Boise is a little lackluster when it comes to bookstores. The economic downturn and switch to e-readers has contributed greatly to this. A short tour of Boise displays the best bookstores that Boise has to offer.
The first, and perhaps best stop, is Trip Taylor Bookseller located at 10th and Bannock in downtown. Trip Taylor is solely a used bookstore but it has a great selection. It has two stories of books stacked high to the ceiling. The books are well-organized and Trip, the owner, knows his selection and can help you find anything. Most of the books are in good condition and very reasonably priced. If you are looking for a particular book, this is the place to start.
The next stop is Hyde Park Books located on 13th St. in the heart of Hyde Park. This bookstore is mostly used books too, but they do carry some new releases. The books are very inexpensive but it is much harder to find what you are looking for. It is not as well-organized as Trip Taylor and the books are not always in as good of condition. Hyde Park Books does have a large seating are with couches and looks like it would be a good hang-out spot for hipsters.
Next is Rediscovered Bookshop located on 8th St. in between Idaho St. and Main. Rediscovered primarily sells new books but does sell some used. It is a great place to start if you cannot find the book you want used. It is locally and independently owned and the staff is very helpful. Their selection is not very big but they will speedily special order books. If you want to avoid the big-box stores for new books, this is the place to go.
The last stop is Barnes and Noble located on Milwaukee St. in West Boise. Barnes and Noble has a huge selection of new books that are reasonably priced. It has a coffee shop in the middle of the store that also sells delicious pastries. It is easy to spend hours in Barnes and Noble. You must remember though that it is a big-box store that puts locally owned bookstores like Rediscovered out of business. So be conscious of that when deciding where to buy your books.
