Hi friends, happy Tuesday! I hope all is well. Today I’m so excited to be bringing to you guys, my third bookstores across Ontario post! I will be diving into 11 bookstores in Toronto, let’s get into it!

I can’t believe I’m here with a third post! This makes me so excited to see how many Independent bookstores are in my province! Toronto is huge, so I only went to a (small) fraction of the bookstores, but eleven in one day is a lot! I went with my best friends and it was just a fun day, despite the cold, snowy weather! We started at 11 a.m. and ended around 8 p.m.! You can tell from the photos that it gets dark early… you’d think I took them on different days and just one day – crazy weather!

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

Burlington and Hamilton
Mississauga, Etobicoke, Bolton and Orangeville

Toronto

Our first stop was to Book City. This store is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. It’s also bright and yellow and just has this happy feel to it. I enjoyed looking around all of the books… it’s been so long since I’ve been in a bookstore! This bookstore has 4 locations and I plan to visit all 4 at some point! This location is 2354 Bloor St. W.

Website: Book City
Facebook: Book City
Twitter: @BookCityTO
Instagram: @bookcityto

Our second stop was Type Books. It had such a cute and stationary vibe to it. They had books and games, and cards and they had lots of cute Christmas décor. I not only enjoyed looking at all the books, but all the little things to see and explore. This store also has 3 locations in total in Toronto. The one I visited to was 2887 Dundas Street West. It’s also got a cute corner storefront (not that you can really see it in this photo)!

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

Our third stop was walking distance from the store above. It’s a few blocks up the street (I want to say east… but my sense of direction is whack, so it could be west… but I really want to say east). The Book Exchange is this little bookstore, which like its title claims, exchanges books. I took a bunch of my books, they took them, I honestly didn’t care how much I got for them I just wanted them off my floor! Even for such a small store… there were SO many used books!! My eyes didn’t know where to look. I ended up buying too many books here… I bought 2 classics and the whole Anne of Green Gables boxset! This is located at 3111 Dundas St W.

They don’t have any web presence so I’ll link you to the blogTO article. It’s not much, you can Google the store and get more info.

Our fourth stop, after grabbing a bite to eat was to A Good Read [341 Roncesvalles Ave.]. We almost missed it because they don’t have a sign up outside… but I saw the books in the window! It looks like they’re going through a reno, but they still had plenty of books, both new and used. They have a whole back section dedicated to rare books. So much so, you can’t enter with a bag on! It had a nice cozy feel to it and I’d definitely go back.

Website: A Good Read
Facebook: A Good Read
Instagram: @agoodreadbookstore

Our fifth stop was a walk away just up the street at Another Story Bookshop [315 Roncesvalles Ave.]. This store had such a cute storefront and they specialize in equality and diversity which is really important and cool. They had such a great amazing selection of books I had such a hard time choosing a book to buy because I wanted them all! This is another store that I’d see myself going back to.

Website: Another Story Bookshop
Facebook: Another Story Bookshop
Twitter: @AnotherStoryTO
Instagram: @anotherstorybookshop

Our sixth stop was on the same street, She Said Boom! [393 Roncesvalles Ave.]. I saw this store on our way to A Good Read, and we decided to catch it on our walk back because this store wasn’t actually on my list – I didn’t even know it existed. This was such a cute, small, homey feel of a place. They have a second location that I’ll have to visit some other time. They have new and used books, CDs and vinyls – so much to look at!

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

After a much needed coffee stop and some waiting for buses, we arrived at our seventh stop… and it was dark at 5 p.m. 😦 Our stop was Monkey’s Paw [1067 Bloor St. W]. This store specializes in old texts and books, like very old. I didn’t end up buying anything here (which was sad) but these books are more of a collectors type of book. I thought about buying Edgar Allen Poe’s complete collection, but it was expensive because it was an early (if not first edition) and it had no cover… just like most older works. So I’m not too sad I didn’t buy it. I also found out afterwards that the store is named after a short story (that I haven’t read) by W.W Jacobs, but I thought that was pretty cool!

Website: Monkey’s Paw
Facebook: Monkey’s Paw
Insstgram: @mopaw_toronto

Our eighth stop was Zoinks Music and Books [1019 Bloor St W.] which had bookshelves across all the walls covered in new and used books. If I’m being truly honest, I don’t remember seeing music, but I’m sure they had a section for it. Again, I had a hard time choosing a book and after a while your eyes get tired of looking at books (I know, how could I say this?!). It had a nice quiet vibe to it… but it could also be the time we were there, just before 6. They had so many different genres too, lots to see!

Website: Zoinks Music and Books (their website is under construction right now, but I still thought I’d add it in case it is back up and running soon.)
Facebook: Zoinks Music and Books
Twitter: @zoinksonbloor
Instagram @zoinksmusic

Our ninth stop was Doug Miller Books [650 Bloor St W.]. We almost didn’t find this place because Google Maps was on vacation. It kept telling us we were there… but we were actually quite far from the place. It didn’t help it started to snow and it was dark. One of my friends had the good sense of looking at the street numbers and we went in that direction! Once we got there, there were a lot of people in there, which was a pleasant surprise, but also because the place was small, not so great. There were just books everywhere, true to a used bookstore. There was SO much to look at and for, all I wanted was to take everything home with me… but I couldn’t do that (I did buy 2 books!). The guy at the counter (who may or may not have been Doug) was really nice!

Website: Doug Miller Books
Facebook: Doug Miller Books

Our tenth and second last stop was Seekers Books [509 Bloor St W.]. You gotta go down some stairs to get to it since it’s not on street level, but the sign is nice and big so you shouldn’t miss it. This is such a small, cozy place with loads of used books. The guy has a cat who looks grumpy which is hilarious and cute… I believe his name is Churchill. The collection of Stephen King was great because of course picked up a new King read (I think I picked up a great deal on this journey!). I’d totally recommend this place!

Facebook: Seekers Books
Instagram: @seekersbooks

Our last stop was to BMV Books [471 Bloor Street W.]… and boy, saving the best for last. This store has too many floors. There are 3 plus a basement. That’s not enough time to see everything they have, especially around closing time. I tried to see everything there was, but man too much! They have 3 locations so one day I’d like to go to their other locations and to see if they are as big as this one. The books are all marked down and I love it, especially for the amount of books they have. They also have more than just books, they have puzzles, and action figures and toys just so much, it’s like a cooler version of Chapters. I can’t wait to go back!

Website: BMV Books
Facebook: BMV Books
Twitter: @BMVBooksAnnex
Instagram: @bmvbooksannex

And we have finally made it to the end! If you got this far, I thank you! Have you been to any of these stores? Any independent bookstores you’d recommend in Ontario? Hit me up in the comments!