More Bookshops in Canada's Booktown

Tulips at Butchart Gardens

In my last post I wrote about two of the six bookstores in Sidney, British Columbia. Sidney is Canada’s only booktown.

After visiting Beacon Books and the Military and History Bookstore my next stop was at Tanner’s Books. The store provides readers with a wide variety of new books. What makes the store unique are two areas. It has a huge magazine section with over 2,000 magazines and 40 newspapers. In the back is the absorbing Travel and Nautical Room. Within the room are over 500 maps and nautical charts. As well there is a large collection of travel and nautical books.

I spent some time in the Mystery section. The photo shows a selection of the books in the section that includes books by Peter May I have read and reviewed.

Next door is The Children’s Bookshop. It is a bright airy bookstore with a large collection of children’s books. The website for Sidney as Booktown describes the books available:

We have books on everything from A to Z: airplanes, bears, cooking, drawing, Encyclopaedia Brown, fairies, growing up, Harry Potter, inuksuks, jokes, kites, little girls, mermaids, Nancy Drew, ordinary kids, pirates, quilting, rocks, sisters, totem poles, underwear, volcanoes, Waldo, x-rays, yearlings, and Zambonis.

Moving down the street is The Haunted Bookshop. Beyond having a great name it is Vancouver Island’s oldest bookshop being founded in 1947. It was nice to see a bust of Shakespeare welcoming book lovers.

Inside is an intriguing combination of out-of-print books and ordinary secondhand books. Antiquarians will enjoy the opportunity to look for books.

I took a look at the paperback mysteries. There is a modest selection.

On the way out of the store I noticed a few paperbacks on a table. On top was Alison Gordon’s book, Safe at Home. While glad to see her mysteries in the store I was sad that they were on the clearance table at $1.00 per book. I guess I had hoped she was a more significant author whose books kept their value. I bought Safe at Home.

My last stop was at Galleon Books and Antiques. With regard to books:

This shop specializes in non-fiction subjects, including BC history, Exploration, First Nations, Military, and Art History. Antiquarian and collectible books can also be found.

There is a greater assembly of antiques and collectibles than books in the store.

After completing the tour of the books Sharon and I walked abit along the waterfront and decided our next stop would be the Butchart Gardens. They are among the most beautiful in the world. Below is a photo of part of the Sunken Garden.