Words, words, words.
July 19, 2011 5:38 AM Subscribe
10 Unconventional Bookstores For Your Browsing Pleasure. Includes The Secret Bookstore and The Book Barge but not The Ateneo Grand Splendid.
I like the idea of books and haircuts. They go together more organically than guns and doughnuts or taxidermy and cheese.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:51 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:51 AM on July 19, 2011
Let's give some love to the Book Loft (warning: geocities-esq web page)
posted by Old'n'Busted at 5:59 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by Old'n'Busted at 5:59 AM on July 19, 2011
Mod note: Couple comments removed. Pointing out previous related posts is totally fine in a Here's A Helpful Reference sort of way, but it's not terrible idea to be a little less terse about it to disambiguate "for further reading" from "fie on double posts" so people don't mistake it for grousing.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:48 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:48 AM on July 19, 2011
Okay, this is where, again, I ask you kind people to remind me the name of that hilariously filthy and disorganized book shop in Carrol Gardens.
posted by griphus at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by griphus at 7:06 AM on July 19, 2011
Cool list. Also worth mentioning (even if it is slightly less aesthetically appealing than the stores in the list): Chamblin Bookmine in Jacksonville, FL.
posted by saladin at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by saladin at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2011
Also missing the Traveler Restaurant, which I love just for the sign on I84 (Traveler's Food and Books, it blares. As though that were the most natural thing in the world.) The food is also tasty, and the book selection is.. eclectic.
posted by contrarian at 7:28 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by contrarian at 7:28 AM on July 19, 2011
I've been meaning to make a pilgrimage to Booked Up for some time.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:35 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:35 AM on July 19, 2011
Books and haircuts do NOT go together. Haircuts involve scissors which should never be anywhere near books.
posted by madcaptenor at 7:54 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by madcaptenor at 7:54 AM on July 19, 2011
I was at Montague yesterday. Books you don't need, in a place you can't find. It looks like it got some coats of paint and some renovations (there is now a patio you can sit on overlooking the river) since the photos in the article were taken. Also there is a restaurant and a cafe in there as well.
posted by mrzarquon at 8:11 AM on July 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mrzarquon at 8:11 AM on July 19, 2011 [1 favorite]
Okay, this is where, again, I ask you kind people to remind me the name of that hilariously filthy and disorganized book shop in Carrol Gardens.
Community Book Store, right? It's been like 7 years since I lived in NY, but I lived in that neighborhood and I loved that place, down to the moldy, split open cardboard boxes and the cranky weirdo behind the counter. Is it still there? I had a terrible, sinking feeling it wasn't long for the neighborhood what with all the yupster stuff displacing the old neighborhood stuff.
posted by dersins at 8:12 AM on July 19, 2011
Community Book Store, right? It's been like 7 years since I lived in NY, but I lived in that neighborhood and I loved that place, down to the moldy, split open cardboard boxes and the cranky weirdo behind the counter. Is it still there? I had a terrible, sinking feeling it wasn't long for the neighborhood what with all the yupster stuff displacing the old neighborhood stuff.
posted by dersins at 8:12 AM on July 19, 2011
That particular article format drives me nuts, so forgive me if this was in there. The coolest (architecturally) bookstore I've been to in person was in Maastricht. The Selexyz Dominicanen bookstore. The selection and atmosphere were "okay," but the building and setting were spectacular. Rather than selling the same best sellers as everyone else, if they'd filled the three stories of shelves with used books and dusty tomes I'd have never left. Gorgeous building though, and quite well set up. Housing a massive collection of books in an medieval Dominican church is terribly cool and appropriate.
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:13 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by Stagger Lee at 8:13 AM on July 19, 2011
The Community Bookstore is at Court St & Warren St in Cobble Hill. It's still there, but he's probably on vacation around now.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 8:29 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 8:29 AM on July 19, 2011
Is it still there?
The last time I stepped foot in there was about eight years ago -- I spent a summer working at the Cobble Hill Nursing Home when I was 18 and, at that point, both the yuppification had begun and I decided that one day I would live there (uh, the neighborhood, not the nursing home) -- but I remember someone on MeFi mentioning that he owned the place. Which would, of course, explain how he managed to keep a bookstore alive without doing things like sorting the books or being pleasant or not smoking in the store.
posted by griphus at 8:32 AM on July 19, 2011
The last time I stepped foot in there was about eight years ago -- I spent a summer working at the Cobble Hill Nursing Home when I was 18 and, at that point, both the yuppification had begun and I decided that one day I would live there (uh, the neighborhood, not the nursing home) -- but I remember someone on MeFi mentioning that he owned the place. Which would, of course, explain how he managed to keep a bookstore alive without doing things like sorting the books or being pleasant or not smoking in the store.
posted by griphus at 8:32 AM on July 19, 2011
I like the ramshackle dusty crusty ones. But the crisp clean bookstores that look like they are the set for a Vogue fashion shoot give me the heebie jeebies. Some of them are too antiseptic for my tastes.
posted by ian1977 at 9:05 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by ian1977 at 9:05 AM on July 19, 2011
I'm a fan of Ocooch Books & Libations. Definitely a word that needs to see more use. Libations.
posted by Logic Sheep at 9:22 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by Logic Sheep at 9:22 AM on July 19, 2011
While we're at it, I love visiting John W. Doull, Bookseller in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I do find it a bit pricey, but fun to visit, if you like organized chaos. There's a secret door.
posted by magicicada at 11:07 AM on July 19, 2011
posted by magicicada at 11:07 AM on July 19, 2011
This is a perfect response for all the people who are grieving for Borders.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 2:04 PM on July 19, 2011
posted by psycho-alchemy at 2:04 PM on July 19, 2011
I wonder how the barge keeps things dry. Serious dehumidifiers?
John King's was amazing, first time I went there (haven't been for years). I remember realizing that they bought just every damn book which came in, and housed it all in their vast space. I snagged a fine pile of de Quincy there.
This is a perfect response for all the people who are grieving for Borders.
Agreed.
posted by doctornemo at 2:06 PM on July 19, 2011
John King's was amazing, first time I went there (haven't been for years). I remember realizing that they bought just every damn book which came in, and housed it all in their vast space. I snagged a fine pile of de Quincy there.
This is a perfect response for all the people who are grieving for Borders.
Agreed.
posted by doctornemo at 2:06 PM on July 19, 2011
While we're at it, I love visiting John W. Doull, Bookseller in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I do find it a bit pricey, but fun to visit, if you like organized chaos. There's a secret door.
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting this bookstore for the first time in years. It seems to have crossed the line from "delightfully quirky and chaotic" to "getting kind of filthy". Still, it's one of the best. Of course we have to mention the "book hole"" (hmm there is probably a better way to describe it).
posted by beau jackson at 2:51 PM on July 19, 2011
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posted by octothorpe at 5:46 AM on July 19, 2011