Curious about the San Francisco Bay Area? With explorations into unique local legends, interesting landmarks, and uncovered histories, Bay Curious is a fun, quirky guide to the secret stories of the Bay Area for visitors, newcomers, and California natives alike.
Who was America's first and only Emperor? Why are there ships buried under the streets of San Francisco? Was the word "hella" really created in the East Bay? Bay Curious brings you the answers to these questions and much more through fun and fascinating illustrated deep-dives into hidden gems of Bay Area trivia, history, and culture.
Based on the award-winning KQED podcast of the same name, Bay Curious brings a fresh eye to some of its most popular pieces and expands to cover stories unique to this book. With subjects ranging from Marin's redwood forests to the Winchester Mystery House, from the Black Panther Party's school program to the invention of the Mai Tai, Bay Curious gives you the entertaining and informative, weird and wonderful true stories of the San Francisco Bay Area.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE Bay Curious takes a unique approach to exploring the Bay Area through its lesser known but just as fascinating stories, taking readers on a reportorial rather than literal tour.
BEYOND THE With 49 entries—inspired by the famous 49-Mile Drive— Bay Curious includes a combination of updated popular episodes from the podcast and brand-new, never-before-heard stories researched for the book, plus fun illustrations and irresistible trivia sidebars.
GIFT OR SELF-PURCHASE FOR SF For anyone living in San Francisco or visiting with a goal of getting beyond the beaten tourist path, this volume holds a treasure trove of inspiration for an armchair adventure or self-guided tour.
There are a couple of flaws/downsides to this book. There is no Index. I guess that’s the main one. Also, It’s-It ice cream sandwiches don’t have a mention in the food section and that means I might not recommend it to one particular friend who is a huge fan. I wasn’t. When we were at Playland and she went to get an It’s-It (https://www.itsiticecream.com/about-us) I was (in my pre-veg*n days) a couple of booths down getting a Hot House enchilada. The red sauce was addictive. (https://www.outsidelands.org/streetwi...). Now I do like some of the vegan It’s-It copycats but only for rare consumption. Well of course I could think of a lot of things that could have been included (a LOT!!!) but weren’t but those two things stood out or were at least the first “missing things” that I noticed. It is explained in the last story, which is about the 49 mile scenic drive, that there are exactly 49 stories in this book for a reason. 49 is a significant number for San Francisco. It’s 49 square miles and it grew to a city in large part because of the 1849 Gold Rush.
The contents are divided into main sections: PEOPLE, CULTURE, PLACES, FOOD, NATURE, THE CITY.
Even though I didn’t enjoy reading every story (oysters, for example) this is a great book. It’s KQED’s first book. KQED is San Francisco’s public education television station and a station that’s been an integral part of my life since childhood, and not only watching their programming. For years they had an annual auction in which I participated in various ways.
There are so many interesting stories: the Ohlone people & Emperor Norton & all the movies and the fog & the microclimates & the coast Redwoods and Hyperion/the Bristlecone Pine Methuselah & the Bay Area during the last Ice Age, the Rainbow (Robin Williams) tunnels!!, the Flinstone House, and so many more. Each is written by a different contributor so to my mind they’re all co-authors.
The main thing this book did for me is remind me how much I love the city and area where I’ve spent virtually all of my life. I’m often lukewarm on the city & area these days but these entries were a good reminder about the many great things about the area.
I’d love to own this book as part of my San Francisco collection and to be able to dip into its sections at times. This book would make a great gift book for natives, residents, visitors and those curious about the area.
The author is the creator of KQED’S podcast, Bay Curious, which takes questions from listeners about the history and landmarks of the San Francisco Bay area. Anyone who, like me, is fascinated by San Francisco will enjoy reading about some of its little known history. I also recommend Gary Kamiya’S Cool Grey City of Love for anyone who can’t get enough of San Francisco. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Bay Curious is a fun look at some of what makes the San Francisco Bay Area so unique. This book is based off of the popular podcast of the same name. Included are 49 stories that explore everything from local historical events to food culture to interesting landmarks.
I am originally from the Bay Area and found this book to be a delightful insight into all the quirky little things that make the area special. I found the section on local slang to be interesting. The book is a nice blend of both historical and current topics.
This would make a great gift for any fans of the podcast or any locals interested in the history around them.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley!
Nice collection of short stories about the SF Bay Area. Some pieces are quite well known, like Sutro Baths, Winchester mystery house, redwoods, etc. But some were unique and interesting to learn, like rocky road ice cream, ghost fleet, etc. Overall a 3.5*
The perfect encapsulation of all the weird and cool things that make the Bay Area, the Bay Area. There are a lot of things I learned even though I grew up in the Bay & attended college in San Francisco! A fun and informative read!
This book is based on a podcast and explores all things Bay Area. San Francisco has my ❤️ Please never call it San Fran or Frisco. The author says Frisco is ok, but it’s not. SF is appropriate if you must abbreviate, or just The City.
From history of nudity and 420 to important people to food, music, slang & pop culture this book covers it all. I will say, there are a few local places missing but those are for you to discover.
Favorite movie: Mrs. Doubtfire Favorite iconic spot: Coit Tower Favorite piece of public art: Cupid’s Span Favorite food: Fortune Cookie Favorite drink: Irish Coffee or Fernet Branca Favorite neighborhood: Chinatown
I visited SF a few years back and fell in love. It is a stunning city with lots to see, really nice people, and fairly cohesive Public transit (barring the challenge to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. This was a fun journey through some of the hidden stories behind the city. While I skimmed some that seemed more aimed at locals, it was overall a pretty cool book that is easy to follow even after one visit. I especially liked the discussion of weather and why it makes this area the only one that can support the gorgeous redwoods. We have to protect our climate—those trees cannot be lost!!
Pretty cute book about the SF Bay Area, learned a few new things. IMO would have benefited from a few more pictures/maps and writing was definitely adapted from radio, but fun for some quick reading time. 3.5
Such a fun book for anyone who calls the Bay Area home or loves it after visiting. Based on the podcast Bay Curious, it's a collection of 49 stories of the food, culture, people, places, and nature that make the Bay Area unique.
So much information packed into this book. It's more than just a travel guide; there's history of different areas and former residents, trivia, culture, and so much more. I learned so much about how the area was shaped and got its unique flavor. Great for those planning a visit or even residents who want to learn a little more or fact checked what they do know. I will also definitely check out the podcast of the same name.
I received a copy from #NetGalley for an honest review.
Fun glimpses of Bay Area history and culture, organized around themes of people, culture, nature, food, places, etc. It's filled with cute drawings and short essays on topics like the origin of "hella," the iconic architecture of Chinatown, jazz and the Fillmore, buffalo in Golden Gate Park and the weird proliferation of palm trees throughout the city, the origins of Treasure Island, and so much more. This will be a perfect book for tourists or fans of the Bay Area to learn more about the region in quick pieces!
Delicious morsels of Bay Area trivia. I would consider buying this book as a gift to someone new to the Bay Area! My main complaint is that many stories were covered on the podcast, and it’s actually much less engaging to have them in the book form than the podcast form.
Delightful! I like how this book is written concisely and packed chock-full with interesting info. As a Bay Area native, I learned so much and finally know the stories behind some things.
Ah , the Bay Area - lots of amazing people and places to see, with lots of great stories- if you know where to look. Fortunately, Olivia Allen-Price and the writers and hosts of the KQED podcast Bay Curious have been getting together these great stories, and now some of those stories have been shared in book form!
Olivia compares this collection of stories from the Bay Area to the literary equivalent of the famous 49 Mile Scenic Drive, giving you the chance to experience some interesting Bay Area history and places, as well as get to know the personalities that make the area so unique. Some of the stories are of familiar places and things to all residents and visitors, like the Golden Gate Bridge and the bison herd in Golden Gate Park. Some stories reveal the area’s connection to things and people that are world-famous but not always associated with the area, like the origins of the Mai Tai , Rocky Road ice cream, and fortune cookies, or how Frida Kahlo experienced a couple of milestones in her life there. Other stories talk about aspects of the City that are important but not well-known, like the communication tower on Sutro Mountain or the firefighting water cisterns throughout the City. From the story of how most of San Francisco’s deceased ended up in nearby Colma to how Berkeley almost became California’s state capital, there are some great stories here, besides the ones you may already have heard many times before.
“Bay Curious” has a number of stories of not more than a couple of pages apiece, grouped into several categories, like famous people and stories from San Francisco. The book is a quick read, but has some really interesting stories- perfect for the visitor to the area or for long-time residents. Highly recommended!
I’ve been living in the Bay Area for around 30 years now and I feel so lucky to call it home. But I can’t help but feel like a tourist at times whenever I venture outside the South Bay. After all this time, there’s still so much I don’t know about the area. This is a cool book based on the "Bay Curious Podcast" (that I will definitely have to check out now) It explores some of the hidden history and local quirks. There is quite a bit of myth-busting included as well. Everything from the history of Oakland sideshows, to why it’s called “The Tenderloin, ” to why Colma is the perfect setting for a zombie movie.
This book features exactly 49 snippets (because of course, it’s our lucky number!) and even throws in a few recipes for local treats like the classic Martini and Green Goddess dressing. While it’s heavy on San Francisco and East Bay stories, I do wish it included more about the South Bay. An index would have been a thoughtful addition too.
Overall, it's a very fun read that I’ll be using for my 2024 reading prompt: “A book with a musical instrument on the cover.” The trumpet on the cover is a nod to the Fillmore District's jazz scene from the first half of the 20th century. Who knew?
This is a collection of short essays about various aspects of the Bay Area, with a wide range of topics including specific people like Mary Ellen Pleasant, the origins of local slang "hella," and the Flintstone House near I-280. It's hard to review a collection of such diverse topics, but I did appreciate the light-hearted tone and the brevity of the essays that made it easy to read about many topics in one sitting. I've lived in the Bay Area for over two decades, but I still learned quite a few new and interesting things. In general, I gravitate towards more casual, fun topics like the origin of "hella" or where Rocky Road ice cream comes from, and this format works quite well for those, providing interesting information and answers to these questions in an easily digestible way. When the book tries to tackle bigger topics like the history of jazz or the original Native American population of the area, though, it feels like it's a little too brief, and a longer, more in-depth look was needed to really do the topic justice. But overall it's a fun little book about the area that's probably especially interesting to locals.
This is a fun book about the legends/true stories about the Bay Area, an offshoot of KQED's Bay Curious podcast. As a Bay Area native, I loved hearing about some facts I always wondered about (for example, the purple glass on the SF/Oakland sidewalks) and facts I never knew (Frank Lloyd Wright wanted to build a butterfly bridge). I do wish the contributors or Allen-Price could've done more deep dives about the Bay Area personalities, and man, there were many: Herb Caen, the three-dot columnist, the Brown twins Vivian and Marian, Melvin Belli who was Jack Ruby's lawyer, and Sally Stanford, San Francisco's legendary madam who became mayor of Sausalito. Still, this would be a great gift for newcomers to the Bay Area who want to know more about where they live. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Based on the podcast of the same name, the book offers a collection of short narratives about interesting stories and curiosities in the Bay Area.
The Good: Fun stories about the Bay that I haven't found elsewhere. A good mix of local history and culture is told in an engaging way, interspersed with fun facts like the origins of slangs, top sights, etc.
The Bad: No visuals. I found myself frequently having to use Google Maps and Search to identify and visualize landmarks being described. I even skipped some sections because the effort was too much. And I'm afraid that without the visuals, I'll probably walk by many of these points of interest without realizing their connection to the information I've read in the book.
This a pretty good guide to SF and the Bay Area, i even learned a couple things. (i hope the next edition has corrections i.e. San Francisco was not the first city to perform gay marriages in the US, a city in Colorado (Aspen?) did them 30 years before we did.) My biggest problem w/the book is the artist's name being hard to find and not credited on the cover. The art is as much the appeal of this book as the various essays. Credit to Alexandra Bowman. Some things i learned - "hella" comes from Oakland, Berkeley almost had the state capitol, fortune cookies are a Japanese invention, and SF's Chinatown was rebuilt after the '06 quake as a proto-Disneyland
Magnificent! I was a fan of the radio show when it first came out and have listened to many interesting episodes of the podcast as well, so this was a blast. Nearly every story spiked an interest in further learning!
The best were, in order of appearance: -The Port Chicago 50 -Hella Oakland -The Oakland Community School -The Colma Cemeteries -The Rise and Fall of Drawbridge -Tea Garden Fortunes -Summertime Chill -The View From Mt. Diablo -Ancient History -Vault Lights -The Butterfly Bridge -San Francisco Pagodas
Always interesting to learn more about where you’re from! A great read for anyone from the Bay, and I suspect an excellent gift for the most Bay-Curious ones too!
Fun book for all Bay Area people, new and old, past, present and future. Interesting local legends, history, people and landmarks. A lot of stories you hear and learn when you are making San Francisco your home.
I was just a little sad this didn't include SF Botanical Garden at all, since it has a special place in my heart forever (and I think it's definitely a Bay Area hidden gem! Especially the library!) Maybe next book?
Interesting for San Francisco Bay Area dwellers but beyond that, I don’t think it would hold people’s attention. The writing is fairly bland, with choppy, unneccessary section headings sprinkled throughout the short chapters.
Now I have a ton of trivia to regale my fellow San Francisco/SF/Frisco*/City neighbors with.
*Ack, I said “Frisco”, which I always thought was a big local no-no but it appears that I was wrong. I still prefer SF or The City.
The book that finally got me out of my reading slump… LOVED IT!! As an SF transplant who has fallen in love with this beautiful city, this book is literally exactly what I have been searching for. I also am a know it all who loves fun facts and I learned so much from this book about the nature and eccentric charm of the city. Highly recommend, my fav story was about the backstory behind the rainbow Robin Williams tunnel to Marin.
I read this book because I'm going back and reading about places I've visited in the past. Enjoyable anecdotes about the Bay Area. I found parts of it a little dry not being a native, but overall an enjoyable reading experience. If I were someone who lived there, some of the references may have been more familiar.
This was so fun! Would highly recommend it if you live or have lived in the Bay Area. This is a breezy read with a lot of interesting facts and stories about Bay. From the history starting with the Ohlone to the first and only “American Emperor”to the local movies to lingo that was born here and made it to the mainstream … there is a lot to learn.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. This was a fun and interesting read about the little known facts of San Francisco. I’d read about several of these things unique to San Francisco over the years but I learned some new stuff as well.
Interesting but short. I discovered several new things to do around the Bay Area, such as the Essanay Silent Film museum. I’ve already spent the last two weekends there watching movies and it’s been a great experience. I heard about this book on the local NPR radio station. Good find!
Quick chapters filled with fun facts about the Bay Area. It really helped me rediscover the Bay and appreciate the plethora of experiences and stories that surround the area. I had no idea that both Rocky Road and the Mai Tai were invented here!