For Susan Ottaviano, San Francisco has always been one for the books.
The Book of Love singer has been coming here since she was 20, long before the synth-pop group became a fixture of alternative dance floors with songs like “Boy,” “I Touch Roses,” and “You Make Me Feel So Good.” Over the decades, the band has played seemingly everywhere in the city, from the Fillmore and DNA Lounge to Folsom Street Fair and SF Pride.
As Ottaviano enters a new chapter of her creative life, she’s returning to talk about her new book, Plants That Heal: Plant-Based Wisdom for Body, Mind, and Soul, at Omnivore Books (Mon/24).
“I guess it was just love at first sight for me,” Ottaviano says of San Francisco. “The city, with its politics, topography, and, of course, food—was my favorite place to visit.”
The setting for this appearance is especially fitting. Ottaviano will be joined in conversation by pastry chef Michelle Polzine, formerly of 20th Century Cafe, and the author plans to bring along edible samples inspired by the book.
“Omnivore Books is definitely a dream,” she says. “It’s a culinary bookstore, and I’m anxious to shop there as well because I collect cookbooks.”
She’s even traveling with homemade Strawberrycello, her strawberry spin on limoncello, and jokes that she hopes TSA doesn’t stop her.
Plants That Heal grew out of Ottaviano’s creative partnership with Chris Young and their shared fascination with plants, mythology, and mindfulness.
Their initial idea was modest: Ottaviano would draw flowers and Young would write about them. The project expanded, eventually leading to their 2023 book, The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants and Flowers, and now, Plants That Heal.
The new book delves deeper into mindfulness and how cooking, making art, and working with plants can help people feel grounded. Its recipes and rituals encompass food, oils, scents, beauty preparations, household projects, and other small acts intended to soothe the heart, mind, body, and home.
For Ottaviano, the philosophy reflects her own journey from downtown New York musician to artist, cook, author, and plant enthusiast.
“It’s an evolution from being in a band in my twenties—full of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll—to mindfulness and relaxation,” she says.
Yet to Ottaviano, the Book of Love singer and the green witch have always been the same woman.
“I think it’s definitely the same woman,” says Ottaviano. “Art and music have always been my guiding lights. They continue to be my inspiration for just about everything. But as we age, our priorities change.”
That change is part of what makes Plants That Heal feel personal. Ottaviano speaks candidly about aging, particularly the experience of getting older as a woman in a culture that has historically prized youth.
“You don’t give a shit about what people think in the same way,” she says, of one advantage of age.
Earlier in her career, success meant wanting hit records. The “I Touch Roses” singer now cares more about the people she’s touched along the way.
Healing, she readily acknowledges, remains a process. Asked which parts of herself are hardest to heal, Ottaviano answers simply: her heart and anxiety.
Creativity provides one route through it. “For me, that’s a big thing: to be creative and to be in my flow state where I can create,” she says. “That makes me feel really good.”
The book’s approach to wellness gets playful and sensual, too. There are lavender and rose-petal chocolates, Aphrodite Face Mist, and Cleopatra’s Seducing Oil. The latter, Ottaviano declares, is her favorite.
Cooking became important to her in her late twenties, and she sees feeding someone as an expression of affection. “You’re giving them love,” she says. “You’re caring for them and making them happy.”
That philosophy extends to taking care of oneself. Making and using an oil, she says, can be as simple and pleasurable as buying a new bra: “It makes you feel sexy,” says Ottaviano.
She is wary of a wellness industry that can turn feeling better into another expensive consumer pursuit. Her version is decidedly DIY. “Just like Book of Love and everything else I’ve done, I’m sort of a low-tech person,” she says. “Just do the thing that you love.”
Instead of chasing trends or buying the latest luxury product, Plants That Heal encourages readers to make things themselves. Even the mythology woven through the book stems directly from Ottaviano and Young’s own obsessions rather than from a calculation of what might sell.
“I just do it my way,” she says. “Some people will get it and like it, and some won’t.”
That independent streak has been there since Book of Love’s beginnings. Now celebrating the 40th anniversary of its self-titled debut, the band is reuniting all four original members—Ottaviano, Ted Ottaviano, Jade Lee, and Lauren Roselli—for the anniversary tour, music reissues, and remixes.
Ottaviano is moving quickly from book events into rehearsals and touring, though performing at this stage of life requires a different rhythm than it did during the band’s early years.
She remembers the 30th-anniversary tour with Ted Ottaviano as surprisingly quiet between shows: resting, taking care of themselves, then summoning the energy when it was time to perform.
“We haven’t traveled all four of us together for many years, so it’s going to be a new experience,” says Ottaviano. “I guess the most important thing for me is appreciating the fans who are still enjoying our music and what it has meant to them, and bringing it to them one last time.”
Whether the band really intends to turn the page remains uncertain. “The future is unwritten,” Ottaviano says. “It’s been a lifetime. It’s a lot to unpack, right?”
San Francisco, at least, is ready for them. Book of Love returns to The Chapel for two shows next year, and both dates sold out immediately.
“I knew San Francisco was going to be there for us,” says Ottaviano. “It’s amazing.”
Before then, she’ll arrive carrying oils, recipes and, TSA permitting, Strawberrycello—another expression of the creativity that has followed her from art school through pop music, food, illustration, and plant lore.
At the height of Book of Love’s fame, Ottaviano once hid her Food & Wine magazine inside a Rolling Stone during a photo shoot, lest anyone discover her then-uncool foodie tendencies. These days, she’s less worried about being judged by the cover she’s carrying.
“We were an art-school band, and I was an artist first,” she says. “A lot of artists turn to food because I think it’s a way to be creative that everyone can relate to.”
SUSAN OTTAVIANO AUTHOR TALK • PLANTS THAT HEAL: PLANT-BASED WISDOM FOR BODY, MIND & SOUL Mon/24. Omnivore Books, SF. More info here.
BOOK OF LOVE: 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR WITH DJ SHINDOG (NEW WAVE CITY) January 15 + 16. The Chapel, SF. More info here. Official Book of Love Afterparty takes place at New Wave City at Cat Club on January 16. More info here.
