We are blessed in the Bay Area with star-studded literary talent, and these seven titles from local authors do not disappoint. Whether your sweet spot is novels, nonfiction or something in between, you’re sure to get lost in—or have your mind changed by—one of these books. You can find them all at your local bookstore or library.
Yerba Buena
By Nina LaCour
This gorgeous novel is the first adult book by the well-known young adult author and San Franciscan Nina LaCour. A queer love story about a florist and a bartender, Yerba Buena (opens in new tab) features atmospheric locations and unforgettable characters with troubled pasts. The book is filled with exquisite descriptions and intersecting mysteries that will keep you turning pages.
Counterfeit
By Kirstin Chen
Love a good caper? This novel (opens in new tab) by San Francisco author Kirstin Chen has more twists than Lombard Street. A Reese’s Book Club pick, it revolves around two Asian American women caught up in an international counterfeit handbag scheme.
On the Rooftop
By Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
Transport yourself to Jazz-era Fillmore thanks to Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s delightful novel On the Rooftop (opens in new tab), featuring the singing sisters the Salvations. The novel takes you to an iconic San Francisco neighborhood undergoing gentrification in the 1950s—and it also captures the universal dilemma when children’s dreams don’t match up with their parents’ plans. Born and raised in New Orleans, Sexton now calls Oakland home.
The Man Who Could Move Clouds
By Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Local author Ingrid Rojas Contreras received rave reviews for her first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree (opens in new tab). Now she’s back with a deftly written memoir (opens in new tab) that might be even more captivating. The story focuses on the magical capabilities of the curanderos (opens in new tab)—or practitioners of traditional Indigenous medicine—in her family. In beautiful prose, Contreras examines both the sweep of Colombian history and the intimacy of familial relationships.
The New Black West
By Gabriela Hasbun
The mythical American West is decidedly white, but Gabriela Hasbun turns that notion on its head by celebrating the modern Black cowboys of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo—America’s only all-Black touring rodeo—with her book (opens in new tab) of beautiful full-color photographs.
Forbidden City
By Vanessa Hua
The cover of Vanessa Hua’s Forbidden City (opens in new tab) shines at you like a mesmerizing sun, and the story itself is just as provocative. The masterfully imagined novel centers on the experience of a teenage girl in 1960s China who ends up becoming Mao Zedong’s lover and confidante—giving readers a glimpse into the Cultural Revolution from a female perspective.
How To Read Now
By Elaine Castillo
Bay Area-based Elaine Castillo nearly broke the literary internet with her essay “How To Read Now.” That essay serves as the opening chapter in her new book of essays (opens in new tab) about reading and literature. You may not always agree with her, but Castillo offers a new way of reading not only books but also the world, turning your assumptions inside out in productive ways.