Portland Bookstore: Annie Bloom's Books

I’m sure that a lot of you had relatives in town for the Holidays.  So where did you take them?  OMSI?  The Portland Zoo?  Multnomah Falls (not unless you worked out a deal with ODOT)?  What else is there?  If you are like every other Stumptown host, you probably took them to see the “largest independent book store in the world”, the Powell’s City of Books store on Burnside.  No grudges here, Powell’s is a wonderful creation we Portlanders have to call our own.

For the serious book lover though your next stop was probably (or should have been) another fantastic peddler of the hardback that residents of Portland can rightfully call their own, Annie Bloom’s.

And so it goes for this charming and thoughtful Multnomah Village mainstay.  It’s not easy living in the rather large shadow cast by the “Burnside Behemoth.”  Not only has Annie Blooms been able to do so, they have thrived by: using thought behind their book selection; being located in the truest part of Portland; nurturing a local and dedicated customer base; and in some ways by being what Powell’s is not, your neighborhood bookstore.

Started nearly a “quarter of a century ago” by “Bobby“, Annie Bloom’s is everything you would want out of a bookstore.  Friendly staff.  Great selection. Laid back vibe. Provoking without being pretentious.  An all around wonderful place to spend twenty minutes, an hour, or a full day.  They are a proud affiliate of Indie Bound, and play an active role in upholding IB’s declaration.  Annie’s recently released their 2008 bestseller list, and no surprise Three Cups of Tea came out on top (what a marvelous example of one person making a difference).

Their website complements their in store experience marvelously, and is what you would expect from a book store of their stature (that was not intended in anyway as a slight).  It has upcoming events, bookseller reccomendations, and the ability to purchase your latest literary infatuation.

I’m sorry if you came here looking for a little actual criticism.  It’s not really in my nature anyway, and this is one of my favorite places to just “be”, so you may have to go look for your bad vibes elsewhere.