San Francisco | Raging Biblio-holism

The Girls

August 10, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Approaching middle age with uncertainty, Evie Boyd cannot shake the memories of her teenage years – specifically those when she fell in with a dangerous yet liberating cult, transfixed by the independent women she saw and befriended there. But the inevitable violence that made the cult a household name never quite caught Evie and so she must come to terms with that past if she’s ever to have a future. The Review: The legend of Charles Manson […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Charles Manson, Cults, Emma Cline, Fiction, Literature, Reviews, San Francisco, The Girls

Private Citizens

March 18, 2016 by Drew

The Short Version: Four college friends (Cory, Will, Henrik, and Linda) are trying to make their various ways through post-college life in San Francisco with varying levels of success in late 2007/early 2008. But as the year wears on, the four of them come back together in ways they might never have expected – and maybe they’ve even matured a little bit. The Review: I didn’t know much about this novel going in other than that Alex Kleeman recommended it […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: 2008, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Fiction, Literature, Millennials, Private Citizens, Reviews, San Francisco, Tony Tulathimutte

We Are Pirates

July 31, 2015 by Drew

The Short Version: Gwen Needle has decided to become a pirate. This, after having stolen some things and gotten in trouble and meeting a new friend – but her course has never been clearer. Her parents, meanwhile, are oblivious and as her dad sets out to try and land a big deal for work, she sets out to pilage and plunder. But the 21st Century has other ideas… The Review: I am an enormous fan of Daniel Handler’s pseudonymic work as […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: America, Book Review, Book Reviews, Books, Daniel Handler, Fiction, Literature, Pirates, review, Reviews, San Francisco, We Are Pirates

Tales of the City

August 1, 2014 by Drew

The Short Version: San Francisco, the 1970s. Mary Ann Singleton, just arrived, finds her way to 28 Barbary Lane – a rooming house run by the quirky and wonderful Anna Madrigal. The lives of the tenants of the house, and of those they encounter, swirl together to create a unique sort of a family experience. The Review: The California Classics box set from Cali-Bookstore-Day flees LA for the beauty and weirdness of San Francisco – and a series-starter that’s so unassuming […]

Categories: Fiction, Literature • Tags: Armistead Maupin, Avocado Editions, California, California Bookstore Day, California Classics, Fiction, Literature, Olive Editions, San Francisco, Serial, Tales of the City

Hangwire

December 14, 2013 by Drew

The Short Version: Strange things are happening in San Francisco. There’s a serial killer on the loose, a guy who teaches ballroom dancing who doesn’t seem to age, and the circus has just come to town – and, as it turns out, all of these things are connected to a couple of old gods and a power from beyond the stars… The Review: I haven’t read Empire State or The Age Atomic – but I love the concept of these alternating version of […]

Categories: Fantasy, Fiction • Tags: Adam Christopher, Advance Review, Angry Robot Books, Book Review, Fantasy, Fiction, Hangwire, Reviews, San Francisco, TNBBC

Raging Biblio-holism

The overwhelming urge to collect, consume, and consider books

Tag: San Francisco

The Girls

Private Citizens

We Are Pirates

Tales of the City

Hangwire