Bookstore Spotlight: Myopic Books

Myopic Books is a famous (perhaps infamous) new and used bookstore in the Chicago Bucktown/Wicker Park border.  This past Sunday, I convinced a few friends for an outing to the nice coffee/crepe shop next door before tackling Myopic.  I was not quite sure what to expect, but we had a blast wandering around and perusing through everything.  While not looking like much from the outside, it has a never ending stash of books on four floors and charming stacks to weave through.  I particularly enjoyed the genre placements: mysteries in the basement for an extra creepy factor, religion and psychology on the upper floors for “high-level thinking” etc.

Standing on the "half floor"

The first stop was spending too much time in the graphic novel section drooling and feeling a bit overwhelmed, but I found some great used finds that I would not have purchased at full price.  After some additional wandering around (basement, main floor), I went upstairs and fell in love with the half-floor placed between the main and second floor.  The half-floor is built like a display shelf along the edges of the first floor, but is full-sized and contains a few dozen book shelves.  I took a picture to attempt to provide the perspective.  (Sorry, on breaking the no picture rule – hopefully my subtle single photo and body weight in purchased books makes up for it!)  Moving on to the second floor, I was thrilled to see two different areas of comfy seating for setting up shop and scoping out potential purchases.  I didn’t have enough time to linger a long time, but loved the airy and bright atmosphere.  The staff clearly knows their stuff, were friendly and helpful if a bit no-nonsense in their approach.  All in all, this is a fantastic book store I’d highly recommend visiting if you’re in the area!

See more on their website:   http://www.myopicbookstore.com/