Initially, I was afraid to come here because of all the bad reviews. It was my first time taking…read morethe ferry from SF to Oakland, and I didn't have a Clipper card, so I had no choice but to buy an actual ticket. Before I approached, I expected to get chewed out or at least glared at. I've been here twice now with no issues. On my first visit, I got a guy who was really friendly and helpful. He got me my ticket, and even told me which direction to go to and which port I should look for, without me having to ask. The second time, I got a guy who seemed to be in training with the first guy guiding him. The trainee was able to get the job done without a problem. I usually don't give places like this a review, but I felt the need to write up a good one, so others won't be afraid to come here like I had been and give them a shot.

Based on a recent rude and abusive "customer service" experience at this location on a weekday…read moreafternoon when I attempted to replace a lost Clipper card, I fled to the Embarcadero transit centerto replace it,

An amazing bookstore and so glad I asked chatGPT to give me some ideas for a stroll around SF near…read moreUnion Square. Well, ok, this place isnt close to Union Sq, about a mile away, but it was a perfect delicious end destination for a post dinner stroll! I like bookstores and I like eclectic, unique ones. I'll go to Barnes & Noble if I had no other choice, but my favorite bookstores are independent ones and ones where they carry very unique books you can't find elsewhere. This bookstore made my inner little nerdy self so happy. I immediately got lost up front looking at very recent publication by Ai Weiwei. I then wandered onto the main floor and found an entire section of Asian works, which you will not find at B&N. I also found books from Norwegian writers too which I had never seen before, which thrilled me. I then made my way up to their attic floor which is dedicated to poetry and seems I just missed Allen Ginsberg's Howl centennial celebration. Ugh! I then came back down and then proceeded to their basement section and again I was quite pleasantly surprised by the depth and breadth of Asian themed books they had. They had plenty of the Chinese classics in English and found so many different versions of Journey to the West, I was completely overwhelmed. And then, saw an entire section on Africa and I had to fight hard to not pick up a copy of a book titled Prison Letters, which is a collection of Mandela's letters while imprisoned. I ultimately settled on two books by Ai Weiwei as he has continued to inspire me to be proud, to not conform, to be brave, to speak up, to be authentically and unapologetically me, to honor my ancestry and to push boundaries and to fight for what matters. And it just so happens too that my Chinese give name is also Weiwei. I loved coming to this bookstore and it will definitely be on rotation for me when I am in SF again.

I visited the City Lights bookstore up in San Francisco on my recent visit there. This bookstore…read moreharkens back to the Beat poetry movement of the 1960s. And when you walk in, you immediately get that sense of the power of words, the power of literature, and how they impact the community. Located right around the corner from Chinatown, we stop by when we were walking on Columbus Avenue. I had forgotten it was there, so it was great to visit this bookstore again. Hope to come again soon.

If I could give Goodreads zero stars, I would…read more I started experiencing review-bombing on my book in February 2022. It was coming from TikTok users whom I never directly interacted with. The reviews on my works were obvious violations of guidelines, so I reported them and requested for Goodreads to remove my works, which I own under title 17 of the United States Code. They never responded nor addressed those reviews. I experienced it again with my new release, which was never submitted by me on Goodreads. This time, the reviews were even more harmful. I contacted support again and my readers attempted to help me. Their reviews (genuine and detailed) were removed but the trolls were never addressed. I just sent a cease and desist letter to their headquarters, and I will take further legal actions to protect my works but it is appalling that a company can operate with such business practices. I invite any author who was targeted to review them, stand against them and take actions to hold them accountable.

I use the site in a very basic way, though quite a few features are available to users for free…read more Discussion groups, quizzes and polls, and poetry contests are of little interest to me. I found most of the discussion groups cliquish and exclusionary, though such is the nature of the beast. Caveat emptor! As it stands (up until very recently), I followed authors, gave star ratings to books, entered giveaways, amassed friends, recommended books to those friends, and *wrote reviews from my mobile phone*. You see where this is headed, don't you? Like many people, most of my internet usage flows through a portable device. It came as an unpleasant surprise when the company opted to hold hostage the ability to write a review unless and until I download their less-than-stellar app. Plenty of companies already pulled this bullshit move. Lookin' at you, Yelp. So, yeah, I can see the irony. "Wait!" I hear Jeff Bezos cry. "This is the world we live in now. Bite the bullet. Or, er, take the pill, Neo, and fall down the rabbit hole with everybody else." Sorry, Mr. Trillionaire. No sale.

I was stationed in Sacramento for four years in the late 70s, during which time, almost every…read moremorning, I read the San Francisco Chronicle. The Sacramento Bee was my local paper, and I read that too, but I'd grown up in the Washington, DC area, and the Chronicle, the de facto "newspaper of record" in Northern California, was analogous to the Washington Post, the "real" paper that we'd read at home. So digging into the Chronicle over breakfast, for national and international news, was familiar to me. The Chronicle informed, educated, and entertained me. Also, those being my later formative years, I was, to some extent, taught to read and write by Chronicle reporters and columnists, including: Carl Nolte, Art Hoppe, Bruce Jenkins, and one of my lifelong favorites, humorist and journalist Herb Caen. Times have changed, as have we all. The internet offers access to news and information that would have been unimaginable when I read The Chronicle, and anyway, I moved away, so the paper isn't as necessary to me as it once was. More to the point, I subscribed to the Washington Post for years, but I cancelled my subscription this year, as the paper deeply integrated AI into its content creation; and I still read the New York Times, but if they go too far down that road, I'll drop them, as well. Notwithstanding these things, the Chronicle is an important part of who I am, of how I think and say what I think, and when think about that, I'm grateful.

San Francisco Chronicle was my newspaper when I was living in San Francisco and Berkeley. I needed…read morea place to live and a place to work. I found it was useful. Newspapers often get negative reviews. For the purpose I read the San Francisco Chronicle it was okay.

While the Economist is a great source of news, they have increased their subscription rate far in…read moreexcess of inflation and have now decided to have their print subscription customers pay for the Economist to advertise itself (they substituted extracts from their 1873 magazine in the July 27th double edition in place of mailing out the August 3rd edition).

I received the periodical for many years, but they decided that my city address was "undeliverable"…read moreand quit delivering without notice. This went on for six months. Despite the fact that I had been a customer for many years, they decided that I was unimportant and that they were not going to give me any credit for the issues they did not deliver. This amounts to theft. Do NOT trust them.

Subscribe to their print newspaper delivery at your own risk. They will offer a very attractively…read morelow intro rate. Then after a year they'll jack up the rate to more than double. There is no one that answers the phone should you encounter any issues. Years ago there was at least somebody picking up the phone albeit with hit or miss 'customer service' given. But now it's just via chat and not by a human just AI which is equal to zero help whatsoever. If there is a delivery problem you have to go online and select from a few reasons. If you choose a credit it will not be accurate (it'll be less than you should be given). The delivery person didn't deliver your newspaper? Too bad if you request redelivery as it never happens.

Great newspaper, but subpar website because it constantly pops asking ads to use its app which…read moresupposedly is better. Problem with the app is it which allow the user to open multiple story windows while keeping your place within the main/top window. In addition, ads constantly pop up asking if the user wants to upgrade to a family membership, kind of meaningless to a single person.

I used to pick up this mag-rag to look at all the pretty shiny people in their happy gowns and…read morecostumes and think - gosh, they really live for this stuff. Then one day I get a call, and someone I know points out the fact that I'm in there! HA! Imagine that!? Guess this means I'm now legit. :) Either that or it's just great to be yourself.

I really enjoy reading this paper. Copies are put in my mail room every month and I enjoy reading…read moreabout local news, updates, and functions going on around town. People should be a little nicer about it, as they don't put anyone down, just show how much fun and exciting life is. With so many problems in the world, it is nice just to read about local attributes. They also have a cute office.

I've purchased an Entertainment Weekly subscription twice through two different avenues and each…read moretime have only received one magazine issue. The first time I ordered it through Amazon.com and received the October 2021 copy and no other copies came. I recently ordered again through Publisher's Clearing House and once again only I received my first issue which is April 2022 but nothing afterwards. May is coming to a close and no new issues have come. What the heck is going on with this company. Why are they short changing customers. I don't understand. Someone from their camp reached out and said that they would replace the subscription with People magazine which is nice but I still wonder what is going on. I've bought subscription in the past without any issues. So sad!

For printed news media and editorials, this publsher / broadcaster is the best, and has been for a…read morelong time. Really good media products while greatly serving the reading public. You can pick up TIME magazine from some time ago and at least some of what is in there editorial - wise and otherwise will have a current application.