Downtown LA: The Last Bookstore

It was definitely the perfect Presidents Day weekend. JTTM finally got the chance to get together, something I feel happens far too little nowadays. However, we made the best of our little time together amidst all of our differing schedules, job hunts, and school work. The location we chose for this outing was well inside the concrete jungle of Downtown LA, it was a trendy bookstore-meets-art in the perfect blend possible type-of-place. If you're a book junkie or just love to roam around in layers of collections of books, art work, and records while listening to the vibe of the chill tunes, then this is the perfect place to spend your afternoon. This bookstore is called: The Last Bookstore, located within the heart of LA:

453 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

  

                       

Although one of the downside is finding parking, we had to park in the meter spots and walk a few blocks over, I don't imagine it being too difficult because we went on a weekend and it was relatively easy to find parking. Besides that point, every other aspect was very enjoyable (I mean, I guess wherever you go in LA, parking is always a struggle). Once you walk into the bookstore, it is filled with many different elements: high ceilings, an indoor balcony that overlooks the entire first floor, large columns, various art collections (ranging from paintings to sculptures), tons of areas to sit, a wide variety of records, and shelves and shelves of books! The collection of books is tremendous and the prices for each book also vary. I saw cook books, self-help, contemporary novels, children's literature, ones about interior decorating, and the list can go on and on. And depending on the condition of the book and the type of book, the prices varied (I saw some from $3-$20+!). So there's really no doubt that you'll find anything you're looking for!

However, one of my favorite part was how different it was so different from your average bookstore; there were art pieces hidden between shelves of books and small businesses selling their own personal and vintage items. If I had to describe the ambience of this place, I would say it had an LA Artwalk (check it out: http://downtownartwalk.org/) feel that was enclosed within four walls, while being all centered around a single theme of books. It's great!

It felt like we only spent a quick ten minutes roaming around the two levels, checking out the myriad of books, and just acting silly. It's so easy to lose your time in there, so make sure you clear a good couple of hours to really enjoy this place and all it has to offer.

                  

                      

Trace & Jules raving over a random paintbrush. Not surprised

All in all, I would definitely recommend this place for anyone who has a couple of hours to spare and are in the mood to browse and relax over a good book. It's definitely worth the trip, and plus, if you ever get hungry using up all your brain juice from the immense reading you'll be doing (...not really, but you get what I mean!), there's Korean Town, Little Tokyo and Hollywood with tons of great food just around the corner.

I hope you have an amazing day and thank you for reading!

Love,
Tiff