Add Another Bookstore to the Smart Bitch Book Map

If you’re just joining us (hi there!), one project I work on from time to time – and collaborators are welcome to add to it – is the Romance Bookstore map on Google maps.

I’ve added many used bookstores that Bitchery readers have told me are romance friendly – both new and used.

View Romance Bookstores: New and Used in a larger map

There are locations all over the US and a few in Canada, with stores marked in Australia, as well. Please, feel free to add your own favorite romance-friendly bookstore.

Why am I doing this? Sometimes you go looking for a romance novel and the clerk sneers at you. And sometimes, like Cynthia, you enter a new bookstore and discover…romance mecca.

I’m not sure if you’re taking suggestions for the fabulous Google Map of used Bookstores, but if you are, I have to tell you about Book Room in Charlottesville, VA.  The first time I walked into it, I almost peed myself in excitement.  There’s like 6 aisles packed with every kind of romance imaginable.

The best part is that they’ll take any paperback romance for 25% of the cover price for store credit.  And almost everything in the whole store is 1/2 off.  There’s one in Richmond too.  Basically I’m in love and wanted to gush.

Holy hell, I’m in love, too. Get a load of these pictures Cynthia sent me.

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General Bitching...

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  1. gabrielle says:

    i’m normally just a lurker but i can’t ignore these photos.
    this place looks like absolute heaven.

  2. Great map! I have two Romance friendly books stores that I frequent…how do I add them to the map?

    Thank you for the map and the post.

    Debra Saturday

  3. Elaine says:

    I’ve added Hooked on Books for Colorado Springs.  Will someone please check and see if it worked?

  4. Elaine says:

    Do I need to add that Colorado Springs is in Colorado?

  5. AM says:

    Elaine –

    It’s there – I graduated from Colorado College – I think I’ve been there was or twice.  (I wasn’t doing much pleasure reading in college.)

  6. Typ0 says:

    When i saw those pics only one word went through my head: bookgasam!  OMG!!

  7. Polly says:

    The Book Room in C-ville is nice. And if I remember correctly, they have big bags o’ novels at the door for 5 or 10 bucks a bag. I was always tempted, but I like choosing too much.

  8. Diana says:

    If you’re still adding – I’d like to suggest adding TownCrier Bookstore in Emporia, Kansas. it’s not a huge store, but romance books make up about 15% of the store, and they’re really good about stocking favorite authors and letting their regulars know what’s coming out when.

  9. Sarah says:

    Oh my god.  I know where I’m going this weekend.

    Also, I’m so glad to see something that I can actually get to!  I’m getting sick of the looks at bookstores…

    Thank you so much for posting these pictures!

  10. Christina says:

    Hiya, I’d love to add Terry’s Bookshop, in Gibraltar (that’s at the southern tip of Spain) – it’s an awesome secondhand bookshop that also sells home-made stationery and does picture framing, incidentally! But the best thing about it is the wealth of romance novels they stock – I owe them, and this blog, my intro to the genre in the form of Nora Roberts’ “Sea Swept”!

  11. MissMary says:

    Book Traders at 907 W. Garland Ave in Spokane, WA is fantastic. Huge used selection and an excellent exchange policy- if you trade ANY paperback in, you can get store credit, and then each paperback you buy with that store credit is reduced to $1 (hardcovers reduced to $2). It’s got a huge selection and uber-friendly mom-and-pop type staff. ๐Ÿ™‚ The entire place smells like old books and is crammed floor-to-ceiling with them (pretty haphazardly, be warned). The owner himself has the Ripley’s record for the largest private collection of paperback books- something like 370,000 unique titles.

  12. ashley says:

    oh wow thanks smart bitches!! I’ve been looking for a bookstore near me where I could buy and sell used romance novels and so many were french.  woo!

  13. Danielle D says:

    I thought I mentioned the UBS where I work in Glen Ellyn, IL.  The name of the used bookstore is Bundles of Books and Gifts, 560 Crescent, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 630-545-0069

    If I didn’t mentioned it could you please add it to your list.

  14. Kris says:

    bookgasm is EXACTLY what I thought!  Holy corsets, Batman!

  15. Alyssa F says:

    How do we add to the map? There’s a Bookman’s Used Book Store by my house that has a romance section bigger than their regular fiction section, with subsections of different Harlequin labels, historicals, chick lit, gothics- and they recently moved the audio books across the store in order to add a whole new paranormal romance shelf. I bought my first romance there at age 14. *laughs* I was specifically searching for something inappropriate, and I hadn’t discovered that they had an erotica section hidden amongst the dieting books.

    I just finished reading Lord of Scoundrels and giggling aloud. Pure crack, but damn, it was good fun. Has anyone else been futilely searching for it? I’m willing to pass on my copy to another reader.

  16. SheaLuna says:

    I can’t for the life of me figure out how to add to that map.  Grrrr.  So I’ll just post it here and hopefully some smarter bitch can add it. ๐Ÿ™‚  Or tell me how.

    I grew up in Portland, Oregon (Yes, indeedy… same hometown as Candy.) and my FAVE bookstore was Laurie’s Paperback Exchange in Oregon City (358 Warner Milne Road).
    It totally kicks Powell’s ass when it comes to romance.
    http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3554757340

    Those ladies seriously rock the Kasbah when it comes to romance.  Only know half the title, part of the author’s name or that the hero was a asshat of a pirate?  Well, I can almost guarantee the ladies at Laurie’s will know what you’re talking about because I’m pretty sure they eat romance novels for breakfast. 

    LPE also has scifi, mysteries and whatnot, but their backbone is really romance.  They even come complete with romance author booksignings.  Or at least they used to back in the day.

  17. M says:

    I live in Calgary, Alberta. There is a used book store here in town called Fair’s Fair. They have four locations in different parts of the city, and they catalogue their books in order to minimize the hassle of looking for a particular title. They also have a website.

  18. Katherine C. says:

    Have to add Village Books and Nancy’s Trade-a-Book, both in Columbia, MO. Both have very large romance sections and staff that are good at making recomendations. Becky at Village Books is the main source for feeding my reading addiction โ€” she has awesome bookstore owner superpowers and kind find/help a bitch out just about anything on even the most vague descriptions.

  19. Does the Map in this post show you your own current location or is it a mistake that it shows Charlotte NC instead of Charlottesville VA?

    Not that we don’t have romance friendly bookstores here too. We do. David & Cathy the owners of The Bookmark downtown love romance and romance readers.

  20. SheaLuna says:

    I wish people would suggest bookstores in the UK… specifically London.  The only local ones are the Big stores similar to B & N:WH Smith and Waterstones.  I know there are used book stores in central London, but the only ones I’ve found deal in antiques and classics.  Nothing like the wonderfully paperback bookstores back home. ๐Ÿ™

  21. mirain says:

    Paperbacks Unlimited on 4th St (Santa Rosa, Ca) isn’t strictly romance, but has an big romance stock. Bring your old paperbacks and exchange them for store credit!

  22. Gathers Scrolls says:

    I could have missed it on the map, but the Book Exchange store in Midlothian VA (off of Hull Street Road) is awesome; they have and take all kinds of books, and they expanded about a year ago to put in a section for children/young-adult books.  You can take in ‘only’ 40 books at a time for store credit . . . I may have something to do with that ๐Ÿ˜‰  ).

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