The indie booksellers’ guide to last-minute holiday gifts – San Francisco Chronicle

When Christmas shopping is down to the wire, there’s a slim chance of finding something truly thoughtful, and a huge margin for buying the deeply regrettable — and paying the price.

I don’t remember the gift my father gave my mother after his own holiday sprint 30-plus years ago, but I’ll never forget the look she gave him. Nobody wants that look.

Thankfully in the Bay Area, we’re surrounded by independent bookstores. Not only are these shops filled with gifts that writers toiled for years to create, but they’re also brimming with salespeople who will know exactly what your kelp-loving uncle from Monterey will want in his stocking (naturally “The Curious World Of Seaweed” by Josie Isilin, published by Berkeley’s Heyday Books).

If you’re revving your engines for a shopping marathon, fret no more. This guide will tell you where to go, how to get there, and what to expect:

San Francisco

Where to go: Green Apple Books (506 Clement St., Inner Richmond) has been making holiday wishes come true for 52 years. With two floors (and an annex) overflowing with books, LPs, calendars and stocking stuffers, you’ll have to work really hard to leave without all of your lists complete. (415-387-2272, www.greenapplebooks.com)

How to get there: Parking is a treasure hunt in this neighborhood, but three bus lines stop within a block of the store.

How it works: If you’re tight on time, call ahead to have books held. Green Apple does offer complimentary gift wrapping.

What they recommend: Patti Smith’s “Year of the Monkey,” her memoir of one especially life-altering year (including some time in San Francisco), is perfect for a literary, artistic person. For new parents, or just readers who like a laugh, comedian Ali Wong’s “Dear Girls” features a hilarious collection of letters to her two daughters. For loved ones who like to entertain but don’t want to spend days in the kitchen, “Nothing Fancy” by Alison Roman is the smash cookbook of the season.

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Where to go: City Lights Bookstore (261 Columbus Ave. at Broadway in North Beach) has specialized in world literature, the arts and progressive politics since 1953. Do you have a giftee whose reading tastes are somewhat beyond you? The booksellers here can help. (415-362-8193, www.citylights.com)

How to get there: Parking in this neighborhood can be rambunctious, but there are two public parking garages on Vallejo Street, near Powell. Public transit is a better bet.

How it works: The booksellers here are a touch too busy helping customers navigate literary culture to help wrap your present, but they will set aside titles if you call ahead. How would Lawrence Ferlinghetti feel about gift wrap, after all?

What they recommend: For powerful poems with a side of local history, pick up “The Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman,” the complete surviving works of a major African American Beat-surrealist poet. For young readers with activist enthusiasm, “Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington” by Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle and Michael Long depicts Rustin’s life of nonviolent activism and resistance. And for that one reader who really wants to discuss the meaning of life, “Forgotten Journey” by Silvina Ocampo, translated by Suzanne Jill Levine and Katie Lateef-Jan, is a delicately crafted, intensely visual and deeply personal collection of stories exploring the nature of memory, family ties and the difficult imbalances of love.

Up among the vineyards

Where to go: Napa Bookmine has you covered with three Wine Country locations: 964 Pearl St. or 610 First St. in Napa, and 1315 Main St. in St. Helena. (707-733-3199, www.napabookmine.com)

How to get there: The Vine bus system connects to the Vallejo Ferry and El Cerrito del Norte BART, and stops within a five-minute walk of all three locations. Or, if you drive, there is free street parking at all locations and dedicated lots in Napa and the Oxbow Public Market.

How it works: The Pearl Street shop offers free gift-wrapping, and the the Book Mine also fulfills online orders with free delivery to Napa County ZIP codes 94558 and 94559, and free shipping on orders over $50.

What they recommend: “50 Hikes With Kids: California,” by Wendy Gorton, for that nature-enthusiast parent who maybe needs some help with directions and distracting children from their phones. “The Lager Queen of Minnesota,” by J. Ryan Stradal, is an uplifting book about family and hard work for your relative who just wants to live under a blanket by the fire for the holidays. “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life,” by San Francisco author Dr. Louise Aronson, is for any family struggling to understand their elders’ circumstances.

Down the Peninsula

Where to go: Books Inc. Palo Alto (74 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto) might be in the beating heart of Silicon Valley, but it has real human booksellers to help you find wonderful books printed on actual paper! (650-321-0600, www.booksinc.net/PaloAlto)

How to get there: The store is only a 10-minute walk from the Palo Alto Caltrain station. If you’re driving, it’s right between Interstate 280 and Highway 101, so you can slide through whether you’re headed up or down, and there’s parking right out front.

How it works: Call ahead to preorder or hold a book. Free gift wrapping is always available, but during the holidays local groups like the Girl Scouts, schools and clubs help fill their fundraising coffers with the tips they earn.

What they recommend: “Giraffes on Horseback Salad,” by Josh Frank, Tim Heidecker and Manuela Pertega, is a perfect holiday gift book for that odd bird, thanks to the splendid art by Pertega and the entertaining story. “Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals,” by Millie Marota, catalogs 43 enthralling species in stunning art by the author and will have young readers writing letters in support of the Endangered Species Act. For the reader who has been advocating for the voiceless their whole life, the imposing full-page pictures of amazing humans in “Activist: Portraits of Courage” by KK Ottesen will be just the inspiration needed to continue the struggle.

Marin County

Where to go: Just a bit more than an hour northwest of San Francisco, Point Reyes Books (11315 State Route 1, Point Reyes Station) serves West Marin locals and weekend interlopers with a perfectly curated mix of books and an especially strong nature book selection in a bucolic setting. (415-663-1542, www.ptreyesbooks.com)

How to get there: Unless you have an especially sturdy horse, you’ll need a car for this jaunt up 101 through Fairfax via Sir Francis Drake Boulevard or Novato over Petaluma-Point Reyes Road. But even on busy weekends, parking in town is usually plentiful.

How it works: Call or order online to set books aside and avail yourself of the self-serve gift-wrapping station. Then make a day of it! Go for a hike, eat a dozen oysters, and then shop for more books.

What they recommend: For your more cerebral nature lover, the staff recommends the elegant “Architecture of Trees,” a must-have, oversize book for any tree enthusiast. The cosmologically inclined on your list will appreciate Arthur Sze’s National Book Award-winning collection, “Sight Lines,” which embodies the author’s capacious view of the living universe and our place within it. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s “Braiding Sweetgrass” is a veritable treatise on gratitude — both the giving of it and the receiving.

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Where to go: Book Passage’s Corte Madera store (51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera) is for shoppers who want all the options. But don’t let the large square footage fool you: This store is carefully curated to have just what you need. (415-927-0960, www.bookpassage.com)

How to get there: There is plenty of free parking in the storefront lot just off 101.

How it works: There is free gift wrapping year-round, and they’re happy to help customers preorder books or have selected titles set aside in store, online or over the phone.

What they recommend: The good folks of Corte Madera are feeling the winter chill, so they’ve recommended thrillers to heat things up: “The Siberian Dilemma” by Martin Cruz Smith may be set in frigid Siberia, but this brilliant portrait of Putin’s Russia pulls back the icy curtain on Russian politics to reveal some white-hot action. For readers interested in a page-turner with a political and social edge, Steph Cha’s novel “Your House Will Pay” powerfully illustrates the cost of violence on the families and communities afflicted by the Los Angeles riots.

Berkeley or Oakland 

Where to go: Pegasus Bookstore has three locations nestled in the heart of three neighborhood centers (Pegasus Oakland, 5560 College Ave.; Pegasus Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; Pegasus Solano, 1855 Solano Ave., Berkeley), all featuring an amazing array of new and sale books for every budget. (They also feature a huge gift card selection.) (510-652-6259, 510-649-1320, or 510-652-6259, www.pegasusbookstore.com)

How to get to all of them: While the Oakland and downtown Berkeley locations are best reached via BART, the Solano Avenue location is a touch off the beaten path in North Berkeley but has metered street parking.

How it works: Free self-serve gift wrap, and fast, free special order, preorder, and hold services make these stores the perfect spot for your final dash. And each is surrounded by a host of other small businesses with great gift potential.

What they recommend: In a year rich in kids’ empowerment books, “Sofia Valdez, Future Prez,” by Andrea Beaty, is the standout title for your political upstart. And it rhymes! Culturally engaged friends whom you want to get into reading fiction will love Ta-Nehisi Coates’ debut novel, “The Water Dancer.” If there’s someone on your list who always seems to have soil under her or his nails, then “Underland,” by Robert Macfarlane — a thrilling journey through caves and catacombs and a cautionary environmental tale — is a must-gift.

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 Mount Diablo foothills

Where to go: Rakestraw Books (3 Railroad Ave., Danville) is, according to Michael Chabon, “small, perfect, and the more you peer into it, endlessly deep.” What better place to hide during the holiday rush? (925-837-7337, www.rakestrawbooks.com)

How to get there: A car is the best way to reach the shop, but it’s right off of a regional mixed-use trail for the hardy cyclists and runners among the reading public. For the rest of us, there is a large parking lot right in front.

How it works: Ordering books over the phone is heartily endorsed, and gift wrap is always free.

What they recommend: For those in need of a thrill or who’ve ever imagined turning secretarial work into spycraft, “The Secrets We Kept,” by Lara Prescott, should do the trick. For a double dose of excellent fiction, “On Swift Horses”, a novel by Shannon Pufahl, and “The Revisioners,”, a novel by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, will be the books to be seen with in 2020 and therefore perfect for your bookish cousin — plus, both writers are local.

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North Bay

Where to go: Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma (140 Kentucky St., Petaluma) is another store for readers who like a big selection. Their shop, featuring 10,000 square feet of fiction, magazines, children’s books and just about everything else, should get you what you need. (707-762-0563, www.copperfieldsbooks.com/petaluma)

How to get there: Take Highway 101 to the Petaluma Boulevard North exit and look for street parking or seek out the Keller Street Garage.

How it works: Free gift wrapping, preorders, and title set-asides are all available, as are a selection of curated holiday tables.

What to buy: Hollywood is giving “Dune” another shot in theaters in December 2020, so buy your sci-fi-curious middle- and high-school readers a copy of “Dune: Deluxe Edition” by Frank Herbert before the subject matter is ruined for another generation by the silver screen. If you’re afraid of vinyl shops, then “Tom Waits,” by Matt Mahurin, is the perfect gift for any music lover — it’s a fascinating collection of photo collages and original illustrations of the musician. And then there’s the friend who has always been a gourmet. For them, only one gift will do: “Joy of Cooking: 2019 Edition Fully Revised and Updated” by Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Becker, John Becker and Megan Scott.