Favorite Bookstores

[Courtney]

I just love Elliott Bay Book Company in Pioneer Square in Seattle. It's a local, independent bookstore with tall wooden shelves full of books. They feature lesser known authors and have tons of fun readings and events.

[Brandon]

I remember that store from when I lived up there. It was a great place.

My favorite store, though, is St Mark's Books on 3rd in Manhattan. There's enough space to move around, they almost always have everything you want and while they probably have Dean Koontz and Danielle Steel, they only put good, interesting and well-written obscure books on display so it's easy to find something new and good to read.

[Patrick]

I love Powell's City of Books and their Hawthorne store, but that's in a class by itself.

West Coast, my favorite in Wahrenbock's in downtown San Diego, where I always find new books on the shelves.

East Coast, it's either Second Story Books in Washington DC near Georgetown or the Book Barn of the Finger Lakes in Dryden near Ithaca, NY.

Too many great bookstores in this country to choose from! My favorite in the LA area is Brand Bookstore in Glendale.

[Siobhan]

i can't believe no one named skylight in the los feliz neighborhood in LA. awesome feeling whether its sunny or rainy, they have the laziest fattest house cat who loves to be pet, and i trust them so much i pick a book based on someone else's noted review hanging in front. i have gotten compliments and gotten laughs from what i place on that counter to buy, but i always feel like its in good spirits.

[Joel]

I did always like Kramer books when I was living in DuPont in DC, though it gets more points for comfort and style than it does for selection and price.

[Siobhan]

i just had brunch in kramers today and loved it, so the book purchasing enjoyment can't be far behind. thanks joel.

[Liz]

The Book Barn in Niantic, CT. It is almost surreal. At least five buildings (plus another about a mile down the road), crammed with books. Most of the buildings feel like they are about to collapse. Goats and dogs outside. Cats inside. Most paperbacks are $1.

[Muzzlehatch]

Hmm this group seems rather dead, but WTF....

Going to have to check out the Book Barn one of these days...

A couple of my faves are located in downtown Milwaukee, WI: Downtown Books and Renaissance Books. Both huge, rambling multi-story affairs in old 19th-century buildings, full of not-terribly-well-sorted used books and magazines of all kinds. Prices vary at both places from great to rather overpriced, but I've definitely found plenty of things I don't find everywhere, and they are must-visits for fans of the old, musty, floorboards-creaking cat-urine-smelling types of places.