IF YOUR IDEA OF A PERFECT DAY is an endless meander through tall stacks of books, you’re in the right place. Portland is loaded with great bookstores, more than 20 of which we list here. (We also asked some of our favorite local authors where they shop for books.)
Powell’s monolithic “City of Books” is no doubt one of our favorites (like browsing the internet in person). But the bulk of this list consists of neighborhood places, most of which have a distinct focus that will steer you in new reading directions—toward that Irving Penn monograph you never knew you needed, that early Claudia Rankine book of poems you felt shift your worldview—not necessarily books you’re already after, like how you’d shop online. (If you are shopping for something specific, many of the stores listed do sell online through Bookshop.org, which provides the local shop with a commission). These are also the best places to kill a few hours, days, or weeks, and despite your best intentions, add to the piles eternally weighing down your nightstand, coffee table, and shelves.
Though it’s changed hands and addresses a few times over the past half-century, A Children’s Place is the city’s longest running kid’s bookshop. The midsize storefront it’s inhabited for the past two decades is loaded with titles across age groups.
Nestled in the heart of Multnomah Village, this all-purpose neighborhood bookstore has offered a wide range of new books, cards, and more since 1978. It’s also one of the main non-Powell’s sites of author events around town.
The yarns aren’t only in the pages: trading books for yarn, or yarn for books, is the game here. Crafts books star, but the shop also specializes in nautical books and African American literature, in addition to a broader selection of general interest used and new books. And yarn, of course.
Owner Joe Witt started his shop as a used book cart inside Mississippi Records and landed a storefront in 2018. A seemingly endless run of titles are assembled with personal vision and pack every inch of the endearingly cobbled together shop, emphasizing literature and books on art.
On the ground floor of the Tin House publishing offices, this queer-owned shop stocks a wide range of titles but aims to spotlight queer and LGBTQ+ authors, especially local ones, creating what may be the most dedicated queer literary space in town.
The tagline is “comics for everyone” at this comic book shop (most books here sport spines rather than staples), which was once named the best comic book store in the world by the Eisner Awards. It also hosts weekly queer and trans youth social events, and BIPOC meet-ups as well as “office hours” with acclaimed comics artists.
Now co-owned by long-term employees, Broadway Books opened in 1992, selling new books across all genres (and a few used ones), as well as local and national journals and magazines. Keep an eye on its calendar for regular author events.
Owner John Thomas’s enduring fascination with American history—particularly Native American and Western Americana—steers the programming at his rambling Southwest Portland shop. But it’s otherwise well-stocked across genres, including an extended selection of art books and biographies, and a robust children’s section.
Reflecting its mythological namesake, this medium-sized, mostly used bookstore tucked behind Ken’s Artisan Bakery covers a breadth of subjects. Books on art, music, and philosophy get the most space on its shelves.
Booksellers at this devoted children’s shop are famously adept at finding the right books for young readers. It also hosts regular author events, both inside the cozy converted house and on the vine-tangled patio in warmer months.
Just across the Park Blocks from the Portland Art Museum, this shop, opened in 2022 and focused on photography books and art-world ephemera, is a perfect post-museum stop (though note the limited hours: 1–5pm, Friday–Sunday, by appointment “or coincidence”).
Piles of new and used books make a breadcrumb trail down a courtyard gravel path to this one-car-garage-sized bookshop. Novels and literary nonfiction make up the bulk of the selection, which leans somewhat modern when contrasted with its piles-of-books-style-shop peers around town.
This tiny shop covers a massive scope of new and used art books—the only local shop of its kind we know. Find monographs of architects, painters, sculptors, and photographers, but also a selection of biographies and theory books, vintage local art catalogs and music posters, as well as original artworks and curios.
Owner Craig Florence landed in Portland via Paris’s Shakespeare & Company and opened his shop somewhat in its romantic image. The name winks to the philosopher, whose books you’ll find, probably in several languages, among endless stacks of mostly twentieth century literature, philosophy, and theory that spill onto the patchwork of Persian rugs.
The front room of this art gallery has grown into its own bookstore, offering a selection of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in addition to the expected monographs and photography books. It also stocks hard-to-find magazines, such as back issues of Lapham’s Quarterly, Mother Tongue, and a range of Apartamento publications.
The only local bookshop we know of that’s dedicated exclusively to science fiction and fantasy, Sarah J. Maas to Ursula K. Le Guin, opened its snug, aqua blue storefront in 2022.
This appointment-only shop emphasizes out-of-print books on modern art and rare literature editions, like the run of signed firsts Patti Smith donated to the shop following a much-publicized break-in in 2020.
Powell’s “City of Books,” the original, half-century-old Pearl District location, is packed with new, used, and rare books (apparently over a million). All three stores are staggeringly well-stocked across genres, but the storied OG thrums with heavy foot traffic, a devoted cast of booksellers, and almost daily author events. It’s a tourist attraction that most Portlanders visit regularly.
1005 W BURNSIDE ST, 3723 SE HAWTHORNE BLVD, 3415 SW CEDAR HILLS BLVD
Edith Johnson opened the city’s only Black-owned children’s bookstore in 2020, hosting weekly playgroups and storytimes and stocking board books (extra durable for babies) through YA novels.Johnson is currently running a GoFundMe to help offset the cost of her maternity leave.
Portland’s only bookstore focused entirely on African-centered books stocks titles across the Black diaspora for all age groups. Despite its small footprint, couple Michelle Lewis and Charles Hannah’s shop, which opened in 2019, has a big community. It regularly organizes off-site author events and coordinates with schools.
This compact and kid-friendly shop carries recent titles across genres and holds a soft spot for local authors and publishers, many of whom they host at regular book events in the back room.
The city’s only dedicated cookbook store doubles as a home for cooking classes and recently moved into an airy Alberta Street storefront. Graze the new and historical cookbooks and food-focused magazines, like Cherry Bombe and Eaten, and keep an eye out for events with local and national cookbook authors.
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