My Favorite Bookshops...
...in Seattle, WA.
To list all of my favorite bookshops in the world in one newsletter would be impossible, so let’s start with my favorite bookshops in Seattle.
A very literary city, Seattle is teeming with bookshops and cozy coffee shops to take your book to after you buy it. Add the iconic rain to the mix, and you have the perfect combination! So where should you go to spend a dreamy literary day browsing books in Seattle? These are my five favorites in no particular order.
Let’s start with this tiny independent used bookstore that’s hidden away in the most touristy part of the city: Pike Place Market. Don’t worry, it’s not in the over-crowded main level with all the flower vendors or the noisy fish stalls. It’s tucked under the market in the quieter Sanitary Public Market building. Pike Place is a beautiful maze of different buildings and hundreds of stalls, and you can weave your way to this little bookshop so many ways— just don’t give up til you find it. Keep wandering, and you’ll eventually see it tucked in the corner of the bottom floor of this building, a perfect respite from the market mayhem.
Lamplight is a small shop, really just a room lined with rows of overcrowded bookshelves. The books are all used, and you will find amazing prices here. I’ve browsed the shelves at Lamplight too many times to count, and I never left empty-handed. Though they’re used, the books here are always in great condition. Their selection is vast too! You’ll see shelves labeled in any subject you could ever want: cooking, memoirs, mystery, travel, poetry, classics… the list goes on and on. So very many literary gems are tucked away in this tiny shop at a steal of a deal! I found my entire Shel Silverstein collection at Lamplight. Just be ready to browse on your own, the employee at the checkout counter is usually an introverted Seattleite who is much more focused on flipping through books than on chatting with customers which really just adds to the charm of the place.
Stepping off of busy Mercer Street into this quiet bookstore is overwhelmingly comforting. Maybe it’s the old historic storefront with its large windows; maybe it’s the lush, sprawling house plants that have been there for years and are a testament to someone’s care; maybe it’s the heavy-laden wooden bookshelves themselves; or maybe it’s all of these things combined. Regardless, every time I arrive at Mercer Street Books, my heart warms.
I tend to wind my way in the serpentine pattern of the shelves here, hitting every aisle. Right in the entryway is a shelf of new acquisitions, and it’s always hiding something interesting. Another Seattle indie used bookstore, Mercer Street Books has discriminating taste. I’ve found memoirs, travel books, cook books, and beautiful classics here. They have a knack for finding unique editions of classic literature. I found the loveliest edition of The Secret Garden at Mercer Street. Every time I visited, a quiet yet pleasant employee sat at the front counter. They always seemed to have read the book I was buying, like some sort of literary wizard. The shopping trip always had an extra layer of magic when they gave an approving nod to my purchase.
Ophelia’s Books in Fremont is charming. There is no other word for it. It’s a charming little used bookstore in the heart of Fremont snuggled into a tiny historic storefront with big windows, a mix of living room furniture and retail bookshelves, homey rugs everywhere, and a spiral staircase down to the basement. Charming.
The books stacked in the big front window lure you in, especially on a grey winter day, and before you know it you’re winding your way down the spiral staircase to check out the travel section. Ophelia’s has a great selection: from mystery to cooking to travel to children’s lit, they have it. If they don’t they’ll offer to order it for you new too.
Ophelia’s is possibly the quirkiest bookshop on this list (when I first went they had a couple of shop rabbits), but that’s reflective of the neighborhood that surrounds it. Fremont is funky, and hanging out in a tiny indie bookshop that celebrates its surroundings is the perfect way to spend an afternoon in Seattle!
Up in the U-District, tucked amid the hubbub and grunge of the cheap eateries and shops, Magus Books has been selling used books since 1978. It’s not shiny or new. The bookshelves are crammed wherever they can fit and overfilled with titles. There isn’t much to be said about the aesthetic either: I imagine not much has changed in that regard in the last forty years. It’s all about the books at Magus. And there are so many to choose from! This is another indie bookshop where I can lose all sense of time browsing through the stacks of books.
I love Magus for the great used book selection, but I love it more for the atmosphere. It’s a wonderful little hold-out from Seattle’s grunge era. It’s the kind of place I would go when I wanted to pretend I lived in old Seattle, the Seattle of Ten Things I Hate About You.
Pro tip: if you go to Magus Books, you must continue to pretend you’re in Seattle in the 80s and go to Cafe Allegro. It’s an old-school Seattle coffee shop located in the alley around the corner from Magus. A morning spent at these two shops is Seattle magic.
No list of Seattle bookshops would be complete without Elliot Bay Book Company. Located in Capital Hill, this iconic book shop is huge and oozes Seattle energy. It’s housed in a historic building (a rarity in Capital Hill these days) with original wood floors, giant windows lining the walls, and cozy seating areas. Oh, and there’s a local coffee shop inside Elliot Bay: you don’t even have to leave the bookshop to sit and read your book at a local cafe! This place is a piazza.
Elliot Bay has books on any subject matter you can dream up. It’s well-organized: each section is labeled, well-stocked, and flows seamlessly into the next so you just keep browsing books all day. Most of the times I shopped here I was overwhelmed with choice! Did I mention there’s an upstairs? You could easily lose half a day browsing the shelves at Elliot Bay before realizing it. I always start with the large staff recommendations shelf at the front of the store: their well-read staff has great suggestions of both new releases and classic lit. And don’t miss the bargain section in the back corner upstairs!
It wasn’t easy to narrow this list down to five! Seattle has so many bookstores, each with its own unique atmosphere and literary leaning. These five might be my favorite, but I spent a lot of time perusing the shelves at other bookstores too. If you have any questions or need further Seattle bookshop suggestions, drop me a note below!