Best of Philly

Commonplace Reader

In 2019, Liz Young took an old house that had been converted to a retail space, filled it top to bottom with books, sprinkled in oodles of homespun charm, and created a little spot of small-town magic. Downstairs, a warren of rooms holds fiction and nonfiction, while the second story has two rooms dedicated to kids, with cozy floor pillows that invite lounging. (One tiny closet has been transformed into a Harry Potter reading nook!) Young and her staff host book clubs (often on the shop’s front porch), author events and writing groups, too. Read More »

49 South Main Street, Yardley, PA Website

Brickbat Books

Sometimes all you need is a cozy spot in which to sit with a book. Brickbat provides both those things — plus records! — in excess at its low-key haunt. Its walls envelop you in new and used reads, many with eye-catching covers. Of note: The shop only accepts secondhand titles in the best condition from genres like poetry, nonfiction and genre fiction, so rather than a dog-eared James Patterson paperback, you might find a collection of journalist Martha Gellhorn’s novellas, or works by big names in lit fic like Don DeLillo. Read More »

709 South 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

Head House Books

As Philly’s local bookshop scene shrinks — Shakespeare and Co. and Joseph Fox Bookshop both shuttered this year — Head House Books is turning the page on 17 years in business. Owner Richard De Wyngaert’s self-proclaimed “fiercely curated” selection resonates with his fiercely loyal customers, who line up for the latest thought-provoking titles and author events from the likes of Jennifer Weiner. Read More »

619 South 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA Website

The Story Coffee & Bookstore

With its whimsical wall installation made out of books and a cozy coffee-shop ambience (try a cortado), this new shop feels more like a work of fiction than a place that sells it. While the shop has a spiritual bent (it specializes in nonfiction focusing on history, faith and culture), it also houses new and used tomes from the likes of James Patterson and Robert Louis Stevenson. Proceeds benefit the Helping Hand Rescue Mission. Read More »

45 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, PA Website

Anyabwile Love of Bailey Street Books

Most people retire and relax, but this beloved CCP professor had other plans. After years of teaching history and Black studies, Love has taken his passion for the field and transformed it into a bookstore featuring a vintage collection of Black history and literature that’s more timely than ever. Bailey Street Books (1517 North Bailey Street in Brewerytown) will continue to educate Philadelphians for many years to come — making it ultimate ­retirement-plan goals. Read More »

Cathy’s Half-Price Books

Most of the 60,000 or so gently used items at this 17-year-old stalwart are, indeed, half their original price or less. Then there are new reads and rare works — some with a Philly provenance — all stocked by bibliophilic owners Shannon and Cathy Rutherford. Read More »

7 Manoa Shopping Center, 1305 West Chester Pike, Havertown, PA Website

Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books

At Marc Lamont Hill’s Germantown bookstore, you’ll find a well-curated assortment of timely reads as well as classics, plus a cozy hangout space equipped with a coffee bar and eatery. Read More »

5445 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA | 215-403-7058 | Website

Hakim’s Bookstore & Gift Shop

The city’s oldest Black-owned bookstore is still going strong, selling new and old African American-focused literature — from biography and history to children’s books. Read More »

210 South 52nd Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-474-9495 | Website

Black and Nobel

Described as “more than a bookstore,” Black and Nobel goes beyond its book collection (which features children’s and health and wellness reads) to skin and hair products, educational DVDs, and superfood supplements. Read More »

411 South Street, Philadelphia, PA | 215-965-1559 | Website

Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse

Looking for something for the kids? Or to reminisce over your own comic-book days? Amalgam owner Ariell Johnson became the East Coast’s first Black female comic bookstore owner in 2015 when she opened her shop, now a nationally regarded treasure. Read More »

2578 Frankford Avenue, Phiadelphia, PA | 215-427-3300 | Website