Books Stores
A list of the coolest books shops around.
Most Recent Stores
Tate Modern Shop
Southwark - London, United StatesStart with the wall of books. Tate Modern, the venerable venue of modern art that it is, is not content to merely sell tote bags, T-shirts and prints. The wall of books runs the entire length of the oblong space. Titles cover art from all its...
Dashwood Books
NoHo - New York, NY United StatesDashwood Books covers the world of photography books in unparalleled depth. Young Japanese photographers, classic American photo-journalism, avant-garde German artists, if it's not at Dashwood Books then ask and they can probably find it...
Family
Fairfax - Los Angeles, CA United StatesThink of Family as the official library of a sprawling, makeshift family of artists from Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, or Tokyo. Here the staggering creative output of the talented group is cataloged and celebrated. Hard to come by art...
New Museum
Lower East Side - New York, NY United StatesWithout the space of more well-to-do cultural institutions, the New Museum shop aims for maximum impact. The main attraction is naturally the wall of art books and magazines. The cosmopolitan, thought-provoking selection is worth a long,...
Mystery Pier Books
West Hollywood - West Hollywood, CA United StatesThe mystery in Mystery Pier Books could be referring as much to the narrow, dark passageway one must traverse to reach the shop than to the number of rare, first-edition mystery and crime novels inside. A humble landmark in the center of West...
Skylight Books
Los Feliz - Los Angeles, CA United StatesSkylight Books knows its neighborhood and its city. In the bohemian Los Feliz neighborhood of LA the independent shop is heavy on books on art, film, LA History (even if some consider LA History to be an oxymoron), and progressive politics.
Book Soup
West Hollywood - West Hollywood, CA United StatesLest you think that Los Angeles is devoid of culture enter Book Soup, a heady, vibrant space that looks more like an expansive personal library than a retail book store. Floor to ceiling shelves house books on every topic imaginable, but stress...
Word
Greenpoint - Brooklyn, NY United StatesReader Suggested: An awesome independent bookstore down the block from Alter.
The Mysterious Bookshop
Tribeca - New York, NY United StatesBook shops like this aren't supposed to exist anymore, certainly not in expensive Manhattan real estate, but here The Mysterious Bookshop is, selling an unequaled collection of new, used and rare mystery, suspense, crime and detective titles....
Taschen
Beverly Hills - Beverly Hills, CA United StatesBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what makes them such worthy indulgences.
Taschen
SoHo - New York, NY United StatesBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what...
Taschen
St-Germain-des-Prčs - Paris, FranceBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what makes them such worthy indulgences.
König.Taschen
Berlin West - Berlin, GermanyBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what makes them such worthy indulgences. The...
Taschen
Downtown - Cologne, GermanyBegun as a humble comic book store, Taschen has become an unrivaled publisher and seller or art and design books. Taschen's lavishly illustrated titles display a blatant disregard for how much the final product will cost and that's what makes them such worthy indulgences.
Spoonbill & Sugartown
Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY United StatesCompeting with superstores and online shops with impossibly large warehouses is useless if you're a small bookseller so Spoonbill & Sugartown did the only thing it could do: focus. Art and design in its many forms (film, photography,...
Bound Together Books
Haight - San Francisco, CA United StatesHarkening back to Haight Ashbury's counter-culture roots Bound Together is a bookstore that does the '60s proud. The volunteer-run collective mainly stocks books, zines and other literature relating to anarchism, radical politics,...
The Bookworks
Lakeview/Wrigleyville - Chicago, IL United StatesIn the shadow of historic Wrigley Fields, The Bookwooks offers other forms of history. Foremost are tens of thousands of books of the used and often rare variety with a focus on, what else, sports. Also around are bins of vinyl records, used CDs...
Myopic Books
Wicker Park - Chicago, IL United StatesThere's something lovingly old school about how Myopic Books keeps its space. The several floors of used books. The people reading and drinking coffee on the upper floors. The obligatory store cat.
Type
West Queen West - Toronto, ON CanadaReader Suggested: Great bookstore with great books. Toronto-centric focus.
Hejfina
Wicker Park - Chicago, IL United StatesHejfina has elegant modern living down pat. For clothing expect avant-garde Japanese brands, ultra-exclusive New York brands, next to creative selections from Brazil, England and France. These are articles you certainly won't find anywhere...