Best places to buy books in Boston: a shopping guide

 Building your personal library? Be a sport and put on your traveling shoes.

 After all, taking in stroll in Boston is what makes this city great. You can wander and waltz around and admire the city for it's offerings. If you want my opinion, Boston is the best place to get any kind of literature your little heart desires -  new, used, antique, or academic - you can find it all within the span of a 10 minute jaunt. Just my kind of city!

 Raven Used Books  This bookstore buys and sells scholarly used books. According to its website, Raven carries bulk amounts of philosophy, art, architecture, history, political theory, anthropology, religion, literature, and poetry. Yeesh! It's no wonder this brainiac's paradise located in Harvard Square gets so much business. 

Lorem Ipsum Books Located in Inman Square a skip away from Raven's, the undeniably quirky Lorem Ipsum was rumored to have been started by an MIT grad. Forscience fiction lovers, "Lorem Ipsum" is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry - FYI. LI buys books for store credit only, but when customers keep the influx heavy, you just know their stock is full of winning material.

 Brattle Book Shop Current proprietor Ken Gloss appraises and collects rare and antiquated books at Boston's famous Brattle Book Shop located in the downtown area. Founded in 1825, the shop has provided color and text to an already historically rich city. All judging aside, if you go for hipster watching, antique book sniffing, or to be seen among the "in the know" book snob crowd - this place stocks the goods and has the history to show for it. 

Commonwealth Books A quick walk from Brattle through Boston's Downtown crossing area, Commonwealth Books is hard to spot except for the jumbled stack of books pointing below to a steep basement staircase. A tight squeeze once inside, you'll realize why the effort is well worth the end result. You can find worldly treasures and hidden gems; a favorite stop in the summertime if you've got time to browse and get your hands dirty. Definitely not for those suffering from dust allergies, but a must for antique hunters young and old.

Trident Booksellers Ok Ok so Trident doesn't necessarily boast books. If you're not distracted by the cafe (excellent food with a wonderful sampling of teas and coffees), then you will be full blown ADD by the time you get to the magazine rack - which I should mention, is hands down Boston's best mag rack. The featured lit is peppered with staff recommendations, and there are several islands of book carts that overflow with random slices of contemporary fiction. A great way to kill an afternoon in short.

Brookline Booksmith Love love love this place. In Coolidge Corner, Brookline, right outside of Boston, Brookline Booksmith sits just within a tiny block of Northampton-esque fan fair. A lovely gem of a nook where I always skip right downstairs to the used books section to collect or browse. There are people everywhere to guide you, and the staff is knowledgeable enough to know exactly what you want. Last time I was in there, I asked for Guns, Germs and Steel and right away three people jinxed each other in unison with "Jared Diamond!"  Like an intro to a musical, very weird and abrupt. If the above books stores are too much to handle, Brookline Booksmith is like the Macy's of used books stores; basic enough and well categorized for common folk. Also, if you're rock and roll like that, there are tons of LIVE!  author talks and book signings to boot.