Read local: A guide to 5 great independent Charlotte bookstores
I absolutely love local bookstores. But since moving to Charlotte I haven’t gone to one, instead using my Kindle or a national chain to find reading material.
Yesterday I remedied that, exploring some of Charlotte’s local bookstores. They all have wonderful selections that I could get lost in for hours — and they each have their own little quirks that separate them from the rest.
Park Road Books
Owner: Sally Brewster. She’s owned the store since 2003 and has run it since 1999, when she worked under then-owner John Barringer; the bookstore itself opened in 1977.
Selection: Sections ranged from a good mystery section (with a cool outline of a person on that area’s floor) to a politics section. The store also features many local authors.
Mood: It had a nice, open atmosphere, but it didn’t feel like the place you’d want to sit in and read a book, which is something I look for in a bookstore. Though there is an area of couches for people to sit in, and people were taking advantage of that as I explored the store.
Price: Most of the books I saw ranged in price from $15 to $30; although some paperbacks rang in at about $9. It seemed to be about on-par with most national chains for cost.
One of the great things about buying books from here — rather than a national chain — is that you’re injecting money into a locally owned and operated business.
Extras: The shop also sold some interesting knick knacks, as well as puzzles and birthday cards.
4139 Park Road, Charlotte, N.C.
Julia’s Café & Books
Owners: It’s a fundraising division of Habitat for Humanity Charlotte. Set off beside Habitat’s ReStore on Wendover, Julia’s Café and Books helps fund Habitat for Humanity’s Affordable Housing Program.
Julia’s has two full-time employees and about 50 volunteers helping to sift through the around 20,000 to 30,000 books donated each month.
Mood: This had, by far, the best vibe of all of the places I visited. Old books were used as signs for sections, and there were two chess tables, ready for anyone wanting to play a game. The shop had cute green shelves and a very quaint kids area. Above the entrance into the bookstore from inside the ReStore, a huge coffee cup rested on three books.
Price: Despite it being mid-morning on a Monday, there were a fair amount of people shopping or hanging out at the store. And it’s understandable why – the books are really, really cheap. I’m sure there were some more expensive ones, but the majority of books seemed to range from $1 to $5.
Selection: Julia’s had a good selection. But, since the store’s books are donated, a lot of the books I saw were older. That was neat in its own right, though; the store has its own section of rare books. (There’ll be a display of expensive, rare books on July 16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the bookstore’s summer sale.)
Extras: The café is cute and features a seating area that’s pretty large, considering the bookstore’s size. The store also had vinyl records available for purchase.
1133 North Wendover Road, Charlotte, N.C.
The Last Word
Owners: Marshall and Matt Hicks, and their mother Liz Pope. The bookstore moved from its University City location to its spot on North Tryon Street in December of 2015.
Selection: The Last Word had an extremely varied selection of books. Sections ranged from homeschooling materials to, ahem, erotica – and there was a good bit of everything in between (health and fitness, sociology, metaphysics fiction, you name it).
Price: Once again, cheap. Books cost around $3 to $5, Hicks said.
Mood: It was empty when I went there, which kind of makes sense, considering it was 11:30 a.m. on Monday. But every other place had at least four or five other people in it, even though I visited them mid- to late morning as well.
As I left the bookstore, I wondered whether it had something to do with the store’s new location. It moved to North Tryon, betting on the arrival of the road’s light rail station bringing development with it, said Marshall Hicks.
Inside, though, it had a nice, open atmosphere; jazz music played as I walked through the shop.
Extras: The store sells vinyl records, DVDs, CDs, video games, board games and more. The owners hope to open a coffee shop soon, too, and are raising money through GoFundMe now.
One interesting touch: It had book and movie parings. So, if you’ve watched the movie, you can read the book – and vice versa.
5744 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, N.C.
Book Buyers
Owner: Richard Rathers. His daughter, Lee Rathers, and Virginia O’Riley have helped run the bookstore since its beginning in 1999.
Selection: This was my favorite place, selection-wise. Huge bookshelves hugged the walls and lined the space in between. There were all the normal sections (the fiction section was large), but there were also ones as interesting as world regions and as quirky as paranormal romance. Oddly, there was a whole section on Marxism, too.
Price: Paperbacks tend to be around $5 and hardcover books hover at $6 to 8, Virginia O’Riley said.
Mood: Located in a bland shopping mall with an unassuming exterior, it felt comfy and homey inside.
One really cool feature: Above an aviation book section stands a partially built Piper J-3 Cub, a plane model used in the early 1940s, Virgina O’Riley said. Richard Rathers has been, part by part, fixing it up since 2010, she said.
Extras: The extras are a tiny downside for me here (although they may be perfect for some people). I appreciated the quirkiness of the store’s organic lollipops and dog food, but the combination of extras felt haphazard.
1306 The Plaza, Charlotte, N.C.
Paper Skyscraper
Owners: Tim Hamilton and his partner Ron Wootten; the store has been around for 25 years.
Selection: Paper Skyscraper started as a bookstore for architects and graphic artists, and it still maintains a good selection on those subjects. It also has a smaller, but really interesting selection of non-industry specific books.
Mood: As the Paper Skyscraper expanded to include other books, it also started to sell gifts and other items. While there are certainly still books in the store, they are outmatched by all of the other items, giving it a nice atmosphere – just not really one of a bookstore.
Price: Prices range from $15 for paperbacks to $100 for the big books on architecture. Like Park Road Books, it sells new reading material. So, of course, things are going to be more expensive than at a used bookstore.
Extras: What didn’t it have? The store displayed adult coloring books, wine glasses, bags, scarves, sunglasses and puzzles, to name a few.
330 East Boulevard, Charlotte, N.C.
Photos: Eliza Wireback
This story was originally published July 12, 2016 at 1:17 AM with the headline "Read local: A guide to 5 great independent Charlotte bookstores."