Favorites, Surprises, and Unexpected Ideas from 54 Indie Bookshop Visits

Part 2 of 3: The bookshops that stopped me in my tracks and the ideas I’d love to see everywhere

Across 54 visits, I kept encountering inventive curation, unexpected events, and approaches to bookselling I had never considered. These are my favorites: 100% subjective, entirely enthusiastic.

Best niche bookshops

Picking one particular specialty and stocking your shelves exclusively around it is beyond brave for an independent small business that often has to fight for every customer in the face of retail giants. That’s why I applaud these bookshops for their courage and their excellent curation.

• Bold Fork Books, Washington, D.C.: For all your culinary needs, this bookshop caters to the aspiring chef, from cookbooks to books about growing food, mixing cocktails, and everything in between.
  
• Friends to Lovers, Alexandria, VA: Romance lovers, this one is for you. Whether you’re into ranch romance, romantasy, or enemies to lovers, this bookstore is your haven.
  
• The Wooden Shoe, Philadelphia, PA: While anarchist bookshops are not my cup of tea, if it’s yours, you will love this volunteer-run store full of revolutionary titles, zines, and social justice themes.
  

Best children’s bookshops and corners

• BBGB, Richmond, VA: This entire bookshop is dedicated to children’s literacy and nurturing a love for reading from an early age. Two words: toddler book club.
• Parentheses, Harrisonburg, VA: Great children’s selection complete with floor seating, creative activities, and storytime for the youngest readers.
• Old Town Books Junior, Alexandria, VA: I may have spent as much time in the children’s store as in the neighboring adult section. From reading nooks to a large reading tree, I wished I were a kid again.
• Downtown Books Lexington, Lexington, VA: A carefully curated children’s corner inside an equally carefully curated bookshop for readers of all ages.
• Bonfire Books & Yarnery, Woodstock, VA: This store might be one of the Shenandoah Valley’s best-kept secrets. You can literally step into the world of Narnia. An absolute delight.
• Bluebird & Co., Crozet, VA: Bluebird is one of the rare bookshops that I love visiting with my daughter because it was designed with her in mind. Rather than constantly checking on her, I know she bee-lines for the children's section with an adorable children's ice cream cart and a vast selection of books for children of all ages. All in one room, all for the youngest readers. 
  

Best one-room bookshops

A surprising number of indie bookshops make a living on very small square footage. Turning a single room into a booklover’s paradise is remarkable and deserves applause.

• Staunton Books & Tea: What started as a square retail space with a register in one corner and shelves against three walls has turned into a well-stocked store serving tea and Eastern European pastries at tables that invite you to linger.
  
• Leaf & Lore, Buena Vista: This little gem serves not only as a bookstore but also as a plant bar and community space for authors and aspiring writers. Their business model is an inspiration.
  
• Middleburg Books, Middleburg, VA: With a starry ceiling and dreamy interior, you feel like you stepped into a wonderland. This store makes you forget what century or universe you’re in.
  

I feel like I need to make a special mention of Barbara’s Bookstore at O’Hare Airport. Technically, it’s one room with an open front, but it taught me something important: while their space was severely limited (airport real estate prices) and customers are almost always in a hurry, their signage and face-out displays demonstrate how thoughtful layout can transform browsing into quick discovery. They packed hundreds of titles from dozens of genres into the size of a school bus, and yet it never felt crowded or overwhelming.

Best classical bookshops

While I’m all for hip and trend-forward bookshops, I can’t resist a traditional bookstore that makes you feel like whispering and handling books with the utmost care.

• Librairie Guiliani, Paris, France: High ceilings, dark wood-paneled walls, and a typical Parisian eye roll at the sound of an American or German tourist. Librairie Guiliani checked all the boxes for a classical bookshop, and I loved browsing their aisles in reverence.
  
• Autorenbuchhandlung am Savignyplatz, Berlin, Germany: Tucked directly beneath the S-Bahn and spread across three connected arched rooms. A well-curated sanctuary for German readers.
  
• Felix Jud, Hamburg, Germany: With ceiling paintings at one of Hamburg’s most famous public spaces, the Jungfernstieg, stepping into Felix Jud feels like entering an art and book gallery that holds Hamburg’s literary memory.
  

Best secondhand selection

• Bagatelle Books, Asheville, NC: A vast selection spanning several rooms in hip West Asheville, with impressively large music and poetry sections alongside sexuality, literature, nature, sci-fi, fantasy, travel, and cooking. And the best bookshop pet I’ve come across: a little hamster named Lainey, who put on a show in her wheel and mesmerized kids for longer than most books.
  
• I Love You So Much Books, Richmond, VA: What started as a pop-up used-book shop has become a small but mighty institution in the Brookland Park neighborhood. Mariela’s opening day almost sold her out of inventory. She had to close for a few days to restock her shelves. ILYSM is proof that a community will embrace a bookshop when it’s curated with heart and soul.
  
• Shelf Life Books, Richmond, VA: This bookshop in Carytown, formerly known as Chop Suey, is a staple in the Richmond bookstore ecosystem. Excellent curation of new and used titles over two floors, under the watchful eyes of the bookstore cat.
  

Best cross-business bookshops

Diversifying your revenue stream as an independent bookshop is a smart move. How can you invite people to linger and spend more time in your shop, even on days that they’re not looking for a book? Here are three bookshops that went beyond the bookstore café idea: 

• Bluebird & Co, Crozet, VA: A destination for any booklover, located right between Charlottesville and the Shenandoah Valley. Did I pick a dentist in Crozet just to have an excuse to visit this clothing boutique and bookshop with a surprising array of book clubs and author events? Who’s to say.
  
• Mouette Reiuse, Paris, France: Yes, it’s a bookshop, but it’s also home to a delightful garden café, coworking space, interior decor, and unusual souvenirs. My most delightful, unexpected find in Paris.
  
• Battery Park Exchange, Asheville, NC: Champagne bar meets bookstore specializing in used and rare titles, in the heart of Asheville. Great concept.
  

Three unexpected bookshop ideas I instantly fell in love with

1. Fountain Books in Richmond, VA has an enticing membership model. If I lived closer and could take full advantage of the benefits, I would be a proud member.
   
2. Middleburg Books hosts a cookbook supper club. Members agree on one cookbook per quarter, then each cooks one dish to share at a joint potluck dinner.
   
3. Kapitel 3 proudly exhibits their community care by sharing their Manifesto for Aspiring Booksellers, a guest book, and a book club diary. Even though they’re no-frills, they inspire community and reinforce their values for anyone who visits.
   

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Next in this series: Surprising insights from a year of bookshop research, lessons from Germany’s indie bookshop scene, a new relationship with unread books, and what comes next for #40BookshopsUnder40.

Part 3