I’m sitting in the backyard on this gorgeous Saturday morning feeling deeply grateful for our little Prose City community, and the broader bookish / literary community here in Portland.
Last night, thanks to the generosity of a couple lovely friends, Cricket and I were able to go to the annual Powell’s Books Warehouse Sale presale event. Even at this smaller event before the main attraction on the weekend, there were still long, snaking lines of dozens of people carrying their bags and even a wagon or two. There were food and beverage carts outside. It felt like a festival for book lovers.
Of course, some would argue that Powell’s is an independent bookstore in the most literal sense of that term only, but I have respect for them in light of their decision in 2020 to sever their formal relationship with Amazon, announced to correspond with Independent Bookstore Day that year.
I moved to Portland from Seattle many (many, many) years ago, and back then Amazon was still the scrappy hometown startup doing the important work of making books available to people everywhere via what was then a new, mostly non-commercial, democratizing platform called the Internet. Online ads were just static images, and not yet the incredibly creepy stalker ads that follow you around the Internet today, and biased, manipulative algorithms were more than a decade away from starting their cancerous attack on the internet.
I don’t even want to think about how much of my home library I purchased from Amazon, contributing in some tiny way to their growing into the capitalist, boot-licking monster that they are today. If I had known that they have been so utterly rotten from the beginning, I would have never given them a penny of my money. In the brilliant 2016 book, The Feminist Bookstore Movement: Lesbian antiracism and feminist accountability, by Kristen Hogan, the author shares the following (p. 170):
Amazon Bookstore, one of the two first feminist bookstores, had opened in 1970 in Minneapolis. Twenty-four years later, Amazon.com opened online… Sales plummeted. While Amazon feminists refused to answer questions on the stand about their sexual orientation, Amazon.com lawyer Paul Weller “defended this line of questioning by saying, ‘I think . . . it’s important for the jury to know, for example, whether the people who work in this bookstore have a particular sexual orientation [and how the bookstore represents itself].'” [1]
The fury I felt when I read that, and the regret for every penny I’d ever given to the company and its ethically and morally bankrupt founders, was intense — as was the disbelief that this was the first time I was learning of this history. Of course, by then we knew the myriad other things that make Amazon one of the most dangerously predatory capitalist enterprises in human history, but I’d like to think people might have made choices that could have prevented their rise if this information had been known more broadly.
What we can do now, of course, is support our local libraries and independent bookshops. Here are some of my favorites, and I’ll be sharing more about them in future posts, so I hope you’ll stay tuned!
Third Eye Books Accessories & Gifts
2518 SE 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97202
https://www.thirdeyebooks.com/
Ownership: Black-owned, Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: African-centered, community hub
Neighborhood: SE Portland
Notes: Portland’s only Black-owned physical bookstore. “Our vision is to be the number one supplier of African Centered books, accessories and gifts in the Portland Metro Area.”
Always Here Books
4555 N Williams Ave, Portland, OR 97217
https://www.alwaysherebooks.com/
Ownership: Queer & Trans worker-owned
Genre/Focus: Radical, LGBTQIA+, children’s
Neighborhood: N Portland
Notes: “Our store exists to celebrate LGBTQIA+ stories while making space for our community, furthering a historic tradition of queer bookstores, and to be a third space for queer & trans people in service to the liberatory power of community.”
Vivienne Culinary Books
2724 NE Alberta St, Portland, OR 97211
https://www.viviennepdx.com/
Ownership: Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: Culinary/Food writing
Neighborhood: NE Portland
Notes: “Our mission is to build community around food sovereignty… You’ll find a kitchen, dining room, and library to peruse at our Alberta Street store, full with carefully curated new and used books, indie food magazines, rare and antiquarian titles, kitchenwares, linens, and wine.”
Bishop & Wilde
2601 NW Thurman St, Portland, OR 97210
https://www.bishopandwilde.com/
Ownership: Queer-owned, Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: Literary, Queer lit
Neighborhood: NW Portland
Notes: “Bishop & Wilde is a queer-owned bookshop located on the ground level of Tin House. New & used books are sold alongside records, art, and ephemera. Dogs (& cats) are always welcome.”
Backstory Books & Yarn
3129 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214
https://www.backstorybooksandyarn.com/
Ownership: Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: Used books & yarn
Neighborhood: SE Portland
Notes: “We are an independent, woman-owned, book and yarn store, located on Portland Oregon’s historic Hawthorne Boulevard. Our specialties include Textiles/Fashion, Nautical, Black history and literature, Women, and Collectible Illustrators. We offer trade for Books and Yarn!”
Powell’s City of Books
1005 W Burnside St, Portland, OR 97209
https://www.powells.com/
Ownership: Independent
Genre/Focus: All genres
Neighborhood: Downtown (in addition to other locations)
Notes: “Powell’s Books is the world’s largest independent bookstore. Family owned since 1971, our mission is to inspire people to read more books and incite a free-thinking independent culture.”
Mother Foucault’s Bookshop
715 SE Grand Ave, Portland, OR 97214
https://www.motherfoucaultsbookshop.com/
Ownership: Independent
Genre/Focus: Philosophy, Literature
Neighborhood: SE Portland
Notes: Old-world charm. “Mother Foucault’s specializes in used, rare, and vintage books. Stop in and browse our wide and eclectic selection of philosophy, foreign language, arts, fiction, and poetry titles.”
Broadway Books
1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232
https://www.broadwaybooks.net/
Ownership: Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: General interest, literary
Neighborhood: NE Portland
Notes: “We’ve been happily supplying books and more to readers in NE Portland and beyond since 1992! Mostly we sell new books, but we also have a selection of non-book items such as greeting cards, calendars, journals, games & puzzles, paintings, and holiday-specific items. We can order new books for you that we don’t have in stock at no additional charge…”
Annie Bloom’s Books
7834 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland, OR 97219
https://www.annieblooms.com/
Ownership: Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: New books, local authors
Neighborhood: SW Portland
Notes: “Annie Bloom’s Books first opened its doors in Multnomah Village in 1978… A neighborhood independent bookstore, we carry a broad range of new books across many genres. Along with a strong fiction section, we excel in children’s, young adult, travel, current events, and cooking… magazines, puzzles, and a fabulous selection of greeting cards.”
Rose City Book Pub
1329 NE Fremont St, Portland, OR 97212
https://www.rosecitybookpub.com/
Ownership: Woman-owned
Genre/Focus: Used books & pub
Neighborhood: NE Portland
Notes: “Rose City Book Pub brings together everything we enjoy: books, beer, and wine, of course, but also community events, music, art, and good discussions. The Book Pub is a place for people to gather. It is also a place for people to retreat to a corner to work or read alone while they enjoy our carefully curated selection of beer and wine.”
Floating World Comics
400 NW Couch St, Portland, OR 97209
https://floatingworldcomics.com/
Ownership: Independent
Genre/Focus: Comics, Indie/alt press
Neighborhood: Downtown
Notes: “…a shop for readers, for artists, for book lovers of all ages. Check out a fresh batch of genre comics every Wednesday – superhero, drama, crime, horror, romance, humor, sci-fi, fantasy, action and adventure. Explore the literary section and find your new favorite auteur. Browse the best selection of small press, self published, underground and international comics found anywhere. Feeling inspired? Bring in your own mini-comic or zine to sell on our shelves.”
Revolutions Bookshop
8713 N Lombard St, Portland, OR 97203
https://revolutionsbookshop.com/
Ownership: Independent
Genre/Focus: Used books & vinyl
Neighborhood: St. Johns
Notes: “…a small, independent bookstore specializing in a curated selection of mostly used books, some new books, vinyl, and collectibles. Our academic and punk roots make for a bold selection in all genres, especially everything weird and wonderful. We buy books and vinyl.”
Wallace Books
7241 SE Milwaukie Ave, Portland, OR 97202
Ownership: Independent
Genre/Focus: Used books
Neighborhood: Sellwood-Moreland
Notes: “…a treasure for every reader nestled in our 1930s house, where we’ve been for 21 years. Hot new releases, great used classics and quirky vintage finds are tucked into every nook and cranny. Floor-to-ceiling storage crates and shelves packed double-deep make this the perfect store for anyone who loves to browse for eclectic finds or old favorites.”
Books with Pictures
1401 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202
https://bookswithpictures.com/
Ownership: Woman Owned
Genre/Focus: Comics, Queer/BIPOC creators
Neighborhood: SE Portland
Notes: “Kid Friendly, Woman Owned, Aggressively Inclusive. 2022 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Award Winner. We are here for everyone, and especially: queer folks, Black folks, indigenous folks, latinx folks, AAPI folks, women, neurodivergent folks, people with disabilities, and all of our amazing neighbors.”
- Hogan, K. (2016). The feminist bookstore movement: Lesbian antiracism and feminist accountability. Duke University Press.
