San Francisco has an abundance of indie bookstores, many of them on the same block as gourmet chocolate shops and patisseries, and author and event organizer Charlie Jane Anders has found a way to combine two of the city’s favorite pastimes – reading and eating chocolate - in the first San Francisco Bookstore and Chocolate Crawl on Sunday, February 26 beginning at noon at Green Apple Books.
The Crawl will travel to eight bookstores, including Booksmith, Books Inc., Dog-Eared Books, and Modern Times Bookstore. “My hope is that at least 100 people will show up,” Anders says, “and that they’ll spend most of the time at each stop in the bookstores before getting chocolate. Each store is within a few feet of places like Coco Luxe and La Victoria Bakery.” When the Crawl participants gather at Green Apple, Anders will meet the group with enough chocolate for everyone to start with. “Trader Joe’s will probably be donating most of it to us, and then people can buy chocolate from the places along the way.” A few of the selected bookstores also have cafes where hot chocolate is served.
Anders runs the Writers With Drinks series of literary readings in the city’s Makeout Room bar. “We’re lucky to have so many indies here in San Francisco,” says Anders, author most recently of Six Months, Three Days (Tor), “and it’s important to get people back in the bookstores.” While the event, which covers about five miles, is free, she encourages everyone to purchase books at the stores.
For more information, and to find out if the Crawl has to be rescheduled because of rain, visit its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/events/200529393378320/
