# Toronto | Places to Wander

Canonical: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/
Publisher: The Corporate Artist (artist.fyi)
Issue: Places to Wander, Issue 001. Published 2026-09-13.

Nine independent bookstores worth finding in person.

If you're looking for the best independent bookstores in Toronto, Places to Wander's edited guide includes TYPE Books in Queen West, Ben McNally Books in Queen East and The Monkey's Paw in Bloorcourt. Explore the selected shops below, with neighborhood context, drawings and links to each shop's own website. The guide is edited, not numerically ranked.

## Selected bookstores

### TYPE Books

Opened in 2006 by co-owners with doctorates, it sells a Plotless Fiction subscription and a tote designed by Micah Lexier.

- Neighborhood: Queen West
- Address: 883 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON
- Official site: https://typebooks.live/pages/about-us
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#type-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/type-books-toronto-the-corporate-artist__illustration__2026-09-12__v02.webp
- Founded: 2006

Poetry, art and design, food writing, children’s books, zines: TYPE leaves room for several kinds of reading. The Queen West shop is one of three Toronto locations, with a selection that extends from familiar literary forms to small publications with ambitions of their own.

Poetry beside design beside food. Nothing here waits to be told which shelf it belongs on.

### Ben McNally Books
- Neighborhood: Queen East
- Address: 108 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1S6
- Official site: https://shop.benmcnallybooks.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#ben-mcnally-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/ben-mcnally-books-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Worth a special trip for: Shelves built for browsing at eye level and a little above it. The step stool is the invitation.

The step stool gives the shelves their scale. Ben McNally’s Queen East shop is built for browsing at eye level—and a little above it.

The step stool is the invitation. Reach for the book whose spine you can't quite read.

### The Monkey's Paw

Stephen Fowler’s shop since 2006, home of the Biblio-Mat: put in a token and the machine chooses an old book for you.

- Neighborhood: Bloorcourt
- Address: 1067 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6H 1M5
- Official site: https://www.monkeyspaw.com/about/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#the-monkey-s-paw
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/the-monkey-s-paw-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- The Detour: this issue's editorial detour
- Founded: 2006

A book vending machine is a good place to surrender the brief. The Monkey’s Paw deals in old and unusual printed things; its Biblio-Mat supplies the surprise.

Put a coin in the machine. Take what comes. You'll survive it.

### Little Ghosts
- Neighborhood: Dundas West
- Address: 930 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M6J 1W3
- Official site: https://www.littleghostsbooks.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#little-ghosts
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/little-ghosts-toronto-the-corporate-artist__illustration__2026-09-12__v02.webp
- Worth a special trip for: A shop given over to horror, which also publishes books and runs reading subscriptions.

Horror gets a room of its own at Little Ghosts. The Dundas West shop publishes books as well as selling them, with reading subscriptions and a newsletter of reviews and writing notes.

The next unsettling story might already be on the shelf—or still being written.

### A Different Booklist

Books of the African and Caribbean diaspora, at Bathurst and Bloor.

- Neighborhood: Bathurst / Bloor
- Address: 779 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 0B7
- Official site: https://adifferentbooklist.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#a-different-booklist
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/a-different-booklist-toronto-the-corporate-artist__illustration__2026-09-12__v03.webp

Caribbean studies, African Canadian writing and picture books share the shelves at A Different Booklist. Its reach takes in the African and Caribbean diasporas and the Global South.

Go for the shelf you would never have searched. It was built on purpose.

### Another Story Bookshop
- Neighborhood: Roncesvalles
- Address: 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M6
- Official site: https://anotherstory.ca/home
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#another-story-bookshop
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/another-story-bookshop-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker__2026-09-12__v11.webp
- Worth a special trip for: A section for the books people read together, staff selections and Canadian independent presses on Roncesvalles.

Another Story makes room for the books people read together. Its Roncesvalles shop pairs staff selections and Canadian independent presses with a separate service for schools.

The books people read together get their own section here. A conversation can start before the first page.

### Flying Books
- Neighborhood: College / Shaw
- Address: 784 College Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1C6
- Official site: https://flyingbooks.ca/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#flying-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/flying-books-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Worth a special trip for: A bookshop that runs its own press and a writing mentorship programme.

A bookshop with a publishing habit. Flying Books runs its own press and a writing mentorship programme, putting reading and making in the same conversation.

A press, a mentorship and a shop, in that order of ambition. Reading and making share the counter.

### Queen Books
- Neighborhood: Leslieville
- Address: 914 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M4M 1J5
- Official site: https://shop.queenbooks.ca/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#queen-books
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/queen-books-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker-study__2026-09-12__v05.webp
- Worth a special trip for: Booksellers' names on their reading lists, with several distinct routes through the catalogue.

Queen Books puts its booksellers’ names on their reading lists. Fiction, nonfiction and children’s books come with several distinct routes through the catalogue, alongside book clubs and events.

A bookseller’s recommendation puts a person behind the choice.

### SWIPE
- Neighborhood: 401 Richmond
- Address: 401 Richmond Street West, Suite B04, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8
- Official site: https://www.swipe.com/
- Entry: https://artist.fyi/places/toronto/#swipe-design
- Illustration: https://artist.fyi/places/assets/swipe-design-toronto-the-corporate-artist__marker__2026-09-12__v11.webp
- Worth a special trip for: Books on graphic design, architecture and urbanism beside objects that put those ideas to use, at 401 Richmond.

A shelf can make an argument. At SWIPE, books on graphic design, architecture and urbanism sit alongside objects that put those ideas into use.

A book, an object, a printed page. Each began with somebody making a choice.

## Questions readers ask

### What are some of the best independent bookstores in Toronto?
Places to Wander's edited selection includes TYPE Books, Ben McNally Books, The Monkey's Paw, Little Ghosts, A Different Booklist, Another Story Bookshop, Flying Books, Queen Books and SWIPE. The guide is not numerically ranked. Each entry explains why the shop is included and links to the shop's own website.

### What is The Detour in the Toronto issue?
The Monkey's Paw in Bloorcourt. Stephen Fowler’s shop since 2006, home of the Biblio-Mat: put in a token and the machine chooses an old book for you. The Detour is an editorial designation, not a ranking.

### Where can I find zines and small-press publishing in Toronto?
TYPE Books in Queen West, Little Ghosts in Dundas West and Flying Books in College / Shaw. These are selections from the issue, not a complete directory.

### Which featured bookstores carry children's books?
TYPE Books, A Different Booklist and Queen Books.

### Is there a map of the featured bookstores?
Yes. The Toronto 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.

## About this guide

Places to Wander is an editorial field guide from The Corporate Artist to independent bookstores and bookshops worth finding in person.

We look for independent shops with a point of view: exceptional selection, a meaningful specialty, a room worth experiencing, a role in its neighborhood, or the possibility of finding something you did not arrive looking for. The guides are edited, not numerically ranked. A bookstore does not have to stock The Corporate Artist to be included.

A field guide from Morgan Sage Norman, author of The Corporate Artist, a book about creativity at work.

Method and FAQ: https://artist.fyi/places/about.md · All cities: https://artist.fyi/places/index.md · Reading Room: https://artist.fyi/reading-room