November 25, 2018, Sunday morning -- Reading Robert Galbraith

In the Mission District

He is reading Lethal White, by Robert Galbraith. The author is British and he enjoys reading British authors. He said they use words that he doesn't usually encounter, such as crenelated (having spaces that guns, cannons, etc. can be shot through), pusillanimous (timid), and eponymous (of, relating to, or being what is named).
When I asked him about his favorite books and authors he said he's a sucker for David Baldacci and he also told me about a book called Night of Camp David, by Fletcher Knebel, which is about a Senator who discovers the president is unstable and needs to alert the country. Although it was written in 1965, he feels it has some parallels with today. He is not alone in his opinion. I just read an online review that said the title could easily be changed to Night of Mar-a-Lago. In November 2018 Penguin Random House announced it would be re-releasing the book.

October 31, 2018, Wednesday afternoon -- Reading Trevor Noah

Working at the door, in the Mission District

She is reading Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, an autobiography by Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show. She gave it to a friend and the friend said it was so good, she had to read it, too. She likes reading about race, humans in general, poetry, and what her friends write.

October 27, 2018, Saturday afternoon -- Reading Edinburgh

At PianFrancisco, my new favorite San Francisco thing -- a view of the city, a piano, and people singing (the pianist was amazing)

She is reading Edinburgh, a novel by Alexander Chee. She said that it is devastatingly sad. It's about a Korean American boy being sexually abused by a choir director, and it is an important Asian American novel, as well as an important LGBTQ novel.

Like many people when I ask them about their favorite books/authors, she was overcome by the difficulty of naming her favorites and not leaving anyone out. She has so many favorite authors, including Elena Ferrante, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Yiyun Li.

Yes, that is a bear giving a bear hug in the background. It was just a few days before Halloween.

October 26, 2018, Friday evening -- Reading Zadie Smith

At Vesuvio in North Beach

He is reading White Teeth, by Zadie Smith. He's been meaning to read it for ages, and has read the first 140 pages today. While he was carrying it around town (he's visiting here from the UK) he said that lots of people came up to him and wanted to talk to him about the book. He said the book reminds him of Santanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie, because of the way the books deal with integration.

His favorite author is Salman Rushdie, and Midnight's Children is his favorite Salman Rushdie novel. He read it for the first time while he was living in India. Another favorite book is The Unbearable Lightness of Being, by Milan Kundera.