BAY AREA BOOK WORLD BREAKING NEWS
For some students, the shocking price of textbooks forces = difficult choices, like, “Okay. I can either buy a math textbook, or a few week’s worth of food. Hmmm.” For community college students, it’s more like, “I can either buy college textbooks or pay my tuition. Hmmmmmmm.” Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg has launched a plantomaketextbooksmoreaffordable – or, free. For you, anyway. It could actually cost $25 million from the California general fund. The concept is called the California Digital Open Source Library, and the core lower division textbooks would be offered online. Steinberg says it’s a no-brainer because of its financial benefit for students. (Perhaps those who want to stop rising tuition prices should dream of a no-brained world).
Friday, December 16
Literary magazine release party // It's time for the winter release ofFourteenHills18.1, San Francisco State University's International Literary Journal. This means it's also time for dancing. And, according to the Fourteen Hills Facebook description: "ugly sweaters.” You can come for the great, genre-bending literature, or you can come for a rare, solo performance by PocketShelley. Or just come for the raffle prizes. (By the way, you probably shouldn't just come for the raffle prizes, even though they're giving away $50 gift cards to Park Chow, Whole Foods, Amazon, Cafeway, Cafe MetrOpol, one-month membership cards to Funky Door Yoga, and more.) // DETAILS: Friday, December 16, 7pm. Space Gallery. 1141 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA
Saturday, December 17
GIFT DRIVE // Santa Claus is waiting for you. No, not your kids. You! He’ll be waiting at GreenAppleBooks. If you give him gifts (which he will not keep but redeliver to the SanFranciscoFireDepartment’sToysforTots program), he will tell you dirty jokes while you sit on his lap. (If you want. It’s not mandatory. That would be inappropriate). This is all happening at Green Apple Books. As the folks at Green Apple say, “Thanks to our customers' great (and filthy) sense of humor, we didn't have a single complaint last year, so we invited him back again.” // DETAILS: Saturday, December 17, 2 - 4pm. Green Apple Books. 506 Clement Street, San Francisco
Sunday, December 18
Singer/songwriter show // Come back to Green Apple for an event that, unlike Santa Claus, is actually for the kids. Songwriter essence will be performing from her latest album, ADogNamedMooandHisFriendRoo. Her songs are informative, inspiring, and especially vital in these difficult times where we so easily forget to do important things, like dress, and where people just aren’t eating as much pizza as they should. Titles from her album include: Gotta Wear Clothes and Let's Make a Pizza and Everybody Has a Butt. // DETAILS: Sunday, December 18, 10am. Green Apple Books.
506 Clement Street, San Francisco
Monday, December 19
Author reading // When you tell your kids you’re going to go to the playground, you don’t necessarily mean Yosemite. You also will probably not bury your kids underneath an avalanche, or blow wild winds at them so that they are sent out of control while paragliding. But for Matt Johanson, these tales of YosEmite are tales of adventure from what he considers America’s greatest playground. In YosemiteEpics:TalesofAdventurefromAmerica’sGreatestPlayground, he talks about harrowing experiences and close calls from well-known outdoor people (see list of famous indoor people at another time) including Royal Robbins, John Bachur, AND Hans Florine. // DETAILS: Monday, December 19, 12:30pm. Albany Library. 1247 Marin Ave, Albany
Thursday, December 22
Poetry series // San Francisco Public Library is like the cool kid with all the fancy gadgets: cafes, bookstores, and a poetry reading series. The ReadersCafe&Bookstore2011PoetrySeries is coming to, well, you know, the Readers Cafe and Bookstore at Fort Mason on Thursday. Come and support the library while inwardly and devilishly benefiting yourself by getting to listen to some cool poetry. // DETAILS: Thursday, December 22, 6:30. Readers Cafe. Building C, South End, 38 Fort Mason, San Francisco