People Reading

What I'm reading

What I'm reading

From January 2014 to most recent: lots of New Yorker fiction that I caught up on – I especially loved The Christmas Miracle, by Rebecca Curtis; Life of Pi, by Yann Martel; The Help, by Kathryn Stockett; The Heart of a Dog, by Mikhail Bulgakov; Haruki Murakami's 1Q84; Bel Canto and The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett; the choreographer Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit (intermittently); The Remains of the Day and The Unconsoled, by Kazuo Ishiguro; State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett; The Mystic Masseur, by the British/Trinidadian author, V.S. Naipaul; Never Let Me Go, by Kazuo Ishiguro; Sula, by Toni Morrison; two Swedish crime novels I read (in English) while in Sweden: Nephilim, by Åsa Schwarz & Killer's Art, by Mari Jungstedt; The Orphan Master's Son, by Adam Johnson; Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell, which my sister and friend, Colleen, recommended; Run, by Ann Patchett; When We Were Orphans, by Kazuo Ishiguro; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to World History, by Timothy C. Hall; The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell (only half because the ebook I was reading expired- but it was a re-read); The Circle, by Dave Eggers; Our Hotel In Bali: How two young Americans made a dream come true by opening one of the first Balinese tourist hotels on Kuta Beach in the 1930s, by Louise Koke (which I got from the Cannes free library on the beach, Pages à la plage); Jaffrey's World Vegetarian, by Madhur Jaffrey (from cover to cover - I was craving a kitchen, while traveling); Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, by Haruki Murakami; The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt; The Corsican Caper, by Peter Mayle (on audio book); Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (on audio book); The Secret History, by Donna Tartt. (Starting a new year, 2015) Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella; Shaking out the Dead, by K.M. Cholewa; The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery; English teaching text books and New Yorker fiction; Divergent and Insurgent, by Veronica Roth; The Wolf Gift, by Anne Rice; and My Struggle, by Karl Ove Knausgård. --- I've been lazy for a long time about posting the books I've read lately. I'm not going to go back in time, but today (Feb 5, 2017) I just finished listening to Commonwealth, by Ann Patchett. Right before that I was on a Kim Stanley Robinson audio book kick and listened to Aurora and Shaman.

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March 30, 2020, Monday morning -- Reading Ta-Nehisi Coates

I won't be interviewing readers while we are socially distancing.

I have taken a lot of pleasure in books during this time. Right now I am listening to the audio book The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It's a surrealist book set in the United States before the Civil War. It's a completely different world than the world we live in right now.

I listen while I walk around my neighborhood and cross and re-cross the street to maintain distance between walkers, joggers, cyclists, and homeless encampments. I feel fortunate to have shelter while we shelter in place, and plenty of soap and water to wash my hands with.

I also listen to my book while I walk up and down my backstops for exercise, so that I can be in good enough shape to walk up to the teachers room on the 10th floor when I return to work.

I wish you strength, health, and peace, and lots of good books.

March 12, 2020, Thursday afternoon -- Reading Jay Kirk

At a cafe in the financial district

She is reading Kingdom Under Glass: A Tale of Obsession, Adventure, and One Man's Quest to Preserve the World's Great Animals, by Jay Kirk. The book is research for a horror story she is writing about a real human skull being found in a taxidermy exhibit at a museum.

Something good she read recently was the Sun Down Motel, a suspense novel by Simone St. James.

March 7, 2020, Saturday evening -- Reading Tara Westover

In the window of a café

He is reading Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover. It was recommended by his family and he borrowed it from his roommate. He said it's good, and he's almost finished.

Something else he liked was The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers, by Ben Horowitz.

March 1, 2020, Sunday afternoon --Reading Alice Bag and a report from the Congressional Budge Office

At Dolores Park on a beautiful sunny day, still no rain the day after the driest February since 1864....I guess we really need the moisture, but it was really nice to have a sunny day in the park

He is reading Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story, by Alice Bag. He picked it up at Dogeared Books, because he's into that kind of music. Recently he read and enjoyed Drown, a short story collection by the Dominican-American author, Junot Díaz.

She is reading Effects of a Carbon Tax on the Economy and the Environment, a report by the Congressional Budget Office. She has to write a review about it for a class she's taking. The report, she feels, is not for the layperson. As a college student she finds the reading difficult. She thinks that because the information is so important, the writing should be more accessible. The message is basically this: the world is going to keep going downhill unless we make changes. Recently she read, and really liked, Solo, Solita: Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America, edited by Steven Meyers and Jonathan Freedman, and White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin Diangelo.

March 1, 2020, Sunday afternoon -- Reading a book edited by Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang

At Dolores Park on an amazingly sunny day

He is reading Two-Spirit People: Native American Gender Identity, Sexuality, and Spirituality, edited by Sue-Ellen Jacobs, Wesley Thomas, and Sabine Lang. He is giving a presentation at a festival and is reading this to prepare. The festival is the Weaving Spirts Festival, which explores diversity in Native People and as their website says, "decolonizing sexuality, performance, and language."

One of his favorite authors is Marlon Riggs, who was a poet, an educator, a filmmaker, and a gay rights activist.

February 22, 2020, Saturday afternoon -- Reading Koushun Takami

In Japantown Center, where he just bought this book

He is reading Battle Royale, by Koushun Takami. He was supposed to have finished reading it in the 8th grade for a project, but only got half way through. Now he's a freshman and he's determined to finish it. The book has about 650 pages.

He doesn't have a favorite author, but does like J.K. Rowling and Rick Riordan, who he said writes stories for teens about Greek mythology.

Lately he's been reading a lot of mangas, like the Tokyo Ghoul series by Sui Ishida and My Hero Academia, by Kōhei Horikoshi.

After he finishes Battle Royale he's planning to read Animal Farm, by George Orwell, which his younger brother recommended.

February 14, 2020, Friday morning -- Reading David Quammen

In the Castro neighborhood

She is reading Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen. She started reading it even before the Coronavirus hit the news. She's a biology student.

Her favorite author - this question stumped her for a moment and then she decided Gabriel García Márquez.

Something good she read recently was The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho. She read it in Spanish and it was the first book that she's ever read entirely in Spanish.

February 10, 2020, Monday morning -- Reading Brené Brown

At a coffee shop in the Financial District

Reading Dare to Lead, by Brené Brown. She saw it at a friend's house and is borrowing it for a week. She said that the author says that leading is like putting vulnerability and courage hand in hand.
Her favorite author is Ernest Hemingway because he captures humanness in a profound way. She loves The Old Man and the Sea.

January 23, 2020, Thursday evening -- Reading Rex Stout

At a pizza place in the Mission District

He is reading Death of a Dude, by Rex Stout, which is part of the Nero Wolfe series, which he's addicted to. It's about a big, grouchy, housebound detective and the narrator, Archie Goodwin, who does the detective's leg work. He said that Archie Goodwin reminds him of Ishmael in Moby Dick.

When I asked him if he had a favorite author he said it's kind of like asking who's your favorite jazz musician. You can't just name one. He said he's usually reading 4 books at once. He has over 3,000 books and is going on a "book fast."

I told him I was reading The Overstory, by Richard Powers, which is about trees, and he told me that he really enjoyed it, could tell me what parts are fictional and what parts are true, then showed me his tattoo of a tree on his calf that he got after discovering that his son and daughter each had a tree tattoo and wanted one, too...to join the family tree (his pun, not mine).

January 20, 2020, Sunday afternoon -- Reading Lindy West

At a picnic table outside a grocery store on a day that is arguably too cold to be reading outside...unless you have the right book.

She is reading Shrill, by Lindy West. She saw her show on Hulu and then got the book. One of her favorite books is Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion. She mentioned another book that she had also read recently, but I didn't write it down right and when I googled "long title, written only one book, Sasha Kauer" I didn't get any results.
Note to the reader: If you see this blog post, would you let me know where I went wrong?

December 10, 2019, Tuesday evening -- Reading Jean Chatzky

At a cafe in the Mission District

He is reading Money Rules, by Jean Chatzky. He got it from his credit union.
He enjoys reading fantasy and science fiction. He likes Tolkien, Lovecraft, Stephen King, Frank Herbert, H.G. Wells, and Edgar Allen Poe.

November 19, 2019, Tuesday evening -- Reading Jon Fosse

At a laundromat in the Mission District

He is reading Melancholy, by Jon Fosse. It was such a long time ago that I took this picture that I can no longer find my notes about our conversation.

November 14, 2019, Thursday morning -- Reading C. G. Jung

At a coffee shop

He is reading Memories, Dreams, Reflections, by C. G. Jung.
His favorite authors are Conrad, Hawthorne, and Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi.

November 8, 2019, Friday evening -- Reading Elizabeth Kolbert

In the Mission District

She is reading The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert. She's reading it for her book club at work. Coincidentally, I also recently read this book for a book club that I'm in, too.

Her favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut and of his books her favorite is Slaughterhouse-Five. She's read it over and over. It's a quick read. The last time she read it was about two years ago.

Something else good she read recently was the novel Steps, by Jerzy Kosiński, which was published in 1968 and won U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. She described it as fun.

November 3, 2019, Sunday afternoon -- Reading Barbara Wertheim Tuchman

At a park on Potrero Hill overlooking the city and the hills on the other side of the valley

He is reading The Guns of August and The Proud Tower, by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman. The Guns of August is about the beginning of World War I and the author won a Pulitzer Prize for it. The Proud Tower is a collection of essays about different places in Europe and events leading up to World War I. He'd read The Proud Tower in high school. Before this book he was reading something by Margaret McMillan (I forgot which book), which compelled him to re-read Barbara Wertheim Tuchman.

His favorite book is probably The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, which he read about 6 months ago and would like to re-read it.

Recently he read Five Days Gone, by Laura Cumming, about a child who disappeared from a small English costal town, and everyone in the town knew where the child had gone.

Next up he's planning on re-reading Ulysses, by James Joyce, which he read about 20 years ago.

October 26, 2019, Saturday afternoon -- Reading Toni Morrison

In Potrero Hill before the Halloween pet parade at Farley's

He is reading Beloved, by Toni Morrison. He'd been meaning to read this since she passed away in August.

His favorite author is Gabriel García Márquez. He is Columbian and his family knew Gabriel García Márquez. He's read all of his books, everyone in his family has. His favorite is Cien años de soledad, or in English, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Another Columbian author he likes is the journalist Héctor Abad Faciolince. Next up, after he finishes Beloved, is El olivido que seremos, by this author. In English the title is Oblivion: A Memoir.

October 8, 2019, Tuesday night -- Reading Juliette Aristides

On the train

She is reading Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice, by Juliette Aristides. She is studying art and this book was recommended by a classmate. She quit her job 6 months ago to study art. She's interested in classical portrait painting.

Her favorite author is Haruki Murakami.

October 8, 2019, Tuesday evening -- Reading Bill Bryson

In the Financial District

He is reading A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson. It was recommended by a friend. Something else good he's read recently is I am a Strange Loop, a non fiction book about consciousness, by Douglas Hofstadter. These days his favorite author is Steven Pinker.

October 6, 2019, Sunday morning -- Reading Sax Rohmer and Trina Robbins

In the Mission District, on an amazingly warm and beautiful morning

He is reading Dope, a comic book adopted and illustrated by Trina Robbins, based on a pulpy "drug panic" novel from the 1940s (opium). He got it at Mission Comics. He likes the person who wrote the forward, C. Spike Trotman, a cartoonist and publisher.

Right now they are working their way through The Dark Rising, a young adult fantasy series published in the 60s and 70s by Susan Cooper that his mother read him when he was young.

September 23, 2019, Monday morning -- Reading a guidebook

In the Mission District, waiting for a bus

He is reading Let's Go: Greece & Turkey. He found the book at the bus stop and was looking at the maps. He said he really only picked up the book because of the picture of the cows stuffed inside. He asked me if I wanted the book. I said no, although I am interested in Greece and Turkey, especially since I just ate amazing Musaka and a stuffed pepper at the Greek Festival yesterday. I now feel a little guilty about not saying yes to the book because when I said no, he tossed the book in the trash on his way to get on the bus. I admit that one of the reasons I didn't want the book was because it looked too dirty to put in my bag. He probably thought the same thing.

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I started this blog in 2006 as an exploration of literary San Francisco and daily affirmation that people still read. I was working on a novel and needed encouragement.

After interviewing over 1,200 readers, I've discovered the beauty and rarity of a given book being read at a given time, instead of, say, packed away in a box somewhere. I've also discovered that I've not only been chronicling the popularity of books, but also the diversity of individuals. What goes on inside our minds is evidenced by and influenced by what we are reading, have read, and the inner dialogs we have with authors.

In 2007, I took a Greyhound bus trip to all the lower-48 states and took photos of readers in each of them: DogEaredUSA. Following that, about a year later, I spent 48-hours in Oahu photographing readers. I found about 46: Readers in Oahu.

The pictures to your left are taken in San Francisco, unless I say otherwise.

I get rejected about 20% of the time and I respect the privacy of people who do not want to be on this site.

I invite you to search the blog (see upper left corner) for your favorite books so you can see who else likes to read what you do. It always makes me happy when I interview completely different looking people who have the same favorite books.

Please let me know if I've made a mistake or if you have something to add. You can also email me directly at sonya.worthy@gmail.com.