Which Is The Best Bookstore In Philadelphia?

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The best bookstore in Philadelphia without question is the Barnes and Noble located in Rittenhouse Square (corner of 18th Street and Walnut Street). During the shutdown, I missed going to a bar, hanging out with my friends and family and also going to the gym and getting a haircut. But one of the things I also missed is visiting the Barnes and Noble, browsing their book collection and drinking my favorite latte in the second floor cafe!

Most bookstores and libraries generally play an important role in their communities. You can no longer depend on the local TV channels or the popular cable news networks to keep you updated on what is going on or provide different points of view on a particular subject. They are only interested in brainwashing you. Their goal is to make sure that you see things their way.

At the Barnes and Noble in Philadelphia, you can buy or read books on any topic you like. They have books written by authors whose viewpoints on certain issues are extremely unpopular in the neighborhood that the store is in. But it is important to have access to that point of view. I learnt more about this country and the world by reading books at the Barnes and Noble than I did from kindergarden to grad school!!

The Barnes and Noble in Rittenhouse Square is an important hub of the square. I always wonder what the square would like like if the store closed (When I was growing up in the Germantown/East Falls neighborhood there used to be a Farmers’ Market that I frequented on Main Street Manayunk. The Farmers’ Market later became a Pottery Barn. Now it the location of the Manayunk Brewing Company. Manayunk has never been the same after the departure of the Farmers’ Market).

Location of the Philadelphia Barnes and Noble.

The Barnes and Noble is located in Rittenhouse Square (the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market happens in front of the Barnes and Noble).

My favorite things to do at the Barnes and Noble.

I visit the Barnes and Noble about five times a week. I visit the store a lot more during winter (It is one of the few places where you can hangout indoors when it is freezing outside). I am a Barnes and Noble member. So, I get 10% off everything that I purchase (in addition to any discount). The discount also applies to purchases you make in the Starbucks cafe that is located inside the Barnes and Noble (2nd Floor). If you do not find what you are looking for in the Cafe, Rittenhouse Square has many restaurants that offer nice outdoor seating.

• Barnes and Noble “Classics”: The Barnes and Noble has a separate section for classic works of literature. The quality of these books are good and they are competitively priced. Homer’s Odyssey, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Beautiful and Damned and The Age of Innocence are few of the books that you will find in this section.

• Barnes and Noble “Collectible Editions”: The Collectible Editions are much higher quality than the “Classics”. They are slightly more expensive as well ($10 to $25). My tiny apartment is full of them!! Isaac Asimov’s “The Foundation Trilogy”, “The Star Wars Trilogy”, “The Constitution of the United States of America”, “The Complete Sherlock Holmes”, Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” and Agatha Christi’s “Murder on the Orient Express” are some of my favorites.

• Barnes and Noble “History”: The Rittenhouse Square store has about three rows of books on History. The History section is subdivided into various other sections like United States History, Military History, African History or Ancient History. This is one of my favorite sections in the store. I have come across books on topics that I have rarely thought about. It is like opening a door to a whole new world. For example, I have heard the word “Gulag” but I never knew much about it until I read the book “Gulag – A History” by Anne Applebaum. Another book that I recently read is “Salt: A World History” by Mark Kurlansky. I never knew that salt had such a big impact on the history of the world.

• Barnes and Noble “Art Architecture and Photography”: One of my favorite sections. I love photography and in the past 15 years I have really developed an interest in European art (specifically paintings and sculpture) after spending some time in places like Italy, Spain and France. I have a big collection of books on art and photography, particularly those published by Taschen. These books by Taschen are high quality, well priced (around $15.00) and has tons of information. These books are from Taschen’s “Bibliotheca Universalis” collection. Taschen calls it “open minded publishing at democratic price”. There are about 100 books in the Bibliotheca Universalis series. My goal is to collect all 100 of them eventually. Before I do that, I have to first move from the junior one-bedroom apartment!!

• Barnes and Noble “Travel”: Whether we like to travel or not, we are all travelers (the Earth travels about 584 million miles every year in its journey around the Sun). It is even more mind boggling when you consider that the Sun and the Solar System is also traveling at about 100 miles/second!!. Whenever I travel somewhere, I go to the Barnes and Noble first and buy a few books. I have a fairly decent collection of books by Rick Steves. He had a big influence on my decision to travel to Western Europe. One of my favorite travel books is James Sherwood’s “Discriminating Guide to London”. Love it.

• Barnes and Noble “Cafe”: The second floor cafe is one of the most visited places in the store. There is a Starbucks and you can buy pretty much anything that you would buy in any other Starbucks. You can also buy soups and pizzas (my favorite is their margherita pizza). However, you cannot use the Starbucks app to place an order.

Why is Barnes and Noble Expensive?

Barnes and Noble is slightly expensive compared to Amazon. Initially I used to browse at the Barnes and Noble and then buy it from Amazon. But I do not do that anymore. I want to support the local Barnes and Noble because they are an important part of the community (Barnes and Noble typically has several events throughout the year that draw a lot of people to the area).

A physical store, particularly in locations like Rittenhouse Square, costs money. Plus there is the cost of paying the employees, shipping the books from the warehouses and restocking, etc. These are some of the key reasons why books at Barnes and Noble is slightly more expensive than buying books online.

I am a member (membership fee is $25/year) and I save 10% on every purchase. Barnes and Noble also offers discounts to students.

Barnes and Noble Publishing.

Barnes and Noble also offers self publishing. You can sell print or ebooks directly to their customers.

Do you like the Barnes and Noble?

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