Our favorite Twin Cities bookstores
There is no better feeling than stepping into a bookstore filled with good smells, cozy vibes, and your next great story. Thankfully, the Twin Cities is not short on amazing local independent bookstores. Whether you are looking for a gift or maybe even for yourself, bookstores are the perfect spot to find knowledgeable and friendly staff ready to help connect you with the right book.
Birchbark Books and Native Gifts | Minneapolis – Kenwood
Birchbark Books specializes in books about indigenous people and written by indigenous people. Owned by Louise Erdrich, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, a federally recognized tribe of Ojibwe people. Birchbark Books includes children’s books and resources spanning early grades to high school.
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Black Garnet Books | St. Paul
1319 University Ave W, St Paul
Black Garnet Books is an independent, Black-owned bookstore on University Avenue in the Midway neighborhood of Saint Paul. Founded by Dionne Sims in the summer of 2020, it operated as a pop-up for a year before a grant from the city helped it open a permanent storefront, and it now stands as one of the first Black-owned brick-and-mortar bookstores in the state. Black Garnet Books stocks a curated selection of adult and young adult literature by Black and racially diverse authors, and it serves as a community space with author events, book clubs, and a focus on centering underrepresented voices.
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Acorn Bookshop
Acorn Bookshop is a woman-owned independent bookstore in the Saint Anthony Park neighborhood of St. Paul, tucked into the Milton Square building. Founded by Rachael Ostrom in 2026, the store is rooted in women’s voices, community, and change, with shelves curated around diverse authors, local writers, and a mix of classic and contemporary titles. The space holds the charm of an old store, with cozy snugs to read and a puzzle bench for lingering visitors. Acorn Bookshop also delights younger readers with a cute little children’s nook and playhouse, an adorable kids’ scavenger hunt, and an art vending machine.
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Next Chapter Booksellers
Next Chapter Booksellers is the largest independent bookstore in Saint Paul, sitting on the corner of Snelling and Grand Avenues. It opened in 2006 as Common Good Books and took on new ownership and its current name in the spring of 2019. Next Chapter Booksellers carries a full range of new and bestselling titles with particular emphasis on fiction, poetry, current events, and history, and it is known for reliable bookseller recommendations, a welcoming browsing atmosphere, and a strong calendar of author events.
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Storyline Books | Union Depot – St Paul
Story Line Books is a darling little independent bookstore tucked inside the historic Union Depot in St. Paul’s Lowertown. Founded by former lawyer Danielle Miller, the shop’s name plays on both a book’s plot line and a train line. It carries local art and local authors alongside a curated selection of fiction, a Minnesota section, and shelves devoted to trains. Light streams through large windows onto the reading nooks, giving Story Line Books perhaps the most picturesque little kids section in all of the Twin Cities. The shop also has a resident cat named Baggins! 😻
Terrace Horticultural Books | St Paul
Terrace Horticultural Books is a wonderland tucked into Highland Park in St. Paul, owned by Kent Patterson. Stepping inside feels a bit like wandering into Hogwarts, with hidden rooms, winding bookshelves, and cases stacked clear to the ceiling. Kent is passionate about his collection and just as passionate about helping you grow your own. The shop specializes in plant- and natural-history-related books, periodicals, seed and plant catalogs, journals, prints, and ephemera, both rare and out-of-print, and it happens to be the largest stocking seller of its kind in the USA. They even have a selection of older garden- and plant-inspired books for the little ones. Appointments are preferred 12-5 M-F, though you’re welcome to pop in and see if Kent is around!
The Irreverent Bookworm | Minneapolis
5163 Bloomington Ave, Minneapolis
The Irreverent Bookworm is a queer, woman- and family-owned independent bookstore in South Minneapolis, offering a mix of new and used titles with the majority of its stock secondhand. The atmosphere is cozy, welcoming, and whimsical, filling a century-old building with antique furnishings and a lived-in charm. The Irreverent Bookworm features a darling children’s room, a solid young adult collection, and a rotating calendar of events spanning poetry, readings, book clubs, and live music.
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Magers and Quinn Booksellers | Minneapolis
3038 Hennepin Ave, Minneapolis
Magers & Quinn is an independently owned new and used bookseller in the heart of the Uptown neighborhood in Minneapolis, near the chain of lakes for which the city is famous. Founded by Denny Magers in 1994, it has grown into one of the largest independent bookstores in the Midwest, with a deep inventory spanning new releases, used titles, and hard-to-find or out-of-print editions. Magers & Quinn covers all subjects across its shelves, includes a well-regarded local-area section and a children’s section, and hosts author readings and literary events throughout the year.
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Moon Palace Books | Minneapolis
3032 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis
Moon Palace Books is a beloved independent bookstore anchored in the heart of the Longfellow neighborhood in south Minneapolis. Founded in 2012 by Angela and Jamie Schwesnedl, it has moved twice into progressively larger spaces and now sits on Minnehaha Avenue near Lake Street, along a stretch dotted with shops and cafes. The store carries new and used books across every genre, with a standout children’s and young adult section stocked with toys, games, and comics. Moon Palace has become a true community anchor and cultural hub in Longfellow, with a multipurpose venue for author readings, music, and book clubs. PS: looots of Jelly Cats! (BIG ones too!)
Big Hill Books | Minneapolis – Bryn Mawr
Big Hill Books is a general interest independent bookstore in the charming, leafy Bryn Mawr neighborhood of Minneapolis. The shop pairs a thoughtfully curated, inclusive selection of books with home and garden merchandise, toys, puzzles, gifts, and greeting cards, and browsing it feels a bit like hanging out in a very well-read friend’s living room. Goose, the book shop cat, loves to welcome you into his store. 🤭 Big Hill leans into community with a full slate of events, including a weekly Tiny Tots Storytime on Thursday mornings, a monthly Second Saturday Storytime for early readers, and Friday date nights with live music. Proudly independent and unapologetically anti-Amazon, the store builds its neighborhood around the idea that we all do better when we all do better.
Red Balloon Bookshop | St. Paul
Red Balloon Bookshop is a beloved independent, woman-owned children’s bookstore on historic Grand Avenue in St. Paul, set inside a big gray house that opens into a book wonderland. Selling books at this location since 1984, it has spent four decades connecting kids of all ages with great children’s and young adult books, plus toys, puppets, and gifts tied to children’s literature. The airy, welcoming layout invites families to linger, and a bargain books section tucked into the basement rewards a good browse. Red Balloon fills its calendar with weekly storytimes, book clubs, and visits from local and national authors and illustrators, and it even has a resident bookstore bear named Page.
Nat’s Uptown Books
1016 W 27th St #100, Minneapolis
Nat’s Uptown Books is a small, cozy used bookstore in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, open since 2017. The shop is densely packed with an eclectic, loosely organized collection spanning classics, vintage fiction, philosophy, poetry, and rare finds, the kind of place where digging through the stacks is half the fun. Owner Nathan Simar offers friendly recommendations and keeps the atmosphere personal and a little unpredictable. Nat’s also hosts community events, including a Saturday open mic, and had long been known for its resident bunny, Zorro, who used to greet browsers and added to the store’s quirky charm. (RIP Zorro!!)
Comma, a bookshop | Linden Hills – Minneapolis
Comma, a bookshop is an independent bookstore in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, opened by Victoria Ford in November 2022. The shop carries a carefully curated selection of fiction, nonfiction, and young adult titles with a special focus on Minnesota authors, alongside chocolates, teas, and gifts from Minnesota makers. Ford built the store around connection, aiming to link readers, authors, and ideas and to serve as a literary home away from home for the neighborhood. She deliberately leaves children’s books to her nearby neighbor Wild Rumpus, one of the most beloved children’s booksellers in the metro, so a family can browse both shops in a single stroll through Linden Hills.
Wild Rumpus | Linden Hills, Minneapolis
Wild Rumpus is pure childhood magic from the moment you step through the small purple door built just for our smallest humans. Tucked into the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, a couple of blocks from Lake Harriet, the shop has been a local institution since 1992 and stands as one of the most charming children’s bookstores in the entire United States. Its shelves hold roughly 15,000 titles for young readers. The whole space is designed to spark imagination, with a canoe on the ceiling, a spooky cottage for scary books, and details tucked into every corner. Wild Rumpus is also home to a menagerie of live animals: cats, chinchillas, a dove, a cockatiel, a crested gecko, and a hidden aquarium behind a bathroom mirror. It is perhaps the only bookstore in the country also licensed as a pet shop.
