The Children’s Book Shop
The bad news: Bookstores dedicated solely to children are increasingly rare. The good news: The best one you’ll find anywhere has been in Brookline Village for almost 40 years. From board books to young-adult lit, the Children’s Book Shop offers nearly 30,000 choice volumes. Staffers are well versed in buzzy tomes and timeless classics alike, and the store regularly hosts poetry contests and authors to teach young ones that reading can be a communal experience. 237 Washington St., Brookline, MA 2445, thechildrensbookshop.net.
Parnassus Book Service
Owner Ben Muse's bookshop is 56 years in the making, and it shows. Every spare inch of the space is jammed with books, from bodice rippers to obscure 19th-century naturalist finds. This is not where to go for the latest from the New York Times bestseller list—it's where to go to lose yourself for days at a time. 220 Route 6A, Yarmouth Port, MA 2675, parnassusbooks.com.
Harvard Book Store
The Boston area is blessed with several world-class independent bookstores, all of them vibrant proof that the megachains are soulless vampires, slaves to the mass-market title and the Starbucks outlet. And while other local booksellers can match Harvard Book Store for passionate staff, thoughtful featured titles, and entrapping literature sections, it's the Harvard Square institution that wins the nod again this year, buoyed by its extraordinary nonfiction selection and its excellent deals on remainders. 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA harvard.com.
Raven Used Books
When Raven opened an outpost on Newbury Street in 2010, a good deal of head-scratching ensued: a secondhand book store on Newbury? Two years later, the well-organized, sunny location is thriving, offering shoppers a wide selection of used books—from recent titles to esoteric tomes—in great shape. (By the way, we love that a Back Bay shop has such a well-stocked section on "Anarchism.") 263 Newbury St., Boston, MA 2116, .
The Grolier Poetry Book Shop
This one-room shop nestled down the street from the Harvard Book Store has volumes of poetry stacked from floor to ceiling—and the most knowledgeable proprietor around. The selection is stunningly comprehensive, including hard-to-find collections and even the most obscure poets. Grolier's 26-year-old poetry-reading series features the famous, and again, the obscure, with a new event every week (less frequently in the summer) and the occasional book signing. 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA .
The Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Founded in 1927, the Grolier is the only establishment of its kind in the nation—and probably the world: a bookstore devoted to poetry, and nothing but poetry. Its cramped interior is stacked floor to ceiling with dusty tomes by English and American poets, Celtic poets, Carribean, African, and Latin American poets, Cowboy poets, ancient Greek and Roman poets, modern European poets in translation, Nobel Laureates, and virtual unknowns. Any poetry that exists on the page also has its place on the Grolier's hallowed shelves. For the past 40 years, Louisa Solano, proprietor and matron saint, has heroically and singlehandedly kept this phenomenon alive, for which poetry everywhere (the few, the proud) salute her. 6 Plympton St., Cambridge, MA .
Schoenhof's Foreign Books
Schoenhof's stocks books in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, and other languages, and its knowledgeable reference staff is ready and waiting in the back of the store to guide you to whatever you need. 76A Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, MA .
The Brewster Book Store
Don't let the genteel nature of this shop, run by a pair of friendly sisters-in-law, mislead you: It has a large selection and a knowledgeable staff and hosts readings by major authors. (Linda Greenlaw appears this month to sign her new book, All Fishermen Are Liars.) There's also a great children's section—including the "Womb Room," a tiny alcove crammed with books for newborns—and twice-weekly storytimes. 2648 Main St. (Rte. 6A), Brewster, MA brewsterbookstore.com.
Harvard Book Store
It’s easy to lose track of time among the stacks and carefully arranged displays at this Cambridge classic, where paper- backs and hardcovers covering everything from travel to true crime entice at every turn. And now, thanks to an assist from new part-owner John Henry — who began investing in the shop late last year — the store’s next chapter will include renovations and a website revamp for easier browsing. That’s a win in our book. 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, harvard.com.
Curious George
Photo by Jesse Burke Anatomy of a Winner: We all shed tears when our favorite impetuous primate and his long-suffering companion, the man with the yellow hat, lost their Harvard Square home in 2011. Luckily, the world's only Curious George store reopened in the same location last year, with an expanded focus and a brand-new interior. Besides the original books by Margret and H. A. Rey, here are some of the things we love about the shop. 1. Stroller valet means there's nary a carriage in sight and more room for playing and browsing. 2. Small visitors can curl up with a book in the popular reading nook. 3. Stuffed versions of the iconic monkey range from eight to thirty-six inches. 4. Local playthings, like this "Pirates of Boston" puzzle from Marblehead's Mud Puddle Toys, are on offer. 5. Exclusive T-shirts emblazoned with the shop's namesake and friends are designed in-house. 6. Trying out the display toys—like these bright Crocodile Creek balls—is encouraged. One JFK St., Cambridge, MA thecuriousgeorgestore.com.
Harvard Book Store
Where else can you learn the secrets of grilling with Mark Bittman, examine fascism with Madeleine Albright, and ponder life sans social media with virtual-reality trailblazer Jaron Lanier? It’s all about variety at this perennial favorite, where the events series—presented in a range of venues, on a range of subjects—caters to bookworms of all stripes. 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, harvard.com.
Harvard Book Store
With two floors filled floor to ceiling with new and used titles, bestsellers, and staff picks, we dare you to leave Harvard Square’s book mecca empty-handed. harvard.com.
The Children's Book Shop
Like anything well loved by a child, this Brookline Village institution has become charmingly worn around the edges, the creaky floors a testament to decades of small roaming feet. It eschews the chain bookstores' gloss (and their piles of trinketry and TV tie-ins) for shelf after wonderful shelf of kids' titles—more than 21,000 in all. The shop may be considering spiffing up for its 30th anniversary this year, but here's hoping it'll always be a tad dog-eared: After all, that's how bookworms mark a place they want to go back to. 237 Washington St., Brookline, MA 2445, .
The Children's Book Shop
Will future generations see actual hold-in-your-hands books as curious, unidentifiable objects? Not if the scene at this Brookline Village gem is any indication. The area's oldest independent children's bookstore has aisles teeming with tykes digging into the 28,000-plus titles on offer (all handpicked by owner Terri Schmitz). It also keeps the magic going with regular events like author appearances and book-themed store parties. 237 Washington St., Brookline, MA 2445, .
Boston Book Annex
Signs of authenticity in the book world: the musty smell of old paper and bindings; the creak of the wooden floorboards; a house cat lounging on the counter as if she owns the place. Add seemingly endless warrens of well-organized books and you have the prototype for the perfect used bookstore. Room after room has been organized here into such eccentric but irresistible categories as "Polar Exploration" and "Disasters." The store also offers recent releases and first editions. (A larger collection of rare books is in the company's 705 Centre Street branch in Jamaica Plain.) 908 Beacon St., Boston, MA .