Introverts unite—quietly, in your own little book nooks. We're doing a New Orleans bookstore roundup.
The Best Bookstores in the Big Easy
CBD/WAREHOUSE
Mr. Wolf Espresso
900 Camp St. (504) 233-3655, https://mrwolf.life/
This coffeeshop in the Contemporary Art Center has a wall of intelligently curated art-books and the best caffeinated drinks. The owner and staff are always warm and accommodating. It's a calm, sunny, wonderful place to lounge and read in the CBD.
FRENCH QUARTER
Arcadian Books & Prints
714 Orleans St. (504) 523-4138, https://www.frenchquarterjournal.com/archives/arcadian-books-prints
You could drown in books here. The stacks are floor to ceiling, the owner somehow knows what and where everything is, and he can speak to you about all of it in multiple languages. There's also an enormous bilingual French section. Once you enter, you'll completely forget the hustle and bustle of the French Quarter.
Beckham's Bookshop
228 Decateur St. (504) 522-9875, https://www.facebook.com/BeckhamsBookshop/
This multilevel used bookshop is loosely organized and feels like a wander through time. Surprisingly affordable for its location right across from the House of Blues on Decatur Street, Beckham's always has a favorite old standby worth taking home.
Bonus: If you keep going up the stairs, you'll run into No Pulp, a vibey record store on the third floor.
Crescent City Books
240 Chartres St. (504) 524-4997, http://crescentcitybooks.com/
If you're into rarities, architectural prints, and maps, this French Quarter corner store is your shop. You can always find a classic David Lee Burke, and there's a locals' section right as you walk in, but the best stuff in here is the incredibly special editions and matted art you never even thought to look for.
Dauphine Street Books
818 Chartres St. (504) 529-2333, https://www.facebook.com/DauphineStreetBooks/
Just blocks from Faulkner House and Arcadia, popping into Dauphine Street Books completes your journey through the French Quarter literary trifecta book crawl.
Faulkner House Books
624 Pirates Alley. (504) 524-2940, https://faulknerhousebooks.com/
Nestled in Pirates Alley, Faulkner House is another tiny, charming French Quarter nook. It's a great place to dip in to recharge from your Bourbon Street tourist fatigue.
MARIGNY/BYWATER
Baldwin and Company
1030 Elysian Fields Ave. (504) 354-1741, https://www.baldwinandcobooks.com/
This black-owned independent bookstore off St. Claude is a soon-to-be, if it isn't already, local favorite place to have a meeting over a cup of insanely good coffee. They have a book tree, a pod-casting studio, a stellar eye for book covers, and an arresting mural of James Baldwin himself, masterfully painted on a wall of books by the one and only Jay McKay.
Frenchmen Art & Books
600 Frenchmen St. (504) 302-1772, https://www.frenchmenartandbooks.com/
There's no place quite as New Orleans as Frenchmen Art & Books. These "radical booksellers since 1978" have a kids' section, a sex section, an occult section, a horror section, a coloring section, a music section, and a zine section. Smack in the middle of Frenchmen Street, it's open as late as the clubs are, which makes for brilliant drunk book browsing, and, at that time of night, going home with a book is definitely a choice you'll thank yourself for in the morning.
Parlour Books
3229 Dauphine St. (504) 407-5557, https://bookshop.org/shop/parlourbooks
This place has limited hours but limitless charm. Tucked into the Bywater, up a tiny staircase, it really feels like you've been invited into someone's lovely, homey front parlor, and their selection, while small, is varied and tasteful.
MID-CITY
Tubby & Coo's Traveling Book Shop
432 N Anthony St. (504) 345-8491, https://tubbyandcoos.com/
There's so much queer, sci-fi, romance, horror, and mystery lining the "walls" of this magical traveling book shop. Its three main pop-up locations are at Second Line Brewing's Boozy Book Fair, HI-BALLZ, and Books & Brews Book Fair for Grown-Ups at Funny Library at Virgin Hotels New Orleans, but you can also request them to appear at your events.
TREMÉ
Community Book Center
2523 Bayou Rd. (504) 948-7323, https://readcbc.com/
This African community bookstore, in the afro-centric neighborhood of Bayou Road, is a must visit. Make a reservation at Addis Nola, see a performance at St. Rose de Lima Church, shop for records down the street at Domino Sound, or grab a smoothie from Froot Orleans, then pop in and make it a low-key, bookish adventure day.
UPTOWN
Blue Cypress Books
8123 Oak St. (504) 352-0096, https://www.bluecypressbooks.com/
This Oak Street place is a female- run, super-LGBTQ+ friendly, romance and poetry obsessed shop. They've got an enormous locals section, all the cheeky stickers, poetry readings, performances, murder mystery nights, and their cat is so beloved that when he went missing, it sent the internet into a tailspin. Their socials are filled with book suggestions, ridiculous memes, and satisfyingly bookish quotes.
Octavia Books
513 Octavia St. (504) 899-7323, https://www.octaviabooks.com/
Octavia Books goes heavy on the charm and whimsy. The home of many an author talk and performance, they're an Uptown neighborhood favorite and they're currently building an expansion.
The Garden District Bookshop
2727 Prytania St. (504) 895-2266, https://www.gardendistrictbookshop.com/
Located in the Rink, with its beautiful atrium and neighboring coffee shops and homegoods stores, the Garden District Bookshop has a huge selection, exceptionally cool author signings, and the sweetest dog named Pete.
New Orleans Book Stores
Bookstores are the most magical havens for browsing and taking home a whole world to a new adventure. New Orleans has a surprisingly large amount of options when it comes to places to see authors speak, trade books, sip coffee in the stacks, and fall in love with a narrative. From Bayou Road to the Bywater, Uptown to the CBD, Mid-City to the French Quarter, we've compiled over a dozen options of places to fill your literary needs.
