by Matt Baume

It's tough times for local booksellers. With Abandoned Planet cleaned out, McDonald's given the heave-ho, and the name of the frightening Forever After Books in the Haight thankfully shown to be an empty threat, it's starting to look like there's no hope for reading in this town.

But times things seem positively frantic over at Modern Times Bookstore, where the events calendar's filled to bursting with fun hands-on events, readings, and workshops. We recently popped in to photograph a delightful hands-on mini-comic workshop led by friend-of-SFist Justin Hall; and this past weekend the store thoughtfully hosted a Free Kidz Table at the Anarchist Book Fair. (Is there anything more anarchic than spelling kids with a Z?)