Brattle Book Shop

This is my last Boston adventure review in which I can make an NYC comp. When I was in college, one of my favorite places to visit was the Strand, an iconic bookstore on Broadway just south of Union Square. It was very close to campus, and my friends and I would often try to find used books here for our classes instead of paying an egregious amount for a brand new one at the NYU bookstore (they took so much of my money I can't even). I knew so many people who applied to work there - it seemed like the dream part-time job, with books stacked up to the heavens and a $0.48 bin on the sidewalk for the novels that needed a little more love than the average tome. All of those memories flooded in when my top-tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality and I came over here toward the tail-end of our trip - another place with history, another place where you can grab a super affordable book that someone else had a journey with in a prior decade, another place with personality oozing out of its pores.

We stopped by on a dreary Monday morning - dreary enough where there was a bit of concern that the skies would open while we were perusing the outside wares, of which there were many (we actually had to cut that portion of the visit short because the books had to be wheeled off to the side to allow for a truck to come in). You can see from the attached picture that there are wooden bookshelves built into the sides of the outside lot, along with partitions/coverings that are easily placed in front of them after business hours, so the books probably get more fresh air than me. That was my favorite area - also similar to the Strand, it can get claustrophobic inside when you're navigating around narrow piles of books - and it was nice to stroll around and look for a new/old literary classic to add to my own shelves.

The interior section was more organized (though I kind of liked the adventure of roaming around not exactly sure what I might stumble across - one of my purchases was a new/old copy of Grapes of Wrath from 1939. My literary expert chum isn't convinced it's a first edition because, "Viking Press used to play fast and loose with that stuff," but if it's not, it's super close) and it was easy to find specific genres that piqued my interest, notably a fun bookshelf for presidential-related books that was in chronological order, exactly how I have it at home. My only nitpick (per the attached picture) was that Obama intruded on my chum Nixon's shelf. Not all of us were allowed to finish two terms, Barack.

Brattle boasted a third floor, which apparently had some very edgy first editions, rare books, etc. You needed someone to accompanying you up there, understandably so, but neither of us was so invested in gazing upon an autographed Henry James or whatever was on that floor to initiate a conversation with an employee. (And full disclosure - I was starting to get a hankering for lobster.) Maybe next time.

Everyone we interacted with was very nice. I've had some run-ins with the snobby Strand employees who think they're living on a higher plane of existence because they can quote random chunks of Moby Dick, but no such issues were encountered on this visit. I'm trying to curtail my literary hoarding problem, but my chum merely contributed to hers, practically staggering under the weight of her purchases as we left.

This was a great find, and had the added benefit of featuring many great finds within it. Definitely stop by if you still enjoying turning ye olde pages with your paws.

I've been here a couple times and have loved it each time. I didn't realize there was an indoor store (located adjacent to their outdoor section) until this time--I thought it was just outdoors. There was racks and racks of books. The only downside is that it seems at random outside so you might spend some time closely looking for what you want. The inside is very organized by genre. It was a beautiful day so we spent most of the time at the outdoor section. They have stands with books for $1, $3, and $5 and I'm sure the prices can be higher than that.

Great book store with so many old books. 3 flights of stairs would be hard for some to traverse but there is also a cool outside addition between buildings. My 17 year old was in heaven and picked out some really old books she was so excited about.

You could definitely get lost in this bookstore - while not overly big, there's an upstairs and downstairs and the books just seem endless.
I loved that there was an outside portion as well! Not huge indoors, but with the tall shelves, it definitely feels like a stuffed bookstore (which is every true book lovers dream).
Stop on by! Cool history.

11/2021

We were in Boston so I had to check out this local popular book store.

So many options that we picked up a few books. They have the lot next door and had
An outdoor book market type of thing. Very unique and cool.

I'll be back

Love this place the books are plentiful and lots of options for low price even autographed copies

Came for the Instagramability, stayed for the selection! Overall this bookshop doesn't really carry your typical Stephen King and Agatha Christie, but it's super cool to browse and read through the antique and vintage titles. We ended up picking up a few new reads based on the interesting covers. Under $10.00 little haul, so super affordable.

Joe from YOU would be in H-E-A-V-E-N

Also we did not get to meet Duke, the Bernice Mountain dog that's in charge of customer service, but I'm sure he's lovely. 11/10 good boy.

Adorable used bookstore in downtown Boston. They don't have many new books, but they have a wide variety of older books for a very good value. Definitely worth stopping here if you're in the area.

Bookstores are always special places to find great reads and resources. I've passed by this place so many times in my brief visits to Boston, so I took a few minutes to peruse and read for a few minutes. It was worth the time.

This book store is super cool. It has both an indoor and outdoor section. The third floor on the inside features rare books. Here, I found a Puss in Boots popup book from 1977 and it made my day.