Hi friends, happy Tuesday! I hope all is well. Today I’m so excited to be bringing to you guys, my fifth bookstores across Ontario post! I will be diving into 9 bookstores in Toronto, let’s get into it!

I can’t believe I’m here with a fifth post! It really makes this project a reality and makes me so excited to see how many Independent bookstores are in my province, there are so many it’s a little daunting. I’m back with another small portion of Toronto, again. I have a feeling I will be splitting Toronto into many parts. In today’s post, my friends and I went to Little Italy, where there are 4 bookstores on College Street alone. It was such a beautiful day for the first day of October, when we went. It was the perfect day to explore some bookstores. This is basically a continuation of my last Toronto post.

In this blog I went to bookstores in all of Toronto.
If you’re curious about parts 1, 2, 3 & 4 you can check out my trips to:

Mississauga, Etobicoke, Bolton and Orangeville
Burlington and Hamilton
Toronto (part 1)
St. Catherines, Niagara, Fort Erie and Port Colborne

Toronto

Our first stop was to Little Ghosts. This bookstore is dedicated to horror books and I think this was my favourite bookstore out of all of them. I don’t know what it was, but the way it was laid out, with all the cool horror stuff, the friendly staff, and a dog and a cafe, it just felt so perfect and fall! Lastly, worth mentioning they are a cashless store. This is located at 930 Dundas St. W

Website: Little Ghosts
Twitter: @littleghostsboo
Instagram: @littleghostsbooks

Our second stop was Type Books. This is the second location of this bookstore I’ve been to. Last year I visited the Dundas location (2887 Dundas St. W), this year I visited the Queen Street location (883 Queen St. W). This location focused less on stationary, and more on books. This location was also darker and felt more like a cocoon, full of books everywhere. I like when places feel cozy, and this one did.

Website: Type Books
Facebook: Type Books
Twitter: @typebooks
Instagram: @typebooks

Our third stop was to She Said Boom! This is also the second location I’ve been to for this bookstore, too. Last year I visited the Roncesvalles location (393 Roncesvalles Ave.) and this year I visited the College Street location (378 College St.). This location I feel is slightly bigger and there are shelves that line the walls full of books and in the middle is bins full of vinyls. The staff was super friendly and super helpful, loved my time here, I highly recommend if you’re looking for classic books because they have tons!

Website: She Said Boom!
Facebook: She Said Boom!
Instagram: @shesaidboomcollege

Our fourth stop, was Balfour Books. This bookstore had loads of classic and older books. It felt like this store had ordered chaos because everything had its place, but there were just books everywhere. There was lots to look at, book-wise, bookcases from floor to ceiling with a lot of pocket books. They are located at 468 College St.

Website: Balfour Books
Facebook: Balfour Books
Instagram: @balfour_books

Our fifth stop was Sellers and Newel Second-Hand Books. This was another bookstore with bookcases upon bookcases of books. Again, they had a plethora of classics (I have to say on this trip I’ve picked up quite a few books for my classic project!). This bookstore felt very cozy because not only were you surrounded by books, but there was also live music, a guy playing a (I can’t remember if it was a keyboard or piano), but it was jazzy because this store focuses on jazz. I was just on their website and the store has their horror in a coffin… you know when I was there I didn’t even take that in. Definitely a cool place to check out! They are located at 672 College St.

Website: Sellers and Newel Second-Hand Books
Facebook: Sellers and Newel Second-Hand Books
Instagram: @sellersandnewel

Our sixth stop was the last bookstore on College Street, Flying Books. This store had a minimal feel to it. It was crisp, clean and spacious. They had a nice selection of new non-fiction and fiction as well as a nice classics section. This one didn’t bombard you with books so you had the space to look at all the books they had to offer. Also, I believe they are a cashless store. They are located at 784 College St.

Website: Flying Books
Facebook: Flying Books
Twitter: @flyingbooks_to
Instagram: @flyingbooks_to

We then hopped on the streetcar to take us to our next stop. Stop seven was to Bakka-Phoenix Books. I really liked this bookstore too. This one is dedicated to fantasy and sci-fi and walking in, all I saw were books I wanted to read. So many series I want to start that I’ve seen people talk about, it was hard to choose just 1 book to leave with. They also have a basement with used books. Their Star Wars and Star Trek collection is the biggest I’ve seen. I’ve always wanted to read a novelization of Star Trek, maybe once I’m finished watching it all. They are located at 84 Harbord St.

Website: Bakka-Phoenix Books
Facebook: Bakka-Phoenix Books
Twitter: @bakkaphoenix
Instagram: @bakkaphoenixbooks

Our eighth stop was literally a few doors down at Caversham Booksellers. This store is dedicated to self-help, psychology, parenting, and pretty much all non-fiction books. It looks like they were just setting up stuff, but if you ever need a book to better or help you understand yourself, I feel like they have the book. I saw a lot of books about mental health and they had a section for social justice as well. They are located at 98 Harbord St.

Website: Caversham Booksellers
Facebook: Caversham Booksellers
Instagram @cavershambooksellers

Our ninth stop and last stop was to Anansi Bookshop. We drove to this last one since it’s a little farther from the others. This one was closer to the bookstores I went to last year in Toronto. This bookstore is attached to the publishing house, House of Anansi Press, so all the books in the store are the books they publish there. I believe all of them are Canadian authors too. There are a few books I’ve read, thanks to Canada Reads. They are a small little store that has a clean, crisp look to it that gives a nice chill vibe. They are located at 128 Sterling Rd.

Website: Anansi Bookshop
Facebook: Anansi Bookshop
Instagram: @anansibookshop

And we have made it to the end! Thanks for reading! Have you been to any of these stores? Any independent bookstores you’d recommend in Ontario? Hit me up in the comments!