Books in Harvard Square
Harvard Book Store in Harvard Square
The Harvard Book Store is an independent literary bookstore with a small used section. They have a strong academic emphasis; the philosophy, literary criticism and cultural studies sections are quite comprehensive. The remains sections on both the ground and the basement floors offer delightful surprises - you can find titles that are sold in full price in, for instance, Harvard Co-op at 1/3 of the price. They send regular e-newsletters if you subscribe to them on their website. The newsletters update you of the latest arrivals in the store. They also have a frequent buyer programme that is not as good a bargain as one would like.
Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square
Poetry is honored every day at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Harvard Square, the oldest continuous poetry book shop in the United States. The shop stocks over 15,000 current volumes of trade, small press, and university publications.
Starr Book Shop in Harvard Square
Though this store is somewhat cluttered, it is still one of the finest places in Harvard Square to look through first editions in search of that hidden treasure. Most titles are literary works, but there is also a fine selection of art criticism. Ask the helpful staff if you are in search of a specific title or genre, but for most, the search is more than half the fun.
The Coop in Harvard Square
A group of Harvard students founded the Coop in 1882 as a cooperative society selling books, school supplies, and coal or wood for the cold Cambridge winters. Over the years, the Coop has grown into America's largest college bookstore, though books are only part of what we offer.
WordsWorth in Harvard Square
Curious George Goes to WordsWorth was established in Harvard Square in 1995 in order to present the finest in children's literature and artisan toys.
Schoenhof's Foreign Books in Harvard Square
A Comprehensive Source for the World's Languages (285 of them) Literature in the Original Language from Continental Europe and Latin America. With a retail store in Harvard Square and comprehensive mail order, distribution and special order services, Schoenhof's offers the largest selection of foreign language books in North America.
Revolution Books in Harvard Square
Revolution Books is owned and operated by the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. Expect a wide range of anarchist, communist, and socialist books and material (although the RCP is a Maoist group and there's somewhat of a slant in that direction).
Tokyo Kid in Harvard Square
Tokyo Kid is an anime specialty store. As such, it's expensive. However, you can always find a few scraggly otaku hanging around, as well as a small selection of music, games, DVDs, translated manga, action figures, artbooks... etc. Like most anime stores, its products aren't as up to date as something you'd find in Japan, but it has a very convenient location in The Garage. If you want any original Japanese books (in which case I'd recommend the infinitely less convenient Sasuga Books in Waltham), or even older translated titles, however, you're out of luck.