American Association of Law Libraries
2004 Annual Meeting, July 10-14
Boston, Massachusetts

Bookstores in and near Boston: A Selective Listing

Boston is home to a fine selection of bookstores for all tastes and budgets. If you have a few minutes during your lunch break, check out the stores right in the neighborhood. If you have a bit more time, take any Green line inbound train for stores just minutes away on the T (subway). If you're willing to travel a bit further to explore some of our more unusual bookstores, hop on the Green line outbound or head out on the Red line.

Click on the train station name to open a new window for T (subway) directions from the convention center.

NOTE: Massachusetts uses 10 digit dialing. All phone numbers are in the 617 area code unless otherwise stated.

Right in the Neighborhood: These shops are all just steps away from the Hynes Convention and can easily be visited during the lunch hour.

Barnes & Noble (General)
Address: Prudential Center – Huntington Arcade
Phone: 247-6959
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 10am-9pm

Comments: Just like the one you have back home, but with more copies of Make Way for Ducklings. Other Barnes & Noble are located between the Park Street Station on the Green line and the Downtown Crossing Station on the Red and Orange lines and at 325 Harvard Street in Brookline—but did you travel all the way to Boston just to visit a chain?

Berklee College of Music Bookstore (Music)
Address: 1080 Boylston St.
Phone: 267-0023
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am–7pm; Sat 11am-7pm

Brentano's
Address: 100 Huntington Avenue - Copley Place
Phone: 859-9511
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-9pm; Sun 11am-6pm

Trident Booksellers & Cafe (General new & used)
Address: 338 Newbury St.
Phone: 267-8688
Hours: Daily 9am-midnight

Comments: Free Wireless Internet

Virgin Records (General and/or trendy)
Address: 360 Newbury St.
Phone: 247-5900
Hours: Mon–Sat 9am–midnight; Sun noon-midnight

Comments: Pop culture, graphic novels, and art/culture titles are available on the top floor, along with a café.

On the Green line, Outbound:

Boston Book Annex (Used)
Address: 906 Beacon St. (T: St. Mary’s, C line)
Phone: 266-1090
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-10pm; Sun noon-10pm

Comments: The Book Annex has approximately 100,000 volumes in stock in all categories. For a more upscale antiquarian angle, see their parent, the Boston Book Company.

Brookline Booksmith (General, with a used book annex)
Address: 279 Harvard St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner, C line)
Phone: 566-6660
Hours: Mon–Fri 8:30am-11pm; Sat 9am-11pm; Sun 10am-8pm

Comments: Named the Best Bookstore in America by Publishers Weekly in 1998—and they haven’t been resting on their laurels.

Rodney’s Bookstore (Used)
Address: 1362 Beacon St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner, C line)
Phone: 876-6467
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-8pm; Sat-Sun 10am-9pm

Comments: See also the larger Central Square location.

New England Comics (Comic Books & Graphic Novels)
Address: 316 Harvard St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner, C line)
Phone: 566-0115
Hours: Mon-Tue, Thu 11am-7pm; Wed & Fri 11am-8pm; Sat 10:30am-7pm;
Sun noon-6pm

Comments: NEC has six other locations. This is the one closest to the Hynes.

Israel Book Shop (Judaica)
Address: 410 Harvard St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner, C line)
Phone: 566-7113 or 800-323-7723
Hours: Sun-Wed 9am-6pm; Thu 9am-8pm; Fri 9am-1pm

Comments: “New England's oldest and largest supplier of Judaic books, art, music, gifts, software, videos, and ritual, educational, and synagogue supplies”

Kolbo (Judaica)
Address: 435 Harvard St., Brookline (T: Coolidge Corner, C line)
Phone: 731-8743 or 800-238-8743
Hours: Sun-Wed 10am-6pm; Thu 10am-8pm; Fri 10am-3pm

Comments: Books, software, videos, and gifts

Children’s Book Shop (Children’s books)
Address: 237 Washington St., Brookline (T: Brookline Village, D line)
Phone: 734-7323
Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 10am-5:30pm; Thu 10am-8pm

Comments: “Established in 1977, The Children's Book Shop has one of the largest selections of children's titles. In addition to the over 20,000 titles in stock, . . .we also carry teaching resource guides, books on tape, music tapes, greeting cards, and various book-related plush figures.”

New England Mobile Book Fair (Omnivorous)
Address: 82 Needham Street, Newton (T: Newton Highlands, D line)
Phone: 964-7440
Hours: Mon-Tue & Fri-Sat 9am-6pm; Wed-Thu 9am-9pm; Sun 11am-5pm

Comments: Boston Magazine’s “Best Bookstore” for 2000, the Book Fair is the largest retail/wholesale book service in New England. It discounts all its new books (which are shelved not by subject, but by publisher) and offers a vast selection of remainders. The closest T stop is Newton Highlands, on the D line, but it’s a bit of a hike from there to the store; you may want to consider a taxi.

Green line, Inbound:

Commonwealth Books (Used)
Address: 134 Boylston St. (T: Boylston)
Phone: 338-6328 or 800-259-7616
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-8pm; Sun 11am-7pm

Borders (General)
Address: 24 School St. (T: Park Street)
Phone: 557-7188
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-9pm; Sat 8am-9pm; Sun 10am-8pm

Comments: Like the Borders you have at home, but with more copies of items with local flair.

Brattle Bookshop (Used)
Address: 9 West Street (T: Park Street)
Phone: 800-447-9595
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5:30pm

Comments: Well worth a visit, the Brattle is the used bookshop that specializes in not specializing. Found in 1825, it’s been run by the Gloss Family since 1949.

Buck a Book (Remainders)
Address: 45 Franklin St. (T: Park Street)
Phone: 357-6505
Hours: Mon-Fri 8am-7pm; Sat 10am-5pm

Comments: Remainders and other discounted geegaws are a specialty. Additional shops are located at 42 Court St. and 236 Hanover St. in Boston.

The Red line:

Quantum Books (Sci/Tech)
Address: 4 Cambridge Center, Cambridge (T: Kendall Square)
Phone: 494-5042
Hours: Mon–Fri 9am-7pm; Sat 10am-5pm

Comments: “Quantum Books is a specialty bookstore devoted exclusively to advanced level technical books.”

MIT Press Bookstore (Tech titles. Some art, sociology, history & economics)
Address: 292 Main St., Cambridge (T: Kendall Square)
Phone: 253-5249
Hours: Mon-Fri 9am-7pm; Sat 10am-6pm; Sun noon-6pm

Comments: In addition to all those manuals on robot-building, they also carry works in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Rodney’s Bookstore (Used)
Address: 698 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (T: Central Square)
Phone: 876-6467
Hours: Daily 10am-10pm

Comments: See also the Beacon Street location on the Green line in Brookline.

Seven Stars (New Age/Spiritual/Occult)
Address: 731 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (T: Central Square)
Phone: 547-1317
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-9pm; Sun noon-9pm

Comments: Check out the feng shui in your library.

Gray Booksellers (Specializing in books printed before 1700)
Address: 12 Arrow St., Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 868-0752
Hours: Tue-Fri 9:30am-4:30pm; Sat 11am-3pm

Comments: “We are probably the only bookstore in the world devoted exclusively to books printed before the year 1700.”

Harvard Bookstore (General)
Address: 1256 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 800-542-READ
Hours: Mon-Thu 9am-11pm; Fri-Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm

Comments: Publishers Weekly’s 2002 Bookseller of the Year – Any other questions?

Harvard Coop (General)
Address: 1400 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 499-2000
Hours: Mon-Sat 9am-10pm; Sun 10am-9pm

Comments: Sorry - the legendary Coop is now another Barnes & Noble outlet. Hours are for the main bookstore. For hours for the insignia store, please call.

Schoenhof’s Foreign Books (Foreign language works)
Address: 76A Mt. Auburn St. (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 547-8855
Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 10am-7pm; Thu 10am-8pm

Comments: In addition to a multitude of scholarly treatises, they have Harry Potter in 44 different languages.

Wordsworth (General)
Address: 30 Brattle St., Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 354-5201 or 800-899-2202
Hours: Mon–Sat 9am-11:15pm; Sun 10am–10:15pm

Comments: A broad general selection, with an extremely knowledgeable staff

Pandemonium Books & Games (Science fiction & fantasy)
Address: 36 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 547-3721
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-9pm; Sun noon-6pm

Comments: Longitude: 71 Deg 7' 12" W; Latitude: 42 Deg 22' 20" N “Pandemonium Books and Games is greater Boston's specialty Science Fiction and Game store. We have a wide selection of paperbacks, hardcovers, role-playing games, magazines, and miscellaneous stuff to satisfy even the most jaded shoppers. We also have an extensive second-hand book and game collection.”

Million Year Picnic (Comic books & graphic novels)
Address: 99 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge (T: Harvard Square)
Phone: 492-6763
Hours: Mon-Tue 10am-9pm; Wed-Sat 10am-10pm; Sun 11am-9pm

Comments: “Million Year Picnic has been a fixture in Harvard Square for almost thirty years, and owner Tony Davis has been there for nearly all of that history. Though carrying a full selection of the big publishers' most popular titles, Picnic specializes in independent comics and small presses, plus having a great collection of international books and graphic novels.”

Barefoot Books (Children’s Books)
Address: 1771 Mass. Ave., Cambridge (T: Porter Square)
Phone: 349-1610
Hours: Mon-Wed & Fri-Sat 10am-6pm; Thu 10am-7pm; Sun noon-5pm

Comments: Boston Magazine’s Best Children's Bookstore for 2003

Kate’s Mystery Books (Mystery/crime)
Address: 2211 Mass. Ave, Cambridge (T: Porter Square)
Phone: 491-2660
Hours: Mon-Fri noon-7pm; Sat 11am-5pm; Sun noon-5pm

Comments: Roughly 10,000 new and used volumes in stock

McIntyre and Moore (Used)
Address: 255 Elm St., Somerville (T: Davis Square)
Phone: 629-4840
Hours: Mon-Sat 10am-11pm; Sun Noon-11pm

Comments: 85,000 titles, in more than 200 subject areas