Books and Magazines
Arcana: Books on the Arts
8675 Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90232
310-458-1499
Scrambling for a last-minute gift to satisfy the boss’s Ruscha fetish or scouting inspiration for your nine-figure blockbuster…
Website: http://arcanabooks.com/
Neighborhood: Culver City
Category: Best of LA 2012: Shop, Best of LA: Shop, Books and Magazines, Shopping
Baby Gifts
10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90064
310) 559-2665
A basket filled with, say, Dr. Seuss tales from CHILDREN’S BOOK WORLD will stand out among the flood of pastel onesies and booties at any party. The savvy staff create custom packages and pride themselves on choosing classic yet surprising titles (I Took the Moon for a Walk instead of the ubiquitous Goodnight Moon). Baskets […]
Category: Baby, Best of LA, Best of LA 2016: Shop, Best of LA: 2016, Best of LA: Shop, Books and Magazines
Book Alley
611 E. Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91101
626-683-8083
More inviting than a labyrinth of dusty shelves and poorly lit back rooms, the palace of secondhand reading material known as Book Alley has the best of both worlds…
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Brand Bookshop
231 N. Brand Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91203
818-507-5943
Reading while standing mid-aisle is a venerable bookstore tradition…
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Children’s Book World
10580 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90064
310-559-2665
For kid-lit purists, it’s hard to beat Sharon Hearn’s Children’s Book World…
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, West Los Angeles
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Children’s Book World
10580½ W. Pico Blvd, Cheviot Hills, CA, 90064
310-559-2665
Whether your kid is three or 13, into puppies or Greek mythology, the staff at Children’s Book World can make a recommendation, or several
Website: http://www.childrensbookworld.com/
Neighborhood: Pico-Union
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2014: Kids, Best of LA 2014: Shop, Best of LA: 2014, Best of LA: Kids, Best of LA: Shop, Books and Magazines, Education, Shopping
Cosmopolitan Bookshop
7017 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90036
323-938-7119
While virtually all of its Hollywood-based competitors have surrendered their spaces to nightclubs, Cosmopolitan Bookshop has stayed afloat for 49 years…
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Hammer Museum Bookstore
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90024
310-443-7063
Your feet hurt and the kids are cranky, but stop by the Hammer Museum Bookstore anyway after an afternoon in the galleries…
Website: http://www.hammer.ucla.edu
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, Westwood
Category: Arts & Entertainment, Baby, Books and Magazines, Museums, Shopping
Iliad Bookshop
5400 Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91601
818-509-2665
In a brand-new building just blocks from where it shared a wall with Odyssey Video for 18 years, Iliad Bookshop functions as a used bookstore, rescued-kitty hostel, and all-around culture beacon…
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Los Angeles Central Library
630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, CA, 90731
213-228-7000
Want to know how Angelenos prepared a chicken dinner in 1881? Dig into the culinary collection at the Los Angeles Central Library.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Best of LA, Best of LA 2013: Do, Best of LA 2013: Kids, Best of LA: 2013, Best of LA: Do, Best of LA: Kids, Books and Magazines, Shopping
Meltdown
7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046
323-851-7223
Hunger for Astroboy, Gigantor, or hard-to-find Japanese titles? How about some Russian stop-motion animation, a Hong Kong art toy…
Website: http://meltcomics.com/
Neighborhood: Hollywood, Los Angeles
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Meltdown Comics & Collectibles
7522 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90046
323-851-7223
It makes sense, of course: the fantastical plots, the pneumatic bodies, the stylized makeovers. Although L.A. might like to think of itself as a hipper place, this town is a comic book buff’s paradise…
Website: http://www.meltdown.com
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Mystery Pier Books
8826 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90069
310-657-5557
Los Angeles has never been properly celebrated as a book town…
Website: http://www.mysterypierbooks.com/
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, West Hollywood
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Point Dume
Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90013
It’s hard to imagine a better on-the-sands-of-L.A. novel than Point Dume by Katie Arnoldi. Those who missed its hardcover release last year—just in time for beach season—can now pick up in paperback the pot smoke-laden tale of Malibu dwellers.
Neighborhood: Downtown
Category: Art, Arts & Entertainment, Books and Magazines, Shopping
Stories
1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 90026
213-413-3733
The food itself, fortunately, is terrific. Vegetarian chili is tomato-y, hearty, and unspicy…
Website: http://storiesla.com/
Neighborhood: Echo Park, Los Angeles
Category: Books and Magazines, Shopping
Storyopolis
12348 Ventura Blvd., Los Angeles, CA, 91604
818-509-5600
If you were to mash together the best features of a Barnes & Noble…
Website: http://storyopolis.com
Neighborhood: Los Angeles, Studio City
Category: Baby, Books and Magazines, Shopping