 Valencia St., (415) 255-1081, www.socialistaction.org..

William Stout Architectural Books From neoclassic to postmodern, this store carries just about every volume on architecture you'd ever want to shake a slide rule at, as well as a large selection of books on art, graphics and design. 804 Montgomery St., (415) 391-6757, www.stoutbooks.com..

Antiquarian books The Bay Area is also home to dozens of rare and antiquarian bookstores. Coming up: the 38th California International Antiquarian Book Fair, Feb. 18-20 at the Concourse Exhibition Center. The Web site includes a directory of local exhibitors. 635 Eighth St., (415) 551-5190, www.sfbookfair.com.
 
An outstanding post Perdita!

Best of all, each of the bookstores (with the exception of Marcus) has a web site. Thus even those on the East coast can still shop the bookstores referenced.
 
I would love to take a trip to SF, for the bookstores alone. I have heard so much about them, and the rare finds that can be made. I am lucky enough to have someone there who sends me books from time to time, if he comes across some gems he knows I haven't read yet. :)

Lou :rose:
 
Bookseller's recommendation

If you haven't tried this site for that elusive out-of-print book you are missing one of the best:

www.abebooks.com

or

www.abebooks.co.uk

There are 12,500 booksellers listing 60 million books on those sites.

Og (retiring as secondhand and antiquarian bookseller in December)
 
My God, Og, if you retire, where will you write? I hope you stay with us; I would miss you.
 
cantdog said:
My God, Og, if you retire, where will you write? I hope you stay with us; I would miss you.

From where I'm writing now - my study at home.

Don't worry. This is my third retirement in this incarnation. I'm getting used to them.

I still have to retire as V-P of the Chamber of Commerce. After that I will only have about six titles left - Secretary of this, Chairman of the other, Co-ordinator of..., Facilitator of..., Treasurer of..., Spokesman for..., and appearing as HenryVIII. Oops that's 7 and I haven't listed them all.

Writer of lengthy stories for Literotica is a hobby, not a career.

Og
 
Thank goodness. Good deal, then. Books are, in the end, very heavy things to move around, and the opportunity to rest will be blissful.
 
I visited SF a few years ago, boggles my mind that I missed the book stores, but I was only there for a weekend and just had to see Alcatraz and take a boat out to the golden gate. Will have to plan a longer visit next time. thanks Dita :)
 
Yorkshire

Every small town in Yorkshire seems to have a secondhand bookshop.

In September my wife kept dragging me past them saying, through gritted teeth, "You're retiring. You don't need any more books."

I didn't buy one. She bought six.

Og
 
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