People Reading

May 25, 2012, Friday morning -- Reading Ferran Adrià -- Barcelona, Spain

One of the most favorite museums I visited in Barcelona was a food exhibit about the chef Ferran Adrian. He's the chef of the restaurant El Bulli.

He does stuff with food in laboratories. It's like science. His restaurant gets up to a million reservations a year and is only able to accept 8,000. Recently he closed the restaurant and is only doing food research. His book (above) is translated into braille. Below, are modeling clay pieces for chefs to model the proportions of ingredients.

To me, after visiting the Sagrda Familia cathedral by Gaudi, in which I saw the plaster models of the cathedral, which had to be done because no one had ever seen architecture like Gaudi's before (organic, like tree roots and trunks), the modeling of things in clay, instead of just writing descriptions in a recipe, seems like a very south of France/north of Spain type of solution.

...and a good one.

May 27, 2012, Sunday evening -- Reading Vsévolod Vladimirovitch Krestovsky -- Capestang, France

On her balcony on a rooftop in Capestang, France (a small village a 3 1/2 hour drive north of Barcelona), reading Slums of St. Petersburg, in the original Russian, by Vsévolod Vladimirovitch Krestovsky. The website http://sennaya.com/writers/?p=10 describes Krestovsky as, as popular in his time as his contemporaries Tolstoy Dostoyevsky and also compares him to Charles Dickens, writing about "thieves, beggars and prostitutes in prisons, basements and taverns."

She is from Ukraine and the co-proprietaire of a gite (lodging) at which we had lunch and played petonque with 6 motorcyclists from Lyon and their wives, who were visiting Capestang for a long weekend.

They proprietors have a dog named Lenin. We had a lovely conversation about Russia (I'd lived there in 2001-2002). On the walls of the game room, in which there is a ping pong table, a beautiful mural of the cathedral in Red Square is painted.

With their own hands the proprietors refinished the lovely gite which has stone walls crawling with limey green ivy and a swimming pool in a lush garden -- very much *not* the slums of Capestang.

May 23, 2012, Wednesday afternoon -- Reading George Orwell -- Barcelona, Spain

In Placa de George Orwell, in the Bari Gòtic neighborhood

This is me, lounging in a piece of modern art and reading Homage to Catalonia, Orwell's book about the Spanish Civil War, which was partly set in Barcelona. I'd read this book a couple of years ago and am rereading it while I'm here.

Initially I'd picked it up after reading Orwell's book Burmese Days, in which he puts a negative spin on colonialism. Orwell had served in the military while in Burma and, after his time there, he came to Spain to volunteer as a soldier against fascism. Homage to Catalonia is about that experience.

I've been carrying the book around with me and visiting sites, like the present day Hotel Rivoli where he sat on the roof and read Penguin Library books with his rifle trained on the Civil Guards at the neighboring cafe Moka.

Orwell not only fought on the front (where he was hit by a bullet that went through his neck...and he lived) but also in Barcelona, where the militias (volunteer troops with anarchist, communist, labor unions and other affiliations) were fighting against the police (the Civil Guards). One of these labor unions was UGT (Union General de Trabajadores) and is still fighting for their rights today.

On May 23rd (same day as me reading in the square), to protest budget cuts, about 500 (my guess) UGT and CCOO (Comisiones Obreras, the largest trade union in Spain) members marched through the streets carrying torches, followed by about 10 police cars.

Not just UGT and CCOO are protesting cuts. The day before the streets were full of students wearing bright yellow t-shirts that said SOS, to protest education cuts. Here's a website with pictures.

May 21, 2012, Monday night -- Reading Pablo De Santis -- Barcelona, Spain

At a gelato shop in Bari Gòtic.

Reading El Enigma de París, a detective story by the Chilean/Argentinian author Pablo De Santis.

A couple of her favorite books are Prométeme que serás libre, historical fiction by the Barcelona author Jorge Molist and El Princep de La Boira, a small book by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, also from Barcelona.

May 21, 2012 -- Reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón -- Barcelona, Spain

At Park Güell, a theme park of Gaudi buildings and sculpture on a hillside with views of Barcelona

On a park bench out of the way of the tourists and vendors, reading, in German, Der Schatten des Windes (The Shadow of the Wind), by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, a Barcelona author. I've written about this book several times and was excited to see it here in Barcelona because I'd considered re-reading it for this trip.

In the words of Paul Klindt (taken from my dogeared usa blog) -- It’s about a little boy who is taken to a repository of lost books and is allowed to pick out one book. He reads it and wants to read everything by the author, but, throughout history (the book takes you from the Spanish Civil War to contemporary times), something happens each time he gets near a book, like an earthquake.

Her favorite book (actually books) is Het Bureau by J.J. Voskuil, which is in 4 volumes of about 700 pages each. She said it took about a half a year to read it. She reads at least 2 hours a day on her commute and doesn't read as much on vacation, though managed to catch a quiet moment here. I'm not actually sure what it's about because I had to go before we talked about it, and I couldn't find any information (in English) about it on the Internet.

May 20, 2012 -- Reading Luis Carandell & Eduardo Barrenechea -- Barcelona, Spain

In the Bari Gòtic neighborhood, manning a vintage/variety/record shop called Les Bambes del Catuqui (which can be translated as The Kitten's Sneakers)

Reading a book he just bought to be sold in the store called Portugal, Sí, by Catalan authors Luis Carandell & Eduardo Barrenechea. It's about Lisbon in 1974, which was under rule of an authoritarian dictatorship. Through a military coup and civil resistance, democracy was put in place peacefully. Not a shot was fired and the people celebrated by putting carnations on the military's uniforms and in the weapons themselves.

His favorite book is El Pais Velenciano by Joan Fuster, another Catalan author. The Catalans are proud of their heritage and speak their language, not Spanish, in Barcelona. The reader said that people who don't speak Catalan are considered uneducated. He explained that it's a Latin language, like Spanish, French or Italian, and also borrows words from them. The word for small, like in French, is petit.

When I first arrived in Barcelona, I thought that Catalan was just a variation of Spanish, but it's a distinct language. Signs at tourist destinations are in 3 languages: Catalan, Spanish, and English.

May 19, 2012, Saturday night -- Reading George R.R. Martin -- Barcelona, Spain

On vacation from Holland, getting some reading in before dinner with his family at a restaurant on Barcelona's waterfront

Reading Feast of Crows by George R.R. Martin.

His favorite book -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling.

His brother also had a book out on the table -- A Storm of Swords, also by George R.R. Martin.

But he wasn't actually reading it, possibly due to other distractions.

May 19, 2012 -- Reading Jorge Bucay -- Barcelona, Spain

On a beach in Barcelona, reading El camino de las lágrimas by the Argentine writer, Jorge Bucay. The title translates as The Trail of Tears, and tells stories about the process of losing someone you love.

Her favorite book is Bajo el sol de Kenia (or Green City in the Sun) by the British/American writer Barbara Wood, about a British woman pioneer doctor who goes to Africa in 1917 and the drama that ensues between modern/traditional medicine and other colonial/traditional differences.

She and her friend are visiting from Chile.

January 9, 2012 Monday afternoon -- Reading Kilmister and Stockett -- Queensland, Australia

On a boat ripping across the Coral Sea, heading shore-ward after a visit to the reef
Reading White Line Fever, by Lemmy Kilmister while her mother reads The Help, by Katheryn Stockett. She got the book from her boyfriend for Christmas. Her mother picked up her book at Costco. Their favorite books are, respectively, Scar Tissue, by Anthony Kied, a biography about the Red Hot Chili Peppers, for its honesty, and Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen, for its descriptions.
After we got off the boat I headed over to the library. In the trees around library, thousands of fruit bats hang upside down chattering to each other in high pitched squeaks. At sunset, the bats emerge from the trees and cover the whole sky. Near the city lagoon, you can lay on your back and see hundreds of bats overhead.
The librarian I talked to recommended the following Queensland authors: Xavier Herbert, who writes about Queensland history and Treziese Percy, who writes children's books.

December 31, 2011, Saturday night -- Sydney, Australia -- Reading F. Scott Fitzgerald

Just before sunset on the brink of the new year
Waiting for the fireworks (that are so spectacular people start camping out along the harbor at 6am on the 31st), and reading The Great Gatsby. The Australian film director, Baz Luhrmann, who did Strictly Ballroom, is filming it in Manly, a suburb of Sydney. Leonardo DiCaprio is in town.

Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice, or maybe The Lord of the Rings.

Happy New Year!

Picture: Tim Hunter Source: The Sunday Telegraph

October 9, Sunday afternoon -- Reading Chris Adrian

At Buena Vista Park during Litquake
Chris Adrian reading Chris Adrian.
To an audience of literati and fairies
I vote for more picnic readings.

October 4, Tuesday morning -- Reading Robert Crais

"I know it's rude, but I can't help myself," she said, casting a look at her breakfast partner.
At a cafe in Glen Park, reading Stalking the Angel, by Robert Crais. She usually reads on her Kindle (her breakfast partner gave it to her, so he can't mind her reading too much), but a coworker happened upon this book and gave it to her, knowing that Robert Crais is one of her favorite authors.
Favorite book? She doesn't have one. "I like all books," she said.

September 25, Sunday morning -- Reading Joseph Heller

Having brunch in the Dogpatch
and reading Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. She loves reading old copies of books and a friend gave her this for her birthday last year. It's a little big to carry around, so she hasn't been reading as much lately -- she likes to read only one book at a time.

Her favorite book is Still Life with Woodpecker, by Tom Robbins.

In her free time -- she's a professional organizer (meaning creating systems to keep your house or office organized) -- she likes making ice cream. In fact, she has a rule that she doesn't bring store-bought ice cream into the house. She described to me recipes involving custard and the challenge of rainbow sherbet. On her to-buy list is The Perfect Scoop, written by David Lebovitz, photographed by Lara Hata.

(the cocktail is a whiskey express ... whiskey + espresso + other things -- at Serpentine)

September 19, Monday afternoon -- Reading Raymond Chandler

In Dolores Park, in weather warm enough to read in
Reading The Big Sleep, a crime novel by Raymond Chandler. The movie was good so he wanted to read the book.

He just finished reading (and recommends) The Cry of the Owl, a psychological thriller by Patricia Highsmith.

If he were to write his own book it would be about autism and creativity.

I'm wishing for a whole week of weather nice enough to read in.

August 14, Sunday afternoon -- Reading, or actually, Thinking

This is my sister and she's actually awake, thinking about The Best American Science and Nature Writing, edited by Freeman Dyson and Tim Folger.
We're on vacation at home in Montana with the family, and she's reading before she helps my dad rearrange his beehive. Dad picked the right child to ask for help with the bees. I would have said yes, but grudgingly. My sister, who majored in Neuroscience, when weighing things, puts scientific curiosity above the risk of getting stung.

No bee stings were sustained.

August 13, Saturday morning -- Reading Aldous Huxley

At the Helena, Montana farmers market

His favorite book of all time is Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.

August 10, Wednesday night -- Reading Max Brooks

Checking IDs at Zeitgeist, the biker bar in the Mission District.
Reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks, the son of Mel Brooks.

I asked him what his favorite book is. Do comic books count? He asked. Yes, of course they do. Then it's Swamp Thing, a DC Comic written by Alan Moore.

Right now he's also reading Snow Crash, a cyberpunk novel by William Gibson. He likes everything by William Gibson. When people walk through the door of Zeitgieist they have been commenting on that book, and also on World War Z, as well. They've both been getting a lot of comments, he said.

August 6, Saturday afternoon -- Reading El Maestro

In the Mission District

Reading El Maestro, Volume 2.

July 25, Monday afternoon -- Reading John Gardner

Across the street from where I live, my new neighbor who just moved here from North Carolina

Standing in the sun, reading On becoming a Novelist, by John Gardner, with a forward by Raymond Carver. He writes poetry and has just started writing a novel. It's about drug wars and a future where children are vaccinated against becoming drug addicts and the state controls everything.

His favorite author is Robert Jordan, who wrote the Wheel of Time fantasy series.

June 23, Thursday afternoon -- Reading Michael Jan Friedman.

Outside the MoMa in downtown San Francisco
Reading The Wolf Man: Hunter's Moon, by Michael Jan Friedman. He likes science fiction. His favorite book is The Point Man, a thriller by Steve Englehart, who used to be a comic book writer, then holed himself up on an island in the Mediterranean called Majorca (off the coast of Spain) and wrote this. The book is about a Vietnam War veteran who has been called to fight demons.

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About People Reading

This blog began as my exploration of literary San Francisco and daily affirmation that people still read.

After photographing over 1,200 readers over the past two-and-a-half years, mostly in San Francisco but also around the United States, the blog has become more to me.

The beauty and rarity of a given book being read at a given time, instead of, say, packed away in a box somewhere is what initiated the blog. But, throughout the past two and a half years, I've discovered that I've not only been chronicling the popularity of books, but also the diversity of individuals. What goes on inside our minds is evidenced by and influenced by what we are reading, have read, and the inner dialogs we have with authors.

The goal: A hundred readers every hundred miles, everywhere the globe is populated. The arctic, not exempt—any scientific communities looking for a new project? The oceans, not exempt—forward to your friends who work on outrigger canoes, fishing vessels, oil rigs, cruise ships. The upper reaches of Siberia—not exempt!— reindeer herders read, too.

A map filled up with readers would be a beautiful display of diversity, and unity. I invite you start your own sister (or brother) blog, wherever you may be.

You could do like River Jordan (host of Nashville radio program, Back Story) suggests and share your blog with a group of friends, with a class at school, with your family, with your book club. You could make a concentrated effort to photograph everyone you see reading in a single day, or take a photo once a week. I'll add your push pin, whatever color you like (unless there's already a blog there -- blogs can share a push pin.) Thank you to Liza P. in Los Angeles and Uzair Sawal and Dizzy in Kuala Lumpur, whose push pins now appear on the map.

The pictures to your left are taken in San Francisco, unless I say otherwise. I have separated out my recent Oahu pictures into a separate blog, so that when you click on the San Francisco push pin above, chaos does not ensue. Eventually, I'd like to add tags to the posts so that I can sort them, and list all of the readers I interview here, wherever I may travel. I'd like this to be the mother blog, with a heart in San Francisco.

I get rejected about 20% of the time and I respect the privacy of people who do not want to be on this site. Comments are set up so that you don't need to log in or create an account--it's easy.

Please let me know if I've made a mistake or if you have something to add. You can also email me directly at sonya.worthy@gmail.com.

Wouldn't it be great to see what people were reading everywhere?