6 Indie Sarasota Bookstores

Since Sarasota is our team’s second home base, and since we are avid readers, we thought we should dedicate a post with a list of Sarasota bookstores. We personally like checking out new and different bookstores when we’re in a new city, so hopefully this little guide to the bookstores in the area can help you plot your itinerary.

Contents

Sarasota Bookstores

Sarasota is a little big city, however there are multiple used and new indie (and a chain) bookstores. Here’s our list:

Barnes and Noble

Locations: 200 North Cattlemen Road, Sarasota, FL 34243
4010 S. Tamiami Tr, Sarasota, FL 34231
Type: Chain bookstore

Barnes and Noble is a chain bookstore, so you may have one back home. However, if the local indie bookstores are closed, then B&N has 2 convenient locations in the area. Chain bookstores normally are open 7 days a week, with longer hours than indie bookstores, so you can definitely squeeze time in to pick up a book or enjoy a cup of coffee.

Bookstore 1 Sarasota

Location: 12 S Palm Ave, Sarasota, FL 34236
Hours: 10AM – 7PM
Type: Indie bookstore

Specializing in new books, Sarasota 1 is located in the downtown area of the city. The owners curate which books they sell on their store, and the staff are very knowledgeable and are more than willing to help you find your next read.

Goodwill Bookstore

Locations: 5831 Derek Ave, Sarasota, FL 34238
7200 55th Ave E, Bradenton, FL 34203
Type: Used bookstore

Goodwill is a well-known chain to pick up donated goods, but within the Sarasota-Bradenton area, there are two locations which are just selling books. Dubbed the Goodwill Bookstore, one can pick up mainstream books, history and even rare ones for really affordable prices.

The books are all sorted in different genres, making it easy to just go to the types of genres one likes without having to go through multiple stacks and stacks of books. The concept is quite different from the books you’ll get at a usual Goodwill bookstore, and we like it.

We have managed to pick up a few rare history books and each one is not more than $5. Of course there are more expensive rare books available in the store, and they even sell some of the New York Times Bestsellers for an affordable price of $8.

A. Parker Books/Book Bazaar

Location: 1488 Main St, Sarasota, FL 34236
Hours: 10AM – 5PM
Type: Indie/Used bookstore

Also located in the downtown area of Sarasota, A. Parker books is a small store that specializes in used books. The prices are a bit higher than the Goodwill bookstore above, but the owners also curate their books, so one can find harder-to-find or even mainstream books readily available. They mostly have non-fiction books (something we love), and a few fiction, but we personally spent a lot of time on the non-fiction shelves.

Brant’s Books

Location: 429 N Lime Ave, Sarasota, FL 34237
Hours: 10AM – 5PM; Closed Sunday
Type: Indie/Used bookstore

Perhaps one of the bigger used bookstores in the area, plenty of shelves hold books upon books. Managed to personally find a harder to find real estate book when we were there.

They do have a bookshop dog who helps guard and entertain guests who visit the store. Most of their items are used, and they sell the books at half off the cover price (or less).

Shelf Indulgence Cafe

Location: 2805 N Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34234
Hours: 10AM – 4PM; closed Sunday and Monday
Type: Indie/Used bookstore

Part cafe, part used bookstore, this small place mostly has mainstream titles available in their store. Check their Facebook account as they offer yearly sales, like 50% off on top of the used prices for certain book genres. One can also opt to have a cup of coffee or tea and just sit while perusing the books they have in the store.

Friends of Selby Library

Selby branch is the biggest library in the Sarasota County area. Within the library, you can go to the bookstore, which sells donated or ex-lib books, with funds going back to the library system.

If you like books then wouldn’t you want to buy books from a bookstore wherein the proceeds go back to even more bookish things? It’s like the ultimate book-lovers dream!

Which bookstore would you visit?

If you know of any other bookstores in the Sarasota-Bradenton area that we may have missed, please let us know! We’re constantly on the lookout for indie bookstores and love to build our small European and Florida history collection.