A recent study from the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater identified San Francisco as the fifth most literate city in America -- behind, in order, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver and Atlanta. In other words, eliminate the cities where there's nothing to do but read, and we're No. 1!

Trash-talking aside, today marks the eighth annual Books by the Bay festival, presented by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association and co-sponsored by The Chronicle and KGO-AM. From 10 a.m. to 4 p. m. at Yerba Buena Gardens (Mission and Fourth streets), Books by the Bay will host a groaning smorgasbord of literary fare, including upward of 40 booths for independent bookstores, 60 writers, half a dozen panels and all manner of kids' stuff.

And now, back to trash-talking. Let's take a more detailed look at some of today's events at Books by the Bay, together -- until the novelty wears off -- with their likely equivalents in those fabled literary meccas, Minneapolis, Seattle, Denver and Atlanta.

After an hour of undistracted book-browsing from 10 to 11, there will be three simultaneous happenings, including a forum on the Books by the Bay Panel Stage called "Buddha in the Bay Area," featuring Wes "Scoop" Nisker ("The Big Bang, the Buddha, and the Baby Boom"), Joseph Goldstein ("One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism") and Noah Levine ("Dharma Punx").

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Of course, if this were the Books by the Frozen-Over Lake festival in Minneapolis, the panel would be called "Martin Luther in the Twin Cities" and would feature Garrison Keillor in conversation with himself.

Also at 11, in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, I'll be moderating a panel on literary magazines featuring McSweeney's Managing Editor Eli Horowitz, writers Doug Dorst and Ann Cummins, and the editor in chief of Zoetrope, Tamara Straus.

If only we were in Denver, where a literary magazine panel might consist of the editor of the Bloomsbury Review trading quips with the editor/sales manager of Denver Life! Alas, that panel would have to go unmoderated, because neither the Denver Post nor the Rocky Mountain News sees fit to employ a full- time book critic.

At noon in the Yerba Buena Center theater, John Evans from Oakland's thriving Diesel: A Bookstore will moderate a panel of poetry readings featuring Jack Marshall ("Gorgeous Chaos"), Melody Lacina ("Private Hunger"), Tsering Wangmo Dhompa ("Rules of the House") and the bard of Bolinas, Joanne Kyger ("As Ever").

The comparable Atlanta poetry panel would of course trace the history of Coke slogans, from the stark verisimilitude of "It's the real thing" to the timeless resonance of "Always Coca-Cola."

Also at noon, on the Panel Stage, Chronicle mystery and thriller columnist David Lazarus will moderate a mystery panel featuring Laurie King ("Keeping Watch"), G.M. Ford ("Blind Eye"), David Corbett ("The Devil's Redhead"), Gillian Roberts ("Claire and Present Danger') and Cara Black ("Murder in the Bastille").

At 1 p.m. on the Panel Stage, Chronicle food writer Kim Severson will lead a discussion with Patricia Unterman ("Patricia Unterman's San Francisco Food Lover's Guide"), Fran Gage ("A Sweet Quartet"), Michele Anna Jordan ("The BLT Cookbook"), Bharti Kirchner ("Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries") and Denis Kelly ("Grilling and Barbecuing").

At 2 p.m. on the Panel Stage, The Chronicle's Adair Lara ("Normal Is Just a Setting on the Dryer: And Other Lessons From the Real, Real World") will moderate a panel on the memoir with Gina Cascone ("Life Al Dente"), Firoozeh Dumas ("Funny in Farsi"), Linda Greenlaw ("The Lobster Chronicles"), Tanya Shaffer ("Somebody's Heart Is Burning") and Peggy Vincent ("Baby Catcher").

And at 3 p.m., Chronicle Book Review Editor Oscar Villalon will moderate a panel on nonfiction with Marilyn Chase ("The Barbary Plague: The Black Death in Victorian San Francisco"), Alan Deutschman ("A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine, Wealth and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma"), Emily W. Leider ("Dark Lover: The Life and Death of Rudolph Valentino") and Mary Roach ("Stiff:

The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers").

And that's just the panels. Also scheduled to speak and/or sign are California Book Award-winner Richard Rodriguez ("Brown: The Last Discovery of America"), Cristina Garcia ("Monkey Hunting"), David Ebershoff ("Pasadena"), Christopher Moore ("Fluke"), Kathi Kamen Goldmark ("And My Shoes Keep Walking Back to You"), Terry Gamble ("The Water Dancers"), Khaled Hosseini ("The Kite Runner"), Diane Johnson ("Le Divorce"), Ellen Ullman ("The Bug") and Gerald Nachman ("Seriously Funny").

All in all, not bad for the fifth most literate city in America.


Books by the Bay takes place 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today sat at Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission and Fourth streets, San Francisco. Free. www.booksbythebay.com .
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