THEFour independent bookstores worth finding in person.
PLACES TO WANDER · ISSUE 001If you're looking for the best independent bookstores in Montréal, Places to Wander's edited guide includes The Word in Milton-Parc, L'Euguélionne in Village and Librairie Saint-Henri Books in Saint-Henri. Explore the selected shops below, with neighborhood context, drawings and links to each shop's own website. The guide is edited, not numerically ranked.
Map: Esri, TomTom, Garmin, FAO, NOAA, USGS, © OpenStreetMap contributors and GIS User Community. Selected streets and water; numbered points use the existing address matches. Use directions for your visit.
Browse the drawings. Open a shop for visiting details.
Open since 1975 in a building that spent seventy years as a Chinese laundry, begun from a VW van, with no computers, a rotary phone and no sign on the door.
The Word has sold secondhand literature, philosophy and first editions on Milton Street since 1975. Its shopfront has no big sign; the shelves inside do the work.
A secondhand book arrives with a little history of its own.
469 rue Milton, Montréal QC H2X 1W3
L’Euguélionne specialises in feminist and queer writing on Beaudry Street. Its selection spans French and English, with dedicated online bookshops for each language.
Two languages, one point of view, no apology for either.
Worth a special trip forFeminist and queer writing in French and English, with a dedicated online bookshop for each language.
1426 rue Beaudry, Montréal QC H2L 3E5
Locally made zines share the shelves with literary classics at Saint-Henri Books. Author gatherings extend that interest in local work beyond the printed page.
A zine made nearby, next to a classic. Local pages on the same footing as the canon.
Worth a special trip forLocally made zines shelved beside literary classics, with author gatherings.
4622 rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montréal QC H4C 1S4
Opened in January 2004 by a father and son, books and records upstairs and a print studio in the basement.
Used books and vinyl records share Encore’s shop on Sherbrooke West. The pairing makes room for two kinds of browsing: along the shelves and through the record bins.
5670 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal QC H4A 1W7
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly, Argo Bookshop, Librairie Le Port de tête. These selections remain in the draft; their branch portraits are not ready.
Places to Wander's edited selection includes The Word, L'Euguélionne, Librairie Saint-Henri Books and Encore Books & Records. The guide is not numerically ranked. Each entry explains why the shop is included and links to the shop's own website.
The Word in Milton-Parc. Open since 1975 in a building that spent seventy years as a Chinese laundry, begun from a VW van, with no computers, a rotary phone and no sign on the door. The Detour is an editorial designation, not a ranking.
Yes. The Word (used and rare) and Encore Books & Records (used). Used, antiquarian and rare books are not interchangeable labels; this guide uses each description only where the shop's entry supports it.
Librairie Saint-Henri Books in Saint-Henri. These are selections from the issue, not a complete directory.
Yes. The Montréal issue includes a map and shop index. Select a shop to open its entry, then use the shop's official link for visiting details. The illustrated map is an orientation aid, not a turn-by-turn route.
The Corporate Artist: The Art of Working Beautifully is Morgan Sage Norman’s book about bringing your creative self to everyday work. It explores how the roles we play, the conversations we have and the decisions we make can become creative practice.
Find your copy ↗Try Every Role Has a Medium (Your Craft) for a different way to look at what you do.
Or turn to Nothing Is Wasted and Rightsizing Importance. Begin with the title that catches you.
Looking for books about creativity at work? Visit the Reading Room.
Another city. Another way to look.