December 19, 2018, Wednesday afternooon -- Reading Elyssa Friedland

In the Financial District

She is reading The Intermission, by Elyssa Friedland. Someone left it next to her while she was sleeping. Recently she read You Will Pay, by Lisa Jackson and The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, an autobiography by James McBride, which she really enjoyed and left with someone who works near where she sleeps sometimes.

December 15, 2018, Saturday night -- Reading N.A. Diaman

Reading aloud a segment of the book that is set in Paris while accompanied by a cellist

He is reading Portraits, a gay love story and novel by N.A. Diaman, who was also at the party and is actually the person holding the book in the picture above. When I asked permission to photograph the reader, he told me I should ask the author. I was a little taken aback because no one has ever said that before. Usually the author is not present.

The author has written 11 books, including Ed Dean Is Queer, The Fourth Wall, Second Crossing, Reunion, Castro Street Memories, Private Nation, and The City. He grew up in San Francisco, about a 5 minute walk from where the party was.

The reader's favorite book is The Glass Bead Game, by Hermann Hesse, which he read about 20 years ago. He liked it for its ability to find connections between things, on which the surface seem to have nothing in common.

The cellist also accompanied other readers and I also heard her play beautiful piece by Vivaldi. I've lived most of my life without hearing literature being read without musical accompaniment, but earlier this month during a MAPP event at the Red Poppy Art House, I heard a man recite Emily Dickinson while accompanied by piano music.

December 7, 2018, Friday afternoon -- Reading John Green

Enjoying the sunshine

She is reading Turtles All the Way Down, by John Green on her public library Libby app. She just started it and she's not sure if she'll continue with it or not. It was recommended by Amazon because of another book that she read.

Something good she read lately was Children of Blood and Bone, a young adult fantasy novel by Tomi Adeyemi. It's a page turner and socially relevant because of the racial tensions in the book. 

December 3, 2018, Monday morning -- Reading Kelly Thompson, Stacey Lee, Jenn St-Onge, and Jen Hickman

Waiting for the train

She is reading Jem and the Holograms: Infinite, written by Kelly Thompson, and illustrated by Stacey Lee, Jenn St-Onge, and Jen Hickman. She's an 80's kid, she said.

Something good she's read recently is Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant. She described it as an inventive, realistic horror story. It's about an ocean voyage to the Mariana Trench.

No reader to post this week

I walked through Potrero Hill and the Mission District today, looking for a reader but didn't find one. Through a coffee shop's windows I saw a woman studying a text book, but that's not really what I like to take pictures of. I'm more interested in what we read when we're not obligated to read. While I walked I listened to an audio book on my newish headphones. Audiobooks and walks are two of my favorite things these days. I usually listen to books from the public library on their app called Libby. Right now I'm listening to Killing Commendatore, Haruki Murakami's latest novel. It's about 28 hours long and the reader has a deep, soothing voice. I find Murakami's books very soothing even when they aren't read aloud. This one is about an artist who paints portraits and is just as good as his other books that I've enjoyed over the years.