In a nod to the transporting power of great stories, we decided to celebrate our love for many of their keepers: independent bookstores across the country. Some, like Blue Bicycle Books in Charleston, are stores we always stop by on a visit to the city, while others, like the Strand in New York City and City Lights in San Francisco, we are lucky to call our neighborhood joints. And even when we’re not able to physically stop by any of these stores, we’re supporting them by shopping online through Bookshop.org and the shops’ own websites and tuning in to their programming across social media.
If you’re looking for a good book—or a few great books—there’s no shortage of independent booksellers in the United States, many with expertly curated selections and shelves upon shelves of reads waiting to be thumbed through. A fine way to discover new indie bookshops near you is by searching Indiebound; the website’s main goal is to connect you with booksellers and provide helpful info about each.
Now you’ve got a serious craving to do some reading, right? We can help with that.
1. Books Are Magic
Location: 225 Smith St., Brooklyn, New York|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online or visiting its two locations in Brooklyn
As the name suggests, Books Are Magic is a special place for housing stories that will transport you to all corners of writers’ minds. The selection of books is massive—there are two rooms, one of which is mainly dedicated to children’s reads—and spans young adult fiction and LGBTQ stories to indie bestsellers and historical deep dives. Founded by author Emma Straub, it hosts a regular rotation of readings and events. You never really quite know what you’re going to run into, which makes every visit more fun at this indie bookstore. —Erika Owen
2. Parnassus Books
Location: 3900 Hillsboro Pike #14, Nashville, Tenessee| Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online or buying gift subscriptions to the First Editions Club
In its own words, Parnassus—around since 201—is truly ''more than a bookstore.’' It’s a cheery celebration of great writing, down to its gleaming hardwood floors and grinning staff, infused with the same joy as store founder and author Ann Patchett and her business partner, Karen Hayes. Patchett’s blog is the basis of the Parnassus online magazine, Musing, which also features staff reading picks, author interviews, and an extra-charming ''shop dog diaries’’ that feels like an IRL idea from You’ve Got Mail. —Laura Dannen Redman
3. Second Story Books
Location: 2000 P St. NW, Washington, D.C.|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Visiting one of its two locations, shopping online or buying a gift card, and calling on Allan Stypeck’s services as an appraiser
On a recent trip to D.C., I carved out an afternoon for Second Story Books, which I’d heard had a fascinating collection of used, rare, and out-of-print books. How can you not want to visit a store run by the guy (Allan Stypeck) who not only repairs books but also loans books for movie sets and helps institutions like the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress build their collections? The Dupont Circle store, one of two locations, lived up to the hype: It took real effort to keep my book-hoarding instincts in check as I explored the maze-like store and hit up the sidewalk-sale shelves, which offer serious deals on the weekends. —Aislyn Greene
4. Explore Booksellers
Location: 221 E. Main St., Aspen, Colorado|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Housed in a Victorian home in the center of town, Explore Booksellers is an Aspen institution. Inside, books on business, history, art, travel, and more are crammed into every corner, with an entire room dedicated to children’s literature. The shop also stocks numerous regional titles as well as cards, journals, and gifts and regularly hosts events with local and visiting authors. When you’ve finished shopping, grab lunch on the second floor, where Pyramid Bistro serves healthy, veggie-forward fare. —Natalie Beauregard
5. Birchbark Books & Native Arts
Location: 2115 W. 21st St., Minneapolis, Minnesota|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Owned by novelist Louise Erdrich, Birchbark specializes in Native American books, arts, jewelry, and gifts. Some of our favorite touches: All Erdrich titles purchased at Birchbark are signed by the author herself, and there’s even a dedicated children’s loft and a confessional, where visitors are invited to sit for reflection. —Katherine LaGrave
6. Greenlight Bookstore
Location: 686 Fulton St., Brooklyn, New York|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Everyday from 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online or buying a gift card for a friend
Since opening in 2009, Greenlight Bookstore has become a cultural mainstay of the Fort Greene neighborhood (there’s also a second, newer location in Prospect Lefferts Gardens). The oversized windows of the original store face Fulton Street, inviting passersby to come in and browse or join one of the many readings, often featuring Brooklyn writers. —John Newton
Omnivore has long been a destination for the Bay Area’s food-obsessed readers.
Courtesy of Omnivore
7. Omnivore Books
Location: 3885 Cesar Chavez St., San Francisco, California|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Located in San Francisco’s Noe Valley, culinary-themed Omnivore Books is a charming community gathering spot for the Bay Area’s many food-obsessed readers. Owner Celia Sack recently launched a special section of her online shop devoted to ''Quarantine Quenchers,’' a collection of cookbooks that allows home cooks to travel the world (My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz; Tokyo Cult Recipes by Maori Murota; The Karachi Kitchen by Kausar Ahmed). —Julia Cosgrove
8. Antigone Books
Location: 411 N. Fourth Ave., Tucson, Arizona|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online and joining its mailing list.
America’s oldest surviving feminist bookstore (and first 100 percent solar-powered bookstore!) is one of Tucson’s literary havens. Opened in 1973 and now on its second generation of female ownership, Antigone Books features new works with a particular focus on feminism, inclusivity, and issues that affect Tucson, such as the border and immigration, or the desert climate. Funky cards, puzzles, journals, and other fun items (zombie cribbage, anyone?) make it an ideal stop for gift-buying, too. —Sara Button
9. Greedy Reads
Location: 1744 Aliceanna St., Baltimore, Maryland|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Thursday 12:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., Friday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online, or downloading audiobooks from Libro.fm
Curation is key when your shop’s 500-square-foot size qualifies as ''cozy’’ in real-estate listings and provides serious limitations on inventory. Happily, Greedy Read‘s owner, Julia Fleischaker, has some strong bona fides for curation, having worked in book publishing for 20 years before moving home to Maryland in 2018. At the end of 2019, Fleischaker opened a second location in the Remington neighborhood, twice the size of the Fells Point shop, to better accommodate events she has planned for the future. —Ann Shields
Powell’s is the largest independent bookstore in the world.
Courtesy of Powell’s
10. Bookends and Beginnings
Location: 1620 Orrington Ave., Evanston, Illinois|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Sunday–Tuesday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Wednesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online, or downloading audiobooks from Libro.fm
Wander down a partially cobblestoned alley off one of Evanston’s busy shopping streets and you’ll find Bookends and Beginnings, an independent bookshop that’s an oasis for book lovers of all ages. Inside, worn oriental rugs cover the uneven wooden floors, and various velvet covered sofas and divans invite you to sink down when you’ve found that just-right read. The owner (an author herself) and her staff love to talk books with anyone.—Chris Kennelly
11. Books&Books
Location: 265 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables, Florida|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online and following along on social media for some of its chats
The first Books&Books opened in 1982 in a 500-square-foot space in Miami’s Coral Gables neighborhood. Since then, it’s grown, and grown again, and outposts can now be found on buzzy Lincoln Road, the Arsht Center, Bal Harbour, Suniland, and MIA Airport. (You’ll also find stores in Key West and Grand Cayman.) Part of the reason for its success, no doubt? Outdoor cafés at several of the bookstores that serve everything from Cuban sandwiches to local craft beers.—K.L.
12. Powell’s Books
Location: 1005 W Burnside St., Portland, Oregon|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Support it by: Ordering new and used books from its online store
Every bibliophile should make a pilgrimage to Powell’s at least once in their lifetime. The store earns its ''City of Books’’ moniker with a veritable labyrinth of shelves filled with things to read. Even saying that the store occupies an entire city block and 1.6 acres of retail space isn’t enough to prepare someone for their first visit. No matter how obscure or specific your interests are, Powell’s has something (usually many things) for you.—Nicole Antonio
13. Little City Books
Location: 100 Bloomfield St., Hoboken, New Jersey|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Friday–Tuesday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Buying gift cards and online audiobook memberships from Libro.fm
In 2015, two Hoboken women—a musician and a former investment banker–stopped bemoaning the lack of a local bookstore and opened one. They expanded to a children’s annex in a neighboring storefront the next year and have announced plans for a new location just a mile uptown. The colorful and friendly corner shop hosts impressive readings as well as regular story hours, and Little City also schedules enough live music to be listed as a performance venue on regional event calendars. They’ve even organized an annual Hoboken Literary Weekend.—A.S.
14. Blue Bicycle Books
Location: 420 King St., Charleston, South Carolina|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–7:30 p.m., Saturday 1:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Registering for summer camp and buying select titles at its online store
''Selling books in Charleston is different than selling books in Seattle or the Berkshires,’' store co-owner Jonathan Sanchez said on the occasion of Blue Bicycle Books’ 20th anniversary in 2015. ''Charleston’s got a lot going on. People bike, fish, garden, play cornhole, do hipster crafts.’' To cultivate a community of book lovers, Sanchez and team made their used, local, and rare books store a local hangout, with a summer writing camp for kids, author events, a YA festival called, cheekily, YALLFest!, and well-curated sections dedicated to passions: military history, classics, and modern first editions (signed by William Faulkner and Harper Lee, among them).—L.D.R.
BookPeople is also known for the musical events and author talks the store hosts.
Photo by Marc Majcher/Flickr
15. BookPeople
Location: 603 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Support it by: Ordering books through its store on BookShop
As the largest independent bookstore in Texas, BookPeople has been serving the Austin community with curated staff selections and a diverse schedule of readings and events since 1970. It’s an idyllic place to escape the scorching summer heat, and you can’t leave without checking out CoffeePeople, which is located inside the bookstore and serves breakfast tacos, pastries, and sandwiches that are made fresh by local businesses.—Ciera Velarde
16. Women & Children First
Location: 5233 N. Clark St., Chicago, Illinois|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online or donating to its Women’s Voices Fund, which fundraises for program series focused on women’s lives and work
Open since 1979, Women & Children First is one of the largest feminist bookstores in the country, stocking more than 30,000 books by and about women. Staff are incredibly friendly and knowledgeable without attempting to sway you into buying this, or that—fitting, for a place whose tagline is ''Shop as independently as you think.’'—K.L.
City Lights began as the first all-paperback bookstore in the United States.
Photo by Shutterstock
17. City Lights
Location: 261 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, California|Find on Google Maps
Hours: 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Support it by: Signing up for its newsletter, and visiting its virtual storefront on Bookshop
San Francisco’s most iconic bookstore has been catering to readers since 1953, when poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin founded the shop. Though it began as the first all-paperback bookstore in the nation, its collection spans three floors and has since grown to include new hardbacks. Perusing both the selection of titles in stock and those published by City Lights Publishers, readers will find contemporary and classic works about social issues that capture the radical spirit of the Beat poets who once frequented the store—and the city it calls home.—S.B.
18. Rabelais
Location: 2 Main St. Biddeford, Maine|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Thursday–Sunday 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Support it by: Ordering online from its website
Looking for a 19th-century edition of The Art of French Cookery? Or a ''delightful survey on the history of oysters''? Rabelais is your spot. Housed in the North Dam Mill about 20 minutes south of Portland, this antiquarian bookshop in Biddeford, Maine, is a cathedral of rare, used, and new books on cooking and culinary history—a supplier to such I’ve-heard-of-them places as the New York Public Library and Harvard University, but also a great spot to find a collection on vintage cocktails.—L.D.R.
19. Country Bookshelf
Location: 28 W Main St., Bozeman, Montana|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m., Monday 9:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping its online store for e-books and audiobooks
Bozeman’s Country Bookshelf has been a women-owned business since it opened in 1957. Founded by Polly Renne in a small shop just off the town’s central Tracy Avenue, the independent bookstore has since occupied a main street chapel and later a two-story downtown building, which is where the landmark bookshop has been since 1986. Owned today by Ariana Paliobagis, the Country Bookshelf offers everything from graphic novels and literary fiction to cookbooks and historical memoirs. In addition to its diverse reading selections, the store also hosts regular author events and workshops.—Sarah Buder
20. Left Bank Books
Location: 399 N. Euclid Ave., St. Louis, Missouri|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m., Sunday 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Monday 10:00 a.m.– 6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Left Bank Books got its start in 1969, thanks to intrepid students from Washington University who wanted a place to find all kinds of literature. Today, it is the oldest and largest independently owned bookstore in the city and hosts not one but seven (!) book clubs as well as more than 300 events throughout the year, most free and open to the public. It also puts on a weekly ''Story Time’’ and partners with libraries, churches, and schools to encourage literacy around St. Louis.—K.L.
The Last Bookstore is arguably the most famous bookstore in Los Angeles.
Photo by Thomas Hawk/Flickr
21. The Last Bookstore
Location: 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, California|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 11:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Ordering gifts and new books from its online store
This literary playground in the middle of Downtown Los Angeles brings me the utmost joy. My routine starts with ogling painstakingly designed special editions alongside tattered pulp fiction, followed by a lap around the extensive graphic novel collection, far too much time looking at poetry and staff recommendations, and then browsing all the maker spaces on the second floor for artwork, trinkets, and 3D-printed earrings.—N.A.
The Strand is known for its 18 miles of books.
Photo by Shutterstock
22. The Strand
Location: 828 Broadway, New York CIty |Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online and joining The Stranded Book Club on Goodreads
This landmark East Village shop is known for its collectibles, souvenirs, records, and proverbial 18 miles of books (spread across multiple floors). Browse the stacks and venture to the rare book room on the third floor to see the $45,000 copy of Ulysses, illustrated and signed by Henri Matisse and James Joyce.—K.L.
23. Tattered Cover
Location: 2526 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, Colorado|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 9:00 a.m. –8:00 p.m., Sunday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Tattered Cover has been selling books to Denver readers since 1971. Longtime owner Joyce Meskis, who retired to a consultant role in 2017, is a leading national advocate for independent bookstores and freedom of expression who turned the store into a community institution. The four locations (plus outlets at the airport) host around 600 events a year, some of which the store will be holding online during the crisis. When I worked at New York’s Strand Book Store in the mid 1990s, Tattered Cover was the other bookstore I heard mentioned most often by customers and fellow employees. It’s a national treasure.—Jeremy Saum
24. Shelf Life Books
Location: 2913 W. Cary St., Richmond, Virginia|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Tuesday–Friday 12:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m.– 5:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online
Used bookstores are often relegated to sad and musty storefronts and are crammed with saggy, jury-rigged shelving stocked by a vague organizing system, at best. Shelf Life Books, on the other hand, is located on a buzzy stretch of Cary Street, with two stories of used books (as well as ground-floor tables stacked with new releases), and a roaming resident cat, WonTon. Generous shelves devoted to local authors, as well as literature, social justice, comic books, YA novels, and lots of art may mean that your browsing will result in a teetering stack of purchases.—A.S.
25. Elliott Bay Book Company
Location: 1521 10th Ave., Seattle, Washington|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online—don’t miss its quarterly Booknotes, which offers smart and funny staff picks and reviews
Since it opened in 1973, Elliott Bay has been the heart of Seattle’s literary community. That heart survived the move from its Pioneer Square location to its current Capitol Hill location, a former repair shop with wonderfully creaky wood floors and large, latticed windows. As a student living in Seattle, I spent many happy hours perusing the new and used books that line cedar shelves, studying over a pastry or a cocktail in the all-day Oddfellows Café, and attending one of the more than 500 author readings and events Elliott Bay hosts each year.—A.G.
26. Mrs. Dalloway’s
Location: 2904 College Ave., Berkeley, California|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Monday–Saturday 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online and signing up for the “Little Library” subscription service, a monthly personalized collection of board books, picture books, and chapter books for young readers
In a college town once full of great bookstores, Mrs. Dalloway’s is an inviting neighborhood hub with a huge collection of children’s books, literature, and gardening, art, and home coffee table books.—J.C.
27. Librería Laberinto Viejo San Juan
Location: 251 C. de la Cruz, San Juan, 00901, Puerto Rico|Find on Google Maps
Hours: Every day 7:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Support it by: Shopping online and getting books delivered.
Sure, Puerto Rico isn’t a state, but a U.S. territory, and sure, there are bigger, flashier bookstores in San Juan. But part of the fun of Librería Laberinto is walking its checkerboard floors and sorting through its stacks. You’ll find some books here in English, but the shop is best for its celebration of local authors. (Head to the dedicated ''Puerto Rico’’ section to see what we mean.) —K.L.
This article originally appeared online in 2020; it was most recently updated on August 29, 2023, to include current information.
