Here's a good tip: keep the SAN FRANCISCO FOOD LOVER'S POCKET GUIDE (Ten Speed Press) in your backpack or car because you never know when a certain food-mood might strike. Author Patricia Unterman knows all the city's best eateries, as well as the East Bay, Marin, and wine country. Her bite-sized reviews provide just enough information to whet your appetite. If it hadn't been for this little book, we might never have discovered Picco in Larkspur—the most elegant pizza this side of the Bay. In addition to the best restaurants within reach, you'll find bakeries, bars, butchers, delis, cafés, wine shops, and more. Yum-yum!

BAY AREA WILD: A Celebration of the Natural Heritage of the San Francisco Bay Area by Galen Rowell (Sierra Club Books) This coffee table paperback is guaranteed to seduce. Call it a tourist trap (a rabbit hole leading to a wondrous land), these gorgeous photos will inspire restlessness, an urge to head west, flights to San Francisco. The Bay Area is filled with natural wonders and wildlife, and enough scenic beauty to make you forget the malling of America. The author, who grew up here, manages to pull the reader right into the picture with his passionate words and imagery. From redwoods to marshlands, the area has more dedicated greenbelts that any other major city. Whether staycationing or vacationing, Bay Area enthusiasts will savor this book…before and after the hike.

ORGANIC MARIN: Recipes from land to table by Tim Porter and Farina Wong Kingsley (Andrews McMeel Publishing) This is the future of food and the future is here and now. Fresh, healthy, and local. The book is a visual feast with sumptuous photos from Marin Magazine and yumnificent recipes—Panna Cotta with fresh strawberries, anyone? Today, it's all about local and it all started here in Marin County. You'll want two copies of this book—one for the kitchen, one for the coffee table. Eat and ogle!

MY NEPENTHE: BOHEMIAN TALES OF FOOD, FAMILY, AND BIG SUR by Romney Steele (Andrews McMeel Publishing) Here's an appealing memoir of the famed family restaurant in Big Sur. You go to Big Sur for three reasons: the gorgeous coast, the redwoods, and Nepenthe. In addition to wonderful anecdotes that capture the "spirit of place" and beautiful photos by Sara Remington, there are 85 family recipes to stir the appetite. Open the book and you can almost hear the waves slamming against the rocky cliffs.

GOLDEN DREAMS: CALIFORNIA IN AN AGE OF ABUNDANCE, 1950-1963 by Kevin Starr (Oxford University Press). This is the epic story of how California became the most populous state, a global commonwealth and booming utopian culture—art, jazz, Zen Buddhism, Hollywood. From the spreading suburbs to the cultural rise of its cities, the author masterfully maps out the golden dreams that gave birth to the idea and reality of the state. The book is particularly illuminating in light of the current economic crisis when we're suddenly faced with—oh no—the end of free parking on Sundays. Utopia, not.

VERY CALIFORNIA: TRAVELS THROUGH THE GOLDEN STATE by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler (Algonquin Books). This delightful travel diary is filled with the author's charming watercolors, depicting her journey from the north coast to San Diego. Colorful characters, roadside stands, quirky architecture—all come alive in these drawings and provide a unique, personal (and often humorous) portrait of the Golden State.

CITY BY THE BAY: A MAGICAL JOURNEY AROUND SAN FRANCISCO by Tricia Brown, with illustrations by Elisa Kleven (Chronicle Books). Here's a children's book to delight both young and old. It captures the magic of San Francisco with fascinating facts and landmarks presented in colorful Oz-like illustrations. From the Golden Gate Bridge and Union Square to the Japanese Tea Garden and Chinatown, the city's wonders dazzle.

VINTAGE SAN FRANCISCO. Edited by Peter Beren. Photographs by Moulin Studios (Welcome Books). This book of historic black and white images taken over three decades by the gifted photographers at Moulin Studios, capture the city's beauty. There are indelible photos of the Great Quake of 1906 that reveal the magnitude of the devastation, as well as the spirit of a city rebuilt and reborn. The extraordinary cover photo shows the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog with a full moon glowing in the distance. Images are accompanied by celebratory quotations from writers, like these words from Mark Twain: "I fell in love with the most cordial and sociable city in the Union. After the sagebush and alkali deserts of Washoe, San Francisco was paradise to me."

OUR CALIFORNIA (Voyageur Press). Here's a book for the coffee table—glorious, full-color photos of California from tip to toe—snowcapped mountains, majestic redwoods, coastal scenes, flowers, and the streets of SF at dusk. You'll discover familiar landmarks like the Hotel Del Coronado and the Santa Monica Pier, as well as unknown treasures... a Spanish mission bathed in moonlight, or reflections on the surface of theMerced River. This splendid visual tour is the next best thing to being there.

MURDER BY THE BAY: Historic Homicide in and about the City of San Francisco by Charles F. Adams (Word Dancer Press). No, not the cartoonist, although this Charles Adams shares a heathly sense of the macabre as he leads us on a tour of Bayside mayhem, from memorable Victorian crimes (e,g., "The Phosphorescent Brides" in 1885) to the chilling Zodiac murders of the 1970's and the slaying of Harvey Milk. This is a book to curl up in bed with when the sun goes down and the fog creeps in.

And speaking of fog, it's no wonder the Bay Area is a favorite spot for mystery writers. Below are a few of our favorite titles that capture the haunting atmosphere:

SAN FRANCISCO NOIR edited by Peter Maravelis (Akashic Books)
CITY OF DRAGONS by Kelli Stanley (Minotaur Books)
LOCKED IN by Marcia Muller (Grand Central Publishing)
TREASURE HUNT by John Lescroart (Dutton)
ROADSIDE CROSSES by Jeffrey Deaver (Simon & Schuster)
SPADE & ARCHER by Joe Gores (Knopf)

P.S. Can't leave out Southern California:

L.A. NOIR by John Buntin (Harmony Books). Nonfiction.

HOLLYWOOD MOON by Joseph Wambaugh (Little, Brown)

photo from Vintage San Francisco