Leave it to a local wordsmith to know the best place in town to read a book.
Eight San Diego County authors lent their reading expertise for this guide and sent in suggestions for some of their favorite nooks to settle in with a good book. Each spot is picturesque and quiet, and most offer the chance to get out in nature.
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner Train
Author: Tracy Badua
“One of my favorite spots to read is Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner. I often commute on the train, and I get beautiful glimpses of the coast when I need a break from the page.”
Tracy Badua is the author of six young adult fiction books, including “The Takeout” and “This is Not a Personal Statement,” with some of her work starring Filipino-American youth as they navigate growing up. She is also an attorney working in U.S. housing policy.
Along with the train, Badua recommends reading at the Silent Book (& Beer) Club every other Monday at Deft Brewing in Bay Park. “Books and craft beer make such a good pairing,” she says.
Encinitas Public Library
Author: Michael Mahin
“A library. Yes, the most obvious reading place in the world. But the one in Encinitas is special. It’s gotta have the best ocean view of any library in the county. Beautiful balcony for when it’s beautiful (and it’s always beautiful). Nice clean inside if you want a cushy seat.”
Michael Mahin is a screenwriter and picture book author whose stories bring the lives of historical music icons, including Muddy Waters and Carlos Santana, to young readers. His latest book, “Gizmos, Gadgets, and Guitars: The Story of Leo Fender,” is about the boy who grew up to make the famous Fender electric guitar.
Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach
Author: Don Winslow
“Probably my favorite place to read in San Diego is below the bluffs at Solana Beach. Go to Fletcher Cove, walk down to the beach and take a left. Walk along the bluff and find a good spot to sit down with that book. It’s drop-dead gorgeous there, and sometime I find myself not reading but just gazing out at the ocean. Watch the tide, though, you can get stranded.”
Don Winslow, one of San Diego’s most well-known and accomplished authors, is the writer behind 23 novels, many of which center around California, San Diego County and the U.S.-Mexico border region. Winslow’s most recent book, “City of Dreams,” is the second work in “The City” trilogy, which is set to be Winslow’s final series. The author has announced plans to retire next year.
Lake Murray
Author: Marilyn Chin
“My favorite and secret place to read is at Lake Murray! Now, that I’ve revealed this, it’s no longer a secret. I wrote hundreds of haikus there and saved about twenty.”
Marilyn Chin is a poet and author. Her latest work is her sixth collection of poems, titled “Sage,” that published earlier this year. Chin is a professor emerita of creative writing in the department of English and comparative literature at San Diego State University.
Lestat’s on Adams Avenue
Author: Diane Asitimbay
“San Diego has so many great coffee shops! I particularly like the down-home independent atmosphere of Lestat’s in Normal Heights on 33rd and Adams. I need a place that’s quiet when I read and if the place is more of a social gathering place, I can’t read, I’ll end up people watching instead!”
Diane Asitimbay is a writer, poet and international educator at UC San Diego. Her latest book, “My Life as a Cactus,” is a comic novel about a rookie reporter who heads to Mexico to start her new career.
Asitimbay also suggests cracking open a book at the Trolley Barn Park on Adams Avenue in University Heights, where she says she can spend hours reading.
Self-Realization Fellowship Encinitas Temple Meditation Gardens
Author: Shilpi Somaya Gowda
“You’d be pressed to find a more beautiful and tranquil place than this. These meditation gardens are perched high on a bluff over Swami’s Beach and feature lush flora, burbling water and lots of tucked-away spots to sit and read (or write, sketch or meditate). I always find it replenishing to spend time in this special place, with its spectacular ocean vistas and quiet serenity.”
Shilpi Somaya Gowda has written three novels, each of which explore ideas such as immigration, identity, generational conflict and family dynamics. Gowda’s book, “A Great Country,” will be out in March.
The Wood Library at the Seabird Resort Hotel
Author: John W. Thill
“It is beautifully designed with nooks to recline and relax in and views that inspire your soul. It also feels kind of fancy like you are a minor celebrity or a tiny influential influencer of some sort. It is named after former Oceanside mayor and police officer Jim Wood.”
John W. Thill is an Oceanside-based author who published his first book, “A California Love Story,” earlier this year. The book is based on a collection of love letters that Thill’s grandparents sent to each other during the early days of their relationship in the 1920s.
Thill’s other Oceanside recommendations include READS Learning Center and St. Mary’s Star of the Sea church, where he and his wife, and his parents, read their wedding vows: “You can sit in quiet meditation, and sense and smell the salt water in the air and almost hear the ocean waves breaking under the pier. Gratitude for large and small things flows easily here.”
Yacht Club Promenade Pocket Park in Coronado
Author: Alana Quintana Albertson
“I sit here, read (and often write) and watch the sailboats come in, often with an iced horchata latte in hand from Better Buzz. It’s so peaceful and calm here and the views can’t be beat. My sons are taking sailing lessons so I was so delighted when I discovered this gem.”
Alana Quintana Albertson is a romance novelist who lives in Poway. Her work includes more than two dozen books, including the latest “Kiss Me, Mi Amor,” and she also offers writer workshops, such as one on how to write serial fiction, and another on marketing books to an audience.
A fan of being outdoors, Albertson also recommends reading at Old Poway Park in Poway and Calumet Park in La Jolla.
