Borderlands Books

While many SF bookstores are generalists, Borderlands fills a much-needed niche: it only carries new and used sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and horror titles. The longtime space on Valencia Street is moody and atmospheric, its shelves lit by lamps and store cats prowling he aisles. Longtime owner Alan Beatts organizes author readings, a QSF&F Book Club (for sci-fi-loving LGBTQ readers), and a Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club. After a brush with closure in 2015, Borderlands enacted a $100-a-year customer sponsorship program; more than 500 loyal customers signed up. In 2018, Beatts announced that he had crowdfunded $1.9 million to purchase the former Recycled Records storefront at 1377 Haight Street, which will serve as Borderlands Books permanent home when its Valencia Street lease runs out.