Whenever I make plans for a trip, after I’ve booked the flights and the hotels and my vacation time, I get down to the most important task of all. I search for any independent bookstores in the area. One of my greatest delights in life is going to a new bookstore: perusing their shelves, considering their staff recommendations, and, if they happen to have a cafe, sitting with a beverage and a new book. Even the smell makes me happy. I briefly worked at a bookstore while I was in grad school, so I know a little about how stressful running a small business can be, but I still plan to open a quaint bookstore-cafe if I ever become wealthy beyond my wildest dreams.
I published a guide to NYC bookstores and their romance sections last summer but here are five more that I love and would make ideal destinations this Saturday. Or any other Saturday, really. There’s no bad time to go to a bookstore.
Eagle Harbor Book Co (Bainbridge Island): Part of the magic of this bookstore is getting there. You’ll take a ferry from the Seattle waterfront to the deeply charming Bainbridge Island and feel yourself relax with every breeze off the bay. I went to Seattle a few years ago and my hour spent sifting through paperbacks here, along with my visit to the pleasingly sprawling Elliott Bay Book Company and a few days of magically sunny weather, had me temporarily plotting a move to the Pacific Northwest.
Green Apple Books (San Francisco): I’m always trying to fit in a visit to Green Apple when I go home, especially when accompanied by a stop for dim sum on Clement or croissants from Arsicault Bakery on Arguello. Their location in the Richmond is a multi-story warren of new and used books to get lost in and the perfect spot to pick up both a shiny new release and a book you’ve never heard of. They have a Sunset location too, a few blocks from Golden Gate Park, that’s bright, welcoming, and an essential stop if you run out of reading materials during a day in the park.
London Review Bookshop and Cakeshop (London): This Bloomsbury bookstore and tea room, conveniently located right across the British Museum, is my first stop whenever I go to London. Their impeccably curated selection of books, teas, quiche, and cake is the best cure for jet-lag and the post-flight daze that I know. I love picking up both buzzy British titles that haven’t come out in the US yet and more volumes to add to my ever-growing collection of mid-century British female writers.
Porter Square Books (Boston/Cambridge): This was my favorite independent bookstore when I lived in Boston, from their spot-on staff picks to the cafe in their Cambridge location to their all-around cozy vibe. The booksellers there are always ready to give a recommendation or enthuse over your purchases. (I can admit here that few things validate me more than having a bookseller approve of what I’m buying.) It’s my platonic ideal of a local bookstore.
The Ripped Bodice (Brooklyn): This hadn’t opened yet when I wrote my NYC bookstore guide last summer but I was already saving a little place in my heart for it and I was right to. It’s a romance-lovers dream and they have an especially fabulous historical romance section, with all the dukes and bluestockings your heart could desire. Plus candles! Tea blends named after romance tropes! A downright dreamy aesthetic that’s frequently accompanied by Taylor Swift playlists! Everything I’m weak for in one bookstore, basically.
Let me know some of your favorite independent bookstores in the comments!
Currently reading: Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn, a reread in preparation for Bridgerton season 3.
Recommendations, miscellany, and little bits of joy:
Dinner with friends at Miss Ada in Fort Greene, which is the perfect spot to emulate Martin Short’s character from Only Murders in the Building and have a dip-based dinner.
This lipstick from Merit, which was one of my Sephora sale purchases and is the perfect shade of mauve.
My curated The Tortured Poets Department playlist. 31 tracks is absolutely too many and I think some of them sound a little same-y but I really, really like the ones I do like. Currently, I’ve been listening to “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”, “Down Bad”, “So Long London”, “Florida!!!”, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me”, “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart”, “Clara Bow”, “The Black Dog”, “So High School”, and “The Bolter” a lot.
We share many favorite's from the new album! Do It With a Broken Heart is just so catchy :-) Thanks for this dreamy list of bookstores ~ I'll add them to my bookstore bucket list!