Toronto

Nine independent bookstores worth finding in person.

PLACES TO WANDER · ISSUE 001

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.

Toronto · The bookshop mapChoose a number

Open drawing & shop details

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.

The illustrated issue

Browse the drawings. Open a shop for visiting details.

01 · Queen West

TYPE Books

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

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.

883 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON

02 · Queen East

Ben McNally Books

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.

Worth a special trip forShelves built for browsing at eye level and a little above it. The step stool is the invitation.

108 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M5C 1S6

03 · Bloorcourt · THE DETOUR

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.

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.

1067 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6H 1M5

04 · Dundas West

Little Ghosts

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.

Worth a special trip forA shop given over to horror, which also publishes books and runs reading subscriptions.

930 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M6J 1W3

05 · Bathurst / Bloor

A Different Booklist

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

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.

779 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 0B7

Take a different
kind of meeting.

A bookshop puts someone else’s choices in front of you. Spend time with a subject outside your work. See what comes back with you.

06 · Roncesvalles

Another Story Bookshop

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.

Worth a special trip forA section for the books people read together, staff selections and Canadian independent presses on Roncesvalles.

315 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto, ON M6R 2M6

07 · College / Shaw

Flying Books

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.

Worth a special trip forA bookshop that runs its own press and a writing mentorship programme.

784 College Street, Toronto, ON M6G 1C6

08 · Leslieville

Queen Books

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.

Worth a special trip forBooksellers' names on their reading lists, with several distinct routes through the catalogue.

914 Queen Street East, Toronto, ON M4M 1J5

09 · 401 Richmond

SWIPE

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.

Worth a special trip forBooks on graphic design, architecture and urbanism beside objects that put those ideas to use, at 401 Richmond.

401 Richmond Street West, Suite B04, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8

Questions about Toronto’s bookstores

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.

The Corporate Artist: The Art of Working Beautifully by Morgan Sage Norman

Bring your creative self
back to work.

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 ↗

Have the book with you?

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.

Keep wandering.

Another city. Another way to look.