Bookstore shopping in North America
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A
Wanderlust
Neatly divided between guidebooks, maps and travel literature and a large array of travel accessories, this store has been inspiring itchy feet among the locals for years. While the travel book selection is deeper than any other in town, it’s the gadgets that are most intriguing. Peruse the luggage, money belts and mosquito nets, then wonder how you ever got by without quick-drying underwear. The staff of seasoned travelers is super-knowledgeable if you just want to talk up your next big adventure.
reviewed
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B
Schoenhof’s Foreign Books
Since 1856, Schoenhof’s has been providing Boston’s foreign-language-speaking literati with reading material. Special booklists keep regulars abreast of new arrivals in their language of choice, whether it’s scholarly or literary works, language instruction materials or children’s books. If you are wondering which languages and dialects are available, the official count is over 700, so Schoenhof’s probably has you covered.
reviewed
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C
Kidsbooks
If you’re wondering what your sprogs can read now that the Harry Potter series may be over, bring them here. Like a theme park for bookish kids, this fantastic child-friendly store – Canada’s biggest kids’ bookshop – has thousands of novels, picture books, history titles and anything else you can think of to keep them quiet. There are also regular readings by visiting authors and a selection of quality toys and games.
reviewed
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D
Hennessy + Ingalls
With its sleek shelves, snappy organization and eye-catching titles, Hennessey + Ingalls exudes a palpable cool. Approaching its 50th birthday, this indie favorite – which is dedicated to art and architecture – stocks everything from coffee-table books and fashion retrospectives to landscaping how-to tomes. If you happen to be looking for a gift for that hard-to-please artist in your life, this is the place to start.
reviewed
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E
Chicago Comics
This comic emporium has won the ‘best comic-book store in the USA’ honor from all sorts of people who should know. Old Marvel Superman back issues share shelf space with hand-drawn works by cutting-edge local artists like Chris Ware, Ivan Brunetti and Dan Clowes (who lived here during his early Eightball days). Simpsons fanatics will ‘d’oh!’ with joy at the huge toy selection.
reviewed
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F
Travel Bug
Lined with maps, guidebooks and travel literature (plus handy on-the-road accessories), this is the smaller of two excellent travel-related Kits bookstores. It’s a browsable treat for those planning a trip or those who just like to imagine afar from a comfy armchair. Check the website for readings from sinewy travel writers just back from navigating the Amazon armed only with shoelaces and a toothpick.
reviewed
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G
Golden Age Collectables
If you’re missing your regular dose of Emily the Strange or you just want to blow your vacation budget on a highly detailed life-size model of Ultra Man, head straight to this Aladdin’s cave of the comic-book world. While the clientele is unsurprisingly dominated by males of a certain age, the staff are friendly and welcoming – especially to wide-eyed kids buying their first Archie.
reviewed
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H
57th Street Books
A serious university demands a serious bookstore, and as you descend the stairs to this basement-level shop you’ll know you’re in the right place. Its labyrinth of low-slung rooms makes up the kind of old-fashioned bookstore that goes way deeper than the popular titles. It has excellent staff picks and an exhaustive travel section. Seminary Co-op is the sister shop selling academic tomes.
reviewed
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I
Bibliophile Bookshop
Serving the area’s well-read bohemians, this great used-tome store is one of several bookish nooks along the Drive. Floor-to-ceiling stacks bulge with titles covering just about every subject, including a surprisingly good selection of Canadian fiction. The shop additionally sells a menagerie of folk art, which explains the random carved ornaments populating spots where books won’t fit.
reviewed
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J
Book Warehouse
This busy outlet of Vancouver’s favorite independent bookstore chain is one of several branches around the city. Prices are discounted on most titles and there’s a good travel section and big stocks of new releases, contemporary faves and perennial classics. Look out for regular sales and pre-announced shipments of ‘hurt books’ – new tomes with minor dings and major discounts.
reviewed
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K
Abraham Lincoln Book Shop
This hushed, museum-like shop carries new, used and antiquarian books about Honest Abe, the Civil War and the presidency in general. If you want a real, Lincoln-signed White House memo – and have $30,000 to drop on it – you’ll walk out of here a satisfied customer. The knowledgeable staff regularly hold open round-table discussions with Civil War scholars.
reviewed
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L
Open Books
Buy a used book here and you’re helping to fund this volunteer-based literacy group’s programs, which range from in-school reading help to adult creative writing courses. The expansive store has good-quality tomes and plenty of comfy sofas where you can sit and peruse your finds. It’s a particularly friendly environment for kids. Books average around $5.
reviewed
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M
Seminary Cooperative Bookstore
This is the bookstore of choice for several University of Chicago Nobel Prize winners, including Robert Fogel, who says, ‘For a scholar, it’s one of the great bookstores of the world.’ The shop is owned by the same folks as 57th St Books. It’s planning a move (down the block to 5751 S Woodlawn Ave) at the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012.
reviewed
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N
Macleod’s Books
From its creaky floorboards to those skuzzy carpets and ever-teetering piles of books, this legendary locals’ fave is the best place in town to peruse a cornucopia of used tomes. From dance to occult – plus a travel section – it’s the ideal spot for a rainy-day browse. Check the windows for posters of local readings and artsy happenings.
reviewed
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O
Borders Books & Music
This humongous Borders, right across from the Water Tower, is always crowded. Thousands of books, including lots of special-interest titles, are spread out over four floors. You’ll find a good selection of magazines and newspapers near the main entrance. There’s also a branch in Lake View. Both have free wi-fi.
reviewed
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P
Harvard Bookstore
Family-owned and operated since 1932, the Harvard Bookstore is not officially affiliated with the university, but it is the university community’s favorite place to come to browse. While the shop maintains an academic focus, there is plenty of fiction for the less lofty, as well as used books and bargain books in the basement.
reviewed
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Q
Little Sister’s Book & Art Emporium
One of the only gay bookshops in western Canada, Little Sister’s is a large bazaar of queer-positive tomes, plus magazines, DVDs and gifts. Proceeds of designated books support the store’s long-running legal battle against Canada Customs for its seizures of imported items. A good place to network with the local ‘gayborhood.’
reviewed
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R
Symposium Books
This is what bookstores used to be: there’s no café and there are no comfy couches, but there are floor-to-ceiling bookcases stocked with literature and scholarly books. The best part is that they are cheap, meaning 50% to 70% off the retail price, and staff are eager to assist devoted bibliophiles in finding a bargain.
reviewed
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S
Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks
Traveling epicureans should salivate over to this bookstore, specializing in finger-licking food and wine tomes. There are also regular book-reading events and cooking classes in the demonstration kitchen if you fancy rubbing shoulders with a culinary maestro or two – check its website for the schedule.
reviewed
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T
Quimby’s
The epicenter of Chicago’s comic and zine worlds, Quimby’s is one of the linchpins of underground culture in the city. Here you can find everything from crayon-powered punk-rock manifestos to slickly produced graphic novels. It’s a groovy place for cheeky literary souvenirs and bizarro readings.
reviewed
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U
Myopic Books
Sunlight pours through the windows at Myopic, one of the city’s oldest and largest used bookstores. It rambles through three floors, serves coffee and hosts poetry readings (usually on Sunday evenings) and experimental music (on Monday evenings). In other words, it’s perfect.
reviewed
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V
Larry Edmunds Bookshop
Every movie and TV book imaginable is crammed – sometimes haphazardly – onto the narrow shelves at this friendly shop that’s been around for 60 years. For everything from Kung Fu cinema to X-Files minutiae to Syd Field’s screenwriting tomes, look here first.
reviewed
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W
Beguiling
Need a comic book fix? Beguiling is the kind of crowded, mixed-up place that Robert Crumb would drop by (in fact, he once did). Be mesmerized by original ’zines, indie comics, pop culture books, limited edition artworks and posters. Check the website for events.
reviewed
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X
Boulder Bookstore
Boulder's favorite indie bookstore has a huge travel section downstairs, along with all the hottest new fiction and nonfiction. The attached Bookend Cafe has plenty of seating indoor and out to make it an appealing hangout at any time of day, night, year.
reviewed
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Y
Bodhi Tree
Here since 1970, this cosy cottage of enlightenment carries an impressively broad range of spiritual-minded books – Buddhism, Christianity, astrology, shamanism – that’s attractive to students and dabblers alike. Psychic readings offered daily.
reviewed
