The Last Bookstore is a unique, independent bookstore in downtown Los Angeles, California, USA. I learned about this bookstore from an article published on Flavorwire titled, "The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World". So, I couldn't resist the urge to make a quick side trip to The Last Bookstore this past Sunday morning on my way down to a family function in Orange County.
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| Spring Street |
Let's start off by saying that making any kind of pit stop in downtown Los Angeles usually isn't my thing. Downtown LA is quite gritty/seedy, raw, very urban and not a place I'd rather hangout in (especially at night) if given the choice. However, with that said, there are some sites in downtown LA that are true gems and worth the drive.... One of them being The Last Bookstore!
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| The Last Bookstore Storefront! |
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| The Last Bookst |
The Last Bookstore is currently located on the ground floor of a high rise building and former bank location on the corner of South Spring & 5th Streets. The physical space for The Last Bookstore is amazing! The interior floor space of The Last Bookstore contains many Greek looking columns, a high ceiling with elaborately detailed architectural elements and a 10,000 square foot floor plan, which offers comfy leather chairs and sofas to sit on while enjoying the ambiance. There also many uniquely decorated mannequins throughout the bookstore plus an amazing sculpture composed of books hanging near the store's entrance/exit!
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| Mannequin Art!! |
The Last Bookstore is open 7 days a week and they buy and trade all sorts of Books, DVDs, CDs, and Records! Yes, you read right, records! They have a large area dedicated solely to records for sale for those diehard record collectors! The Last Bookstore also recently opened a coffee & tea bar. They also offer many different kinds of special events and the special events occur on an almost daily basis. The special events range from author readings/events to open mic night and even music events and also an ongoing Skillshare event, which is a peer to peer teaching platform. Pretty cool, right?
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| Used Record Section |
Where is my favorite spot in The Last Bookstore? The small enclave just inside the entrance of the store containing a copious amount of new and used, hardback and paperback books on sale for a dollar each! I couldn't resist buying two paperback books priced at a dollar each, despite my goal of not buying anymore books for the rest of this calender year. What did I purchase? I snagged a brand new copy of Mexico by James Michener and a gently used collection of short stories all involving a science fiction/mystery theme, entitled Whatdunits by Mike Resnick, editor. Both books look like promising reads.
I also really liked the cash wrap area, which was a large counter with old, used hardback books framing the area that made it look like the entire area was made solely from stacked hardback books.
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| My Book Purchases + Free Bookmark |
My final thoughts? The Last Bookstore is an amazing place and worth a visit. Is it worthy of a spot on the top 20 most beautiful bookstores of the world? The jury is still out for me on this one, but it is worthy most definitely of a visit.
The Last Bookstore's phone is: 213.488.0599.
Their email address is: info@lastbookstorela.com
Finally, you can follow/like them on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lastbookstore
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