Independent Booksellers in North America

5. Harvard Book Store – 75 Years of Intellectual and Scholarly Subjects
Cambridge, MA
Publisher's Weekly named Harvard "Bookseller of the Year" in 2002, a prestigious award that the store definitely deserves. Founded in 1932, the store has survived the competitive market in this university town and is still operated by the original owner's son. The most academic-oriented store on my list, Harvard Book Store caters to the intellectual community, maintaining a broad stock of new, used and remaindered books in every imaginable scholarly subject. And while it's true that the majority of the clientele consists of students and professors, non-academics will find plenty to like, too.

6. Clues Unlimited - Home of Sophie the Potbellied Pig
Tucson, AZ
Several bookstores around the country specialize in the mystery genre, and plenty of independents keep store pets. But only Clues Unlimited has Sophie, an amiable potbellied pig, and only at Clues Unlimited do the owners donate 20% of the sales of all pig-related books to Pigs*A*Lot, Tucson's potbellied pig rescue and sanctuary facility. The shelves here are lined with a huge selection of books, from new releases to classics to hard-to-find collector's editions and signed firsts. What they don't have in stock they will gladly order for you. Mystery fans rejoice!

7. Elliott Bay Book Company – 150,000 Titles in a Maze-like Space
Seattle, WA
This one shows up on a lot of "favorite bookstores" lists, with good reason. The Pioneer Square store has an amazing inventory of more than 150,000 titles, both new and used, and the maze-like space is wickedly inviting. People regularly spend hours reading, browsing, chatting and sipping coffee. In true independent spirit, the store highlights whatever the staff thinks is worthy (not necessarily what the publishers have paid to have displayed) so you'll find an eclectic and eye-catching conglomeration of suggestions in prominent positions throughout, a blessing in this day of cookie-cutter chains.

8. Kramerbooks and Afterword – Great Books, Coffees, Martinis and Steaks
Washington, DC
What can I say? DC has a number of cool bookstores, and many of them have nice little coffee bars or cafes. But Kramer's has Afterwords, the first bookstore café of its kind, where you can sip an espresso and nibble on a scone, or enjoy a martini and dig into a tender steak. It's unfailingly popular as a place to meet for drinks after work, as a breakfast stop before work and as a weekend hangout. Oh, and they have a stellar selection of books, too!

9. City Lights – San Francisco's Most Famous Bookstore
San Francisco, CA
Love it or hate it, the so-called Beat Generation gave us masterpieces of literature like "On the Road," "Howl" and "Naked Lunch." It also spawned what is arguably San Francisco's most famous bookstore. Still owned by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, it was the first all-paperback bookstore in the country, although the shelves today include hardcovers. Books about politics, art, sociology, culture, government, philosophy and history, plus plenty of fiction and poetry, populate three floors. Still a magnet for fringe-dwellers, the store hosts regular author readings and signings, and the publishing arm of the business continues to produce a few new books each year – poetry, world literature, essays and fiction. I believe, the best San Francisco souvenir is a City Lights book of verse by someone like Julio Cortázar, Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda or Ferlinghetti himself.

10. Book People – Award-winning Children's Section
Austin, TX
Texas's largest independent maintains a stock of over 200,000 titles, plus an eclectic array of non-book items that elicit everything from laughs to groans. They have an award-winning children's section that's carefully designed to appeal to the younger set, but that makes buying books for kids a real treat for grown-ups. And they boast a full schedule of events featuring local, regional and international authors. Like much of the rest of Austin, Book People has a fun, relaxed and slightly off-center personality. It's no wonder, when you consider that energetic and fiercely pro-local-business owner Steve Bercu is a co-founder of the "Keep Austin Weird" campaign.