Boston is huge, and with the winter season right around the corner and colder weather coming with it, book lovers need places to find a good book to get cozy with. Luckily, I’ve taken the time to explore the city in search of the best bookstores for students and Boston locals alike to get the most out of their experience. Whether you’re looking for a new book, a quiet place to study, a cute date spot or perhaps a cup of coffee, you’ve come to the right place.
Probably the most well-known of the bunch, Trident offers both books and a dining experience. Located on Newbury Street, Trident has a busy cafe serving breakfast and brunch options. Although the space in the store is large, Trident fills all of it with shelves and seating, which, during peak hours, can get very cramped and hard to maneuver. There are two floors of both seating and bookshelves, with many genres to choose from.
They also sell magazines, greeting cards, stickers, postcards, posters and magnets, all mixed with humor, hints of Boston landmarks and relatable messages. The TVs at the bar are great for watching football on Sundays, and there are tables lined with clearanced books for some bargain prices in the front of the store. This isn’t the best spot for a quiet study session or to read your book if you’re not used to doing so around a lot of noise, and there aren’t many spots to cozy up. However, if you want a good spot for some food or to find a good book, Trident has a wide selection of both, making it a great spot.
Located on West Street off of Tremont Street, Brattle Book Shop is a perfect place to find used books. Next to the store is an alley filled with shelves of used books for prices as low as $1. Established in 1825, Brattle is “one of America’s oldest and largest antiquarian book shops.” They have lots of antique books with a wide range of categories to choose from. There are two floors and a large sign inside listing every category of literature they offer, ordered alphabetically.
There’s no music in the store and it’s very quiet, which is perfect for visitors to sit down and read a book or study, if there was enough space for that. Like Trident, Brattle is very crowded and the shelves are close together. There’s no room to sit down which makes browsing a little harder inside the store, however, the outside alley has much more space. Brattle buys books from anyone and everyone, so if you have any old boxes of books you’ve been meaning to give away, there’s a good chance Brattle will have a place for them. For cheap, older books, Brattle Book Shop is the place to go.
The cutest and coziest of the bunch, Beacon Hill Books & Cafe is the perfect spot for a date, to browse current bestsellers or to have a cup of coffee and a biscuit. With three floors to browse, the store is situated in the architectured apartment you’d find in the million-dollar residential buildings across the city. A spiral staircase and an elevator help you navigate through each room, and the children’s room at the top features a motorized toy train that runs around a track with the store’s mascot, a squirrel, as the conductor.
There’s a handful of cozy chairs to sit in and although it’s a small space, the shelves are only lined to the walls with a couple tables in the center of the room for more books. There’s a good amount of space to walk around and browse and the fireplace, seasonal decorations and jazz music overhead makes the store feel like a home library.
The cafe can be accessed either from inside the bookstore below the first floor or through a tiny archway entrance from outside. There’s spacious outdoor seating behind the store for the cafe, and it’s just the cutest thing you’ll stumble upon. It will make you giddy with excitement like a little kid (at least that was my experience). With great food, great books and a cozy atmosphere, Beacon Hill is a must-experience store.
Harvard Bookstore (coming soon):
After the close of Barnes & Noble in the Prudential Center, Northeastern students have lost the nearest bookstore to campus. However, students can look forward to a new addition in its place. The Harvard Bookstore, set to open at the end of the year, will occupy the space where Barnes & Noble once stood in the Prudential Center. Their current location in Cambridge is an hour walk from campus and a half-hour bus and T ride, which isn’t ideal if you want to stay close to Boston. But with this new addition coming soon, here’s what book lovers can look forward to.
The Harvard Bookstore offers a wide selection of new, bestsellers and used books. Although it’s a fairly large space compared to the other bookstores on this list, it does get pretty crowded because of how popular the store is. It’s more of a spot for browsing than it is for sitting down and enjoying a quiet read and tall people should be advised of the low ceilings, especially when going down a floor to the used book section.
If you’re looking for a cute gift, the bookstore offers Harvard and Boston-themed apparel and small gifts. The Harvard Bookstore also buys books that can be sold in their used book section which covers the entire downstairs area with very low bargain buys and bundled savings. Overall, the many genres the bookstore offers are labeled for people to easily find. I look forward to seeing them use the large space where Barnes & Noble was to spread out the many sections so it’s easier for customers to browse.
Book lovers should get just as excited for the new opening in the Prudential Center as I am. The location will become the most convenient spot for browsing books and will most likely come with seating for quiet studying and reading. I wonder if they’ll utilize the cafe spot in the store which would make the Harvard Bookstore even more of a must-visit spot. Book lovers should keep their eyes out for the grand opening.
With these options, there are many books to choose from and enjoy throughout the cold winter season. New bookstores are always being discovered around Boston, but hopefully these few are a good start to navigating the exciting trip of book shopping.