The Best Bookstores Worldwide | Portland, Edinburgh, Tokyo, and More

The Book Jar Podcast

Besides that one overly comfortable chair in the corner, every reader's favourite place to be is a bookstore. In this episode, Marissa and Megan share the best bookstores they've explored. From local gems to international stars, these bookstores have one thing in common: they are well-loved and well-read.

As usual, the two readers start by reviewing their most recent reads and finish by discussing their upcoming reads. They also draw their next topic from the Book Jar.

Expect us to discuss:

• Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Törzs
• Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald
• Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood
• Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
• Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco
• The Unfinished by Cheryl Isaacs
• Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
• The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

Bookstores We Discuss In This Podcast:

• Second Chance Reads (Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada)
• Slow Burn Books (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
• Wee Book Inn (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)
• The Next Page (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
• Eliot's Bookshop (Toronto, Ontario, Canada -- CLOSED)
• The Scribe (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
• Munro's Books (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
• The Paper Hound Bookshop (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
• Powell's City of Books (Portland, Oregon, USA)
• Persephone Books (Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom)
• Armchair Books (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• The Gently Mad (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Jimbōchō -- Tokyo's Used-Book District (Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan)

Have a question you want us to discuss? Send us an email or message our Instagram account with your question, and we'll add it to our book jar.

You can find our sister podcast, the Queens of Fantasy Podcast, on Instagram as well.

Like our podcast? Leave us a review so more people can find us! Want to support us? Consider buying us a book (or a coffee)!

Want to be in a community full of readers? Join our Discord server to discuss books and join our book club (if you want!). You can do that right here.

00:00 Cold Open
0:48 Intro
2:42 Recently Read
5:39 Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe
6:15 Love on the Brain
8:14 Belladonna
12:44 Kingdom of the Wicked
15:25 Fayne
17:12 Let's Talk Book Shops!
18:04 Second Chance Reads (GP, CAN)
20:22 Slow Burn Books (Calgary, CAN)
22:24 Wee Book Inn (Edmonton, CAN)
24:17 The Next Page (Calgary, CAN)
26:17 Eliot's Books (Toronto, CAN)
28:58 The Scribe (Toronto, CAN)
30:55 Munro's Books (Victoria, CAN)
35:42 The Paper Hound Bookshop (Vancouver, CAN)
39:16 Powell's City of Books (Portland, USA)
44:01 Persephone Books (Bath, UK)
49:47 Armchair books (Edinburgh, SCO)
52:11 Jimbōchō (Tokyo, JAP)
53:55 The Gently Mad (Edinburgh, SCO)
57:31 Next Topic!
58:58 Current Reads
1:02:24 Outro & Socials
1:03:27 After the Pod