SFPL One City One Book SelectionsLike this list

22 items

• The Worlds I See

  Curiosity, Exploration, and Discovery at the Dawn of AI

  Li, Fei Fei, 1976-

  Add The Worlds I See to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #20 (2025) Visionary computer scientist Li shares her remarkable journey from a childhood in China to becoming one of the most influential voices in artificial intelligence. Through education and relentless curiosity, she…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

  Angelou, Maya,

  Add I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #19 (2024) A deeply moving memoir which recounts Maya Angelou's first sixteen years with vivid, often painful memories of displacement, racism and trauma. Alternating with moments of fear and suffering, there are also…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Chinese Groove

  a Novel

  Ma, Kathryn,

  Add The Chinese Groove to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #18 (2024) Kathryn Ma's Chinese Groove traces 18-year-old Shelley's immigration journey from China's Yunnan Province to San Francisco, where he confronts familial discord, cultural adaptation and personal aspirations while…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Is Ear Hustle

  Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life

  Add This Is Ear Hustle to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #17 (2023) From the co-creators and co-hosts of the Peabody- and Pulitzer-nominated podcast comes this illuminating view of prison life, as told by presently and formerly incarcerated people.

• Know My Name

  a Memoir

  Miller, Chanel,

  Add Know My Name to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #16 (2020-21) Chanel Miller’s breathtaking memoir “gives readers the privilege of knowing her not just as Emily Doe, but as Chanel Miller the writer, the artist, the survivor, the fighter” (The Wrap).

• There There

  Orange, Tommy, 1982-

  Add There There to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #15 (2019) Tells a story of Native Americans living in the East Bay that is beautiful, funny, heartbreaking and urgently real.

• The Best We Could Do

  An Illustrated Memoir

  Bui, Thi,

  Add The Best We Could Do to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #14 (2018) Explores the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child. Thi Bui documents her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s and the difficulties they…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Black Against Empire

  the History and Politics of the Black Panther Party

  Bloom, Joshua,

  Add Black Against Empire to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #13 (2017) A comprehensive history of the ideological underpinnings of the Black Panther Party: armed resistance, anti-imperialism, gender roles, the war in Vietnam and the draft, community service projects, and government…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Beautiful Chaos

  a Life in the Theater

  Perloff, Carey

  Add Beautiful Chaos to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #12 (2016) A behind-the-scenes perspective, including her intimate working experiences with well-known actors, directors, and writers.

• Season of the Witch

  Enchantment, Terror, and Deliverance in the City of Love

  Talbot, David, 1951-

  Add Season of the Witch to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #11 (2015) From the early days of the Summer of Love in the Haight, through years of murder and mayhem, the city evolved. Through extensive research and personal interviews, Talbot captures a 15-year history never before…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Tales of the City

  Maupin, Armistead

  Add Tales of the City to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #10 (2014) This story about the denizens of the mythic apartment house at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco, is both a sparkling comedy of manners and an indelible portrait of an era that changed forever the way we live.

• Little Brother

  Doctorow, Cory

  Add Little Brother to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #9 (2013) Daring, exciting, and just bold enough to show us how to keep our freedoms safe. This is a provocative book, a timely book, and the San Francisco setting is just so satisfying.

• A Paradise Built in Hell

  the Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disasters

  Solnit, Rebecca,

  Add A Paradise Built in Hell to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #8 (2012) A masterwork of narrative nonfiction by a contemporary California writer reaches some surprising conclusions about our need for community and common purpose, which she argues are fundamental to democratic forms of…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Packing for Mars

  the Curious Science of Life in the Void

  Roach, Mary

  Add Packing for Mars to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #7 (2011) From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Packing for Mars takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Zeitoun

  Eggers, Dave

  Add Zeitoun to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #6 (2010) A horrifying, compelling story of post-Katrina -- even more absorbing knowing what later happened to Zeitoun

• Alive in Necropolis

  Dorst, Doug

  Add Alive in Necropolis to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #5 (2009) Set in the city of Colma, it is a rollicking tale of policing the dead, with deceased citizens far outnumbering the living.

• West of Kabul, East of New York

  An Afghan American Story

  Ansary, Mir Tamim

  Add West of Kabul, East of New York to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #4 (2008) We travel at Ansary’s side, and he gives us rare access to Afghan culture— From the time of “old Afghanistan,” through Soviet rule and later, the Taliban.

• Cane River

  Tademy, Lalita

  Add Cane River to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #3 (2007) Combines painstaking historical reconstruction with unforgettable storytelling.

• La hija de la chuparrosa

  una novela

  Urrea, Luis Alberto

  Add La hija de la chuparrosa to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #2 (2006) Hummingbird's Daughter - Tells the story of Teresita, a young girl coming to terms with her destiny as a healer, who will grow into a revolution-inspiring Mexican "Joan of Arc."

• China Boy

  Lee, Gus

  Add China Boy to your for later shelf

  SFPL's One City One Book #1 (2005) This childhood story of being caught between cultures in 1950's San Francisco is both powerful and poignant