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History Book Tops 2026 San Francisco Book Festival

SAN FRANCISCO_ A study of California’s role in the Cold War is the top book of the 2026 San Francisco Book Festival, which honors the best books of the spring.

Authors Gary Francis Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, and Franky Ortega’s Cold War California (The History Press) details the state’s role as the focal point of western defense against Soviet aggression during the Cold War.

California proved instrumental in preventing a Third World War during the 20th century. The state’s major military presence on land, air, and sea diverged with a peaceful counterpart that created the United Nations in San Francisco in 1946.

Muroc Field, the future Edward Air Force Base, was the site of Chuck Yeager’s feat of breaking the sound barrier in 1947, and Lockheed Skunkworks produced the top-secret high-tech U2 Dragon Lady and SR-71 in Southern California. Cold War presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both hailed from the Golden State. Billionaire Howard Hughes, who made his mark in aviation and the movies, provided cover for the Glomar Explorer mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine in the Pacific.

Hollywood supported pro-American movie messaging and became a flash point for government investigations into Communist sympathies.
Overall, this readable history book brings its facts to life and makes a strong case for the state’s role at a crucial time.

Other winners in the competition:

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: Wells Waite Miller and Me — Kelly Boyer Sagert

RUNNERS-UP:

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • GPS For the Soul – Dana Hayne
  • Wake-Up Calls – Lisa Baue

BUSINESS:
WINNER: 10 Things I Learned from the Billionaire — Calvin Barry Schwartz/Kae Wagner

RUNNERS-UP:

  • LinkedIn for Personal Branding: The Ultimate Guide — Sandra Long
  • Strategy Is Attitude — Ganzorig
  • Wake-Up Calls — Lisa Baue

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Mirror Effect — Dr. Sheila Gujrathi
  • Turning Skills Into Dumb Luck — Simon Vine

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
WINNER: Bailey’s Awesome Day — Mary Mayo Balfour Calvert

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Whiskers and Wishes — Mary Nielsen
  • The Adventures of Bailey & Bernard — Stacey A. Raymond
  • The Ridiculous Party – Julie Rogers Pomilia
  • Deetjen’s Closet – Debbie Noble Black
  • DeNiro: I Am Not a Dog – Sidney Burrows Jr.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Iran, the Little Kitten Who Became a Lion — Farzaneh Yassini
  • It’s Okay to Have Feelings – Patricia L. Miller
  • Pillowcase Dreams — Mary Nielsen
  • The Heart of a Leader – Dr. Josh McConkey
  • Treehouse Rescue — Veronica Puig
  • Pitty the Kitty — Mary Nielsen
  • Brunt and Eggbert Happen Upon a Wreck! — Jeff Dorrill
  • Bunny Tails: Mila’s Big Wish — Pali Bermudez
  • Goodnight, Wiggles — Destany B. Stevens
  • Makenzie’s Ring — Teri Stevens
  • See Soul — Ken Breniman
  • Gracie’s Guide: Helping Hungry Friends – Angie Wilson

COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: Ramas y Raices — Mario Acevedo, Editor

RUNNER-UP: Fantastic!: A Celebration of Fans Discovering Doctor Who — Nicholas Seidler, Editor

GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: Red Anemones — Paula Dáil

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Ledger — Steven Manchester
  • Fortune and Glass – John Mutter
  • Broken Things — Diane Corso
  • Shipyard Gals — Valerie Stoller
  • Roscoe – Andrew James Gregor 
  • How to Break a Girl — Amanda Sung

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Escala’s Wish — David James
  • KRISPR — Jennifer Handler
  • Then Came the Summer Snow — Trisha T Pritikin
  • Asayi An Autistic Teen’s Journey to Topple a Shogun in Medieval Japan — Sharon Curcio
  • The Fateful Voyage of the Empress of Ireland — Cheryl Roberts Gale
  • The Daughters: A Novel – Ben Rogers
  • The Inn Between — Wendra Colleen
  • Kamchatka Kronicle — Allan Vorda
  • Callahan’s Cottage — Judy Lannon
  • I, Monster — Clifton Wilcox
  • Occidental: A Town Divided — John McCarty
  •  Journey to 2125 — Gary F. Bengier
  • Becoming Alice Again — Glynnis Hayward
  • Conversations With Dogs — Judith Ayn Bernhard
  • Deferred Redemptions – Stories Of Change — G.E. Russell
  • Love in the Shadow of Death — Antonio Gomes
  • Breathe Easy – Tammy Donahue
  • Spies Like Us — Ké Ridolfi
  • Lenswoman in Love — Kim Gottlieb-Walker
  • The Invisible Hand — Douglas Cole
  • The Monuments Must Bleed — Clifton Wilcox
  • The TellTale Lie — Richard Kiehr
  • The Whispering House — Jennie Wren Foster
  • Truck a Duck — Claudia Long
  • Where Despair Comes to Play — Clifton Wilcox
  • Railroad Man: Legacies Son – Dan. E. Hendrickson
  • Saving Marietta: Journey to Freedom (Book 1) – Joy E. Held
  • The Rising of the Moon Clann – Cal Macseoin
  • Leonor: Queens of Portugal Trilogy – Catherine M. Mathis
  • Catabasis – Armen Melikian

 

GENERAL NONFICTION:

WINNER: Cold War California – Gary Francis Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, Franky Ortega

RUNNERS-UP:

  • FBI Snitches, Blackmail, and Obscene Ethics at the Supreme Court — Alex Charns
  • When Women Get Sick — Rebecca Bloom
  • Women Who Talk to the Dead — Katherine Schweit
  • Less than One Percent: How Disruptors Defy the Odds — Imamu Tomlinson
  • 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research — Stefanie Halpern, Editor
  • A King’s Vision — Dr. Spencer M Dayton
  • Before Their Crimes — Dr. Wendy Smith
  • Connections, Academics and Purpose: — Dr. Cinde Lock and Anneke Lee
  • False Idols: How Diversion is Destroying Democracy — Kurt Warner, LCSW
  • A.W.A.R.E. — S Gale Bleth
  • Life’s Work — Michelle Smith
  • When Hearts Heal – Mara Purl
  • Wake-Up Calls – Lisa Baue
  • Memorial: The Year My Dad and I Stopped Keeping Score — Nita Sweeney
  • Responding to Cognitive Dissonance — R. K. Compton
  • Spirit Guides and Angels: Death and Taxes — Wayne Cesaro
  • The Psychology of ‘Fight’, ‘Flight’, and ‘Freeze’ — R. K. Compton
  • Lessons from the Edge – Nancy Boyd
  • Book of North American Idioms – Joanna L. Arroyo
  • Custom Maid Palestine for New World Disorder – Peter G. de Krassel
  • The American Educational Challenge – Dr. Melissa Cadet Watkins

GAY

WINNER: Before You Can Fly — Jase Peeples

RUNNER-UP: Busker: A Broadway Troubadour — Gregory A. Kompes

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • The Codex of Christian Surname – Shoshana D. Kerewsky

HISTORY:

WINNER: A Short History of San Francisco — Robert W. Cherny

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Cold War California — Gary Francis Powers Jr., Christopher Sturdevant, Franky Ortega
  • Blood Moon Productions: Its Origins, Its Oeuvre, Its Sources, Its Legacy — Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
  • Dancing Through the Shadow — Agnes Bristow
  • Red Anemones — Paula Dáil
  • Wells Waite Miller and Me — Kelly Boyer Sagert
  • 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for…. — Stefanie Halpern, Editor
  • Crude Creatures — Gil Ribak
  • Phantom Paradise: Escape from Manchuria — Kay Enokido
  • The Firehand File — Bob Van Laerhoven
  • Occidental: A Town Divided — John McCarty
  • Expositions & World’s Fairs: In the Beginning — Bob McGlincy

HOW-TO

WINNER: LinkedIn for Personal Branding: The Ultimate Guide — Sandra Long

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Must: Becoming the Person You Are Meant to Be — Stephen Rue
  • Own Your Power Within: — Laura K. Stoia, M.A.
  • Responding to Cognitive Dissonance — R. K. Compton
  • The Different Types of Psychotherapy — R. K. Compton
  • The Best Attorney Never Wins — Angelo Perone
  • One Teacher at a Time — Ken Rand
  • The Emergent Leader – Don Gregori

COOKBOOKS:

WINNER: The Flavors Factor – Bill Rennie

MEMOIR:

WINNER: Encounter – A Journey into Chaos, Culture and Compassion — Ian Reilly

RUNNERS-UP:

  • One Bad Mother — Megan Williams
  • Wolf with a Badge — John Wolf
  • Small Moments — Mary Barrow
  • Phantom Paradise: Escape from Manchuria — Kay Enokido
  • The Strength of Water — Karin K. Jensen
  • Memorial: The Year My Dad and I Stopped Keeping Score — Nita Sweeney

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Ugly Dumpling – Elaine Yu
  • Before You Can Fly — Jase Peeples
  • Map of a Heart — Jacque Gorelick
  • Teachers, Teams & Tugboats — Rich Higgins
  • Conversations With Dogs — Byron Spooner
  • Wake-Up Calls — Lisa Baue
  • What Would Philip Roth Do? — Matthew Check
  • Gunfighters Rule! – Colonel William “Burner” Dunn
  • Lenswoman in Love — Kim Gottlieb-Walker
  • A Dream Life — Wendy Swift
  • Agents of the Current Thinking — Christy Leppanen
  • The Yoga of Self-Love — Ramaa Krishnan
  • Book of the Silenced — Gordana Smith
  • Mrs. Dr. Grabb — Brenda Grabb
  • From the Cyclops Cave: A Braided Memoir — Don Schofield 
  • Invisible Threads — Maureen Walgren
  • Finding Order in Disorder – Ishaa Vinod Chopra
  • My Rock My Hard Place – Teresa L’Heureux

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART:

WINNER: 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for…. — Stefanie Halpern, Editor

RUNNER-UP: (Anemia poems) — Ted Hahn

POETRY

WINNER: Letters to My Dog – Scott Tomlinson

RUNNER-UP: Stones and Roses – Linda Faith

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • A Poetic Wandering — Kevin R. Peterson
  • JAD — James Richard Hansen
  • Landscape with Womb and Paradox — Erica Goss
  • Let It Unfold: Love, Loss, & Surrender — S’Marie Young
  • Skies and Chasms — James Richard Hansen
  • Within and Without — James Richard Hansen
  • Words To Breathe By — James Richard Hansen

SCIENCE FICTION:

WINNER: RIFT: The Sixth Extinction — Thomas Asher

RUNNER-UP: Journey to 2125 — Gary F. Bengier

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Through The Veil — Julia McTrill
  • A Three Body Solution — Ken Breniman

SELF-HELP:

WINNER: Closer: A Guide to Unforgettable Gatherings – Jenny Dalio

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Mirror Effect — Dr. Sheila Gujrathi
  • The Yoga of Self-Love — Ramaa Krishnan
  • Embrace Your Shadows — Christina Prokos
  • Own Your Power Within: — Laura K. Stoia, M.A.
  • Responding to Cognitive Dissonance — R. K. Compton

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Root-to-Rise: How to Love Life – Chandra Lynn
  • What Not to Say at a Funeral – Amy Havis
  • Subversive Acts of Humanity — Ken Breniman

SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS

WINNER: Which god is God? — Adrian J. Adams Esq

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Yoga of Self-Love — Ramaa Krishnan
  • Embodied Everyday Awakening — Geri Portnoy
  • Own Your Power Within: — Laura K. Stoia, M.A.
  • GPS for the Soul — Dana Hayne
  • I’m On Assignment — Diane Marie Taylor
  • the greatest love — Marilyn O. Flower
  • Spirit Guides and Angels: Death and Taxes — Wayne Cesaro
  • Battle Rages On… – Dr. Gerald Robison

UNPUBLISHED STORIES

WINNER: Drifted — C.L. Olsen

WILD CARD:

WINNER: Wild Thing, I Think I Love You! – Laurie McAndish King

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Agents of the Current Thinking — Christy Leppanen
  • Blood Moon Productions: Its Origins, Its Oeuvre… — Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
  • KRISPR — Jennifer Handler

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Lenswoman in Love — Kim Gottlieb-Walker
  • T.V. Holiday’s Vendetta: Legend of The Iron Warrior Vol. 3 — Travis Easter
  • God’s Gracious Killer – Dwight David Croy

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: The Boy Who Earned His Magic – Lynn H. Elliott

RUNNERS-UP:

  • A.W.A.R.E. — S. Gale Bleth
  • Before You Can Fly — Jase Peeples
  • The Legend of the Black Swan — Tory Gates
  • The Art of Holding On and Letting Go – Kristin Bartley Lenz
  • The Story of Oog – Len Vlahos

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Kilns of Jupiter — Russ Colson
  • Grandpa Red and the Cherokee Rose — H. H. Madsen
  • CHAR! — D. Anthony Still
  • Can Skinwalkers Swim? – Michael Wescott Loder
  • Greenbrier River Adventures Mermaid – Rusty McQuade
  • Defenders of Zzzodd — Ty E. Smith 
  • The Far End — Johnny Gnall
  • Sabbatical of the Chupacabra — D. Anthony Still
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