"He texts, “It’s K. Good to run into you.” He’s a poet, oh boy. J saves him in her phone as K the Poet." www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/mysteries-an...

A poem it feels made for me: West Marin, Oakland, persimmons, and the cliff edge! Beautiful, glad I got to read it this morning.

Steph Curry Finally Finishes Eating Mouthguard

There's only one (but very important!) literary event in Oakland today, but it picks up speed as the week goes on.

It's calendar day, hooray hooray! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, January 6 - January 11 : www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

“Arachnids have book lungs,” said a passing man in another top hat. “Fight! Fight!” shouted a bystander. www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/sad-for-new-...

Sad for New Year's! A vibe report from "Re-Animation" in Fruitvale www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/sad-for-new-...

Sad for New Year's! A vibe report from "Re-Animation" in Fruitvale www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/sad-for-new-...

I'm working on a review of Kim De Wolff's "Synthetic Frontiers: Ocean Plastics and the Persistence of Trash Islands" (@mitpress.bsky.social) for @oaklandreviewofbooks.org & I truly cannot wait to explain why this book is so fantastic & I encourage anyone at all interested in pollution to read it.

We launched Oakland Review of Books in 2025, starting with an events calendar and vibe reports and, as we've gone on, more and more blogs and reviews and even a few full-on bangers. (And The Oakland syllabus!) We've actually done a lot. But 2026 is going to be The Year of ORB!

We launched Oakland Review of Books in 2025, starting with an events calendar and vibe reports and, as we've gone on, more and more blogs and reviews and even a few full-on bangers. (And The Oakland syllabus!) We've actually done a lot. But 2026 is going to be The Year of ORB!

there's not that much on this week, but I put a LOT of writerly energy into zhuzhing up what's there so please enjoy and tell your friends.

Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, December 30 - January 4: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, December 30 - January 4: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

Have you ever seen BART’s Grand Meet? It’s our nightly ritual at MacArthur BART station! All four platforms fill with the lasts trains of the night for a timed transfer at 12:51 a.m. so riders can get anywhere in the system. Watch to see how our system planners make it happen!

The holiday vibes of Lake Merritt!

When it is a damp, drizzly December in the soul, Oakland must get just as nigh to Lake Merritt as she possibly can: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/oflocks/

When it is a damp, drizzly December in the soul, Oakland must get just as nigh to Lake Merritt as she possibly can: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/oflocks/

we've heard this is true, but having never been to the west bay, can't confirm

Happy God[s] holiday! This month only, instead of $5 a month to help us make literally the best content available on the internet or in all of recorded (or speculatively imagined human history) about Oakland, you can also pledge $15 a month, or even $30! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org#/portal/signup

Things are happening all week long in the movie theaters, on the street corners, in the Oakland of the mind...

Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, December 23 - 28: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

If you've ever gone to our website and said "damn, that looks great!" the reason is @theoretical-mutant.bsky.social‬'s collages, which he generously allows us to use:

it occurs to me that the waymo failure in the SF blackout is precisely the kind of failure we were trying to help with: when traffic lights go out navigating intersections resolves to social negotiation, which requires theory of mind, which AVs ain't got

This was so much fun! Thank you Oakland for coming out and for subscribing to all the vibes that are fit to print (on the Internet). I got the BEST book in the Secret Santa exchange too. Maybe I'll review it for the @oaklandreviewofbooks.org someday.

Introducing, Oakland Review of Books's Oakland Syllabus! of Books! And of other things! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/introducing-...

Introducing, Oakland Review of Books's Oakland Syllabus! of Books! And of other things! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/introducing-...

With free cookies! (We use child labor)

The follow up? Ken Houston isn't sorry. And accuses anti-Flock speakers of being from Portland? Despite us all saying which district we live in before we spoke. www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco...

A hedge fund manager can buy you a city council seat, but he cant buy you the ability to conceal your multiple blatant ethics violations! Guess the old saying is true - you can lead a clown to water but you can't make him competent 😔

There are a thousand things competing for your attention at every level, but: surveillance tech has captured every level of government, to the point that local electeds feel safe doing THIS to the enraged public. It is an emergency that will hurt all of us

I wrote about the genuinely galling Oakland City Council meeting I attended yesterday, where our the councilmembers almost unanimously voted to continue a dangerous countract with FLOCK surveillance. Thank you to @sarahgailey.bsky.social who helped me parse my anger into something readable.

"He rolled his eyes, pulled faces, refused to make eye contact with those addressing him directly, had numerous side conversations, and simply walked away (at one point with food)." @maggietokudahall.bsky.social reports back from yesterday's Flock debacle: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/whipped-votes/

It's sort of impossible to really capture what Alice Wong meant to so many people (myself included) but @soleilho.com wrote something beautiful, and we gathered up a few touching memories from other folks that speak to what a brilliant star she was. Love you forever, Alice.

Would you like to know how to make a zine? Here's easy step-by-step instructions on how to make your own without the use of a computer by @thorazos.bsky.social

any time you're told to use AI at work, turn your work in about half as fast and pepper it with obvious mistakes. if nobody cares, you have less to do, and if they do, you can tell them you'll never use AI at work again

If you find yourself eating at the new Cafe Colucci, enjoy this elegy to the Eastern City Cafe that used to be there (by Reginald Lockett, 2001)

Dressed up, in the cold, for pieces of paper: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/dressed-paper/

Taking a survey of the vibes on BART, between Oakland and the West Bay: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/surveilling-...

"The act of ‘Hey, pick the best thing’ is very stressful for me, even when there’s no stakes involved.” --Ryan Coogler

Someone came to our happy hour last night and asked if we were ever going to review some books. First of all, how dare you. Second of all, yes.

Street Spirit is an independent, monthly newspaper that has been dedicated to covering poverty & homelessness since 1995. We're throwing our winter fundraiser party at Eli's Mile High Club in #Oakland this Friday. Join us for a night of music & community to celebrate another year of Street Spirit.

The words of the profits are written on BART walls: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/surveilling-...

One week from today! Tie one on (a bell, a candy cane, some tinsel, an entire jug of eggnog) with the @oaklandreviewofbooks.org 12/18: luma.com/home?e=evt-M...

I wrote about glasses ads on BART and tech surveillance paranoia, but didn't use a single "through a ... darkly" pun, please clap: www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/surveilling-...

We're also doing EVENTS! 1. On Thursday, we'll be at Ghost Town Brewery (in West Oakland) from 5-7, for an informal hang; 2. Next week, find us at Local Economy for our holiday party (less informal, but "formal" would be a stretch). Details: luma.com/4grva21b?ref...

Oakland Review of Books calendar of (not just) literary events, December 9 - 14! www.oaklandreviewofbooks.org/calendar/

“If I live long enough, I’ll be able to do shit like watch my nephew have children, watch the rise and fall and rise and fall of the right wing, but mostly find a way to be at peace with every bad thing that has ever happened in my life.” —Brontez Purnell