Directory of Independent Bookstores
Find Your People.
Author Events │ Community │Workshops
United States
A
-
-
Title Wave Books │ Anchorage, AK
Homer Bookstore │ Homer, AK
Rainy Retreat Books │ Juneau, AK
Fireside Books │ Palmer, AK
River City Books │ Soldotna, AK
The Book Shelf │ Eagle River, AK
-
Bisbee Books & Music │ Bisbee, AZ
Changing Hands Bookstore │ Phoenix, AZ
The Poisoned Pen Bookstore (and Press) │ Scottsdale, AZ
Changing Hands Bookstore │ Tempe, AZ
Antigone Books │ Tucson, AZ
Mostly Books │ Tucson, AZ
-
Two Friends Books │ Bentonville, AR
Blytheville Book Company │ Blytheville, AR
Dickson Street Bookshop │ Fayetteville, AR
Pearl’s Books │ Fayetteville, AR
Bookish │ Fort Smith, AR
WordsWorth Books │ Little Rock, AR
Dog Ear Books │ Russellville, AR
Once Upon a Time Books │ Tontitown and Bentonville, AR
Chapters on Main │ Van Buren, AR
C
-
Moe’s Books │ Berkeley, CA
Lhooq Books │ Carlsbad, CA
Warwick’s │ La Jolla, CA
Skylight Books │ Los Angeles, CA
The Last Bookstore │ Los Angeles, CA
Vroman's Books │ Pasadena, CA
Book Cellar │ Riverside, CA
City Lights │ San Francisco, CA
Green Apple Books │ San Francisco, CA
Arvida │ Tustin, CA
Coming Soon
-
Narrow Gauge Book Cooperative │ Alamosa, CO
Poor Richard’s Bookstore │ Colorado Springs, CO
Tattered Cover │ Denver, CO
Books on Main │ Fort Morgan, CO
Book Archive, Ltd. │ Fountain, CO
Bookworm │ Gunnison, CO
Out West Books │ Grand Junction, CO
Old Firehouse Books │ Fort Collins, CO
The Read Queen │ Lafayette, CO
Tattered Cover │ Littleton, CO
Book Haven │ Loveland, CO
-
Byrd’s Books │ Bethel, CT
Barrett Bookstore │ Darien, CT
House of Books │ Kent, CT
Wesleyan R.J. Julia Bookstore │ Middletown, CT
Bank Square Books │ Mystic, CT
Possible Futures │ New Haven, CT
Book Barn: A Bibliophile’s Bliss │ Niantic, CT
Burgundy Books │ Old Saybrook, CT
The Next Chapter │ West Hartford, CT
D
-
Bethany Beach Books │ Bethany Beach, DE
Mejah Bookstore │ Claymont, DE
Hockessin Bookshelf │ Hockessin, DE
Biblion Used Books and Rare Finds │ Lewes, DE
Browseabout Books │ Rehoboth Beach, DE
F
-
Hello Again Books │ Cocoa Village, FL
Books & Books │ Coral Gables, FL
Old Florida Bookshop │ Fort Lauderdale, FL
Key West Island Books │ Key West, FL
Books & Books │ Miami, FL
Midtown Reader & Piebrary │ Tallahassee, FL
Oxford Exchange │ Tampa, FL
Writer’s Block Bookstore │ Winter Park, FL
The Bodacious Bookstore & Cafe │ Pensacola, FL
G
-
A Cappella Books │ Atlanta, GA
Tall Tales Book Shop │ Atlanta, GA
Avid Bookshop │ Athens, GA
Charis Books & More │ Decatur, GA
Eagle Eye Bookshop │ Decatur, GA
Little Shop of Stories │ Decatur, GA
E. Shaver, Bookseller │ Savannah, GA
FoxTale Book Shoppe │ Woodstock, GA
Tall Tales Book Shop │ Toco Hills, GA
H
-
Basically Books │ Hilo, HI
Native Books │ Honolulu, HI
Kona Bay Books │ Kona, HI
I
-
Rediscovered Books │ Boise, ID
The Well-Read Moose │ Coeur d'Alene, ID
Chapter One Bookstore │ Ketchum, ID
Green Avenue Books & Publishing │ Meridian, ID
-
57th Street Books │ Chicago, IL
Myopic Books │ Chicago, IL
Open Books │ Chicago, IL
Sandmeyer’s Bookstore │ Chicago, IL
The Book Cellar │ Chicago, IL
Unabridged Bookstore │ Chicago, IL
Uncharted Books │ Chicago, IL
Volumes Bookcafe │ Chicago, IL
Afterwords │ Edwardsville, IL
Bookends & Beginnings │ Evanston, IL
Anthology for Books │ Geneseo, IL
Centuries & Sleuths │ Forest Park, IL
Boxcar Books & Vinyl │ Hoopeston, IL
New Copperfield’s Book Service │ Macomb, IL
AfriWare Books │ Maywood, IL
Prairie Fox Books │ Ottawa, IL
The Artsy Bookworm │ Rock Island, IL
The Book Stall │ Winnetka, IL
-
The Brain Lair Bookstore │ South Bend, IN
Morgenstern Books │ Bloomington, IN
Bluestocking Social │ Evansville, IN
Your Brother’s Bookstore │ Evansville, IN
Indy Reads │ Indianapolis, IN
Wild Geese Bookshop │ Indianapolis, IN
Main Street Books │ Lafayette, IN
Village Lights Bookstore │ Madison, IN
Black Dog Books │ Zionsville, IN
-
Dog-Eared Books │ Ames, IA
The Book Shoppe, Inc. │ Boone, IA
Prologue. Books and Wine │ Charles City, IA
Dragonfly Books │ Decorah, IA
Beaverdale Books │ Des Moines, IA
Pageturners Bookstore │ Indianola, IA
Prairie Lights Books & Cafe │ Iowa City, IA
Sidekick Coffee & Books │ Iowa City, IA
The Haunted Bookshop │ Iowa City, IA
K
-
Rainy Day Books │ Fairway, KS
Hedgehog.INK! │ Fort Scott, KS
Raven Book Store│ Lawrence, KS
Clafin Books and Copies │ Manhattan, KS
Books & Burrow │ Pittsburg, KS
Round Table Bookstore │ Topeka, KS
Watermark Books & Cafe │ Wichita, KS
-
Roebling Books & Coffee │ Covington, KY
Roebling Books & Coffee │ Dayton, KY
Blue Marble Books │ Fort Thomas, KY
Poor Richard’s Books │ Frankfort, KY
Read Spotted Newt │ Hazard, KY
Black Swan Books │ Lexington, KY
Joseph-Beth Booksellers │ Lexington, KY
Plaid Elephant Books │ Lexington, KY
Butcher Cabin Books │ Louisville, KY
Carmichael’s Bookstore │ Louisville, KY
Roebling Books & Coffee │ Newport, KY
L
-
Alexander Books │ Lafayette, LA
Beausoleil Books & Whisper Room │ Lafayette, LA
Blue Cypress Books │ Metairie, LA
Baldwin & Co. │ New Orleans, LA
Beckham’s Bookshop│ New Orleans, LA
Community Books Center │ New Orleans, LA
Crescent City Books │ New Orleans, LA
Faulkner House Books │ New Orleans, LA
Garden District Bookshop │ New Orleans, LA
Libraire Bookshop │ New Orleans, LA
Octavia Books │ New Orleans, LA
M
-
Blue Hill Books │ Blue Hill, ME
BookStacks │ Bucksport, ME
Longfellow Books │ Portland, ME
Mockingbird Bookshop │ Bath, ME
Owl & Turtle Bookshop Cafe │ Camden, ME
Print: A Bookstore │ Portland, ME
-
A Likely Story Bookstore │ Sykesville, MD
Busboys and Poets Hyattsville │ Hyattsville, MD
Books with a Past │ Savage, MD
Charm City Books │ Baltimore, MD
Curmudgeon │ Glen Burnie, MD
Fenwick Street Used Books & Music │ Leonardtown, MD
Greedy Reads Books │ Baltimore, MD
Kensington Row Bookshop │ Kensington, MD
Mystery Loves Company │ Oxford, MD
Old Fox Books │ Annapolis, MD
Second Edition Books │ Colombia, MD
Snug Books │ Baltimore, MD
The Book Escape │ Baltimore, MD
The Greyhound │ Berlin, MD
The Ivy Bookshop │ Baltimore, MD
Urban Reads Bookstore │ Baltimore, MD
Uzakoo Books │ Towson, MD
-
All She Wrote Books │ Somerville, MA
An Unlikely Story Bookstore & Cafe│ Plainville, MA
Brookline Booksmith │ Brookline, MA
Commonwealth Books │ Boston, MA
Illume Books │ Newburyport, MA
Porter Square Books │ Cambridge, MA
Wicked Good Books │ Salem, MA
-
Bay Books │ Suttons Bay, MI
Book Beat │ Oak Park, MI
Bookbug & this is a bookstore │ Kalamazoo, MI
Horizon Books │ Traverse City, MI
John K. King Used & Rare Books │ Detroit, MI
Literati Bookstore │ Ann Arbor, MI
Leelanau Books │ Leland, MI
New Story Community Books │ Marshall, MI
Pages Bookshop │ Detroit, MI
Serendipity Books LLC │ Chelsea, MI
Schuler Books │ Grand Rapids, MI
Schuler Books │ Okemos, MI
Snowbound Books │ Marquette, MI
Stirling Books & Brew │ Albion, MI
-
Boneshaker Books │ Minneapolis, MN
Daybreak Press Global Bookshop │ Arden Hills, MN
Drury Lane Books │ Grand Marais, MN
Eat My Words│ Minneapolis, MN
Fair Trade Books │ Red Wing, MN
Mayday Books │ Minneapolis, MN
SubText │ St. Paul, MN
Valley Bookseller │ Stillwater, MN
Zenith Bookstore │ Duluth, MN
-
Author Shoppe │ Hattiesburg, MS
Impression Books │ Flowood, MS
Lemuria Books │ Jackson, MS
-
Bliss Books & Wine │ Kansas City, MO
KD’s Books │ Lee’s Summit, MO
Left Bank Books │ St. Louis, MO
Prospero’s Books & Media │ Kansas City, MO
The Novel Neighbor │ St. Louis, MO
Wise Blood Booksellers │ Kansas City, MO
Yellow Dog Bookshop │ Columbia, MO
-
Country Books │ Bozeman, MT
Montana Book Company │ Helena, MT
Shakespeare & Co.: An Independent Bookstore │ Missoula, MT
This House of Books │ Billings, MT
N
-
A Novel Idea Bookstore │ Lincoln, NE
Chapters Books & Gifts │ Seward, NE
Francie & Finch Bookshop │ Lincoln, NE
Indigo Bridge │ Lincoln, NE
Rooted Books and Gifts │ Grand Island, NE
The Bookworm │ Omaha, NE
-
Avantpop Bookstores │ Las Vegas, NV
Dam Roast House & Browder Bookstore │ Boulder City, NV
Luminary Books │ Gardnerville, NV
Sundance Bookstore │ Reno, NV
The Radical Cat │ Reno, NV
The Writers Block │ Las Vegas, NV
-
Morgan Hill Bookstore │ New London, NH
Still North Books & Bar │ Hanover, NH
-
Here’s the Story Bookstore │ Union, NJ
Inkwood Books │ Haddonfield, NJ
Labyrinth Books │ Princeton, NJ
Second Time Books Inc. │ Mount Laurel Township, NJ
The Book Garden │ Cream Ridge, NJ
The Book House │ Long Branch, NJ
River Road Books │ Fair Haven, NJ
Watchung Booksellers │ Montclair, NJ
WORD │ Jersey City, NJ
[words] Bookstore │ Maplewood, NJ
-
Beehive │ Santa Fe, NM
Bookworks │ Albuquerque, NM
Collected Works Bookstore & Coffee House │ Santa Fe, NM
Garcia Street Books │ Santa Fe, NM
Harvest Moon Books │ Albuquerque, NM
Title Wave Books, revised │ Albuquerque, NM
Treasure House Books & Gifts │ Albuquerque, NM
-
Astoria Bookshop │ Queens, NY
BestCellar Book Bar │ Clarence, NY
Books Are Magic │ Brooklyn, NY
Greenlight Bookstore │ Brooklyn, NY
Kew & Willow Books │ Queens, NY
Rizzoli Bookstore │ New York, NY
The Strand │ New York, NY
Word Up Community Bookshop │ New York, NY
Yu & Me Books │ New York, NY
EventsComing Soon
-
Bookmarks │ Winston-Salem, NC
City Center Gallery & Books │ Fayetteville, NC
Main Steet Books │ Davidson, NC
Bagatelle Books │ Ashville, NC
Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar │ Ashville, NC
Downtown Books & News │ Ashville, NC
Firestorm Books │ Ashville, NC
Community Calendar Event Recordings Website
Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe │ Ashville, NC
McIntyre’s Books │ Pittsboro, NC
The Next Chapter Books and Art │ New Bern, NC
Quail Ridge Books │ Raleigh, NC
-
Ferguson Books & More! │ Bismark, ND
Ferguson Books & More! │ Grand Forks, ND
Zandbroz Variety │ Fargo, ND
Zandbroz Variety │ Sioux Falls, ND
O
-
Black Cat Books & Oddities │ Medina, OH
Mac’s Backs Books on Coventry │ Cleveland Heights, OH
Paragraphs Bookstore │ Mount Vernon, OH
The Book Loft │ Columbus, OH
The Bookshelf │ Madeira, OH
The Friends of the Public Library Used Bookstore at the Warehouse │ Cincinnati, OH
-
-
P
R
-
Coming Soon
S
-
Coming Soon
-
Coming Soon
T
-
Parnassus Books │ Nashville, TN
-
Book People │ Austin, TX
Bookish │ Cedar Creek, TX
Búho│ Brownsville, TX
Deep Vellum │ Dallas, TX
Interbang │ Dallas, TX
Lucky Dog Books │ Dallas, TX
Poets Oak Cliff │ Dallas, TX
The Blackbird Books & Spirits │ Belton, TX
The Wild Detective │ Dallas, TX
U
-
Dolly’s Bookstore │ Park City, UT
V
-
Coming Soon
-
Coming Soon
W
-
Elliott Bay Bookstore │ Seattle, WA
Coming Soon
-
Kramers │ Washington D.C.
Coming Soon
-
Coming Soon
-
Coming Soon
-
Coming Soon
FAQ
What is the mission of the Directory of Independent Bookstores?
The mission of the Directory of Independent Bookstores is to help authors find their people and to learn writing by doing at independent bookstores. It is the belief of this website’s author that learning to become a stronger writer can happen at a traditional institution like a university, and it can also come in the form of open mics, conversations, and community found at local independent bookstores.
Finding an active community where authors can share their work can be difficult. Many times bookstores don’t have events, only offer events for authors selling books, or only offer events for readers. There isn’t a digital source that directs authors to where they might find author events near them: to have a space to learn writing by doing through a local community.
This directory exists to bridge the gap in information on where in-person author events, writing education, and community can be found at independent bookstores in the United States to make living as a writer richer.
What bookstores are included in the directory?
Criteria for bookstores added to the directory is based on merit. Bookstores must have 1-2 events on their calendar per month or across several months, with education or community-based author events. Events can be interdisciplinary or writing focused, so long as the creation of the written word is involved.
Events may include: open mics, poetry readings, gallery nights, workshops, lectures, talks, writing groups, spoken word readings, etc.
What bookstores are not included in the directory?
Because this is a directory of independent bookstores in the United States, only independent bookstores are eligible. Major chains like Barnes & Noble or university bookstores would not be included. The exception to this rule would be if a city or town only has a single used bookstore like a Bargain Books and that bookstore has an exceptionally active writing community.
If all events are book launches on the calendar, meaning sales-driven without education, performances or community-based events, the bookstore may not be included in the directory.
Again, the purpose of the directory is to support authors in finding the writing community at any stage of their career, whether that is after an MFA or in pursuit of writing after retirement from a career in a different field, in order for authors to have a supportive community and learn writing by doing.
How do you know a bookstore has active events?
In order to determine if a bookstore is eligible for the directory, first the bookstore’s digital presence is scoured. This includes the bookstore website and particular attention is given to the event calendar of the bookstore in question. If there is no event calendar or no website for a particular shop, social media will be checked next followed by any results from Google. If there is no digital presence, most often the bookstore is not included in the directory. The author of the directory may go in person to the bookstore as a last resort if truly nothing can be ascertained sans online research, email or other form of communication with the bookstore, but this level of effort is of exception.
Are bookstores ever removed or added from the directory?
All the time! Independent bookstores are a business. They are at the mercy of sales and many good, beloved indie bookstores come and go.
With that being said, there is only one author for this directory, and she has only so much time to dedicate to it, while also maintaining Word Searches for Editors, working a day job in digital marketing, having a personal life, and writing fiction. She asks for your grace in between updates.
Does the author of the directory ever go to the events of these bookstores?
Yes! When possible, the author likes to travel and pop into local bookstores where she’s visiting. If there are events going on while she’s in town, she will happily and respectfully attend as she’s able.
She won’t draw attention to herself if she does attend an event because she’s a little quiet and won’t want to interrupt local flow. Her visit will be with the intention of immersing herself in sharing in the work with fellow authors and creatives.