In the age of Amazon, Indigo and Barnes & Noble, it seems like going to your neighbourhood, independent bookstore (or any bricks & mortar bookstore) is a rare occurrence. I get it, shopping online is convenient and, let’s be honest, often a bit cheaper. To me, however, there is still magic in going into a shop and perusing the books with your eyes and flipping through the pages with your hands. Type Books on Toronto’s Queen West offers such magic.

Type Books is a quintessential independent bookstore – it’s a small, slightly odd-shaped room organized into different genres: fiction, mystery, food, children’s books, etc. It has cute little gift items at the front of the store, funky wallpaper, a chandelier and knowledgeable staff willing to answer all of your questions. Above all, Type Books offers a great selection of books. Every time I go in there, I seem to walk out with a new book that I didn’t even know existed. That’s the magic of going into brick and mortar book shops – you aren’t just glazing over the Top 10/50/100 list, you are perusing the tables and shelves looking to see what book jumps out at you and captures your attention.