BIG TECH CRITIQUE TOPS SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL

SAN FRANCISCO_ A look behind the curtain at the world of online manipulations is the top book of the 2025 San Francisco Book Festival, which honors the best books of the spring.

Author Richard Ryan’s The Warrior’s Garden: Tools for Guarding Your Mind Against Big Tech (Lioncrest Publishing) asks the question, in a world dominated by screens and algorithms, who is truly in control?

The book posits that every time you pick up the phone, you’re being manipulated. With every site you visit and post you make, your behavior is being tracked. Your habits are sold to the highest bidder—and you’ve probably provided them with your uninformed consent.

Ryan unveils the hidden dynamics, and rather than a call to abandon all devices, this book is a challenge to recognize how platforms like YouTube and Facebook subtly shape behavior and monopolize attention. Richard guides you through a personal assessment of your digital habits, offering tools to reclaim your time and mental space.

Ultimately, The Warrior’s Garden empowers you to navigate the digital landscape with awareness and intention to become a conscious consumer of digital content.

Other winners in the competition:


SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: Dinner at God’s House - Todd B. Lieman

RUNNERS-UP:

• Legacy: Wisdom of African Traditions and the Bible - Christopher Morehouse
• One Kiss - MIchelle Ashton
• Gratitude with Grace - Anita Fonteboa

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The WiFi Devotional - Merrillynn West
• It’s Time to Grow - Freddie Floyd Jr.
• Mahina Rises - John Blossom

SCIENCE FICTION:

WINNER: Hive Madders of Time Book One - D.L. Orton

RUNNERS-UP:

• Sentience Hazard - Alexandru Czimbor
• Tachyon Tunnel 2: The Daklin Empire - Michael Gorton
• Republic of Mars - Sam Sammane

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Eldryan Elders - S.G. Blaise
• Project Mind River - Dave Spacer
• The Infernal Age: Demon Gate - Anson Joaquin
• Northfield Saga 4: Storm Break - Calvin B. Fisher

BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY:

WINNER: The Warrior’s Garden - Richard Ryan

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Cherry Pie Principle - Michael Levine
• If They Won’t Bend, Break Them! - Geoffrey Michael
• Go for Third - Derek Volk

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Vote for You - Marnie Maton
• Restoring Our Sanity Online - Mark Weinstein
• Can AI Be Humorous? - Tom G. Anderson

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: Brunt and Eggbert - Jeff Dorrill

RUNNERS-UP:

• A Kindergarten Story - Tammy Donahue
• Hello Flutters! Tala & Toog Tower - Dr. Maria Grace Wolk
• A Galon of Water - Aiden Woosol Lee
• Câmbio - Taylor Lahey
• The Birthday Party - Marissa Koons

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Ella’s Journey - David Casentini
• Porsche The Frog Adventures - Faisal Mirza
• Popcorn the Squirrel - Rusty McQuade
• The Way Things Change - Lauren Kim
• The Mermaid Sisters’ School of Ocean ABCs - Dr. Katherine Callard
• Who is Driving Your Bus? - Shannon Sonnenberg
• Paralights - Aiden Woosol Lee
• The Enchanted Kingdom of Cats - Karen Katz
• The Wild of Wonderful West Virginia - Don Stansberry and Jackson Middle School
• Miri and Jade’s New Clothes - Mical Rezoni
• The Three Little Stories - Elina Oh
• The Girl With Bees in Her Hair - Matthew Chapman
• Zoayland - Maelyn Drew
• The Big Fight: Best Furry Friends - Chase Taylor

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: Squirrels Fall from Trees - Mike Karpa

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Cure, The Killer, and Russ Burton - Jake Cayman
• TWIRL - Jase Peeples
• Dawn to Dusk - Ellis K. Popa

HONORABLE MENTION:

• Super Super Charro - Carlos Lozano

GENERAL NONFICTION:

WINNER: Listen to Your Animals - Karen Wickerson

RUNNERS-UP:

• Dad’s Child Custody Action Plan - David Pisarra
• My Brother’s Keeper - Nicholas Rosenlicht, MD
• The Coen Brothers and American Roots Music - Jesse Gerlach Ulmer
• Less Than One Percent - Imamu Tomlinson
• They’re Coming for Your Elders and Your Inheritance - Léonie Rosenstiel

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• South Node Shaman - Shaman Melodie McBride
• Play Golf Forever - Michael Jaffe DO
• Jack the Enforcer - Richard Hughes von Hurst
• The Inner Space Traveler - D.L. Hoefer
• Sculpting Stardust - Anthony L. Canali

MEMOIR:

WINNER: Giving Up The Ghost - Samantha Rose

RUNNERS-UP:

• Weak Start Unapologetic Present - Lester Patrick
• Dancing on Coals - Cynthia Moore memoir
• Twice the Family - Julie Ryan McGue memoir
• Lying Down with Dogs - Linda Caradine

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Hiding in Plain Sight - I.M. Enough
• They Ain’t Gonna Get Any Deader - Greg Dorchak
• Lost in the Reflecting Pool - Diane Pomerantz
• Seeing Eye Girl - Beverly J. Armento
• Hypnotic Control - John-Ivan Palmer
• From the Piney Woods - PJ Hamilton
• Sicily: Ancient Gods and Modern Light - Neena Chauhan
• If I Die Before I Wake… - Robert Kershaw
• Heart Bridge - John Perry
• The Undiscovered Showman - Wayne Olivieri
• Life in the Shadows - Kady Martin
• Mercy’s View: Blackout - J.J. Maze
• Stay: A Story of Family, Love & Other Traumas - Julie Fingersh
• And The Lotus Opened - A Memoir - Marie O’Neill

GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: Fox Creek: A Novel - M.E. Torrey

RUNNERS-UP:

• Fly Stone, Fly - Dust Kunkel
• Goodbye, Sweetberry Park - Josh Green
• House Always Wins - Ben Lilly
• The Adventures of Mrs Hats - Chris Corbett
• Time Enough - Lise Mayne
• Ouija & Haints in the Silent City - Jane Elzey

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Killstanbul - Matthew D. Paoli
• Attacking the Dragon - A. Marc Ross
• The Beet Fields - Robin Somers
• Rebuild the Moon - Trip Mackintosh
• Towers of Hiva - Darren Swanson
• Descending Thirds - Nicole Conn
• The Boy Who Earned His Magic - Lynn Elliott
• Delusional - Ralph Hughes
• The Game - Eve M. Riley
• The Rabbi’s Suitcase - Robert Kehlmann
• To Take a Soul - Sara Sultane
• Dying Eyes Don’t Lie - Keith A. Mosley
• Arc of the Universe - Nikki Alexander
• Zephyr’s Flight - Ray Strong
• The Devil in Fine Print - Jhani Mills
• I Forgave You - Natia Khaduri
• Asayi - Sharon Curcio
• Solitude - Alex Opanasiuk
• Sniff - GC Brown

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:

WINNER: I, Rodion - Alexandra Pugachevsky


GAY:

WINNER: The Boughs of Love - Nathan Kitchen

RUNNERS-UP:

• Scattershot - Larry Chrysler
• The Gay Herman Melville Reader - Ken Schellenberg

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Photograph - Eve M. Riley
• TWIRL - Jase Peeples

POETRY:

WINNER: First Love Last Love - Edward Eaton

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Cabin at the End of the World - Douglas Cole
• Gratitude Diary - Jessica Cohn
• A Woman in Progress - Barbara Marie Minney
• Poems about motherhood, isolate, grief and love - Sonia Margarita

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Drifter - Douglas Cole
• Be - Will Espero

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

WINNER: Old White Man Writing - Joshua Gidding

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Politzer Saga - Linda Ambrus Broenniman
• Bail! Bail! Bryce Whitmore and the Birth of Whitewater Rafting - Ty Childress
• Maris Tunika, Conductor - James Aiello
• Harvesting History While Farming the Flats - Muriel A. Murch

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• One Kiss - Michelle Ashton
• Seeing Eye Girl - Beverly J. Armento
• Mercy’s View: Blackout - J.J. Maze

UNPUBLISHED:

WINNER: Real Life Real Laughs - Cate Burns


HOW-TO:

WINNER: It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney - David W. Craig

RUNNERS-UP:

• The Objectivist’s Guide to the Galaxy - Zoltan Cendes
• Bella and Bird Explore Anger - Deana Plaskon, PhD, LMHC
• Gratitude with Grace - Anita Fonteboa

HONORABLE MENTION:

• Everything is an Event - Marinda Freeman

HISTORY:

WINNER: Confronting the White Shadow - Marcus W. Williams, Esq.

RUNNER-UP: Golf at Northwood - John M. McCarty

ROMANCE:

WINNER Living on a Prayer - Katrina Alexander


COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: Scars of the Heart - Bob Van Laerhoven

RUNNER-UP: Island to Icon - Dreama Denver


WILD CARD:

WINNER: The House Always Wins - Ben Lilly

RUNNERS-UP:

• Starry Starry Noir Rebels and Censors - Bernie Dowling
• Spin Cycle: Notes from a Reluctant Caregiver - Alfredo Botello
• The Washashore - Marshall Highet and Bird Jones

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Blonde Haired Girl’s The Scientist - Jayme Tener
• The Stranger Within - AJ Maloney
   

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART:

WINNER: The Other Worldly Deep - Charles Rawlings