On my 2nd stop in the tour of independent bookstores in St. Louis I stopped at Subterranean Books in U City.

I do love this bookstore, although I admit it has been a long time.  Last time I was there it was a big mix of used and new books, but they have since phased out the used portion of their selection, which I do miss.  It does have a bit of a pretentious feel compared with other bookstores I’ve been in, but many independent bookstores have this feel.  I’m a book junkie so it doesn’t normally phase me.

There is no seating here, it’s not that kind of store, but it is great for browsers who don’t really know what they are looking for except they are looking for a good read.  There are tags by a lot of books with little snippets about why the book is great.  Their focus according to their website is “on the independent book store best sellers, cult classics, quirky small presses, timeless literature, and anything else we think is really interesting.”  I like that I can give a really random and rambling explanation of the book I am looking for and they were able to figure it out…..Impressive (you will not find this ability in a Borders or Barnes and Noble staff person).

They have events author signings, readings and BYOB (please please please click the link before you try to just wander in with a beer in hand) which looks interesting.

I would recommend this bookstore to anyone who reads, the novice who needs guidance or the book junkie who needs a new direction away from Amazon Recomends.

Brought to you by: Mills Properties

Melissa Jensen

Melissa is a native of the Greater St. Louis region. She is addicted to anything Google, and cannot understand why motion activated paper towel dispensers never see her hands.

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