{"id":351949,"date":"2026-06-08T19:17:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351949\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:17:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T19:17:33","slug":"she-was-lovely-zendaya-bought-a-haul-of-books-from-a-danville-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/351949\/","title":{"rendered":"‘She was lovely’: Zendaya bought a haul of books from a Danville store"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oakland-born Hollywood icon Zendaya has had a busy 2026 between\u00a0\u201cThe Drama,\u201d<\/a> \u201cEuphoria,\u201d \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d and \u201cDune: Part Three,\u201d but it appears she\u2019s still able to carve out some time to read. In addition to a trip to Green Apple Books<\/a> in late May, she also visited another Bay Area literary institution: Rakestraw Books in Danville.<\/p>\n

Rakestraw employee Amanda Brazil confirmed that Zendaya visited in mid-May. She brought along a family member whom she was visiting in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was lovely, she was very friendly. She chatted with us about some of the books she\u2019s been reading, and just kind of browsed and asked for certain books and if we had them. She was fantastic. She was very cool,\u201d Brazil said. An\u00a0Instagram post with a photo showing Zendaya holding copies of \u201cDune Messiah\u201d and \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d has gone viral, racking up 146,000 likes<\/a> at time of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At checkout, Zendaya had a stack of six or seven books, a mix of old and new titles, according to Brazil. Her haul included a copy of Emily Wilson\u2019s translation of \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d (which Zendaya had naturally already read).<\/p>\n

Brazil said Zendaya grew up going to the store, which opened in 1973. It regularly hosts readings from authors, with a sold-out David Sedaris event later this week, and Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning Bay Area author of \u201cLess,\u201d appearing on June 13. Historical fiction writers Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray will be another notable pair of guests, reading at the store on July 22.<\/p>\n

In addition to her bookstore trips, Zendaya also visited a few other notable San Francisco businesses<\/a> in the Richmond neighborhood, picking up candles and skin care products at Foggy Notion and dining at Pasta Supply Co., where she reportedly purchased a tin of worm salt.<\/p>\n