NewPages Guide to
Indie Bookstores in California

Sacramento's favorite local used bookshop, home of Raffles, the world's best bookstore cat! Hopefully we'll see you dropping by to browse through our wide selection of both used and new books and movies. And if you're looking for a steal of deal, visit us during one of our regulalrly scheduled sale times.

A new book experience in downtown Sacramento.

Since 1983, J Crawford's Books has been a wonderland for children, adults, and everyone in between to find their perfect story. Dive into a world of mystery, lose yourself in a whirlwind romance, or sit back and absorb a classic western tale. Whichever genre is your favorite to read, our selection has plenty of options. We're passionate about helping our community find the perfect book, whether it's through browsing our shelves or joining one of our clubs, so come on in and explore to your heart's content.

Sunlight of the Spirit is committed to: encouraging dialogue and understanding of the unity of the spirit within all major faith traditions; providing items, services, classes, and circles that help elevate, educate, and inspire individuals and communities to seek and follow their higher paths with love and compassion; supporting and encouraging those seeking to free themselves from addiction and those with a loved one(s) in recovery; and increasing awareness of the connection between recovery and spiritual development.

We are one of Midtown's oldest institutions, having served book-loving Northern Californians for over thirty-five years.

Wild Sisters Book Co. features fantastic new and used books, literary themed gifts, vintage, and vinyl.

We feature a large selection of new & gently used books, CDs, DVDs, cassettes, VHS, and vinyl at great prices! We welcome you to visit us in Downtown Salinas 7 days a week for a comfortable book browsing experience. Plus we have a great selection of cool vinyl—see you here!

Whytes Booksmith is a locally owned and run bookstore with a great vibe. Books are our passion and we try to give it back to the local community.

The Bay Area's premiere children's bookstore! The Reading Bug has books, events, and storytimes for all ages. Shop Local! Shop Independent!

Beach Town Books is a friendly, clean and organized, new and used bookstore in San Clemente, California. Grab a coffee and wander the 2,000 sq ft of books to find what you like!

We sell books - new, used & rare, new & vintage magazines, postcards, greeting cards, ephemera, buttons, stickers, bookmarks, and magnets. Orders welcome!

The Book Catapult is San Diego's newest independent bookstore. Let us put a real book in your hand, friend.

Controversial Bookstore offers a wide selection of metaphysical books, gifts, classes, and psychic readings. Serving San Diego for nearly 50 years, Controversial boasts the most complete selection of metaphysical books in San Diego County.

La Playa Books is a used and new bookstore located in the heart of Point Loma.

We are a small independent bookstore started by two queer latinx folx in the heart of Barrio Logan, a predominantly BIPOC Arts District in San Diego. The shop features both new and used books to ensure accessibility for all.

We are a nonprofit book and gift store located in the new San Diego Central Library! 

Independent bookstore in SoCal with an emphasis on books of martians, murder, magic, and mayhem.

Providing a wide selection of titles, Pennywise Books buys, sells, and trades previously owned books.

Family-owned indie bookstore and café. Will work for books, coffee, and tea. Pastries make the world a sweeter place. In San Diego, CA, Ocean Beach.

We are a used and rare bookstore with an eclectic range of gently-loved and antiquarian books. Also available are new titles from over 200 local authors.

Authentic, funky bookstore in the Mission District, with a gallery in the back and a large selection of Spanish titles. Home to a vibrant arts community, with local bands occasionally playing shows in-store. Stop in, say hello, and buy a book!

With three floors stocked with over 50,000 new books to browse and shop, Alexander Book Company is a full-service independent bookstore, conveniently located in Downtown SOMA district of San Francisco.

Alley Cat is a general interest second-hand bookshop with many interests including small presses, fiction in-translation, queer & feminist politics, philosophy, poetry, science fiction & art. We also carry a curated selection of new books to complement our second-hand selection. Our Gallery hosts a gamut of events at the intersection of Art, Literature, Film & Performance.

Argonaut Book Shop, founded in 1941. An antiquarian bookshop in San Francisco, specializing in California and Western American history.

Aside from books, ARKIPELAGO offers services that include author readings, book distributions, book searches, book signings, community bulletin boards, and special orders.

Named for revolutionary saxophonist Charlie Parker and writer Samuel Beckett, Bird & Beckett Bookshop and its non-profit Cultural Legacy Project celebrate the progressive and transgressive note, both in the air and on the page, publishing its own annual literary magazine, AMERARCANA: A Bird & Beckett Review, as well as presenting two weekly concert series, a monthly poetry series with open mic and numerous other one-off events, and of course offering for sale new and used books and jazz lps.

A community bookstore for the Outer Sunset.

Fighting Commodity Fetishism With Commodity Fetishism Since 1981

Welcome to Books by Libreria Pino. Our secondary site is all about helping you find the same great books and authors, but in English. We will have curated suggestions for books about traveling, cooking and learning Italian...and more!

Books Inc., The West's Oldest Independent Bookseller, is a locally owned and operated independent bookseller with 10 locations in California. Books Inc.’s origin dates back to the Gold Rush Days of 1851 when Anton Roman struck it rich in Shasta City, California and set himself up in business selling books.

A hidden jewel of a book shop in the Pacific Heights area of San Francisco, Books Inc. at Laurel Village offers a great selection, specialized service and parking!

Books Inc. in Opera Plaza is just steps aways from San Francisco City Hall, War Memorial Opera House, Herbst Theater, and Nourse Theater. Terrific events and close to all public transit!

Books Inc., The West's Oldest Independent Bookseller, is a locally owned and operated independent bookseller with 10 locations in California. Books Inc.’s origin dates back to the Gold Rush Days of 1851 when Anton Roman struck it rich in Shasta City, California and set himself up in business selling books.

BookShop West Portal is a locally-owned, independent bookstore located in the heart of the West Portal neighborhood.

We're an off-center general interest bookstore serving San Francisco and the Haight for 40 years.

Borderlands is San Francisco's home for science fiction, fantasy, horror & mystery books. The store is open 7 days a week, from noon until 8 pm, with extended hours during the holiday season. Borderlands carries both new and used titles within our specialties, as well as eclectic periodicals, British imports, small press titles, and many other items of interest to the fan or collector of genre literature. We will happily do special orders. Our personable and perspicacious staff will cheerfully assist you in finding that perfect book, from the cheapest paperback to the rarest first edition, whether you know what you're looking for or not.

A volunteer-run anarchist collective bookstore and meeting place. Normally open 7 days a week from 11:30 am to 7:30 pm (call to verify). Organizes the annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair every spring, and also serves as the mailing address of the Prisoners' Literature Project.

Antiquarian Booksellers Since 1915. By appointment or chance. Calling ahead is always advisable.

Browser Books has been a leading literary bookseller in San Francisco since1976, devoted to offering carefully selected titles in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere. We carry books in nearly all subject areas but we are most noted for our comprehensive selection of fiction and literature, classic and contemporary.

Our two retail locations in San Francisco to present our latest reads and freshest inventions. We also provide a wide selection from our publishing partners such as Laurence King, Princeton Architectural Press, and Hardie Grant.

The latest reads and freshest inventions from Chronicle Books, as well as a wide selection from our publishing partners such as Laurence King, Princeton Architectural Press, and Hardie Grant.

A literary meeting place since 1953, City Lights is a landmark general bookstore, internationally known for its expert selection of books and for its commitment to free intellectual inquiry.

Since 1992, Dog Eared Books has been supplying a book-hungry Mission District with new, used, and remaindered books as well as magazines, calendars, and notebooks.

Dog Eared Books is a general interest bookstore selling new, used, and remaindered books. We have an emphasis on LGBT-oriented titles, but plenty of everything else, including sections just for kids, magazines, blank notebooks, science, social science, social justice, art, graphic novels, cookbooks, and a gigantic wall of fiction.

Folio Books is an independent neighborhood bookstore in San Francisco that welcomes visitors from near and far.

The largest display of uncommonly desirable “collectible” books in the Bay Area.

Green Apple Books has been selling new and used books in all subject areas since 1967. We're a carefully curated generalist store with emphases in children's, cooking, literature, and art/photography. We also carry new and used CDs, LPs, and DVDs, plus magazines, gifts, journals, cards, and more. Friendly staff, great community.

Green Apple Books has been selling new and used books in all subject areas since 1967. We're a carefully curated generalist store with emphases in children's, cooking, literature, and art/photography. We also carry new and used CDs, LPs, and DVDs, plus magazines, gifts, journals, cards, and more. Friendly staff, great community.

Since 2008. Specializing in books on the environment, politics, sustainability, food and farming, select art and literature, urban planning, nature, and select children's books.

Manny's is a new civic social gathering space that combines a cafe, bar, and restaurant, with a political bookshop and large civic event space at the corner of 16th and Valencia in the heart of San Francisco.

Welcome to Omnivore Books on Food featuring new, antiquarian, and collectible books on food and drink. Omnivore connects the past to the present by offering centuries of knowledge on growing, raising, and cooking food. We offer everything from 19th Century agricultural guides to how to start a kitchen garden in a 21st Century apartment.

Russian Hill Bookstore, established in 1993, is one of the last family-owned used and new bookstores in San Francisco.

For over 30 years, purveyors of the finest architecture, art, and design books.

An independent children’s bookstore in downtown Willow Glen since 1979.

We are Silicon Valley's premiere independent used bookstore. We buy, sell, trade, and have over 100,000 titles in stock at both our California locations.

Since 1975, we have been providing quality toys and books for children of all ages. We offer a full line of educational toys and games, an in-depth selection of children's books including both new releases and timeless classics, and host author events. We have earned an excellent reputation for our selection and service.

Transforming the world through teachable moments. Join us for readings, book clubs, and other events.

Delights for the Body, Mind, and Soul, and the expression of the Divine can be found inside Open Secret Bookstore.

We have been located in, and serving the Marin and Bay Area community for ten years. We have mainly used, with some new books. Our specialties are the Classics, Art, Theatre, History and Sci-Fi. Call or email us to see if we have the book you want in stock. We are happy to special order a book for you. We will also deliver to your home or business! Rebound Bookstore has been voted Best Used Bookstore in Marin County for 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2005 by the readers of the North Bay Bohemian!

Established in 1902, The Book Den is California's oldest used book store. The Book Den is a cozy, well-organized shop stocking some twenty thousand titles of new and used books. The store is staffed by people who really know and love books.

A general bookstore with over 100,000 titles - something for everyone. An extensive children's section, audiobooks, gifts, greeting cards, and assorted wonders. If you love books and bookstores, you will love Chaucer's - a browser's paradise.

Peace, love, good vibes, and you. We are a sanctuary where all are invited to explore a diversity of teachings and traditions. We offer an eclectic collection of books, music and gifts selected to bring you peace, love, and good vibes, and host author events, workshops, and more. Come visit us!

Bookshop Santa Cruz is a large, general independent bookstore located in the heart of downtown Santa Cruz since 1966. We take immense pride in being an independent bookstore, with the ability and desire to reflect the interests of local readers. We fill over 20,000 square feet with a wide selection of new, used, and sale books along with extensive magazine, card, games, toy, and gift sections, and regularly host events. Bookshop is known for its comprehensive children’s and new release sections as well as strong sections in travel, politics, cooking, science and fiction. We hope you have a chance to visit us soon!

Eastside Santa Cruz's newest independent bookstore. We have new and used books, fun gifts, and some pretty cute store dogs.

We carry new and used books of all categories: fiction, nonfiction, biography, history, classic, poetry, romance, mystery, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, children's, art, photography, architecture, music, science, metaphysical, business, animals, health, cooking, gardening, self-help, travel, reference, and many collectibles from old printings to signed first editions. We also carry journals, sketchbooks, new and used DVD's and a few handmade oddities.

We are the Westside's largest used and new bookstore, just steps from the Third Street Promenade, and a short walk to the beach. Our broad selection of books, CDs and DVDs changes everyday. The store inventory is updated in real-time and can be searched through our website or in-store at one of our helpful search desks. Not sure what you're looking for? We invite you to come in and take a look around. Sometimes, the best book finds you.

Known for our fascinating selection of titles, author events, enthusiastically diverse staff, and urban California aesthetic, DIESEL is the cutting-edge, high octane, community-radiating, independent neighborhood bookstore we all dream of hanging out in, getting imaginally turned on in, and literarily inspired by.

Mystic Journey Bookstore is the largest spiritual hub for books, gifts, high quality crystals, events and psychic readings in Los Angeles.

Treehorn is a general used bookstore that also sells select new books, plus antiquarian & collector's titles. In business for more than 30 years we specialize in out-of-print & unusual books in a multitude of subjects.

A community supported bookstore carrying both new and used books, and gifts. Join us for author events, literary salons, and book clubs.

Welcome to Second Chances Used Books, a cozy, selective secondhand bookstore located in downtown Sebastopol in the California wine country. I buy books by appointment only, but I'm open 7 days a week for those who want to browse and shop. Come visit me!

Books, CDs, DVDs, and more—you'll never know what you'll find at the $5 Or Less Bookstore! Open seven days a week for even the most hardcore bibliophile!

Book Lovers' Choice for Over 45 Years. New books on the ground floor, used books and our Hans Christian Andersen Museum upstairs.

A gathering place for booklovers of all ages. We carry a mix of new and used books, and we host a variety of events.

The book abode of the Motherlode since 1977.

South Lake Tahoe’s first bookstore with a casual co-working space, private conference room, coffee and tea bar with healthy locally made snacks and desserts.

Your one-stop bookstore for success. Textbooks, general titles, and more.

An independent new and used bookstore, with a large selection of fiction and non-fiction books. We also carry a selection of cards and gift items, as well as kids books, toys, puzzles and games in our kid's store Bookasaurus, right next door to us.

Margie's Book Nook is a well-stocked, friendly bookstore which sells new and used books.

Tia Chucha's Bookstore is a social venture of Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural; a non-profit cultural arts center. Tia Chucha's is the only independent bookstore/cultural center for hundreds of thousands of people in the Northeast San Fernando Valley. We recognize that books and knowledge must be accessible to communities that have long been worthy of a local bookstore–one that also reflects their culture, histories, stories, and values. Our inventory selection is guided by our firm belief in the transformative healing power of art and literature.

Tracy's hometown new and used bookstore.

Arvida Book Company is a locally owned and operated independent bookshop that provides Orange County with a community hub and an intimate and eclectic collection of used and new books, gifts, and locally made arts and crafts.

Thousand of used and rare books, located on the highway in the Indian Cove area of 29 Palms, three miles east of Copper Mt.College. This is an amazing bookstore.

Independent bookstore in Northern California founded in 1978.