Eyewitness Guide San Francisco & Northern California
Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry. With maps. 2013

Lonely Planet Northern California
A comprehensive, practical guide to Northern California with color photographs and excellent local maps. 2012

National Geographic San Francisco
A compact guidebook to San Francisco, published by National Geographic in its attractive, visual style. 2013

HISTORY/CULTURE/NATURE
San Francisco, A Cultural History 
Covers the gold rush, architecture, earthquakes, eccentric personalities, entertainment, diverse population and landmarks.
By Mick Sinclair. Interlink, 2010

A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 
A fascinating account of the great 1906 earthquake. By geologist, master storyteller, traveler and journalist, Simon Winchester.
Harper Perennial, 2006

The Birth of the Beat Generation: Visionaries, Rebels, and Hipsters, 1944- 1960
Traces the lives of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs et al from their initial meetings in New York to their rise to literary fame.
By Steve Watson. Pantheon, 1995

Herb Caen’s San Francisco: 1976- 1991
A compendium from San Francisco’s favorite columnist.
Chronicle Books, 1992

Architectural Guidebook to San Francisco and the Bay Area
Discusses transportation, city and suburban landscapes, public parkland, California history, and economic, social, and political influences.
By Susan Cerny. Gibbs Smith, 2007

The Wilderness World of John Muir
Conservationist John Muir’s vision of America comes to life in these fascinating selections from his personal journals.
Mariner Books, 2001

FICTION
Travelers’ Tales San Francisco 
An engaging, insightful and entertaining selection of eyewitness reports, all set in the city of San Francisco.
Travelers’ Tales, 2002

Tales of the City
A novel about the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane, Tales is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.
By Armistead Maupin. Harper Perennial, 2007

The Maltese Falcon 
A treasure worth killing for, with Sam Spade, a slightly shopworn private eye with his own solitary code of ethics.
By Dashiell Hammett. Vintage, 1989

The Joy Luck Club
In 1949 four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. 40 years later the stories and history continue.
By Amy Tan. Penguin, 2006