bookstores in downtown

Ithought the big bookstore news was that after 13 years, the Laurel Bookstore is moving downtown. For a variety of reasons (less foot traffic since the Food Co. formerly Lucky's closed, desire for a bigger space for events, etc.) it makes sense, though it is a loss for the Laurel neighborhood in general, and a big boost for downtown.

But I discovered while I was riding around downtown on Thursday that the Bookmark Bookstore (run by Friends of the Oakland Public Library) isn't the only bookstore downtown (with no offense to De Lauer's News Stand, which also sells some books). There are in fact two bookstores already downtown, albeit very small ones.

First I ran across Wolfman Books on 13th, whose sign advertises "a wild vortex of books flying right at you". Their selection is small, but as suggested by their sign is eclectic and interesting. Their website says "E. M. Wolfman General Interest Small Bookstore", but I'm not sure I'd fully agree with any of that besides 'interest', 'small' and 'bookstore'. When I dropped in there was a lively discussion about the nature of God and a host of other things. There was also some art on display, but I was too distracted by the books and the discussion to fully appreciate it. They've been open less than a year.

I was pretty excited to learn about one new bookstore, but they told me about another new bookstore downtown, Bergeron's Books. They're also a small bookstore, but with a narrower focus on used books, mostly fantasy and science fiction. But they have art on display that's for sale, and hold a variety of events, only some of which are related to books.

So next time you're downtown and looking for books, check out De Lauer's, Bookmark Bookstore, or one of the new kids on the block, Bergeron's or Wolfman's.