Books & Music In Los Angeles

Residents of LA buy more books than in any other city in the country. Some of the most popular independent bookshops are Book Soup, Skylight Books, and Dutton’s.

Each of these old favorites host readings by major writers each week. Also, the staff at these shops tend to be more knowledgeable about their merchandise than chain outlets. Book Soup has a great selection of art books and guidebooks devoted to California and LA, while Hennessey & Ingalls has one of the largest collections of art and architecture books on the west coast.

Many large chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders, also have coffee bars, Borders stocks music CDs as well.
Amoeba Music, located in Hollywood, is the city’s largest independent music store with two floors of new and used records and CDs. The weekly in-store performances are free and fun.

Music retail giants, Tower Records and Virgin Megastore both have branches on Sunset Boulevard, with wide-ranging collections and listening posts. Tower Records also has a store-within-a-store dedicated to classical recordings.