May 18, 2019, Saturday morning -- Reading Kurt Vonnegut

At the laundromat

He is reading Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut.
I photographed him earlier this year, in January, sitting in this exact same spot. He had said that he had a resolution to read more and from different genres and he's keeping to it. He schedules time to read on his calendar, about 5 hours a week including laundry time. Right now he's taking a break with Vonnegut while working his way through Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes and Moby Dick, by Herman Melville.

May 14, 2019, Tuesday evening -- Reading Brad Meltzer

On a lovely evening, before the days of out-of-season rain hit us

She is reading The Escape Artist, by Brad Meltzer. When I explained my blog and asked if I could take her photo she expressed surprise that I'd want to document the reading of this book. She called it "brain candy." I had the same conversation a few years ago when I'd photographed another reader who worked as a book dealer, and felt that her book wasn't high brow enough. But isn't that the highest compliment to an author and the best thing for readers themselves, to have created something enjoyable or to be engrossed in something enjoyable? Personally, above all other reasons, that's why I read.

Her favorite author is Stephen King.

May 1, 2019, Wednesday afternoon -- Reading Paula Hawkins

In North Beach

She is reading Escrito En El Agua, by Paula Hawkins. Her sister loaned it to her when she was visiting her back home in Colombia two months ago and she just remembered she had it.

Her favorite author is Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Something good she read recently was Ficciones, a collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, which was very deep, but very nice.

April 13, 2018, Saturday evening -- Reading Rachel Cusk

At Gibson's, downtown

She is reading Kudos, by Rachel Cusk. She heard the author read in Berkeley not too long ago and really enjoys her writing.

Something else good she read recently was Dreyer's English, by Benjamin Dreyer, a humorous book about the English language.

April 4, 2019, Thursday evening -- Reading Robert Pinsky

At Adobe Bookstore in the Mission District

He is reading The Sounds of Poetry: A Brief Guide, by Robert Pinsky. It was sitting next to the register, a place where the book store features books they think will sell well. He's only just begun it, but is liking it. He wants to read more poetry and feels this is a good start.

His favorite authors right now are Haruki Murakami, for The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Ken Liu, for a short story that made him cry on a bus on his way to work called The Paper Menagerie; and Jane Jacobs, for The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

March 28, 2019, Thursday evening -- Reading Indu Sundaresan

In the Mission District

She is reading The Twentieth Wife, by Indu Sundaresan. It's the first book of a historical fiction trilogy. She was originally drawn to the book for its cover and now has read the whole trilogy and is reading this book for the second time. It's about the last wife of an Emperor in India who had a lot of influence and set policy and shaped the course of history.

She reads a lot of fantasy, and especially liked Phillip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials. She also really liked Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly, a historical fiction novel which is set in World War II and is about the lives of three women.

March 25, 2019, Monday afternoon -- Reading Ernest Hemingway

At the SFMOMA

She is reading The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. She's never read anything by Ernest Hemingway and found this at the library.

Her favorite author is Toni Morrison. She read The Bluest Eye and is reading Sula now.