Read This: A Guide to Philly Bookshops

Owners (and Tinder-matched married couple) Alexander Schneider and Christina Rosso-Schneider opened A Novel Idea as a way to give back and focus on their East Passyunk neighborhood through diversity, inclusion, and a shared love of books and local authors. The community-minded bookstore and artist event room fills a need for a reading space in the tight-knit neighborhood where Rosso-Schneider dreamed of owning a bookstore. The shop has a heavy focus on hyper-local creators in their Philadelphia Author and Small Press sections.

First established in Delaware in 1934, Baldwin’s Book Barn has been offering used, rare and fine books (along with manuscripts, maps, paintings, prints and more) in the Baldwin family’s West Chester location since World War II. The bookstore — named one of the “World’s Most Beloved Independent Bookstores” by Architectural Digest — is located inside a 200-year-old stone barn, which houses a collection of more than 300,000 titles crammed into every corner and hideaway (with plenty of cozy reading nooks and a wood-burning stove on site for good measure).

After growing up in Washington, DC and learning the trade in the Midwest, Sheila Allen realized her lifelong dream of owning her own progressive, feminist bookstore in a diverse neighborhood when she opened Big Blue Marble Bookstore in Mt. Airy in 2005. The lesbian-owned (and mostly staffed) shop specializes in children’s books, sci-fi, poetry and literary fiction, along with highlighted sections for queer literature and Black non-fiction, history and politics. The store features a café (with excellent tea) and hosts writing classes, book clubs and book signings.

West Philly’s Bindlestiff Books is a true neighborhood bookstore, with a staff consisting entirely of volunteers living in the neighborhood it serves. Opened in 2005, the majority of Bindlestiff’s collection are deeply discounted, specializing in children’s books, literary fiction, labor studies and politics, and graphic novels. Pro tip: On a nice day, grab a good read, head two blocks to beautiful Clark Park and find a spot under a shady tree to dig into your new purchase.

Despite moving from Broad and Erie to South Street during the pandemic, Black and Nobel remains true to its mission to be a vital community gathering space. More than a bookstore, the former Best of Philly winner also offers hard-to-find items like educational DVDs and CDs, skin and hair products, smoothies, and homemade sea moss products. But owner Hakim Hopkins (named for the founder of legendary Hakim’s Bookstore, see below) remains clear that his shop will always be a bookstore first — one that ships dozens of books to local prisons each week.

The Book Trader is everything you’d want from a secondhand bookstore: a jam-packed 5,000-square-foot maze of crowded aisles lined with rows of used books from floor to ceiling (plus a second-floor record room). The spot is one of Philly’s oldest and largest used bookstores (it operated for 30 years on South Street before moving to the heart of Old City in 2004), with giant selections of both fiction and non-fiction titles. Bring your stacks of trades, as the shop offers 10-20% of the original sale price in store credit.

Situated right on the Delaware River waterfront, Farley’s Bookshop has an impressive heritage — and an even more impressive history. The charming New Hope shop was founded in 1967 by Jim and Nancy Farley with help from two famous Pennsylvania friends: Mr. Rogers and author James Michener. The shop — occupying a building that dates to the turn of the 19th century — recently reopened after months of renovations. Farley’s houses the largest (and most diverse) collection of books in Bucks County and features a cozy atmosphere for reading in its aisles and reading nooks.

Founded in 1959, Hakim’s Bookstore and Gift Shop is the oldest Black-owned bookstore on the East Coast and one of the oldest in the nation. With a collection devoted to Black studies and history, as well as children’s literature, biographies, memoirs and rare books from Black authors, Hakim’s has long been a gathering spot for activists, intellectuals, academics and community leaders. Founded by historian and scholar Dawud Hakim, the shop was an important location during the Civil Rights Movement and remains a vital fixture today under the leadership of Hakim’s daughter Yvonne Blake.

A bookstore named for Harriet Tubman will never turn away a challenge. Enter Harriett’s Bookshop, which opened its doors a month before the pandemic hit. Founder Jeannine Cook then turned her new store into a rallying point, providing literary diversions for locked-down neighbors. The activism-forward Fishtown shop celebrates “women authors, women artists and women activists,” particularly Black female icons like Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker and Octavia Butler.

Seeing a need for community inspiration and a friendly debate space that only a bookstore can provide, Head House Books opened in 2005 on the border of Society Hill and Queen Village. Owner Richard De Wyngaer founded his shop with several core principles: curated experience over volume, discovery over sales, reading what truly matters and honoring the customer. Visitors find that and more in the aisles of bestsellers, classics, young adult and new releases in a friendly and bright atmosphere that has been honored as Best Bookstore by Philadelphia magazine.

Across from the University of Pennsylvania campus, House of Our Own is a stylish 1890 Victorian house in the heart of Penn’s fraternity and sorority row. As an Ivy League campus-adjacent shop, the two-story bookstore, open since 1971, specializes in academic pursuits like history, literary criticism, cultural studies and poli-sci. While House of Our Own offers a small selection of titles on their website, it’s well worth an in-person visit to experience the full scope of the late 19th-century building’s majesty and the shop’s full collection of titles.

Tioga-Nicetown’s Ibrahim Books & Gifts was founded with the goal of providing a place for the city’s Muslim community to find books and publications that foster an understanding of Islam from traditional sources. As such, the shop’s staff spends hours curating the scores of available titles for authenticity before placing them on the shelves. The foundation of Ibrahim’s collection, accessible to the average Muslim (and anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of Islamic culture and religion), is contemporary Arabic texts from religious scholars translated by their students.

The only Spanish/English bilingual bookshop in Philadelphia, Julia de Burgos Bookstore specializes in titles from Latino authors (with a slight focus on Puerto Rican literature) and books about Latin American culture and social justice. The shop is part of Taller Puertorriqueño, a Puerto Rican and Latino community arts and culture center in the city’s West Kensington neighborhood, which provides year-round education programs, author events and art exhibitions. The bookstore also offers handcrafted art and other products from local Latino artisans.

The last word on used books in University City is Last Word Bookshop, popular with West Philly residents and University of Pennsylvania students alike. Founded in 1979, the shop is in its third incarnation, occupying its current space since 2016. Last Word stocks more than 80,000 used and out-of-print titles from nearly every genre curated by its famously helpful staff. One of the store’s best features is its hours, open daily until 10 p.m. for those late-night literary cravings.

The Zapatista movement’s commitment to “making a world where many worlds fit” is where Making Worlds Cooperative Bookstore and Social Center found its name. The collectively run, self-managed nonprofit cooperative bookstore uses books as a gateway to provide a vibrant space for diverse educational, political and cultural programming. But that doesn’t mean the West Philly shop isn’t a haven for readers, with floor-to-ceiling collections (heavy on BIPOC authors) lining the quaint spot that also houses a pay-as-you-wish cafe with window seating.

With its Fishtown storefront windows proclaiming “BOOKS!,” Miscellanea Libri sits right on popular Girard Avenue along the Route 15 trolley line. The esoteric shop held court in Reading Terminal Market for nearly 30 years before moving to its current location in 2019. Its collection of new, used and rare books covers topics from art, history and religion to philosophy, poetry and culture. A Black-, veteran- and woman-owned space, Miscellanea Libri also features a “Bare Wall” space open to local artists to exhibit original works.

If you’re going to run a bookshop in Philly’s famous Italian Market, you best carry a fantastic collection of cookbooks. Molly’s Books & Records offers an unmatched used cookbook and food-lit collection — including vintage and global cuisines — described as “the best cookbook bookstore in Philadelphia” by Eater. But the secondhand shop is more than just The Joy of Cooking, as Molly Russakoff’s family business (right down to Mrs. Stevenson, the shop cat) offers plenty of cult, pulp, sci-fi and poetry titles, plus an extensive collection of vinyl records curated by husband Joe Ankenbrand.

Every part of Mostly Books Warehouse’s name is true. The Queen Village spot is immense (somehow bigger inside than it appears on the outside), a cluttered and chaotic space selling, well, mostly books. Sporting a true eclectic funky South Street vibe, Mostly Books is a multi-roomed used-book haven with a remarkable selection of more than 100,000 titles alongside shelves full of DVDs, CDs, vinyl records, photographs and even VHS tapes.

Named for James Baldwin’s classic gay novel, Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room is the oldest LGBTQ+ bookstore in the nation. Founded in 1973, non-profit thrift store Philly AIDS Thrift took over management in 2014. A landmark in Philly’s Gayborhood, the store — which operates in buildings dating back to the 1800s — offers thousands of queer books and magazines (and even Playbills), feminist literature, plus shelves of art, movies, music and apparel from the thrift shop. When you stop by, be sure to check out the curated window displays and the historical marker outside.

Name a more iconic pair than a cup of coffee and a good book. That’s the thinking behind Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books, a Black-owned community spot in Germantown named after owner (and author, professor and TV commentator) Marc Lamont Hill’s favorite uncle. With an inviting living room atmosphere, the shop lives by the motto: “Cool People. Dope Books. Great Coffee.” Order a latte or espresso along with a Danish or vegan brownie, and peruse the aisles filled with fiction and nonfiction titles with a focus on Black authors.

The list above is just a small sample of the dozens of bookstores, shops and emporiums in Philadelphia. For more spots in which to find your next great read, hard-to-find secondhand book or perfect gift for the bibliophile in your life, check out the official Philadelphia Bookstore Map, a gorgeous hand-drawn reference guide (designed by visual artist Henry Crane) featuring 46 bookstores across the city.