by: Jeff Cottrill
A bookstore with a wide variety is always good, but sometimes you’re looking for something more obscure in a specific genre or theme. You’re more likely to find it in one of Toronto’s more specialized bookstores. Sadly, a few beloved institutions like the Toronto Women’s Bookstore and French-language shop Librairie Champlain have closed in recent years. But many others are still around, each of them contributing to the city’s famous multicultural identity by catering to a specific group of readers.
For example, A Different Booklist in the Annex is your ideal stop for books on African Canadian culture; with a friendly staff, this small store has an impressive collection of kids’ books, as well as fiction, gender studies and books from the Caribbean. A few doors away sits Alternative Thinking, your one-stop shop for books on New Age topics (spirituality, the occult, ESP, etc.) and related products. Masks, incense and crystals galore contribute to this store’s groovy vibe. And sci-fi/fantasy geeks have their base at Bakka Phoenix Books, recently relocated to Harbord near Spadina; it’s Canada’s oldest store dedicated to speculative fiction.
There’s even a bookstore devoted to boating – The Nautical Mind, a humble little shop on the waterfront, with all you could possibly need in terms of boating books, charts and T-shirts. For those with a globetrotting bent, the crowded but comprehensive Open Air Books and Maps is Toronto’s best place for travel books and city maps from all over the world. And if architecture and graphic design are more your thing, Swipe Design has three locations for its colourful collections of design-themed books, plus toys and kitchen items.
Downtown Yonge contains more unique places, such as the Cookbook Store, near Yorkville. It’s a small corner shop exclusively devoted to recipe books and anything else related to cooking and food, from popular titles by Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver to more obscure choices. Further south, closer to Wellesley, is the world’s oldest LGBTQ bookstore, The Glad Day Bookshop. This pioneering store, founded in 1970, is wall-to-wall with queer-themed books, DVDs, art and postcards; while there’s no shortage of erotica, Glad Day also has a good selection of biographies and literary fiction.
And for those who prefer superheroes in panels to mere words on pages, we mustn’t forget T.O.’s always flourishing comics scene. Former Queen West landmark The Silver Snail has moved to a smaller, second-floor location further down Yonge, near Dundas; while there’s a lot less room for its massive inventory of comics, books, toys and collectibles, they’ve added a small cafe. Other comics havens in the city include The Beguiling, known for its large selection and rare titles; The Comic Book Lounge and Gallery, a relaxing, homey venue that replaced Dragon Lady Comics; and Labyrinth Comics, a great place for anime, manga and graphic novels.
Whether you’re interests lie in race relations, gender and sexuality studies, outdoor sports and leisure activities or the latest zine… whatever your personality and persuasion, there’s a bookstore for you. Each of Toronto’s specialty bookstores is a thorough and comprehensive alternative to the bigger, mainstream stores that offer only a little bit from each category.
from: Toronto.com
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