Toadvine Books

Toadvine Books is the kind of independent bookstore that makes a downtown worth wandering — a well-curated Berkley shop dealing in both used and new titles, with a clear point of view: strong on fiction and literature, deep in science fiction, fantasy, and horror, generous with children’s books, and stocked with small-press comics and graphic novels you won’t find at the chains. It’s browse-y in the best way, the sort of place you duck into for one thing and leave with three.

We have it on our list as Berkley’s go-to for a lingering afternoon of shelf-browsing — pair it with a coffee and a downtown stroll. Chat up the staff for a recommendation; that’s half the point of a shop like this. Closed Mondays, so time your visit.