AFAR’s Our Favorite Independent Bookstores in California contains no love for San Diego despite us having some great bookstores. I would easily put Verbatim Books on this list and give Mysterious Galaxy strong consideration. But I’m nitpicking, it’s a fine list overall.
The list brings to mind my favorite bookstores of the 1990s in Los Angeles: Midnight Special in Santa Monica and Opamp Books, a tremendous technical bookstore that was in Hollywood.
Here’s their list:
- City Lights – San Francisco
- Moe’s Books – Berkeley
- Skylight Books – Los Angeles
- Green Apple Books – San Francisco
- Omnivore Books – San Francisco
- Kepler’s Books & Magazines – Menlo Park
- Mrs. Dalloway’s Literary & Garden Arts Bookstore – Berkeley
- The Last Bookstore – Los Angeles
- Black Bird Bookstore – San Francisco
- Dark Carnival – Berkeley
- Pages: A Bookstore – Manhattan Beach, California
I’ve only been to a third of these bookstores. When travel is safe, I’ll be hitting these. In the meantime, support your local bookstore!
And hey, San Diego Bookstore Crawl may yet happen August 29, 2020 for Indie Bookstore Day:
