If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have noticed we put a call out to our fellow Savvy Readers to help determine the very best independent bookstores across Canada. We were met with an incredible response (that we weren’t expecting!) and, well, now we have a LOT of places added to our travel bucket lists. Without further ado, I present to you the Savvy Reader (incomplete, unofficial) list of our favourite bookstores from coast to coast!
British Columbia
- Victoria: Munro’s Books
- Victoria: Russell Books
- Victoria: Bolen Books
- Vancouver: Black Bond Books
- Vancouver: Pulp Fiction
- Vancouver: Kidsbooks
- Cranbrook: Huckleberry Books
- Campbellford: Kerr’s Corner Books
- Fernie: Polar Peek Books
- Kelowna: Mosaic Books
- Penticton: The Book Shop
- Terrace: Misty River Books
Alberta
- Edmonton: Wee Book Inn
- Edmonton: Audrey’s Books
- Canmore: Café Books
- Calgary: Owl’s Nest Books
Saskatchewan
- Saskatoon: McNally Robinson
Manitoba
- Winnipeg: McNally Robinson
- Winnipeg: Prairie Sky Books
Ontario
- Windsor: Biblioasis
- Windsor: Juniper New and Used Books
- Lindsay: Kent Bookstore
- Kingston: A Novel Idea
- Ottawa: Black Squirrel Books
- Ottawa: Octopus Books
- Ottawa: Perfect Books
- Guelph: The Bookshelf
- Port Hope: Gryphon Books
- Kincardine: Fincher’s
- Waterdown: Pickwick Books
- Toronto: Sleuth of Baker Street
- Toronto: Glad Day Bookshop (shoutout to the world’s oldest LGBTQ bookstore!)
- Toronto: Ben McNally Books
- Toronto: Book City
- Waterloo: Words Worth Books
- Burlington: A Different Drummer Books
- Gananoque: Beggars Banquet Books & Internet Café
- Uxbridge: Blue Heron Books
- Brighton: Lighthouse Books
- Cobourg: Let’s Talk Books
- Sarnia: The Book Keeper
- Midland: Georgian Bay Books
- Hamilton: Epic Books
- Hamilton: The City & The City
- Hamilton: King West Books
- Dundas: The Printed Word
- London: Attic Books
- Picton: Books & Company
- Orangeville: BookLore
Quebec
- Montreal: Librairie Paragraphe Bookstore
- Quebec City: Librairie Pantoute
Newfoundland
- St. John’s: Broken Books
New Brunswick
- Fredericton: Westminster Books
Nova Scotia
- Halifax: Woozles (what a name!)
- River John: Mabel Murple’s World (and another great name out in NS!)
- Wolfville: Box of Delights Bookshop
PEI
- Charlottetown: The Bookman
- Charlottetown: Bookmark
As you can likely see, our following skews toward Ontario and BC, so please help us fill in the rest! What are your favourite independent bookstores in Canada? Did yours make the list? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter @SavvyReader!
Happy reading,
Jesse
Follow me on Twitter @JesseDorey15
You’ve left out some absolutely excellent second hand bookstores.
This list was compiled by our Facebook and Twitter followers, so please feel free to add some suggestions of your own to the list! The more the merrier 🙂