SFist Reads
SFist was geting a manicure last night, and found herself explaining how to reserve books online from the SF Public Library to a group of raptly listening fashionistas. We also threw in a plug for our local independent bookstore. Bookishness validated by the cool crowd? Priceless.
SFist Mary Lynn has been reading Don't Think of an Elephant which is scary and good and she has to keep putting it down so she's been working through it for weeks. She's also been through Feast quite a bit looking for holiday party food ideas. And finally, re-reading the classic Life with Jeeves because that's about the closest she'll ever get to a butler. And doesn't everyone want a butler?
Sfist Jeremy just finished Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem. Very good read, especially the first half; the sudden switch in point of view in the second half sort of threw him off. However, it's a story that alternates between heartbreaking, touching, nostalgiac, and cool with some success; insights into friendships, enemies, and where one really belongs . . . some good food for thought.
SFist Rita just finished Working Fire by Zac Unger, who's a writer and firefighter with the Oakland Fire Department. It's an interesting perspective on Oakland and the culture of its fire department -- Unger grew up in Rockridge, went to Brown and Berkeley, and then decided to become a firefighter after seeing an ad on the back of a bench at the bus station, and it's about his first few years on the job. Parts of the book originally appeared in the slate.com diary column a few years back. It's kind of like a mix between Blue Blood (about the Harvard guy at the NYPD) and Fighting Fire by Caroline Paul (by the firefighter twin sister of the Baywatch actress Alexandra Paul about the SFFD), only much more cheerful than both.