The Looking Glass Bookstore – 823 S. Oak Park Ave.
On a recent trip to Oak Park we stumbled into The Looking Glass, a cozy and inviting used book store. While the space may be small, every inch of it is covered with something interesting, causing you to slow down and linger, which is exactly the effect that a good book itself should have. Compare that to cookie-cutter chain bookstores which cause you to want to run in, grab whatever you’re looking for, and get the heck out of there. Here it’s a pleasure to wander.
Upfront they have a wall of inexpensive used paperbacks in good condition, as well as cases artfully displaying expensive volumes, including first editions. Along with books, they have any number of book-related gifts, local art, greeting cards and other cool stuff.
The kids section is large and charming for book lovers of any age. (Our find? Anthony Rizzo is a Good Italian Boy). Take time to linger over the old children’s books, there some great stuff there that. My personal favorite section of the store was the vintage section, which included any number of random interesting volumes.
While I didn’t see anything about it in the store (there’s a lot to look at), their website details their Book Lovers Club, where, for a fee of $60 a year, you get a bunch of cool stuff, including $5 in store credit every month, 10% off regular priced books, monthly meetings. and more.
Whenever you’re in this area, we definitely recommend checking out this store!
Links for The Looking Glass Bookstore
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