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The Best Bookstores in Toronto (2026)

Type Books (Queen West), Ben McNally Books, Glad Day Bookshop, and BMV Books (Annex) anchor this guide. Toronto's strongest bookshops right now — literary indies on Queen West and Queen East, used rooms in the Annex and on College, queer shelves on Lisgar, comics on College, kids in the Beach and midtown, horror on Dundas, plus a new Mirvish Village book-and-bar — verified August 2026. Thin blurbs fattened; hours and official heroes on the list.

Updated for 2026•17 Destinations
No.1
Inside Type Books, photographed for the official typebooks.ca shop
Shop• Queen West

Type Books (Queen West)

“Best overall indie: three real shops, not a chain act. Use Queen West as the flagship and treat Junction and Forest Hill as full sisters.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Type is still the Toronto indie that other general bookshops get measured against, and the honest way to write it in 2026 is as three shops, not one. The flagship is 883 Queen Street West — the original 2006 room from co-owners Joanne Saul and Samara Walbohm, two U of T literature PhDs who built a store for literary fiction, translated work, poetry, cookbooks, and a kids' section people actually travel for. Official typebooks.ca still lists the Queen West hours as Monday–Wednesday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Thursday–Saturday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., phone (416) 366-8973, info@typebooks.ca. The Junction shop at 2887 Dundas West (416-761-9973) and Forest Hill at 427 Spadina Road (416-487-8973) are full sister stores, not pop-ups; Junction is Monday–Saturday 10–6 and Sunday 11–6, Forest Hill Monday–Saturday 10–6 and Sunday 12–5. The plotless-fiction shelf and TYPE in Translation subscription are the house tells. First-timers: go to Queen West if you want the original narrow, packed room; go Junction or Forest Hill if you want the same taste with a bit more air. Special orders are a real service, not a shrug.

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No.2
Just inside the door of Ben McNally Books on Queen Street East
Shop• St. Lawrence

Ben McNally Books

“Still on Queen East at Jarvis: the city's most beautiful general bookshop, if you can live with 10-to-5 hours and the occasional dark Sunday.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Ben McNally is still at 108 Queen Street East, on the Jarvis corner in St. Lawrence — the shop did move here from earlier downtown rooms, and the official site is blunt about this being the current home, not a rumour of closure. The room is the point: mahogany-hued shelves, end-paper wallpaper, first-run hardcovers, history, biography, imports, and a table of art and photography books that feels closer to a private library than a merch wall. Official shop.benmcnallybooks.com lists Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., with Sunday sometimes 12–4 p.m. and sometimes closed (they post specific Sunday closures on the homepage), phone (416) 361-0032, info@benmcnallybooks.com. This is a bookseller's bookstore: special orders, staff who have actually read the pile, and author events that still draw the city's literary crowd. First-timers: do not rush it, and do not assume Sunday. If you want a hardcover you will not find in a mall, this is the downtown room. Prices are new-book prices; you are paying for curation and the chance they already have the obscure title.

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No.3
Glad Day Lit official Next Chapter photograph from gladday.ca
Shop• West Queen West

Glad Day Bookshop

“Still the essential queer bookshop — just not in the Village. 32 Lisgar, closed Monday–Tuesday, confirm the evening window before you go.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Glad Day is no longer a Church-Wellesley address. Founded in 1970 by Jearld Moldenhauer, it is still the world's oldest surviving LGBTQ+ bookstore, but the 2026 room is Glad Day Lit at 32 Lisgar Street — north entrance, facing the park — on West Queen West between Dufferin and Dovercourt, a more compact bookstore-cafe after the 499 Church Street chapter. Official gladday.ca/hours-info posts Wednesday–Friday 4 p.m.–9 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 12 p.m.–9 p.m., closed Monday and Tuesday; the homepage also lists a slightly earlier 3–8 / 12–7 window and notes the room opens off-clock for events, so confirm before a late visit. Email admin@gladday.ca. The shelves are still the point: queer and trans fiction, history, poetry, small press, and merch by local artists, plus coffee and a communal lounge. First-timers: this is a nonprofit, volunteer-backed next chapter, not the old Village bar-and-bookshop hybrid. Pair a browse with a drink, check the event calendar for drag brunch and launches, and do not send anyone to 499 Church.

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No.4
BMV Books Annex interior from the official bmvbooks.com location page
Shop• The Annex

BMV Books (Annex)

“The used-book rabbit hole: 471 Bloor, four floors, late Thursday–Saturday. Sister shops exist; this is the one to get lost in.”

— Very Toronto Editors

BMV's Annex flagship at 471 Bloor Street West is still Canada's largest pre-loved and remaindered bookshop: four floors in the old Hungarian Castle block, two blocks west of Spadina station, just east of Brunswick. Official bmvbooks.com/pages/location-annex keeps the address at 471 — not 417 — and posts Sunday–Wednesday 12 p.m.–7 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m.–11 p.m., Friday–Saturday 10 a.m.–11 p.m., phone (416) 967-5757. Sister shops at 10 Edward Street downtown and 2289 Yonge at Eglinton are real and differently stocked; the Annex is the rabbit hole. Used paperbacks, remaindered hardcovers, comics, vinyl, and a buy-desk that pays cash. First-timers: bring a tote, start upstairs if you want fiction, and do not get stuck in the sell line if you only came to browse. Weekday afternoons are saner than Saturday night. Prices are the point — this is where a stack of $8 hardcovers happens. They buy from the public; leave extra time if that is your errand.

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No.5
FLAG Unsplash: stacked books placeholder for Another Story Bookshop
Shop• Roncesvalles

Another Story Bookshop

“Best west-end conscience: the kids' room and the activist tables are why people cross the city, not a generic staff-picks wall.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Another Story has been putting diverse books into diverse hands on Roncesvalles since 1987 — social justice, equity, Indigenous and Black writers, queer shelves, and one of the city's most trusted children's rooms, plus a wholesale education arm that supplies schools. Official anotherstory.ca still sits at 315 Roncesvalles Avenue, phone (416) 462-1104, books@anotherstory.ca. Current 2026 hours used by the shop and its own listings: Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. The room is clean and browsable rather than chaotic; about half the floor is kids and YA, including a small French section, and the adult tables lean Canadian, activist, and small-press. First-timers: ask for picture-book help if you have a specific kid in mind — that is the quiet superpower — and do not treat it as a generic neighbourhood indie. The entrance is wheelchair accessible; the bathroom is down a narrow stair. Take the Roncesvalles streetcar; this is a west-end destination, not a downtown add-on.

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No.6
The Beguiling storefront on College Street from the official corpse.ca about page
Shop• Little Italy / College Street

The Beguiling Books & Art

“Best comics floor in the city: alternative and international, not a superhero mill. Daily 11–6 on College.”

— Very Toronto Editors

The Beguiling is still Toronto's serious comics shop: 319 College Street, south side between Spadina and Augusta, open daily 11 a.m.–6 p.m. according to the official beguilingbooks.com contact page, phone (416) 533-9168, orders@beguiling.ca. Founded in 1987, it built a reputation on alternative, underground, and international comics when the rest of the city was still a superhero spinner rack — Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, manga, bandes dessinees, kids' and teen graphics, Canadian cartoonists, and an original-art desk. Staff helped found the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Sister kids' shop Little Island Comics is next door at 323 College. First-timers: this is not a Wednesday-new-comics mill. Ask for the small-press wall or a kids' graphic if that is the errand; masks have been required in-store on the official hours page, so check before you go. Daily 11–6 is the clock — no late Thursday. Take the College streetcar.

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No.7
FLAG Unsplash: bookstore shelves placeholder for A Different Booklist
Shop• Mirvish Village / The Annex

A Different Booklist

“The city's Black-owned essential: 779 Bathurst, closed Sunday, for shelves a general indie will not attempt.”

— Very Toronto Editors

A Different Booklist is Toronto's essential Black-owned bookstore for the African and Caribbean diasporas and the Global South — major houses and small presses, kids' titles, political nonfiction, and a community calendar of readings and panels. Official adifferentbooklist.com puts the shop at 779 Bathurst Street in Mirvish Village (M5S 0B7), phone (416) 538-0889, info@adifferentbooklist.com. Contact-hours on the official site: Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday closed. The Bathurst address is the current room; do not send people to the old Annex storefront. First-timers: this is a destination for books you will not trip over at a general indie, not a gift-shop add-on. Ask the desk if you want Caribbean fiction, African politics, or a kids' title that is actually in print. It sits on the same Mirvish Village strip as Book Bar, which makes a two-stop afternoon easy. Closed Sunday — plan the Saturday browse.

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No.8
The Monkey's Paw antiquarian shop, official photograph from monkeyspaw.com
Shop• Bloordale Village

The Monkey's Paw

“Best strange paper in the city, and the Biblio-Mat is still $5 of chaos. Closed Monday.”

— Very Toronto Editors

The Monkey's Paw is still the Bloordale antiquarian oddity: 1067 Bloor Street West, just east of the Gladstone Library, specializing in uncommon 20th-century printed matter, visual culture, and obsolete technologies. Official monkeyspaw.com posts Tuesday–Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday noon–5 p.m., closed Monday, phone (416) 531-2123, paw@monkeyspaw.com. The Biblio-Mat — the world's first randomizing vending machine for old books — is still the stunt, and still worth the trip if you have a five-dollar bill and a sense of humour. The rest of the shop is the real collection: taxidermy manuals next to Soviet graphics next to dead-tech handbooks. First-timers: this is not a used-fiction browse like BMV. Come for the weird paper, spin the Biblio-Mat once, and do not expect Sunday-morning hours or a Monday rescue. Closed Monday is firm.

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No.9
Bakka-Phoenix Books official shop photograph from bakkaphoenixbooks.com
Shop• Harbord Village

Bakka-Phoenix Books

“Best SF/F room in the country, still books-only. Weekends close at 5; used is downstairs.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Bakka-Phoenix is Canada's oldest science-fiction and fantasy specialty bookstore, on Harbord since the current chapter and operating since 1972. Official bakkaphoenixbooks.com still lists 84 Harbord Street, phone (416) 963-9993, inquiries@bakkaphoenixbooks.com. Contact-hours on the official site: Monday–Friday 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 12 p.m.–5 p.m. The house rule is still purist — books, not toys, games, or memorabilia — with new titles upstairs and used downstairs, Canadian, American, and British SF/F in the mix. First-timers: this is a genre shop that expects you to know (or want to learn) the difference between a Baen paperback and a Tachyon small-press hardcover. Ask the desk; they have been doing this longer than most of the city's bookshops have existed. Weekend hours end at 5. Harbord streetcar or a walk from Spadina station.

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No.10
Queen Books Leslieville hero photograph from the official queenbooks.ca site
Shop• Leslieville

Queen Books

“Best east-end neighbourhood indie: small, warm, and actually staffed by people who live on that stretch of Queen.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Queen Books is the Leslieville general indie at 914 Queen Street East — two bookselling veterans, vintage wallpaper, Persian-style rugs, and a neighbourhood calendar of launches. Official queenbooks.ca lists daily 10 a.m.–6 p.m., phone (416) 778-5053, info@queenbooks.ca; the live webstore at shop.queenbooks.ca has also posted temporary longer evenings (Monday–Thursday into 8 p.m.), so confirm if you are coming after dinner. This is the east-end staff-picks shop: new fiction, kids, CanLit, and the kind of table display that exists because someone in the room read the book. First-timers: it is small, so you will see the whole floor in twenty minutes if you rush, or an hour if you talk to the desk. Pair it with a Queen East walk; this is not a destination you combine with Type on the other side of town unless you have a streetcar afternoon. Daily 10–6 is the safe clock.

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No.11
Inside Little Ghosts Books on Dundas West, official shop photograph
Shop• Dundas West

Little Ghosts Books

“Best horror room in the city: a real genre shop with a cafe, not a seasonal pop-up.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Little Ghosts is the queer-owned horror bookshop, publisher, and cafe at 930 Dundas Street West — a year-round Halloween room for new horror, creepy paperbacks, and author events. Official littleghostsbooks.com is the live storefront; the licensed address is 930 Dundas St W, main floor, M6J 1W3, phone (647) 666-7675. Current 2026 listings (not a clean hours widget on the homepage) run Monday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Tuesday–Friday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday–Sunday 9 a.m.–7 p.m. — confirm on the site or Instagram before a Monday close. First-timers: this is a genre destination, not a general indie with a horror shelf. Come for the new horror table, the cafe counter, and the book-club / signing calendar. Dundas West streetcar; it sits in the same west-end belt as Type and Glad Day without being either of those rooms.

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No.12
She Said Boom storefront on College Street from shesaidboom.shop
Shop• College Street

She Said Boom (College)

“Best used-book-and-vinyl dig on College: noon to 7 every day, philosophy and jazz in the same dust.”

— Very Toronto Editors

She Said Boom is still the College Street used-book-and-record shop that started when two friends split rent in the late 1990s — one books, one vinyl — and named the room after a Fifth Column track. Official shesaidboom.shop keeps the flagship at 378 College Street, east of Bathurst, open daily 12 p.m.–7 p.m., phone (416) 944-3224. They buy and sell used books (literature, philosophy, history, poetry, SF, crime, art — not textbooks) plus vinyl and a thin CD rack. The west-end sister is 393 Roncesvalles (shesaidboom.ca), with a different clock. First-timers: this is a dig, not a curated table. Daily noon–7 is the whole College clock. College streetcar; do not confuse it with the Roncesvalles room if you told someone 378.

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No.13
Inside Balfour Books on College Street, official shop photograph
Shop• Little Italy / College Street

Balfour Books

“Best small used-and-art room on College: noon to 6, photography hardcovers and odd poetry in the same stack.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Balfour is the College Street second-hand and antiquarian room: 468 College, Joyce Blair behind the desk, art and photography hardcovers, vintage editions, poetry, philosophy, cookbooks, children's leftovers, and the paperback you meant to read. Official balfourbooks.squarespace.com still posts daily 12 p.m.–6 p.m., phone (416) 531-9911, balfourbooks@gmail.com. ABAC lists it as an open shop that buys books and does appraisals. First-timers: this is closer to Monkey's Paw than to BMV — smaller, more visual, more 'who put this 1974 fashion plate next to a new paperback.' Come after noon; there is no morning window. College streetcar, a few doors from She Said Boom if you want a used-book double feature.

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No.14
FLAG Unsplash: library shelves placeholder for Book City Beach
Shop• The Beach

Book City (The Beach)

“The Toronto-only mini-chain that still behaves like a neighbourhood shop. Use the Beach room; the old Annex flagship is long gone.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Book City is the Toronto-only indie mini-chain that still earns a neighbourhood slot: four shops after the old Annex flagship closed in 2014. This list uses the Beach room at 1950 Queen Street East — the location that runs the official webstore — two blocks east of Woodbine on the north side of Queen. Official bookcity.ca/contact-hours: Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m., phone (416) 698-1444, beach@bookcity.ca. Sisters: 348 Danforth (416-469-9997), 1430 Yonge at St. Clair (416-926-0749), and 2354 Bloor West (416-961-4496), each with its own slightly different evening window. First-timers: this is a general new-book shop, not a specialty room. Use it when you are already in the Beach and want a real indie instead of a mall chain; call another location if you need same-day pickup elsewhere. Online inventory is Beach stock.

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No.15
Ella Minnow Children's Bookstore storefront on Kingston Road
Shop• The Beach / Upper Beaches

Ella Minnow Children's Bookstore

“Best dedicated kids' shop in the east end: the whole floor is the children's section, not a corner.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Ella Minnow is the Beaches kids' bookshop at 991 Kingston Road — picture books, middle grade, YA, Canadian fiction for young readers, and a gift-and-toy rack that exists to keep a kid in the room. Official ellaminnow.ca lists Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m., phone (416) 698-2665, Hello@ellaminnow.ca. It is a library supplier as well as a retail floor, which is why the staff can talk curriculum without sounding like a catalogue. First-timers: this is not a general indie with a kids' corner; the whole shop is the kids' corner. Come weekday late morning if you want space to sit with a pile. Kingston Road, east of Woodbine; pair it with Book City on Queen if you are already in the Beach. Do not confuse it with Ella Minnow Pea, a toy shop in Chatham.

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No.16
Book Bar official hero photograph from bookbarto.ca
Shop• Mirvish Village

Book Bar

“The new Mirvish Village hybrid: real books upstairs and downstairs, coffee by day, cocktails late. Not a laptop cafe after 6.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Book Bar is the new Mirvish Village hybrid: a two-level independent bookstore, cafe, and cocktail bar in the restored Edwardian house at 600 Markham Street, founded by Robin Storfer and Tom Freeman. Official bookbarto.ca and the shop's own listings put hours at Sunday–Wednesday 10 a.m.–10 p.m. and Thursday–Saturday 10 a.m.–1 a.m., phone (416) 588-6333, hello@bookbarto.ca, Instagram @bookbarto. Grand-opening weekend was June 27–28, 2026. The idea is browsing, reading, and conversation — coffee in the day, wine and cocktails at night, two bars, cultural programming — not a ten-minute retail stop. First-timers: phones and screens are discouraged after 6 p.m. on weeknights and all weekend, so this is not a laptop cafe. Book a late table if the cocktail side is the point; come in the afternoon if the bookshop is. Badiali is a few doors down. A Different Booklist is around the corner on Bathurst.

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No.17
FLAG Unsplash: children's books placeholder for Mabel's Fables
Shop• Midtown / Mount Pleasant

Mabel's Fables

“Best midtown kids' shop: almost forty years on Mount Pleasant, Sunday from noon, the anti-mall picture-book room.”

— Very Toronto Editors

Mabel's Fables has been the midtown children's bookshop since 1988: 540 Mount Pleasant Road, two blocks south of Eglinton, a room of picture books, middle grade, YA, and baby gifts that still feels like a neighbourhood shop rather than a toy mall. Official mabelsfables.com lists Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday 12 p.m.–5 p.m., phone (416) 322-0438, mabel@mabelsfables.com. Street parking on Hillsdale, meters on Mount Pleasant, Green P at 650 Mount Pleasant; strollers often get left outside on Belsize. First-timers: this is the north-of-Bloor kids' destination if you are not dragging a child to the Beach. Ask for a staff pile if you have an age and a mood; they have been matching kids to books for almost forty years. Sunday opens at noon, not 11. Mount Pleasant bus or a walk from Eglinton station.

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