General New/Used
LA’s humongous selection of bookstores makes it easy to blow your grocery money on hard covers, even without a visit to the local Barnes & Noble. As the state’s economy ails, Southern California has seen some of its most beloved bookstores go out of business, including the small independent chain Dutton’s and the legendary Acres of Books in Long Beach. If you love rummaging used book shops, this is a terrific time to spend some scratch in them.
Vroman’s (Map 34) in Pasadena is over a century old, but its collection is as large and current as those of the big chains. Brand Bookshop (Map 51) in Glendale lures customers with its eccentric window display (edible insect cookbook, anyone?) and keeps them turning the pages with over 100,000 used and out-of-print titles in every category imaginable. Across the street, you’ll find Bookfellows, a/k/a Mystery of Imagination (Map 51), which specializes in collectable genre paperbacks (Thrills! Horror! Here and there, unintentionally hilarious smut!) but runs the pulp gamut.
Small New/Used
Skylight Books (Map 4) in Los Feliz has a well-edited collection of literary fiction, travel, local-interest, and film books, a resident kitty cat dozing in the window, and an impressive monthly lineup of literary events. Small World Books (Map 21) in Venice combines a fine selection of new titles with an ideal beachfront location. Downtown’s Caravan Bookstore (Map 9), the last of the old Bookseller’s Row shops, carries rare and out-of-print works. Also downtown, the Last Bookstore attracts a hip clientele by offering coffee and vinyl LPs alongside its large collection of used books. Not ready to buy? Libros Schmibros in Boyle Heights doubles as a lending library.
Specialty
If you’re into something, odds are there’s a bookshop that’ll suit your interests. An intriguing selection of maps, travel guides, and photography books at Distant Lands (Map 34) in Pasadena inspires journeys by plane, train, or armchair. Likewise, West Hollywood’s Traveler’s Bookcase (Map 2) shelves over 14,000 books to stimulate your wanderlust. Eso Won Books (Map 11) in Baldwin Hills specializes in African-American literature and hosts frequent signings. Dawson’s Book Shop (Map 3) in Hollywood is the source for antiquarian books on California history, Western Americana, and photography, and its gallery exhibits the likes of Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Eadweard Muybridge. The sleek Equator Books (Map 21) on Venice’s trendy Abbot-Kinney strip specializes in rare and collectible coffee table tomes on surfing, call girls, and circus freaks.
West Hollywood is a microcosm of LA’s literary scene, supporting a mind-boggling range of special interest bookstores. Cook’s Library (Map 2) on 3rd Street stocks thousands of cookery books for Ferran Adria wannabes. Mystery Pier (Map 2), located on the Sunset Strip, is an antiquarian shop of the highest caliber, stocking first editions of American and British literature with an impressive collection of mystery and true crime titles. You can spend a day meditating in the stacks at the Bodhi Tree Bookstore (Map 2) on Melrose, purveyor of metaphysical titles both new and recycled. Check out the collection of dried herbs and crystal pendants along with the ethereal tomes. On Santa Monica, A Different Light (Map 2) caters to the area’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. Circus of Books in Silver Lake (Map 4) and West Hollywood (Map 2) has a large collection of gay erotica and pornography as well as zines and more mainstream gay and lesbian books. Storyopolis (Map 56) on Ventura specializes in children’s literature, including rare and collectible titles from the turn of the 20th century. The store’s readings, nifty lithograph collection, art classes, and sock hops (yes, sock hops!) keep kids and parents coming back for more.
Art/Film Books
LA is where art and entertainment collide, and the city’s bookstores gather up the pieces. The eye-popping Taschen (Map 1) store in Beverly Hills, and the newer branch at the Grove, stock the iconoclast publisher’s brand of luxe art tomes and naughty coffee table books. Arcana (Map 18), nuzzled in the ever-gentrifying 3rd Street Promenade, carries a staggering collection of art books dating from Abstract Impressionism to the present, organized by artist and theme. Where Arcana leaves off, Hennessey + Ingalls (Map 18) picks up. With an impressive collection of Renaissance monographs and architecture books, the store has as large a visual-arts collection as you’ll find anywhere. LACMA (Map 6) and the Getty (Map 16) both carry exhibition catalogues and academic art books, and the MOCA bookstore has three locations in addition to its primary downtown residence (Map 9): one at the Pacific Design Center (Map 2), one at Main Street in Santa Monica (Map 12), and another at the Geffen Contemporary (Map 9). Meltdown (Map 2) in West Hollywood is famous for comics and collectibles, but its selection of graphic novels is equally strong. Golden Apple (Map 2) is a sci-fi/comic geek’s private Valhalla— and girls are most definitely allowed. Book Soup (Map 2) on the Sunset Strip boasts the best lineup of readings in the city and floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with art, photography, film, and music-oriented titles.
