San Francisco's Big Book Sale 2008

Every year the Friends of the San Francisco Library hold a massive book sale at Fort Mason, an old Army post near the Presidio and the Golden Gate Bridge.

This was the first year we went, and while I was expecting a lot of books, I was totally unprepared for the thousands upon thousands of books they had laid out there. All the books were roughly categorized (but not alphabetized) on long tables made of plywood. There were boxes underneath the tables even on Sunday, the final day of the sale. There were also hundreds of people there all scouring the books all jumbled together.

We got there at about 11:00 AM on Sunday and found it quite hard to find a place to park. That aside there were no problems with us arriving at Fort Mason, even with the questionable directions from MapQuest. Once inside David and I split up so we could both look at different things. I spent at least half an hour looking over the Sci-Fi tables. I found a few keepers there and I then wandered over to the Cooking section. I managed to find four good cookbooks (including one dedicated soley to tofu and the other to Christmas cooking.) David only managed to find a couple of books, but I found quite a few exciting things.

Here are some highlights of what I picked up at the sale (all the books were $1 on Sunday):

-The Science Fiction Encyclopedia (1979)
-Nebula Award Stories 1965 (hardcover; includes the story "Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman by Harlan Ellison which won the Nebula for short story that year.)
-Nebula Award Stories Number Two (paperback, has stories from Phillip K. Dick and Frederik Pohl.)
-To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert A. Heinlein (paperback; sequel of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls.)
-The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
-The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney
-Ringworld by Larry Niven
-The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
-The Penguin World Omnibus of Science Fiction (contains Sci-Fi stories from around the world; originally from 1986.)

I also got quite a few Golden Age and Post-Golden Age anthologies. I really enjoy short stories and it's a great way to get to know new authors as well.


The only problem is that now we need a new bookshelf to hold all of the new books we've been getting lately. We've decided that next year we'll pay for the membership to the Friends of the San Francisco Library and go on the preview day of the sale so we can have the most selection.


Here is a photo of the books I brought home, not counting the cookbooks.