What Are Some Of Your Favorite Bookstores? (5/23/21)

[Marc]

Tell us about some of your favorite bookstores and why they are your favorites. Do you have just one or multiple? Have you visited many "famous" bookstores--did they live up to their reputations?

[Franky]

I love our Barnes and Noble we have here. I was worried that it would not last through the pandemic but it is still kicking and going. I love bookstores, just the atmosphere and being able to be around like minded book fans who have a passion for reading.

[Luke]

Logos Books in Davis, CA. A purely Friends of the Davis Library funding venture that's close enough to a major university to be filled with weird and wonderful donations, but far enough away to beat the traffic. I have an interview for a full time librarian position with the system that the bookstore generates funds for tomorrow, so. Wish me luck!

[Marc]

Exciting---good luck, Aubrey!

[Jennifer]

I have 2, one is is Calgary.

http://www.fairsfair.com/


https://www.powells.com/

[Janet]

While it’s true that most of my book buying is now necessarily done online, I have in the past and hope in the future to spend time browsing in bookstores. A favorite is the Strand in NYC, and I do like Hatchard’s in London but honestly at this point I’m looking forward to browsing in any bookstore. I still haven’t ventured out much but that will change soon.

Aubrey, I wondered if you were a librarian or involved in the book bis since you have an awesome book knowledge — good luck with your interview.

[Robert]

Due to the fact that there's a poor selection of bookstores in Malta (it wasn't like that in the 90's) ANY store abroad feels like an eye opener.

My favourite is Foyles - you can find everything, spend hours browsing and chat with the staff.

In Prague there's Shakespeare's and Sons, which mixes quirky with cult. The people who work there are voracious readers and it's worth having a chat with them.

In Amsterdam there's the mighty Book Exchange. This is a used bookstore but it's stuffed with treasures.

Also in Amsterdam there's the American Book Centre - Although I think the books are a tiny bit expensive ( Paperbacks 13 euro, hardbacks 18), they have an expansive discount section where you'll find a good hardback for 5 eur.

[Bill]

Powell's in Portland, of course.

And the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the few places in the US that still has decent bookstores. We've lost quite a few over the years though.

San Francisco: Green Apple (2 locations), Dog Eared/Alley Cat (several locations), Green Arcade. (No, we never had to go to a Barnes and Noble, back when we had one within city limits.)

Berkeley: Moe's of course. Pegasus is inferior but worth a look.

Oakland: Pendragon is worth a look.

Philadelphia: Joseph Fox, small but impressive.

London: Foyles on Charing Cross Road. Also Blackwell's. And all the little used bookstores in Bloomsbury.

Berlin: St. George's is really the only used English book store here worth checking out.

Taipei: the Eslite chain has some excellent locations, but more for Chinese books.

[Whitney]

Bill wrote: "Powell's in Portland, of course.

And the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the few places in the US that still has decent bookstores. We've lost quite a few over the years though..."

No love for City Lights?

[Hugh]

I can think of a few. I will start by mentioning my excellent local independent Five Leaves in Nottingham - a smallish but interestingly quirky stock selection and plenty of events, also before lockdown their book group was my only face to face one. The local Waterstones is much larger, so I use that quite a lot, and much of my pre-GR reading is the result of wandering around their shop with no particular books in mind.

Further afield, I must mention another small quirky shop, Scarthins in Cromford. Blackwell's in Oxford (when I was a student there in the 80s I also used Parker's quite a lot, which became a Waterstones), which has also been good for online orders, and when visiting London (it is now nearly two years since I have done this) Foyle's, the large Bloomsbury Waterstones (which is close to my favourite walking route in from St Pancras) and occasionally Charing Cross road for second hand stuff.

I have always enjoyed second hand bookshops, and bought a lot from Jermy and Westerman in Nottingham when I was young, but coming across one elsewhere is usually serendipity, and rarely planned, for example the one in the old station building at Pitlochry in Scotland or the many second hand shops in bigger centres like Hay-on-Wye and York. One more recent discovery is a small but fairly good second hand shop where my mother lives in Southwell.

[Jennifer]

Bill wrote: "Powell's in Portland, of course.

And the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the few places in the US that still has decent bookstores. We've lost quite a few over the years though.

San Francisco: ..."

Thanks you for the recomendations for San Francisco. Heading there in July. Was supposed to go to a concert, but it has got rescheduled. We have decided to keep our trip and just find other stuff to do.

[Luke]

Cheers, Marc and Janet. If it works out, I'll be able to go to this bookstore all the time, so. We'll see!

[Bill]

Whitney wrote: "No love for City Lights?"

Thanks Whitney! I do like City Lights a lot, though it's a little more inconvenient for me than the others.

[Bill]

Jennifer wrote: "Thanks you for the recomendations for San Francisco. Heading there in July. "

Hope the trip goes well! All the bookstores I listed (plus City Lights) have reopened, except for Green Arcade. I'd expect some of the smaller performance venues should be opening up soon as well. If you still buy CDs and DVDs, Amoeba Music (two locations) is one of the most impressive stores I've been to, anywhere.

[Lily]

Bookstores:
Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT. I knew about this one for years before my path through New England took me close enough to visit. It's multiple, well-organized floors of books are a delight, and include used as well as new books, and a pleasant deli-like eating area. Checking its site now, I see it is transitioning ownership. May it continue to be a success.

There were several little basement bookstores on the walk from World Trade Center to almost Battery Park that I once frequented. I suspect most of those are long gone. I miss too, the variety of chains once available in New Jersey malls and shopping centers, including Dalton's well-stocked shelves. With Covid, it has been well over a year since in a Barnes and Noble, about the only large bookseller still standing here. A little specialty bookstore, The Bookworm, near me is good for gift books, both adult and children, and for various Indie bookstore suggestions.

A close friend is especially fond of used book stores. She will always find one if visiting an area, whether Vermont or Long Beach Island or... A favorite in Vermont is The Country Bookshop. One waiting for those still browsing can read and watch the waterfall on the Winooski River across the street.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention Labyrinth Books in Princeton. If you look closely at that alternative choice on Amazon, you may be sourced from here. More fun is to peruse the tables, inside and outside, on site, encountering that book (and author) you had no idea existed -- or recognized immediately.

[Nadine in California]

Whenever I visit family in Connecticut I try to make it to Book Barn. Ordinary name for an extraordinary place! It's mostly a series of huge tents dedicated to different genres, lovely gardens, and.....wait for it.....a petting zoo.

https://www.bookbarnniantic.com/thing...

[Whitney]

Nadine wrote: "Whenever I visit family in Connecticut I try to make it to Book Barn. Ordinary name for an extraordinary place! It's mostly a series of huge tents dedicated to different genres, lovely gardens, and..."

Oh my god, that's amazing. It seems worth planning a trip just to go there!

[Tracy]

Prairie Lights and The Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City. I miss them so much- they’ve both been closed through the pandemic, except for mail order and pick up- services I have used, but I miss the smell of the books and the friendliness of the people.
Hopefully in June…

[Bill]

I forgot, San Francisco also has Borderlands, which carries mostly genre fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror, mysteries, etc).

[Vesna]

On my visits, these have become my must-stop bookshops.

New York City: Strand; Argosy
New Orleans: Arcadian Books & Prints; Faulkner House Books
Boston: Commonwealth Books
San Francisco: City Lights

Houston: there used to be two fabulous Half-Price books in the Montrose and Rice Village neighborhoods, but they all recently moved to the suburbs (don't know if these are as good now, but I spent many unforgettable hours and days in these two former locations)

And there is one I haven't seen in many years, but it's the most enchanting bookshop, with many unexpected nooks and bookshelves - Jane Addams Book Shop in Urbana, Champaign.

There are a great many lovely bookshops in Montreal, hope they made it through the pandemic.

[Marc]

I think my favorite bookstore is still Normals Books in Baltimore. It's a collectively run, used bookshop that sells books and music and once hosted art/music performances in the basement. It's a pretty small store, but they just have such random gems and used to publish this offbeat lit mag called The Shattered Wig Review.

In DC, I've taken to the new(ish) East City Book Shop (women-owned and invested in the community) and Capitol Hill Books (they're a used bookstore with a delightfully snarky Twitter account; over the pandemic, they were doing "grab bags" where you could send them a list of your favorite authors, how much you wanted to spend, and then they'd put together a mystery collection they thought you'd like). Politics & Prose gets a lot of recognition, but it's about 11 miles from me (which means 40 min. by car, 90 min by public transport... I could probably do it in 60 min by bike but haven't given that a go yet).

Third Eye Comics in Annapolis is amazing. Biggest selection of anywhere I've ever been and the best customer service of any kind (every staff member is friendly and they are all comic book fans so they love to just chat and make recommendations).

Work sent me traveling a few years ago on these one- and two-day overnight trips where I had to work half the day and spent the other half biking the city, checking out the book stores and art museums. That meant enjoyable visits to City Lights (San Francisco); Kilgore Books, Capitol Hill Books, and Tattered Cover (all in Denver), and the bookstore in the main branch of the LA Public Library.

[Bill]

Vesna wrote: "And there is one I haven't seen in many years, but it's the most enchanting bookshop, with many unexpected nooks and bookshelves - Jane Addams Book Shop in Urbana, Champaign."

I always try my best to stop by Jane Addams when I'm in Champaign IL. That's where I found several out-of-print Ursule Molinaro books!

[Nadine in California]

Bill wrote: "....Berkeley: Moe's of course. Pegasus is inferior but worth a look. ..."

A piece of "Moe's" news - employees formed a union and joined the IWW (of course!) because of complaints that the store didn't do enough to protect staff and customers against Covid. The owners didn't oppose it.

I live near Berkeley, but it's much harder for me to get to Moe's than Pegasus, so I'm there much more often. Bill, I'm curious to hear why you think Pegasus is inferior? I wonder if it has anything to do with a bad experience I had there. I brought in about 15 used books to sell to them - all were in mint condition and ran the gamut from hardcover best seller to small press books. The guy flung (yes I mean flung) all but one into the 'no' pile, keeping one of the best sellers. Clearly, his criteria was books that wouldn't sit on the shelves long, and not more niche books. I donated the no pile to my local library, but maybe next time I'll haul my stuff out to Moe's - maybe they'll have a more eclectic approach.

[Stacia]

Marc, I did one of Capitol Hill's grab bags and it was awesome.

When I am in Charleston, SC, I always visit Blue Bicycle Books.

http://bluebicyclebooks.com/

[Bretnie]

I can't think of any big name bookstores that I've visited, but I can't resist popping into the local bookstore of any town that I visit.

My neighborhood in Seattle has one fabulous used book store that I adore. I know what I define as my community when the three places where I'm on a first name basis with the staff are a bookstore, coffee shop, and a bar.

I have a small independent bookstore in my neighborhood that opened after the Barnes and Noble closed a couple of years ago. I love having a bookstore within walking distance and I do buy from them when I need a book the used bookstore doesn't have, but they rarely have the books I'm looking for, which is weird.

[LindaJ^]

Longfellow Books in Portland Maine -- https://www.longfellowbooks.com/. It was curbside only when I was finally able to go to Portland at end of April, but from website it appears to be opening a few days a week now. It has new and used books. It is not as much a favorite for me now as under the original owners as the staff members I talked most about books with have moved on but I still like to prowl there.

Portland Maine also has some great used bookstores. One that is jam-packed with well-organized used books is The Green Hand - https://greenhandbookshop.com/. I also love browsing in Carlson Turner Antiquarian Books and Bookbindery - https://carlsonturnerbooks.com/.

Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg PA -- https://www.midtownscholar.com/. It is located in a wonderfully restored, large, old building across from the farmer's market. Its grand re-opening is this weekend. It started as used books only but now has a decent selection of new books. During Covid when the weather was bearable, they sold books from carts in front of the store, as well as online. In the past five years, the store has upped its game and has hosted some big time authors (Salmon Rushdie for one). There are places to sit and read throughout the store and they are used. It is great to know it will once again be open for inside browsing in a few days.

Perhaps my favorite international bookstore is the Gutter Bookshop on Cow's Lane in Temple Bar in Dublin, Ireland -- https://gutterbookshop.com/. I've been there - it is quite small - but they have a connection with my favorite thriller author - John Connolly (who I once had the pleasure of enjoying a glass of wine with at a restaurant in Portland Maine where we were each dining solo) - so I get signed first editions of his books from them.

I've visited Powell's in Portland Oregon (the younger Portland), Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, a lovely tiny bookstore on Charing Cross Road in London (the name of which I've forgotten but not the book signing I attended). There are many small bookstores in NYC I've enjoyed popping into, browsing, and often buying but I remember none of their names.

[Stacia]

Oh, and Eagle Harbor Book Co. on Bainbridge Island (Seattle area). It's where I discovered Brian Doyle's books. Sadly, last time I was in the area, Doyle had just passed away and the bookstore was going to be closed so some of the folks who worked there could travel to Portland for his funeral.

https://www.eagleharborbooks.com/

[Bill]

Nadine wrote: "Bill, I'm curious to hear why you think Pegasus is inferior?"

I find Moe's stock a lot more interesting. I tend to find a lot more books there: unusual fiction, art, music, cookbooks, collectors' items etc. I enjoy browsing at Pegasus, but have only bought a handful of books there over the years.

Since I live in San Francisco, I've never carried books all the way to sell at Moe's or Pegasus. But that does sound like an unpleasant experience.

Good to hear the workers are now unionized, and the owners are ok with that.

[Marc]

Stacia wrote: "Marc, I did one of Capitol Hill's grab bags and it was awesome."
Same experience here. What did they send you (if you remember and feel like answering)?!!

[Stacia]

Marc wrote: "Stacia wrote: "Marc, I did one of Capitol Hill's grab bags and it was awesome."
Same experience here. What did they send you (if you remember and feel like answering)?!!"

I asked for surreal/weird &/or international/translated stuff. I got:
Tea and Biscuits
A Change of Time
The Book of Monelle
The Blast
The Tongue of Adam
Season of Migration to the North (I had already read this one)
Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass
Lolly Willowes
Mercury Retrograde: A Novel

And, I'm totally embarrassed to admit that I haven't yet read any they sent me. But they are in my tbr pile.

What did you get? (If you want to share....)

[Marc]

Wow—nice haul!
I think I told them I liked Borges, Calvino, NK Jemisin, Szymborska, and a couple others (but not to give me any Calvino or Borges). They sent:
- The Blue Flower
- Travels in Hyperreality
- Poems of Akhmatova
- Bloodchild and Other Stories

I’ve been wanting to read the first one for awhile, I loved Eco’s Hyperreality essays, was intrigued by the poetry selection (although I didn’t take to it), and I already had the Butler collection (but I discovered a few weeks ago that the edition they sent has two stories my edition doesn’t). I was quite pleased.

[Jenna]

Bretnie wrote: "I can't think of any big name bookstores that I've visited, but I can't resist popping into the local bookstore of any town that I visit."

I do this too - always try to buy something from the small local bookstore when I'm on vacation so that its there again the next time ;)

[Tea73]

Sadly the closest independent bookstore near me is terrible. I rarely get there, but The Strand in NYC is wonderful. I want to give a shoutout to two small bookstores that do an amazing job. They aren't very big, but they always have something intriguing: The Toadstool Bookstore in Peterborough, New Hampshire and The Tempest Book Shop in Waitsfield, Vermont.