I’m looking for your favorite local bookshops. I’d like to begin compiling a list. I especially love rare book sellers. I have nothing against big bookstores like b&n, as they do serve their purpose. However, there is nothing like a bookshop that is based on the personality and eccentricities of its owner. It’s a lifestyle, beyond a passion, for these bookshop owners and clerks. It reminds me of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: Sometimes, you walk into a bookstore and find three books you didn’t know you wanted.
Please list your favorite shops, no matter where in the world they are located, in the comments.
source unknown {hints welcome!}
baldwin’s book barn in westchester, pa…amazing and huge bookstore with tons of rare, antique and vintage finds. be prepared to spend hours!
.-= rachael´s last blog ..robin schwartz =-.
Wow, amazing photo! I love the little bookshops as well…
I love little, hard-to-find bookshops. My favorite nearby is a little wonder called The Dawn Treader bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It’s a maze of wonderful books including a whole section to drool over of old-fashioned leather, gold-leafed beauties. there’s also a wonderful wall of non-English books, which houses such wonders as German poetry in the original tongue, and a French-to-Japanese dictionary. (http://www.dawntreaderbooks.com/index.html)
I live in Portland, OR and you have to visit Powell’s Bookstore. I especially love their rare book room…http://www.powells.com/rbr.html
So special…
.-= Ivy´s last blog ..Lovely Sunday =-.
Elliott Bay Book Co. in Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA
I love Sam Weller’s in Salt Lake City, Utah. They have a rare book section that makes my heart want to burst. What a lovely feeling, to be among things that have been treasured for so long!
.-= Caitlin´s last blog ..Books in Review =-.
BooksActually, Singapore
http://www.booksactually.com
This bookstore located at an obscure corner down the alleys of Chinatown has select choices and occasionally holds readings and discussions with book writers and their fans.
BooksActually was an official partner for Singapore’s writer’s festival in 2009. It’s a quirky place with bits of random and (beautiful) poetry typed on lined papers, good ol’ classics, new age design books, forgotten childhood stories (Moomins!), quirky mod publications and beautiful music – all in a quaint conservation shophouse. (:
.-= Lilyana´s last blog ..I lost the source of pink hummingbird – it is a beautiful piece… =-.
My two favorites are The Strand in NYC and Book Revue in Huntington, NY.
The Strand boosts “a mile of books” as it stretches the length of a city block. The have some amazing things in there… new, old, rare, vintage, etc. Definitely worth a stop! Each time I go in there I have to stop myself from buying 50+ books and that’s only because I wouldn’t be able to carry them all!
Book Revue is a small, local store. The store is quaint and the service is great. They have frequent book signings (more than any bookstore I’ve ever seen) with very well known authors. (For example, I met Hillary Clinton there a few years ago.) One thing I love about the store is that they offer 20% off brand new books.
In DC: Kramer Books, near Dupont Circle
In Philly: The Book Trader, Big Jar books
wow! that is book heaven! I once found a street vender in madrid that sold old and rare books.I wish I could remember where it was! It was tucked away in a side street that I happen to pass by when I decide to go off the beaten track and wander around with my cousin 🙂
.-= ana p´s last blog ..Altamura, Italy =-.
My absolute favourite bookstore in Victoria, BC Canada is called Russels Books. It’s locally owned and has recently expanded into two floors. It’s amazing and the owners are so nice. You can find a lot of first editions there.
This looks so marvelously breathtaking. I bet I could sit in that place for hours on end.
.-= Alla ´s last blog ..Sweet escape =-.
Powell’s Bookstore in Portland, Oregon… It’s a full city block of books – you need never use Amazon again!