My Favorite Used Bookstores in Philadelphia

To put it lightly - used bookstores are one of my favorite places in the world. I find so much comfort in them - the smell of the ink and leather, the sight of books stacked in all corners, the occasional shop cat lounging on the table without a care, the leather chairs that are usually by the window where you can sit as you flip through a book you've never heard of, the fact that the shelves claim that they're in alphabetical order but usually aren't. I just love it all so much. I've rounded up my four go-to used bookstores in Philly to share with you. These are all places that have held a special place to me during my time in Philly; one I've cried in after an argument with my boyfriend (lol), another I escaped to during my lunch break on difficult work days, I've found comfort in each of these used bookstores just as I've found comfort in books themselves.

THE BOOK TRADER

7 N 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106

http://www.phillybooktrader.com/

This bookstore used to be a few blocks from my old apartment. They've been around since 1975 and are open every day until 7pm (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas) so it was always the place I would go to whenever I was having a bad day. I had my own little ritual, I would walk to La Colombe and grab a latte and then head to this bookstore to browse through the (many) shelves and forget about the day I had. They have every genre you can think of here - mystery, foreign languages, true crime, politics, drama and more. They also have a little room full of records!

 

BRICKBAT BOOKS

709 S 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19147

http://brickbatbooks.com/

This bookstore is based in one of my favorite neighborhoods - Queen Village! Every once in awhile I head to Queen Village for an afternoon to myself. 4th street is lined with adorable coffee shops, restaurants and shops so it's easy to spend an entire day there. Every time I go I always have to stop in Brickbat. It's a tiny shop but it's very well curated. 

BOOKHAVEN BOOKS

2202 Fairmount Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19130

This is my neighborhood bookstore and I absolutely love it! Everyone who works there is so sweet and they have two adorable cats running around every time I go in. I've found a lot of gems here and although I don't really care whether or not a bookstore is perfectly organized, this one is always exceptional especially with how many books they have managed to fit in here!

BOOK CORNER

311 N 20th St, Philadelphia, PA 19103

Another bookstore with adorable cats! Like Bookhaven, Book Corner has two adorable cats running around. The orange tabby pictured above is the absolute sweetest! Most of the books in this shop are only $1-$3, so it's the perfect place to shop if you're on a budget. 

I also reached out to my Instagram audience to see if anyone else had any suggestions! Philly is a fairly big city so there are still so many shops and neighborhoods to check out. Here's what they recommended for used bookstores: Neighborhood Books on South Street, Mostly Books in Queen Village, House of Our Own Books in West Philly and Molly's Books & Records in Bella Vista. And for new books, the recommendations included: Harriet's Bookshop in Fishtown, Head House Books in Society Hill and Shakespeare & Co.  in Rittenhouse.