eSpotlight – Fictional Bay Area

I always love when a book I'm reading takes place either partially or fully in the Bay Area. It's so fun to read and think "I know where that is!" or "I've been there!" I recently read Ali Hazelwood's excellent debut novel, The Love Hypothesis, and was excited to find out it took place at Stanford University. I also adore authors Jasmine Guillory and Helen Hoang who have multiple novels that are Bay Area based. And Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City series is one of my all time favorites. Let's take a look at more eBooks that take place in and around the Bay Area.

Fiction & Mysteries

28 Barbary Lane by Armistead Maupin, book cover
Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran, book cover
There There by Tommy Orange, book cover
Sourdough by Robin Sloan, book cover
House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus, book cover
At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine Seligman, book cover
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett, book cover
Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown, book cover


Historical Fiction

Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon, book cover
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida, book cover
The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende, book cover
China Dolls by Lisa See, book cover
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue, book cover


Romance

The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory, book cover
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, book cover
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang, book cover
The Marriage Game by Sara Desai, book cover
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev, book cover
The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, book cover
Epic by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy, book cover


Science Fiction & Fantasy

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, book cover
The Circle by Dave Eggers, book cover
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore, book cover
Virtual Light by William Gibson, book cover
Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen, book cover
Natalie Tan's Book of Luck & Fortune by Roselle Lim, book cover


Young Adult Fiction

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins, book cover
You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour & David Levithan, book cover
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo, book cover
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, book cover
Picture Us in the Light by Kelly Loy Gilroy, book cover
This Time Will Be Different by Misa Sugiura, book cover
Internment by Samira Ahmed, book cover
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, book cover


Children's Fiction

Chasing Secrets by Gennifer Choldenko, book cover
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia, book cover
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, book cover
Gold Rush Girl by Avi, book cover
The City on the Other Side by Mairghread Scott, book cover
Love, Penelope by Joanne Rocklin, book cover
Destiny, Rewritten by Kathryn Fitzmaurice, book cover
The Tiger's Apprentice by Laurence Yep, book cover


Authors in the Bay Area

Learn more about some of the authors that live in the Bay Area:

Even More Books

If you want to find even more books that take place in the Bay Area, check out NoveList Plus. NoveList Plus is a great eResource for finding new books to read or finding read-a-likes for your favorite titles and authors. You can even limit by the location where the book takes place. Here's their full list of fiction that takes place in San Francisco, CA.

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