Probably our favorite US bookseller-this is a fun shop to browse while in SF. The shelves are packed with titles not easily found on every subject of interest. Appreciate the many reviews and staff recommendations. Don’t miss a trip downstairs where there is even more. Be sure to have your book stamped.

Unusual sight and fewer and fewer around!

Located in North Beach, near where the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off lets you off, I loved the authentic book lovers vibe throughout the three-level store. The wood floors, stairs, and all the shelves helpfully marked with the different genres. They had so many different cultures and topics way beyond a Barnes & Noble. It was truly a treasure-trove of knowledge and seemingly anything you might want to explore or learn about.

It is a bookstore, but it is also a landmark and an icon. This is the store that supported the beatnik and avant garde writers of the 50s and 60s and you will see their works here as well as modern pieces. Staff can help you find something and it's a good place to browse.

My great grandfather, Fernando Barbero, worked as a stone mason and cement contractor in the SF Bay Area from 1911 to 1924 when he turned his efforts to farming and cattle ranching ob property he purchased in Wilton in the Sacramento Valley two hours from SF. His grandson, my Uncle and Godfather JL Gledhill was an electrical engineer who administrated traffic for SF via CalTrans. When I was 12 years old I spent a week with my Uncle at his apartment on 1610 Taylor Street #1. It's a very steep street, typical for North Beach, with awesome views of the city skyline. One morning after our oatmeal and bananas my craft Uncle said, May I blindfold you for a special adventure? I agreed. You may take my elbow, he said, and we descended the steep hill. Once we reached flat ground he removed the blindfold and said, Look up, this is your Mecca. I did. City Lights Book Sellers. Home of Ginsberg's Howl, Jack Kerouac's On the Road, Ferlinghetti's SF beat poetry, those transplanted New Yorkers created a book store of several stories that will never close despite online books and A-Zon. And John was right about me. I became a Literature and Writing teacher and research professor. Thank you more than these words can say, Unc, for the inspiration that you gave us every day. I put his ashes in the Consumnes River that borders Barbero Ranch where Mom still lives, and watched them float downstream to the San Francisco Bay. City Lights Book Sellers. Make it your Mecca