Browsing the Bookstores

The second largest city in the country, Los Angeles boasts a broad range of bookstores, from chains and general independents to some of the most delightful and quirky specialty shops and nontraditional outlets, including, believe it or not, a car wash.

The bookstores listed below are a selection and are ordered roughly from downtown heading west toward the ocean. A section on Pasadena, northeast of downtown, concludes the list.

Downtown

The Museum of Contemporary Art Bookstore (250 S. Grand Ave.; 213-621-1741; www.moca-la.org) features contemporary art books, catalogues, cards, posters, ceramics, glass, magazines, T-shirts, ties and art reproductions.

Dutton's Books (3806 W. Magnolia Blvd.; 818-840-8003), in the Arco Plaza Mall next to the Bonaventure Hotel, is one of the few downtown bookstores mixing used and new books. The main store is in North Hollywood (5146 Laurel Canyon Blvd.; 818-769-3866); the stores are run by a different branch of the Dutton family from Dutton's Brentwood.

Seven year-old, Skylight Books (1818 N. Vermont Ave.; 323-660-1175; www.skylightbooks.com) inhabits a pleasant, expansive 2,000-sq.-ft. space with a hangar-like ceiling—and yes, skylights—once occupied by Chatterton's, which closed in 1994. In the bohemian, individualistic neighborhood of Los Feliz/Silverlake—think East Village West—not far west of downtown, the emphasis is on literary fiction, film and cinema, Los Angeles history and alternative titles.

A couple years ago, esoteric bookstore Koma Books (1228 W. 7th St.; 213-623-6995; www.komabookstore.com) changed its name from Amok Books (although the sign outside still advertises the former moniker). The store offers a variety of books, magazines, records, videos and CDs on anarchy, sleaze, mayhem, erotica and surrealism, among other favorite subjects.

In Larchmont Village, which feels like it's been transported from New England, Chevalier's Books (126 N. Larchmont Blvd.; 213-465-1334) has nice black signage and fixtures with unusual black drawers and cases for overstock, in about 1,700 square feet of space.

At Every Picture Tells a Story (1318 Montana Ave.; 310-451-2700; www.everypicture.com) the story is original artwork from children's books, editorial, comic and magazine art, displayed in an airy 5,000-sq.-ft. exhibition space. The store also has a comfortable but small children's book area in front. Its collection includes pieces by Garth Williams (Charlotte's Web), H.A. Rey (Curious George), Clement Hurd (Goodnight Moon) and Hilary Knight (Eloise).

One of the most significant African-American bookstores on the West Coast, Eso Won Books (3655 S. La Brea Ave.; 323-294-0324; www.esowon.com) carries more than 15,000 titles pertaining to African-Americans. The store also has a large selection of audiobooks and videos.

The University of Southern California Bookstore (840 Childs Way; 213-740-BOOK; www-bookstore.usc.edu) is one of the country's largest college stores, with a full selection of titles and services.

More than 60 years old, Larry Edmunds Cinema & Theatre Bookshop (6644 Hollywood Blvd.; 213-463-3273; www.larryedmunds.com) has some 5,000 new and used titles about cinema, movies, theater and television.

Also in Hollywood, the 74-year-old Samuel French Theatre & Film Bookshop (7623 Sunset Blvd.; 213-876-0570), which has a branch in Studio City (11963 Ventura Blvd.; 818-762-0535), focuses on films, filmmaking, music, dance, opera, biography, history, theater, plays, screenplays and the performing arts.

Golden Apple Comics (7711 Melrose Ave.; 323-658-6047; www.goldenapplecomics.com) has everything and anything for lovers of graphic novels, comics, anime and nearly every popular-culture image of recent years. Check out, for example, the South Park shot glasses and Yoda action figures. Crowded at most any time of day with devotees, Golden Apple has another store in the San Fernando Valley (8962 Reseda Blvd., Northridge; 818-993-7804).

Worth traveling to is Traveler's Bookcase (8375 W. Third St.; 213-655-0575; www.travelbooks.com), offering a full range of travel-related books (guides and literature), maps, magazines, videos and accessories.

One storefront east from Traveler's Bookcase is Cook's Library (8373 W. Third St.; 213-655-3141), which offers a smorgasbord of titles on food, food preparation, cuisines of the world and anything else the devoted foodie may want.

Whatever suits your karma, whether east or west is best, Bodhi Tree (8585 Melrose Ave.; 310-659-1733; www.bodhitree.com) has balm and instruction—in the form of 40,000 new and used books and another 50,000 products—for it. Every square inch of every shelf and wall is used for display.

Brentano's (10250 Santa Monica Blvd.; 310-785-0204), in the Century City Shopping Center, is a neat, clean, busy store with outstanding customer service—a gem among chains. (Brentano's is owned by Waldenbooks, which is part of Borders Group.)

Arguably the premier general bookstore in the city (specializing in film, art and literature), Book Soup (8818 Sunset Blvd.; 310-659-3110; www.booksoup.com) is a landmark in West Hollywood and includes the fine Book Soup Bistro and an outdoor newsstand that offers thousands of newspapers and magazines. Right next door is Book Soup Addendum, which features gift books, remainders, markdowns and more.

Mystery Pier Books (8826 Sunset Blvd.; 310-657-5557; www.mysterypierbooks.com) is in a delightful cottage behind Book Soup (take the charming steps to the right of Book Soup and see what is hidden behind the rows of storefronts). The shop specializes in first editions, and also has more than 4,000 mystery, true crime, film, Hollywood, theater and other titles displayed in-store, with more in storage. Also available: scripts and bound galleys. Among the titles recently featured are Raymond Chandler's original typewritten manuscript for Pick Up on Noon Street, a signed first edition of Agatha Christie's Destination Unknown and J.D. Salinger's Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters.

A Different Light (8853 Santa Monica Blvd.; 310-854-6601; www.adlbooks.com) in West Hollywood is the Southern California branch of the premier gay and lesbian bookselling company (it also has a store in San Francisco). This branch stocks nearly 20,000 titles in 2,000 square feet of space.

The Bernard H. Hamel Spanish Book Corp. (10977 Santa Monica Blvd.; 310-475-0453), a major Spanish-language wholesaler and distributor, has some 6,000 titles as well as music tapes and CDs in a spare retail space.

Founded in 1948, La Cite (2306 Westwood Blvd.; 310-475-0658; www.france.com/lacite) prides itself on being the only major all-French bookstore in the U.S. It carries 14,000 book titles, some 1,100 CDs and miscellaneous other products, including maps, guides and French flag stickers and enamel pins.

Children's Book World (10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd.; 310-559-2665; www.childrensbookworlds.com) aims for a library-like selection, according to owner Sharon Hearn. And the store does well, stocking 80,000 titles in its 2,300 square feet of space.

Two blocks south of Wilshire is a sleek, huge Borders Books & Music (1360 Westwood Blvd.; 310-475-3444) that is typical for the chain.

UCLA Bookzone General Book Division (308 Westwood Plaza; 310-825-7711) is another major college bookstore.

Dutton's Brentwood (11975 San Vicente Blvd.; 310-476-6263; www.duttonsbrentwood.com) has 125,000 titles as well as CDs; the store is divided into four sections—the east, west, north and south rooms—around the central courtyard of a large single building.

Perhaps the most delightful, unusual bookselling find in Los Angeles is the Sepulveda West Car Wash (2001 S. Sepulveda Blvd.; 310-478-9274). Books at the car wash? Well, it is Los Angeles. And this is a state-of-the-art, upscale car wash where half the customers are driving Mercedeses and BMWs and chatting on cell phones as they wait for their cars to be handwaxed. The company stocks some 500 titles, mainly what it calls "inspirational" and bestsellers, and a healthy number of CDs and audiobooks. For such a nontraditional outlet, it's amusing to see more spinner racks and dumps than in many bookstores.

Bookselling by the Sea

For a microcosm of American book retailing, consider going to Santa Monica or Pasadena, where chains, independents and nontraditional stores, all close to each other, sell a variety of books in a variety of ways.

A few blocks east from the ocean, Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, a popular walking street that runs for three blocks between Broadway and Wilshire Boulevard, features several vibrant independent bookstores selling new and used books, chain stores and nontraditional stores.

Barnes & Noble (1201 Third St. Promenade; 310-260-9110) is at the north end of the promenade, on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard. The three-story building with an art deco façade includes a Starbucks and a music section. Although the ambiance and selection is much like that of the other 500-plus B&Ns across the country, there are some distinguishing elements to the Santa Monica store—good and bad. On a recent day, a clerk was wandering around one floor, apparently trying to find a book for a customer and, L.A.-style, was barking into a cell phone, oblivious to in-store customers. On a more positive note, the third floor, with its arching wooden ceiling, 10 palms and great views, is worth a look. In this store, you'll see the B&N library/coffeeshop effect—people reading, doing homework, writing, using laptops and talking quietly in the many chairs spread throughout the store.

The Borders Books and Music (1415 Third St. Promenade; 310-393-9290), near the south end of the promenade, also has three stories and courageously stocks literature on the first floor. (B&N puts its fiction and literature section on the third floor, as far from the entrance as possible.) People don't hang out here as much as at Barnes & Noble because there are far fewer chairs in the store proper, but the cafe on the first floor, with both indoor and outdoor seating, is a popular spot. You can also examine the growing selection of sidelines available at Borders stores.

A hot spot for specialty bookselling is Restoration Hardware (1221 Third St. Promenade; 310-458-7992), a rapidly expanding national chain of more than 60 stores—with origins in California—that sells specialty home furnishings, decorative hardware and books. Think Crate & Barrel meets IKEA, and throw some books into the mix.

One of everyone's favorite art and architecture bookstores is Hennessey & Ingalls (1254 Third St. Promenade; 310-458-9074), which stocks a mix of 80,000 new, used and antiquarian titles in 6,000 square feet of space. Check it out before the store relocates to Wilshire Blvd. this summer. A few doors down is Arcana: Books of the Arts (1229 Third St. Promenade; 310-458-1499), a smaller used bookstore worth a visit.

Pasadena

Like Santa Monica, Pasadena—just a 15-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles—is home to a variety of bookstores.

First and foremost is one of the best independents in the country, Vroman's (695 E. Colorado Blvd.; 626-449-5320; www.vromansbookstore.com). Billing itself as "Southern California's oldest and largest independent bookstore," the 109-year-old Vroman's was rebuilt and redesigned in 1996. It's a beautiful two-story building with more than 30,000 square feet that stocks roughly 100,000 titles and more sidelines than many nonbookstores. Many of the sidelines sections could be small stores in their own right: consider the Museum Shop, which, among other things, sells jewelry and Tiffany lamps, and the Cook's Corner, which offers cookbooks and cooking accoutrements from pads to aprons. Its Zeli Coffee Bar serves food and drink outside; the newsstand is also outside. In January, the 3,700 sq.-ft Vroman's Fine Writing, Gifts and Stationery opened just two doors down from the main store.

Across the street is Cliff's Books (630 E. Colorado Blvd.; 626-449-9541), a 6,000-sq.-ft. used bookstore with well-ordered sections and a catacomb-like atmosphere.

Borders Books and Music (475 S. Lake Ave.; 626-304-9773) is a two-story building connected to Macy's Pasadena. In a town made famous by the architects Greene & Greene, it has a few arts-and-crafts details in glass and iron railings. The store also has a parking deck attached behind it.

Old Pasadena (on Colorado Boulevard about a mile west of Vroman's) is a trendy area with branches of Sak's Fifth Ave., Victoria's Secret, Pottery Barn, Armani Exchange, J. Crew and the Pottery Barn, among the usual suspects. Barnes & Noble (111 W. Colorado Blvd.; 626-585-0362) is in a one-story building with brick interior walls. Just up the street and around the corner is the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store (39 N. Fair Oaks Ave.; 626-793-8618). Along with some amazing reproduction jewelry and other products connected with the museum's shows and collection, the Met store, one of about 15 satellite stores in the U.S., offers a range of art books in a decidedly upscale setting.

The Norton Simon Museum (411 W. Colorado Blvd.; 626-449-6840), which is near Old Pasadena, offers art books, children's books, posters and stationery reflecting the museum's collections of European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century, as well as Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture.

The bookstore at the Pacific Asia Museum (46 N. Los Robles Ave.; 626-449-2742) offers art and artifacts from Asia and the Pacific Rim and includes a re-creation of a northern Chinese palace.

Mitchell Books (1395 E. Washington Blvd.; 626-798-4438; www.mysteryfiction.com), a 1,350-sq.-ft. mystery and detective shop, offers some 51,000 books.

Crime Time Books (1393 E. Washington Blvd.; 626-798-2673) specializes in new mystery and detective fiction, including paperback first editions.

Alexandria II New Age Bookstore (567 S. Lake Ave.; 626-792-7885; www.alexandria2.com) has new and used books, music, videos, jewelry, incense, candles, cards and gifts. It also offers psychic readings, a weekly drumming circle and a variety of classes and workshops.

Alter Years (8960 E. Huntington Dr.; 626-614-9400) offers more than 1,000 titles on costume reference—textiles, era-specific, military, decorative techniques, design reference, shoes, hats, jewelry, makeup and more—and has a 200-page catalogue. Also in the store are patterns, supplies, accessories and trim, as well as greeting cards and calendars.

The Gamble House Bookstore (4 Westmoreland Place.; 626-449-4178) has more than 2,000 books on the American Arts & Crafts movement and some sidelines, including pottery and lamps.

Zany Brainy (3393 E. Foothill Blvd.; 626-351-4663) offers "a zillion neat things for kids," including books, toys, games, videos, audiotapes, computer games and more.

In neighboring South Pasadena, in the Mission West district, Book'em Mysteries (1118 Mission St.; 800-4BOOKEM; www.bookem.com) offers new titles and represents the David Kaye Collection of fine first editions. Thanks to the store's many autographing events, this is a great place to find signed copies of new and vintage mysteries.

In nearby San Marino, home of the Huntington Library, the San Marino Toy & Book Shoppe (2424 Huntington Dr.; 626-309-0222; www.toysandbooks.com) sells a full line of the best educational toys and games available and an in-depth selection of children's books, audios and videos, including new releases and timeless classics.