Best bookstores in Ontario Canada
You can find some great bookshops in Ontario Canada to satisfy your reading desires. What you need is a guide on the best bookstores in Ontario so you know where to go for your favorite books if you’re in town.
The Bookshelf, Guelph, Ontario
The Bookshelf was founded in 1973 by Barb and Doug Minett. They added a café in 1980 to make it Canada’s first bookstore/café, and then seven years later added a cinema and bar. Shortly thereafter they acquired and renovated the building next door to add a music venue and restaurant. The Bookshelf has held readings by John Irving, Michael Ondaatje, and Margaret Atwood, and musical performances by Serena Ryder, the Constantines, and Sarah Harmer. It currently holds 14 film screenings a week and offers dinner and a movie every Tuesday to Saturday. The exciting description of The Bookshelf is that this is a bookstore that delivers wine which has a cinema that serves dinner and a bar that launches books. What a place to visit.
The Bookshelf, Guelph, Ontario
Mabel’s Fables, Toronto, Ontario
Mabel’s Fables was founded in 1988 and has since grown to become a sought-after destination for books for children and young adults. It is located in a two-story building in Toronto’s Midtown. Mabel’s Fables offers a book club and classes for adults on writing fiction for children (in association with George Brown College). The store also collects gently used books for Children’s Book Bank a charity that provides free books to low-income communities. It has visitors and users from across the world.
Mabel’s Fables, Toronto, Ontario
Ben McNally Books, Toronto, Ontario
Ben McNally Books was established in 2007 in the heart of Toronto’s Financial District. The bookstore specializes in first-run hardcovers and hard-to-find books from the U.S. and U.K. Though the store itself is relatively new, Ben McNally himself has been an integral part of the Toronto book scene, for many years, having worked as the manager of the now defunct high-end Nicholas Hoare Bookstore. The warm and inviting, wood-panelled 2,500-square-foot space also acts as an events venue after hours. Book lovers of across the world patronize this store.
Ben McNally Books, Toronto, Ontario
A Different Drummer, Burlington, Ontario
A Different Drummer in Burlington, Ontario, was founded by John Richardson and Al Cummings (Cummings was also Robert Bateman’s first publisher) in 1970. The bookstore occupies all three floors of an Edwardian red brick house that was built in 1905, and stocks books on a wide variety of subjects, with a special focus on local authors. This store hosts “The Book and Author Series” every spring and fall. At this event guests get to enjoy breakfast as well as a presentation and book signed by the author of the featured book. This is one book store that will give you satisfaction anytime you visit.
