Independent Bookstore Day is Saturday, April 30 this year! Despite Amazon’s greedy clutches, Boston is still home to many wonderful independent bookstores. These are just a few of my favorites that warrant a stop to celebrate the holiday.
Brookline Booksmith
Brookline Booksmith is a Coolidge Corner institution. For decades they’ve been a source of new and used books and a hub for exciting author events and literary discussions. They run many cool programs, but I’m a huge fan of their Transnational Literature Series which highlights books in translation from global authors.
All She Wrote Books
This is the bookstore for everyone who’s been historically marginalized in literary spaces. They stock female, LGBTQ+, disabled, and POC authors to name a few categories. Not only does this make for an incredible, curated selection of high-quality reading material, the store feels like a safe and comforting haven.
Trident Cafe & Booksellers
Trident has a fantastic selection of new books as well as cute gift items and some local wares. They also have a cafe in the space with an extensive food menu and beer and wine offerings. This is one of my favorite spots to work remotely in, workspace, lattes, and outlets aplenty.
Frugal Bookstore
Frugal is a Black owned bookstore in Roxbury focused on promoting literacy in kids, teens, and adults. They have a wide range of books but it’s a great place to find reads by diverse authors. This is my go-to spot for children’s book purchases because their selection covers so many different experiences and perspectives.
Brattle Book Shop
For a classic Boston book browsing experience, head to Brattle Book Shop downtown. Tucked into a side street near Downtown Crossing, Brattle is the kind of shop that’s jam packed with used and rare books from floor to ceiling. On nice days they roll out carts of discounted books into the lot next to the shop.
Harvard Book Store
Though named Harvard Book Store, this shop has no affiliation with the University. It’s a great local shop with both used and new titles. There are two notable things I love about the used book section, they carry a number of titles in other languages, and they also sell surplus stock new books in this section at discounted prices.
More than Words
More than Words is an awesome bookstore and organization that provides work and learning opportunities for young people. They have locations in Waltham and the South End, the South End store is larger and offers rentable event space. You can also donate gently used books at both these locations!
Raven Used Books
Raven Used Books has had locations all over Boston. They were on Newbury Street for a while, they were on JFK Street in Cambridge, and now they’re nestled on Church Street in Harvard Square. This is a classic used book store. You can get wonderfully lost in the rambling piles of well loved books. And because it’s near Harvard, it’s a diverse and interesting collection of volumes.