The 10 best bookstores in Los Angeles

First up on West Hollywood’s world-famous Sunset Strip, we find Book Soup and its hugely diverse collection, open since 1975. Today the store has some 60,000 books in its inventory, aligned on floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and spanning the arts, literary non-fiction and more controversial titles among magazines and international newspapers. An emblem of the city’s diverse make up, Book Soup also serves up an extensive collection of LGBTQ titles, as well as more niche works within its S&M and LA history sections. The store is usually buzzing all day long and stays open out of hours for author readings and signings, allowing for brush-ins with both celebrities and LA locals.

One for rare book lovers is the long-standing Arcana: Books on the Arts, a site boasting as many as 100,000 rare and out-of-print titles with a focus on art, photography and design. Established since 1984 and designed by its architect founders within a historic area of Culver City, Arcana Books remains a beautiful and bright neighbourhood staple featuring towering bookshelves and all kinds of design ephemera not found elsewhere. If in doubt, ask the owners for a recommendation or simply browse to discover the works of underappreciated artists, architects, fashion designers, filmmakers and more, an upstanding alternative to Beverly Drive’s more commercial coffee-table bookstore Taschen.

Situated in Los Feliz and satisfying both literary buffs and quirkier customers is one of LA’s most acclaimed independent bookstores, Skylight Books. Running since 1996 and now owned and run by a group of writers (as well as Transparent actor Jeffrey Tambor), Skylight Books has become a key part of the neighbourhood, with a curated collection of graphic novels and comics alongside other works of literary fiction, regional culture and LA history titles. The adjoining Arts Annex is another reason to visit should you need it, with its heavy focus on performing and visual arts. Grab a coffee or sandwich from the main store before scurrying off to the annex to browse the zines ahead of one of the store’s regular book groups or author-led events.

A trading hub for twenty years, serving both sellers and seekers of rare and out-of-print titles, is Iliad Bookshop in North Hollywood. One of the largest used bookstores in Los Angeles with tens of thousands of titles to flick through, Iliad Bookshop is also known for its welcoming, cat-friendly vibe allowing readers to sit a while in order to narrow down their reading pile (and pet some cats!). Specialising in arts and with a wide range of graphic novels, the Iliad is also appreciated by TV buffs for its occasional appearance in programs such as Storage Wars, Up All Night and Bottom Feeders.

Not for everyone but reaching cult status among Japanophiles is Kinokuniya Bookstore. Headquartered in Tokyo since 1927 and now operating in 68 locations and 28 cities overseas, Kinokuniya Bookstore is your one-stop-shop for all kinds of speciality Japanese paper goods, as well as Japanese-language books and manga. Fans of Hayao Miyazaki (the famed animation director whose brilliant works can now be found on Netflix), should note that Studio Ghibli acts as the official retail partner of the bookstore, making it one of the best places to snap up Ghibli merchandise outside of Japan.

The last of our top ten Los Angeles bookstores is Vroman’s Bookstore, founded by Adam Clark Vroman in 1894 and bearing the accolade of the oldest bookstore in Southern California. After Vroman passed away in 1916, the store was handed down to its long-time employees, and today is owned by a great-grandchild of the original staff. As well as being a piece of living history, Vroman’s Bookstore dedicates its huge space to a wide selection of titles with an added emphasis on history, and a side collection of handmade crafts, stationery and more. What’s more, is that Vroman’s author signings and free community events mean it easily competes with the bigger chains in the Valley.

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