If you’re a committed bibliophile, you’ll know how hard it is to put a book down, even while you’re traveling. In my pre-Kindle days, I once schlepped 14 novels to the Caribbean (and back), devouring them in the space of a two-week vacation. Fellow bookworms, put down your current tome for a moment. Step inside America’s can’t-miss bookstores, attend a literary festival, or visit the locations described by the authors of your favorite novels. Here are our picks for the best cities in the U.S. for book lovers.
Portland, Oregon
Book lovers will want to travel to Portland to visit the world’s largest independent bookstore. Powell’s City of Books, established in 1971, occupies an entire block in downtown’s Pearl District. Even the pickiest readers will find something to love: it carries a stock of around a million books, some new and others secondhand. There’s also a rare book room; limited to 14 customers at a time, you’ll need a pass to access this antiquarian collection. Additionally, regular author events are held at Powell’s main branch and also at the company’s Cedar Hills location in Beaverton. Portland also has its own book festival, formerly known as “Wordstock.” It takes place in November, with events spread across a number of venues, including the city’s art museum and Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Iowa City, Iowa
Readers and especially writers should schedule a pilgrimage to Iowa City. In 2008 it became the first UNESCO City of Literature in the United States. The city is home to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, a Master of Fine Arts degree program in creative writing. Those who have graduated from or taught here have produced works of the highest caliber, earning more than 40 of them a Pulitzer Prize in the process. As you’d expect, readings take place regularly; check out the Live from Prairie Lights schedule for upcoming events. Pick up a leaflet detailing the stops on the Iowa Lit Walk, which celebrates authors connected to the state. Iowa City also hosts a week-long literary festival each October if you’re still in need of inspiration.
Seattle, Washington
Besides Iowa City, Seattle is the only other U.S. city to be awarded UNESCO City of Literature status. As befits this title, Seattle’s Public Library is not merely functional; it’s a thing of beauty, designed by architects Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus. Outside, its glittering glass and steel structure makes a powerful statement. Inside, the book spiral at its heart takes the Dewey Decimal System and turns it into one seamless path of non-fiction from 000 to 999, computer science to geography. But that’s not all: the bulk of the meeting rooms are housed on the Red Floor where everything – floors, ceilings, walls, the lot – are painted in rich shades of red, turning this part of the library into an immersive experience.
New York City, New York
If you’ve been longing to finish that weighty tome that’s been on your nightstand for forever, then you need a trip to the City That Never Sleeps. New York is littered with parks and squares whose benches are perfect for hunkering down with a book. If you’ve turned the last page, you won’t need to venture far to find your next read. Strand Bookstore, the only survivor of the fabled Book Row, boasts that it stocks 18 miles of books. As an alternative to its chaotic piles, duck into Bluestockings Cooperative, a community-owned store in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, hop on the N train to Astoria Bookshop in Queens, or pop over to Dear Friend Books and Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn. Put your book down for a while before you head home; a visit to the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Bronx is a fascinating literary diversion.
Chicago, Illinois
Printers Row in Chicago was once the focus of the Midwest’s printing and bookbinding trade. In the late 19th century, it was the base of numerous small businesses alongside industry giants such as R.R. Donnelley & Sons and Rand McNally. Since 1985, this aspect of the neighborhood’s history is celebrated with an annual literary festival. Vendors converge on Chicago to offer an eclectic range of new, old, and rare books, while a couple hundred authors discuss their work and other topics of interest in lively panel discussions. Though he’s more famously associated with Key West, Ernest Hemingway was born here, and his former home in Oak Park is now a shrine to the acclaimed novelist in the form of the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum.
Monterey, California
John Steinbeck’s evocative works are known for their sense of place, not least Cannery Row, a realistic treatment of Monterey’s sardine-canning industry. But the city's connection to literature goes back well beyond the publication of Steinbeck’s bestselling novel. Monterey was the first place in California to establish a public library. Shareholders stumped up $32 apiece to help fund this pioneering institution, which opened in 1849. It wasn’t all plain sailing; during the course of its history the library collection was, for a time, locked away and in the 1890s, burned in a catastrophic fire. Nevertheless, it rose from the ashes and is a much appreciated local resource to this day. Monterey also boasts several book stores, including Old Capitol Books on Alvarado Street which hosts a twice-yearly lit expo and – if you fancy yourself as a writer – regular poetry workshops and reading groups.
