Book shopping in North America
-
A
Rockridge
Rockridge is a popular shopping district. The lively, upscale neighborhood is centered on College Ave, which runs from Broadway all the way to the UC Berkeley Campus. College Ave is lined with clothing boutiques, good bookstores, a vintage record shop, several pubs and cafés, and quite a few upscale restaurants - maybe the largest concentration in the Bay Area. You could easily spend a satisfying afternoon or evening browsing, eating and drinking here.
Exiting BART at the Rockridge station puts you in the thick of things.
reviewed
-
Pearl District
The Pearl District is dotted with high-end galleries, boutiques and home-decor shops - don't miss Powell's City of Books. On the first Thursday of each month galleries stay open longer and people fill some of the Pearl's streets amid a party atmosphere. And on weekends, visit the quintessentially Portland Saturday Market.
reviewed
-
B
Nemi Zapata
A fair-trade store that sells products made by Zapatista communities: weavings, embroidery, coffee and honey, EZLN cards, posters and books.
reviewed
-
C
Everyone’s Books
Sells unusual publications, rabble-rousing political literature and an audacious selection of radical T-shirts and bumper stickers.
reviewed
-
D
Moe’s
Founded at the height of the beatnik era, this bookstore provides four packed floors of new and used books.
reviewed
-
E
Black Oak Books
A fine store in North Berkeley with new and used selections and a full calendar of author appearances.
reviewed
-
F
University Press Books
This option stocks works by UC Berkeley professors and from other academic and museum publishers.
reviewed
-
G
Maria’s Bookshop
Maria's is a good general bookstore - independently owned and well stocked.
reviewed
-
H
-
I
Advertisement
-
J
-
K
Strand Book Store
Book fiends (or even those who have casually skimmed one or two) shouldn’t miss New York’s most loved bookstore, selling new, used and rare titles. Operating since 1927, the Strand is New York’s most famous bookstore, with an incredible 18 miles of books (over 2.5 million of them), spread among three labyrinthine floors. Check out the staggering number of reviewers’ copies in the basement, or sell off your own tomes before you get back on the plane, as the Strand buys or trades books at a side counter on weekdays. There’s also a kiosk on the southeastern edge of Central Park, weather permitting.
reviewed
-
L
Elliott Bay Book Company
In its new home on Capitol Hill, the venerable Elliott Bay Book Company has gone from creaky and labyrinthine to vast and soaring-ceilinged. At first everyone worried about the relocation, but the new space has an open, energetic vibe – maybe even better than the original (sacrilege!). Still the best bookstore in town, and one of the best in the Northwest, Elliott Bay is also the local leader in author appearances, with writers appearing at a reading or signing almost nightly (think Tom Robbins, Sherman Alexie and David James Duncan). Readings are held in a dedicated room downstairs. They are usually free and generally start at 7pm. Pick up a schedule near the store entra…
reviewed
-
M
Citystore
This small, little-known city-run shop is the perfect place to find all manner of New York memorabilia, including authentic taxi medallions, manhole coasters, silk ties and baby clothes bearing the official ‘City of New York’ seal, Brooklyn Bridge posters, NYPD baseball caps, actual streets signs (‘No Parking, ’ ‘Don’t Feed the Pigeons’) and baseballs signed by famous Mets and Yanks. There’s also a great collection of city-themed books – including the unique Greenopia, the definitive guide to more than 1300 ecofriendly businesses.
reviewed
-
N
Idlewild Books
One of the best new indie bookshops to open in recent years, Idlewild is a great shopping destination when planning or even daydreaming about travel. Books are divided by region and cover guidebooks as well as fiction, travelogues, history, cookbooks and other stimulating fare when wanting to delve into a country. The big windows overlooking the street, high ceilings and world globe display (all for sale) add to the charm. Check ‘Events’ on the website for Idlewild’s lineup of readings and book-launch parties, sometimes with drinks, music and dance.
reviewed
-
O
Kramerbooks
With the Afterwords Café and bar behind the shop, this round-the-clock bookstore is as much a spot for schmoozing as for shopping. You can grab a meal, have a pint and flirt with comely strangers (the store is a fabled pick-up spot for straights and gays). This flagship independent – which leapt into First Amendment history when it firmly refused to release Lewinsky’s book-buying list to Starr’s snoops – features fine current literature, travel and politics sections.
reviewed
-
P
Reading Room
Started by an Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduate, Vegas’ best independent bookshop is placed conveniently on the Strip. Bookworms will be hypnotized by the selection of local-interest titles, from hot-off-the-press regional guidebooks and maps to contemporary nonfiction, historical essays, pulp biographies and photographic essays. Thoughtfully chosen art and design titles are displayed in glass-fronted cases at the back. Author readings and book signings take place regularly.
reviewed
-
Q
Calamus Bookstore
Calamus (aka Kalamos) – son of the Greek river god Maiandros – was transformed with grief into a reed when his lover drowned. The character (and the namesake plant) inspired Walt Whitman’s Calamus Poems, which celebrates gay love. And now, he has inspired Boston’s biggest and best GLBT bookstore. With a full calendar of author talks and art exhibitions, as well as a regular electronic newsletter, Calamus is not only a bookstore but also a community center.
reviewed
-
R
Buckskin Booksellers
This excellent bookstore exemplifies the passion locals have for their town and area. Buckskin carries a huge amount of books on local history, mining and geology, as well as birding books, guidebooks and hiking and camping information. There are antique books and collectibles, old photographs and ephemera, as well as a great range of fiction titles.
There are also plush armchairs where you're invited to sit and read a while before you buy.
reviewed
-
S
Black Cat Books
Set in an old 1890s dairy, this is a special, cozy stonewall basement bookstore with new hardcover books, used paperbacks, and all tasteful literary titles. Authors from Hawthorne to Franzen to Kingsolver are represented. They have young adult lit and children's books, and there's a progressive political bent here, which, while unusual in Colorado Springs, is standard issue in Manitou. Check the website for upcoming author events.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
T
Explore Booksellers
A sweet and intimate local bookshop, the kind that must survive if humanity is to preserve its literate soul. Little alcoves are stacked with biographies, history, adventure and nature tomes and, of course, new and classic literature. Note to readers: there is no gonzo section. We can't help but wonder why. Still, the staff tips are rock solid. By far the best excuse in Aspen to put down the iPad/Kindle and turn a page.
reviewed
-
U
Dog Eared Books
'Zines, remainders and graphic novels pack this place, but intriguing new stuff also gets its due in esoteric sections (especially Pirate literature) and trusty staff picks (of note lately: Miranda July's latest short story collection and Adverbs by Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snickett). Don't miss the hand-drawn obituaries to the likes of Susan Sontag, James Brown and Edward Said displayed in the front window.
reviewed
-
V
Kinokuniya
A great source for hard-to-find imported books and magazines in Asian languages (and in English about Asian culture), this bookstore inside Uwajimaya Village is also one of the few shops in the country where you can buy the lesser-known films of Kinji Fukasaku and other masters of Asian cinema on DVD. It has a fabulous supply of wrapping paper, cards and notebooks, not to mention imported comics and toys. Hello, Kitty!
reviewed
-
W
Meltdown Comics & Collectibles
LA's coolest comics store beckons with indie and mainstream books, from Japanese manga to graphic novels by Daniel Clowes of Ghost World fame. Also here is the kid-oriented store-within-a-store called Baby Melt, with a great if smallish selection of offbeat books, clothing and toys. Look for Hello Kitty goods, Roman Dirge's mix-and-match Halfsies mini-figures, and reprints of Tin Tin in several languages.
reviewed
-
X
Kinokuniya Books & Stationery
Like warriors in a showdown, the bookstore, stationery and manga divisions of Kinokuniya compete for your attention. Only you can decide where your loyalties lie: with stunning photography books and Harajuku fashion mags upstairs, vampire comics downstairs, or the stationery department’s washi paper, supersmooth Sakura gel pens and pig notebooks with the motto ‘what lovely friends*they will bring happy.’
reviewed
