Your Favorite Bookstore

[Sancho]

Here’s the thread for plugging your favorite bookstore.

I figure it’ll be helpful for bookworms who travel a lot, like me.

I’ll start. I’m in Portland, Oregon today and I wound up spending almost the whole day in Powell’s Bookstore. That place encompasses an entire city block in downtown Portland and the best simile I can think of to describe it is: it’s like a Vegas casino, only for readers not gamblers. I went in there this morning when they opened and then came stumbling out, dazed and confused, twelve hours later.

[Desolation]

I'm going to have to second Powell's. It's phenomenal, one of my favorite places to go when I'm out walking around in the city.

[Alexander III]

In London there is this old 4 story book store, dating back to the 18th century, and It is simply marvelous. The architecture and interior are beautiful and capture the perfect ambiance, and there is a splendid stock of books about near everything and from near everywhere. Right now I cant remember the name, but it is marvelous. It is near Trafalgar square though.

[Niamh]

oooo!! I love Powells Online store! its amazing! I'm in Ireland and they shipped a book to me. :)

Mine currently is Hodges Figgis.

[dwdean]

i'd say Reader's Corner in Raleigh NC.
the guy running the store is tremendously well read, and quite friendly for being cooped up all day.
he always has great books, collectibles, and conversation waiting for me.
the store is outstanding

[Cailin]

Love Hodges Figgis too - but they're pricing themselves out of it at the mo...

[dfloyd]

mortar stores are too expensive and have a much smaller inventory than internet booksellers. While I might spend an afternoon in one, I very seldom buy anything. Try Bill Majer Bookseller for Limited Editions Club books from $30 to $3,000. Finds can be made on Ebay also.

[MarcoPolo]

Myopic in Chicago is great. Quimby's is cool too.

[The Comedian]

Brother, I wish I had somethin' better to tell you, but I live in the middle of nowhere. And the best bookstore here is Amazon.com. Or the public library for renters. . . ;)

[Buh4Bee]

The Strand, NYC

[Sancho]

This is exactly what I’m talking about.

Now I’ve got some great insider info on where to go when I visit London, Dublin, Raleigh-Durham, Chicago, NYC, and the web.

I was trying to remember the bookstore I visited a few years back in the other Portland – the one in Maine, not Oregon. Both Portlands have fine bookstores – oh yes, and good food too. You can’t beat the one in Maine for lobster and the one in Oregon has a veritable smorgasbord of street-food shacks. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

[Cailin]

The Strand, NYC

I LOVE that shop! Discovered it on a trip to NYC thanks to my cousin.

[Babak Movahed]

Well there are a couple of extremely amazing bookstores that I've been to a few times. First there is City Lights Bookstore in San Fran, then there is Iliad Bookstore in No Ho. City Lights was the first place to publish Ginsberg's "Howl" and Iliad has a whole collection of extremely rare first editions.
Oh! and the staffs actually know a thing or two about literature, which is more than you can say for Amazon, Barnes and Nobles, and Borders.

[TheChilly]

Skylight Books in LA.

Even if it's small, I was amazed by the intense variety of the books they had there.

[Leobloom]

Foyles on Charing Cross Road in London is great, it's 4 storeys (I think, maybe 3) and is supposedly the largest bookshop in Europe. I love it, they usually have books that Amazon doesn't have.
Shakespeare and Company in Paris is my favourite by far though. It's a wonderful old bookshop with uneven floors and shelves crammed with books right up to the ceiling. You need to use their ladders to reach the top shelves! It's got an amazing history, it was the heart of the Pound-Joyce clique of writers based in Paris in the early 20th-century - the owners published Ulysses for the first time in 1922. I think the current bookshop is on a different site to the original but it is still unique and like something out of a fairytale.

[papayahed]

John King books in Detroit, MI and some little used bookstore in Riverton, Wyoming.

[phalium]

I’ll start. I’m in Portland, Oregon today and I wound up spending almost the whole day in Powell’s Bookstore. That place encompasses an entire city block in downtown Portland and the best simile I can think of to describe it is: it’s like a Vegas casino, only for readers not gamblers. I went in there this morning when they opened and then came stumbling out, dazed and confused, twelve hours later.

This can only imagine a bookstore such as this.

[Whifflingpin]

Are there still the "buchanistes" along the bank of the Seine opposite Notre Dame?

Edit - apparently there are, if you spell it right - bouquinistes

[kuganv89]

In London there is this old 4 story book store, dating back to the 18th century, and It is simply marvelous. The architecture and interior are beautiful and capture the perfect ambiance, and there is a splendid stock of books about near everything and from near everywhere. Right now I cant remember the name, but it is marvelous. It is near Trafalgar square though.

I believe the bookshop you're referring to is Foyles in London, on Charing Cross Road: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foyles

[Sancho]

Powell’s Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland Oregon, USA

Hodges Figgis, 56-58 Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland

Reader's Corner, 3201 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC, USA

Bill R Majure Bookseller, [email protected], The Web

Myopic Books, 1564 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, USA

Quimby's Bookstore, 1854 W North Ave, Chicago, IL, USA

The Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, New York, NY, USA

City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA, USA

Iliad Bookshop, 5400 Cahuenga Blvd, North Hollywood, California, USA

Skylight Books, 1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Foyles (W & G Foyle Ltd.) 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London, England

Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, 37 rue de la Bucherie, Paris, France

John K. King Books, 901 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI, USA

The Bouquinistes of Paris, along the banks of the Seine, Paris, France

I know there's more. How about Edinburgh, Scotland - now there's a great reading city.

[Insane4Twain]

I have a mental map of of the Half-Price bookstores in Houston. Amazon.com and the local library serve most of my needs.

[papayahed]

Hey, that's a pretty cool list. I'll have to remember to consult it before I travel.

[bouquin]

Shakespeare and Company
37 Rue de la Bûcherie
75005 Paris
France
http://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/


The Abbey Bookshop
29 Rue Parcheminerie
75005 Paris
France
http://www.alevdesign.com/abbey/abbey_en.html



____________________
Currently reading: Qui a tué Palomino Molero? (by Mario Vargas Llosa)

[Crass the head]

Thanks to Sancho for naming a few in the LA area. I really wish the area had more independent book stores.

[bouquin]

Last year I went on holiday to Hungary and bought several second-hand books in English at a bookshop called Treehugger Dan's in Budapest.

http://www.treehugger.hu/




____________________
Currently reading: The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Michael Chabon)

[davidkk]

I used to like the one near UCL/Tottenham Crt. Rd. called Dillons - it is now a Waterstones, has millions of floors, and every book!Poker Online (http://www.dalespoker.com) | pokernbet.com (http://www.pokernbet.com)

[Sancho]

I have a mental map of of the Half-Price bookstores in Houston. Amazon.com and the local library serve most of my needs.

Ooo-Ooo-Ooo! Good call, Insane. I've been to the Half-Price Bookstore in Rice Village. A few years ago I had a part-time job (one weekend a month and two weeks out of every year) down on Old Spanish Trail.

Earlier I was thinking good reading cities were somewhat weather-dependent, like Edinburgh, Scotland and Portland, Oregon and Maine, all cold and rainy, but Houston's weather ought to qualify as well - 100 degrees (Fahrenheit) and 100% humidity this time of year. It's a good time to stay indoors and read a book.

Our Lit-Net-approved-bookstore list is growing.

[zhannochka]

Anything second hand! I am an opshop fiend!

ETA: and I have an emotional attachment to books... I don't like the idea of a good book collecting dust on a shelf that belongs to nobody.

[Sancho]

Okay, so, I’m city-hiking San-Fran on Friday. I wander down Market Street and hang a right on Haight Street with the general idea of hiking through the Haight-Ashbury Neighborhood to Golden Gate Park and on down to the Pacific Ocean. Around about Buena Vista Park I’m set upon by a panhandler who’s got a banana with the tip cut off of it, and he’s holding it, pointed outward, about waist high.

He goes into his spiel and says to me, “When I was a baby, somebody cut off part of my penis. I’m mad and I’m sad and I don’t know what to do about it. Can you spare me a quarter?” (He pronounced it, Quota)

So I’m standing there, fishing around in my pocket for some change, looking at his circumcised banana, and trying to think of something to say. Here’s what I came up with: “Yeah, they got me too. Turned my anteater into helmet. Put the mark of Abraham on me. The bastards.”

He comes back, “The Nazis got more than foreskin from the Jews.”

I said, “That’s the truest thing I’ve heard today, banana-man. Here's some quotas”

And then I ditched the creepy old guy and ducked into this bookstore:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/Booksmith.jpg

It was a pleasant diversion from the cheesy Tie-Dye T-shirt shops, used-vinyl record shops, smoke shops, and snipped fruit wielding homeless folks on Haight Street. There was a pretty girl working behind the counter, and the place had a big-ole rack of staff-recommended books. Don’t you dig it when the staff takes the time to pick out some of their favorite books and write a short synopsis on them – and leave their name? Some dude named Todd liked the book Pastoralia, by George Saunders. Todd seemed to think George Saunders has an unconventional wit and is able to find humor in banal situations. He compared Saunders to Flannery O’Connor. So I bought the book. It’s been pretty danged funny so far.

[ariella]

I always use amazon though because it has most books you could ever want.

Waterstones in Picadilly Circus - I think this is the biggest bookshop in Europe, at least that's what I read somewhere. I always go here anyway because they have around 6 floors and sofas to sit down.
Black Gull in Camden - Tiny used book shop.
I used to love musty old bookshops as a child - now I'm so cynical as an adult, that I rarely bother.

[ariella]

i believe the bookshop you're referring to is foyles in london, on charing cross road: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/foyles

i have to find this place!

[Sancho]

Here's the updated list:


Powell’s Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland Oregon, USA

Hodges Figgis, 56-58 Dawson Street, Dublin, Ireland

Reader's Corner, 3201 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC, USA

Bill R Majure Bookseller, [email protected], The Web

Myopic Books, 1564 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL, USA

Quimby's Bookstore, 1854 W North Ave, Chicago, IL, USA

The Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, New York, NY, USA

City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA, USA

Iliad Bookshop, 5400 Cahuenga Blvd, North Hollywood, California, USA

Skylight Books, 1818 N Vermont Ave, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Foyles (W & G Foyle Ltd.) 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London, England

Shakespeare and Company Bookstore, 37 rue de la Bucherie, Paris, France

John K. King Books, 901 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI, USA

The Bouquinistes of Paris, along the banks of the Seine, Paris, France


Half Price Books (one of ‘em, anyway) 2537 University Blvd, Houston, TX, USA

The Abbey Bookshop, 29 Rue Parcheminerie, Paris, France

Treehugger Dan’s, Csengery u. 48. VI District, Budapest, Hungary

Waterstone’s (formerly Dillon’s) 82 Gower Street, London, England

The Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Black Gull Books, 70-71 Camden Lock Place, Camden, London, England

Happy reading (and traveling)

[Insane4Twain]

Sancho, you and I have GOT to get together from some java next time you're in the Bayou City.

[Sancho]

Sancho, you and I have GOT to get together from some java next time you're in the Bayou City.

Now yer talkin’! I’m in. I’ll bring the beignets.

Insane4Twain knows what I’m talking about, but for Lit-Netters who haven’t been to Houston, TEXAS – please, allow me to elucidate: Houston is not just an oil boom town, or a place where the governor can go to have a prayer meeting in a football stadium, or the land whence ZZ Top came. No. Houston is a GREAT eating town. And I do mean great. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. I haven’t actively studied it, but I think it has to do with the fusion of folks there. You’d be hard pressed to find better Texas Barbecue anywhere in Texas or better Mexican Food in Mexico or better Cajun Food in Louisiana. I know them’s fightin’ words, but that’s just how it is. The truth is just the truth, and you can’t really have an opinion about the truth.

Anyway, Houston is one of those great American melting-pot cities, and in addition to the big three above, they have freaking-awesome Indian, Thai, and Vietnamese restaurants. They’re not much into French food though – unless you filter it through South Louisiana. Speaking of which, Crescent City Beignets on Westheimer is a happy place for coffee and (ah-hem) donuts.

[qimissung]

I live in Dallas, so it's Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books for us. I like them both, but Half Price Books is much more fun to shop at.

[BlackCat]

Any folks live in Norcross GA? Know any great book store?

[TurquoiseSunset]

Exclusive Books, because they are so conveniently located in most malls.
Kalahari.net for books and Amazon.com for e-books.

[Sancho]

Any folks live in Norcross GA? Know any great book store?

I haven’t found Powell’s-like bookstore in the metro Atlanta area. Although the Book Nook chain over in Marietta ain’t bad. To get there, first you go to the Big Chicken and then… Sorry folks, that’s a regional joke. Over in Marietta (May-retta), Georgia, they’ve got this huge mechanical chicken built over a KFC and it serves as a landmark. Years ago they were going to tear it down because it is a bit of an eyesore, but then the city planners got worried that people would driving around half lost all the time, so The Big Chicken was saved.

[Darcy88]

I envy you all. Right now I'm in a small town studying by distance. The nearest well-stocked quality book store is a four hour drive away. There was one an hour away but it just closed its doors. My own modest collection puts to shame the classics sections of the used book stores where I live. As a result I mostly use chapters and abe online.

And when I do make that four hour journey..... I am as elated and as gluttonous as the cliched kid in the candy store.

[Austin Butler]

Powell's was, and still is, my favorite bookstore. If you're ever in Portland you have to set aside several hours and go there. I live in Austin, TX now and my two favorite bookstores are any of the Half-Price Books locations and Book People.

[Climacus]

It's Amazon.ca for me. And Folio Society.

[Helga]

The bookstore at school is the best I know it is called Bóksala stúdenta....

[ForrestJG]

There aren't really any bookstores near where I live, so when I do finally get to go to the nearest city, I usually spend hours in there, and go straight to the Penguin Classics section. They're quite small so I usually buy most of my books on the internet, but it doesn't compare to a bookstore as the books are just there, in your face for you to flick through.
I always seem to be the one person in there for hours, and it's a WHSmith, and Borders, but they're pretty damn good.

[irishpixieb]

I live in Raleigh NC so i like Quail Ridge Books and Barnes and Noble. I'm soo sad that Borders went out of business! They were great!

[Sancho]

I was lucky enough to spend a day at Powell’s last week. It was cold and rainy, and the place was packed – go figure. Anyhow, I walked out of there with a nice copy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Oh yes, and also a T-shirt. I felt slightly guilty buying a T-shirt at a book store, but what the hey, I like T-shirts. It’s got this sort-of Ed Hardy, tattoo, heart-motif thing going on, but instead of a heart with daggers and skulls, it has a heart with some books and a bird. And instead of an inscription saying something like: Love Kills, or Live Fast - Die Young; it says Read Fast - Die Young. So anyway, I don’t think I impressed the hoodlums in my ‘hood with my new T-shirt, but the librarian lady smiled at me. Woo-Hoo!

Speaking of living fast and dying young, it reminded me of something Hunter S. Thompson once said about James Dean: “He was a spoiled brat who couldn’t drive.”

[Sancho]

Today I found myself with a free afternoon in a strange town. So I went out city hiking, socializing, and more-or-less looking for a bookstore, of course. I found one. I say strange town, but I suppose it isn't any stranger than any other town I've ever visited, just different. You know, different in the way that every place is different from the place you're from. It's in the inter-mountain west region of the United States, and has an unusually high percentage of young people, many of them with vaguely military-like haircuts, cheap suits, and plastic name tags; and many others sporting unnatural hair colors, neck tattoos, and painful-looking piercings.

So anyway I wandered into this place:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/7f036db6e4b0edca5df8e5c466c00245_zpsceqnm1ib.jpg

Great fun. My kinda bookstore. A real fire hazard. They had books stacked ceiling to floor. I found a book I'd been trying to find for quite some time, Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez. I bought another book by a writer I've never heard of but who wrote a book and named it after one of my favorite Bluegrass tunes: Soldier's Joy by Madison Smartt Bell. And finally I found a 1st edition signed copy of Fools Progress by Ed Abbey. Woo-Hoo! They also had "Hayduke Lives!" T-shirts, but not in my size. (Bummer, man)


Ken Sanders Rare Books,
Salt Lake City, Utah

A real gem

[UlyssesE]

Sad to say, but my favorite bookstore since it originally opened has been Barnes N Noble. I support local but a lot of times the prices there, as well as the room to sit around and sample a lot of different books comfortably, can't be beat.

[Ecurb]

Barry Lopez is one of our local authors (here in Eugene -- he lived in Vida, 25 miles upstream for years, I'm not sure if he still does). "Arctic Dreams" is excellent.

I just wrote a website for J Michaels Books (a bookstore here in Eugene). I'm friends with the owner, and I've done quite a bit of PR and business writing in my day, so I just did it as a favor. It's not up on line yet -- but when they get it up perhaps I'll post a link and entertain suggestions from LitNetters on how to improve it.

[ajvenigalla]

I enjoy Barnes and Nobles a lot

Last time I went there I picked up four paperbacks, two old classics (Les Miserables, Moby-Dick) and two modern classics (The Road, The Goldfinch)

[Sancho]

^I like that B&N in Midtown Manhattan, 5th Ave and 46th-ish, I think. It's huge, or as the locals say - yooge. I spent a blustery winter day there last year, browsing the stacks, then upstairs drinking a Starbucks and watching the people moving up and down 5th Avenue. Ya ever go to the Strand Bookstore in NYC?

I'm looking forward to starting Arctic Dreams. As I mentioned, I'd been keeping my eye open for it for a while. I did not realize Lopez lived in Oregon. Speaking of Arctic Dreams, drilling, and Orgonians - my hat is off to the climbers dangling from the St Johns Bridge and the kayakivists up there in Portland!

Hell Yeah! go-man-go!

[prendrelemick]

Has to be Carnforth Bookshop in Carnforth, Nth Lancs. A three storey converted warehouse stuffed with books from floor to ceiling. Ok the ground floor is for the tourist, a bit garish with guides to The Lakes and OS maps and what used be to called coffee table books written by celebrities. The best stuff - the second hand stuff - is up a narrow stair (of fire hazard proportions and satisfyingly creaky) . Each of the the upper floors consist of about a dozen smaller rooms, one leading on to another. The size and complexity of the layout is such that you feel just lost enough for discoveries but not hopelessly overwhelmed. The dust is all original and there is no vertical surface or window sill that is not used to display stock. A few signs and labels of faded words like "Classics" or "Travel", are scrawled on bits of paper and pinned over the door jambs. Somewhere in the middle of this labyrinth is an old settee and a coffee machine where I've spent many happy hours while Mrs P shops or cooks or cleans or does whatever she does on holiday. I always leave with a few books, I admit I feel obliged to buy something in return for the experience of being there.

[Pompey Bum]

I've been using ebooks ever since the local Borders died. I didn't have any strong feelings about the chain itself (it had knocked out all the little bookshops back in the day), and I only went there because it was near my house. But when it went, it was like a friend getting lung cancer. The shelves got emptier and emptier and the cheerful displays ceased to exist. I was there at the very end with a handful of other diehard bibliophiles, realizing for the first time, I think, that we had been seeing one another there for years. When the store closed the customers and the staff all hugged each other and said goodbye. It was just like a funeral. It's an Outback now. Hey, people have priorities.

[Sancho]

Carnforth Book Shop sounds splendid, Mick.

The Barnes and Noble near my house closed a few years back. It's a Harbour Freight Tools now. I like to wander through there from time to time and reminisce, - ah yes, Bill Shakespeare used to have his stuff right here where the air compressors are now...

[prendrelemick]

Tool and hardware shops are my second favourite places to browse, and becoming rarer than bookshops.

[YesNo]

My favorite is Powell's Bookstore on 57th Street near the University of Chicago. Although I used to live near enough to walk there when I was younger, today I like stopping by just for the memories and there is usually something I'll find worth buying. It contains used books and near enough to a large university to be hopefully profitable.

Another interesting one is walking distance from Powell's, the Chicago Theological Seminary Coop Bookstore (I think that is what it is called). They renovated it recently and it is now nicely lit and attractive. Before it was attractive in a dingy sort of basement way. I built bookshelves for the books I had based on the old bookshelves in this bookstore--and put the book and shelves in the basement which seemed only appropriate.

Now-a-days, I prefer ebooks.

[Munshie]

On a recent visit to New Hampshire my wife I noticed there were far fewer second-hand/used book stores than on our previous visits to NH and elsewhere in the the US. We have spent many hours browsing in used-books stores and picked up some bargains to boot! Is the compeition driving these used-books stores to the wall? Went to an ordinary bookshop in Concorde (NH) and found the for many of the books I wanted (and they were nothing out of the ordinary) weren't available. The titles could be ordered and that required a week or more of waiting. Not very convenient when one is on holiday.

[gustave dore]

The reason I have any need for bookstores is that used bookstores offer any book I'm looking for cheap as dirt off amazon. I will admit there's like nothing like shopping at a real small bookstore, but unfortunately, I don't live near any.

[Calidore]

My favorite is Powell's Bookstore on 57th Street near the University of Chicago. Although I used to live near enough to walk there when I was younger, today I like stopping by just for the memories and there is usually something I'll find worth buying. It contains used books and near enough to a large university to be hopefully profitable.

Another interesting one is walking distance from Powell's, the Chicago Theological Seminary Coop Bookstore (I think that is what it is called). They renovated it recently and it is now nicely lit and attractive. Before it was attractive in a dingy sort of basement way. I built bookshelves for the books I had based on the old bookshelves in this bookstore--and put the book and shelves in the basement which seemed only appropriate.

Now-a-days, I prefer ebooks.

Haven't been to that Powell's in a long time. Usually I go to the one on Lincoln near Diversey. I miss their huge, warehousey store in the Loop, which they closed years ago.

Now I do most of my used-book shopping at Myopic Books in Wicker Park or the Half Price Books in Niles.

[YesNo]

I haven't been to Myopic Books. It is now on my list of places to visit. Thanks!

[Sancho]

I spent a good part of my day here today:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/ab0d541e38000d4bab4b65d319dbc1ad_zpsifvuwmtp.jpg

The Strand bookstore in Manhattan (12th and Broadway, just south of Union Square)

I haven't been there in years. It's every bit as good as Powell's City of Books on Burnside in Portland.

I bought:
The Good Inn, by Black Francis & Josh Frank
A Big Enough Lie, by Eric Bennett
And
Lightning Field, by Dana Spiotta

Oh yes, I also bought a coffee mug
Cheers

[YesNo]

I've been to Strand Books a couple of times years ago. If I ever get to NYC and walk up and down Broadway again, it is a place I would want to stop and see. It's a little far away at the moment. I'll have to settle for Myopic Books.

[PeachSodaLover]

Not Strand. Not Borders. BooksAMillion

[Eupalinos]

I was going to mention "O'Gara's" [O’Gara & Wilson Bookshop] in Chicago's Hyde Park, which though I haven't been to in a couple years I have an enduring fondness for, only to discover it's closed and relocated to Chesterton, Indiana! Not being a car-driver, this is sadness sadness sadness...

[Calidore]

I was going to mention "O'Gara's" [O’Gara & Wilson Bookshop] in Chicago's Hyde Park, which though I haven't been to in a couple years I have an enduring fondness for, only to discover it's closed and relocated to Chesterton, Indiana! Not being a car-driver, this is sadness sadness sadness...

I haven't been there in a while either and had no idea they'd moved. If you have a bicycle (or don't mind longish walks), it's a bit over three miles from the Dune Park station on the South Shore train line.

YesNo, if you haven't yet gone to Myopic Books and would like to do a meet & greet, let me know when you're going. There's plenty of good food in that neighborhood.

[PeachSodaLover]

I haven't been there in a while either and had no idea they'd moved. If you have a bicycle (or don't mind longish walks), it's a bit over three miles from the Dune Park station on the South Shore train line.

YesNo, if you haven't yet gone to Myopic Books and would like to do a meet & greet, let me know when you're going. There's plenty of good food in that neighborhood.
I was there (at O'Garas) after 1926, when books first became legal to publish online. Do you see my point or not?

[Sancho]

The Loft Bookstore in Germantown, Columbus, Ohio

I went there once about 20 years ago and remember thinking it was a great bookstore and that I needed to come back when I had more time, but then I just don't find much reason to go to Columbus, Ohio all that often. Next time though...

[YesNo]

I haven't been there in a while either and had no idea they'd moved. If you have a bicycle (or don't mind longish walks), it's a bit over three miles from the Dune Park station on the South Shore train line.

YesNo, if you haven't yet gone to Myopic Books and would like to do a meet & greet, let me know when you're going. There's plenty of good food in that neighborhood.

That sounds great, Calidore. I haven't been in that area in a while and it probably won't be until later October. I'll send you a PM when my schedule gets clearer.

[Emil Miller]

The Loft Bookstore in Germantown, Columbus, Ohio

I went there once about 20 years ago and remember thinking it was a great bookstore and that I needed to come back when I had more time, but then I just don't find much reason to go to Columbus, Ohio all that often. Next time though...

It might not even be there. Years ago I used to browse in an old established bookshop in Munich called Palm but some years later I tried to find it and it had become a car showroom.
Nowadays it's possible to find out by computer whether a shop still remains in existence but it's sad when a bookshop that has been around for decades suddenly disappears.

[Sancho]

^ain't that the truth, Emil. The once-great bookstore in my town is now a Harbor Freight Tools, purveyor of cheap Chinese manufactured goods.

But in this particular case, the bookstore in Columbus is still there. I checked the Internet. Well, at least the web-site is still active:

www.bookloft.com

[Sancho]

I found another one today:

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/ae197/mollyandbruno/6e9ac2582517fc99f440bbaba57f40e8_zpszfa2pisq.jpg

John K. King Used and Rare Books, Detroit, Michigan

It's yuge, it's creaky, it smells of old books, which is to say - it's freaking awesome!

Also the staff is knowledgeable and friendly.

[noface0711]

I live in Dallas, so it's Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books for us. I like them both, but Half Price Books is much more fun to shop at.

[New Secret]

Years ago I would go to various small one-off book stores. For a few years I thought Borders was great. Too bad Borders went out of business. Where I am now the only book stores that I'd found yet is Barnes & Noble. Not too fond of Barnes & Noble because it doesn't seem right when I walk through their doors. When I casually browse their selection I find myself dis-interested and usually leave empty handed. Borders on the other hand I would nearly always leave with at least one book. When I lived in another state I would go to the mall book stores, those ones were fine. It seems like now if you really want a new or used book you got to go online. I prefer going to the book store but oh well, what can I do?

[mande2013]

Shakespeare and Company in Paris is a tourist trap. The selection is quite pithy. Try any of the neighborhood bookshops throughout the city for a more authentic experience. Galignani in Rue de Rivoli has a much better selection of English-language books than Shakespeare and Company.

[YesNo]

I live in Dallas, so it's Barnes and Noble and Half Price Books for us. I like them both, but Half Price Books is much more fun to shop at.

There is a Half Price Books in the same mall where I do yoga. It is a nice place to stop and browse with its collection of used books as well as new ones.

[Emil Miller]

Shakespeare and Company in Paris is a tourist trap. The selection is quite pithy. Try any of the neighborhood bookshops throughout the city for a more authentic experience. Galignani in Rue de Rivoli has a much better selection of English-language I books than Shakespeare and Company.

There used to be a branch of W H Smith, the well known English booksellers', in the Rue de Rivoli but I suspect that it is no longer there.
I haven't bought any English writers in France but Paris has some excellent bookshops covering French literature; not a few examples of which decorate my bookshelves here in England.

[mande2013]

There used to be a branch of W H Smith, the well known English booksellers', in the Rue de Rivoli but I suspect that it is no longer there.
I haven't bought any English writers in France but Paris has some excellent bookshops covering French literature; not a few examples of which decorate my bookshelves here in England.

W H Smith is most certainly still there. :)

Shakespeare and Company does appear to have an impressive collection of old and rare books, but if you just want to pop in and buy a random Faulkner or Balzac volume it's far from the best option.

[Emil Miller]

W H Smith is most certainly still there. :)

Shakespeare and Company does appear to have an impressive collection of old and rare books, but if you just want to pop in and buy a random Faulkner or Balzac volume it's far from the best option.

I mentioned W H Smith because a few years ago they had a major reorganisation and I thought that perhaps the lease on the Paris shop had been given up.
I used to buy books from a very good shop in the Boulevard Montparnasse, which had a number of English writers in translation but, for books in English, the most extensive collection I have come across in a European location was in the Lion Bookshop in Rome.

[Paulclem]

I've recently discovered a Book Barn between Coventry and Nuneaton which is stuffed full of second hand books. It's near a village and used to be a farm, but they converted the place to house books. It also has a very nice coffee shop where you can sit and sip and read. Excellent.

[justinvirk]

Near of my home there is city library.. I really got a much advantage of that library..and there is cool collection books in the library

[noface0711]

My favorite is Powell's Bookstore on 57th Street near the University of Chicago.

[YesNo]

Powell's is my favorite as well. I don't get down there as often as I used to, but the memories linger.

The Chicago Theological Seminary bookstore is also very good, but the books are all new. Its new location is better than the old location, but I loved the old location in the basement. I even built our own bookcases out of 1 by 8 boards in imitation of what was in that bookstore and put them in the basement.

[desiresjab]

If I lived nearer to Portland I would certainly pay repeated visits to Powell's. I think it is the largest used bookstore in the U.S., maybe that was the world.

[Poetaster]

Blackwells, and Waterstones. My loves. And Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland.

[Jackson Richardson]

The Blackwells in Charing Cross Road. London has closed and replaced by a branch in Holborn, which is a terrible disappointment: a cafe with a few bookshelves on the wall.

Oxford Blackwells will always be my favourite, though.