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08/01/2013 - 1:48pm

Staff Picks: Mysteries and Thrillers

Although summer isn't exactly beach weather in our fair city, I still like to spend the summer reading books that are, above all, entertaining.  What better fits the bill than a juicy mystery?! If you're like me, you tend to read the same tried-and-true authors, and it can be tough to figure out what, in the vast ocean of mystery stories, is worth the elbow-grease (turning pages that fast can be mildly athletic!) required to finish it.  This is where your friendly Mechanics' Institu...

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08/01/2013 - 12:00am

August 2013: Wilde in the City

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On August 22, Deaglan O’Donghaile, an expert on nineteenth century literature and culture, will be visiting the Mechanics' Institute to lecture about Oscar Wilde’s famous visit to the West and the San Francisco area. Oscar Wilde was an amazing personality and extraordinary writer. If you’d like to further your familiarity with Wilde...

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07/29/2013 - 10:18am

New titles for the Week of July 27

BOOKS

FICTION
Louis Begley Memories of a marriage
Susan Choi My education
Witold Gombrowicz Ferdydurke
Stephen P. Kiernan The curiosity
Michael Roy O'Laughlin...

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07/23/2013 - 9:56am

New titles for the Week of July 20

BOOKS

FICTION
Gavin Extence The universe versus Alex Woods
Andrew Sean Greer The impossible lives of Greta Wells
Elin Hilderbrand Beautiful day
Edward Hoagland Children are diamonds: an African apocalypse...

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07/15/2013 - 12:00am

July 2013: The Month of Julius Caesar

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Julius Caesar, the first Caesar and founder of the Roman Empire, reformed the Roman calendar. He changed the name of the fifth month of the ancient Roman calendar from Quintilis (which meant, literally, the fifth month) to July. Why the fifth month…because Caesar was bo...

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07/12/2013 - 11:43am

New Titles for the Week of July 13

BOOKS

FICTION
Tash Aw Five-star billionaire
Matt Bell In the house upon the dirt between the lake & the woods
Alexander McCall Smith Trains & lovers
Maggie O'Farrell Instructions for a heatwave...

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07/07/2013 - 1:14pm

New Titles for the Week of July 6

BOOKS

FICTION
Claire Cook Time flies
Charles Jackson The lost weekend
Kevin Kwan Crazy rich Asians

Historical Fiction
Eugen Ruge In times of fading light: the story of a family...

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07/02/2013 - 10:10am

Staff Picks: Civil War Fiction

One hundred fifty years later, Americans are still fascinated by the War Between the States and the personalities that dominated the country at that crucial turning point in our nation’s history. Although the Civil War only lasted for three years (1861-1864), it left 600,000 dead, so many more wounded, plus a defunct infrastructure in the southern states, and a population of people set adrift with little or no social or financial support to advance their right to freedom from brutality at the...

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07/01/2013 - 12:00am

July 2013: Children's Books with San Francisco or California Settings

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The Children’s Collection on the 2nd floor of the Library is small, and unknown to many of our members, but is a good place to browse when you have children coming to your home this summer.   In addition to a core collection of award-winning children’s b...

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06/30/2013 - 1:55pm

New Titles for the Week of June 29

BOOKS
FICTION
Mary Kay Andrews Ladies' night
Courtney Angela Brkic The first rule of swimming
Ron Irwin Flat water Tuesday
David Rhodes Jewelweed
Jeannette Walls...

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