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| - Now, this is a bookstore.
Located just east of Queen St and Lansdowne Ave on the north side, The River Trading Company has all your bookshop essentials: soft lighting, creaky hardwood floors, a store cat, a robot made of sheet metal, an extensive collection of neatly arranged books (old and new), a diverse array of magazines, low, low prices, and a happy couple helming it all. (Or perhaps the feline is in charge.)
I stopped in while exploring Parkdale one night. It's encouraging that shops like this are open late-ish so that locals can pop in after work. It's a wonderful place to browse, and there is a wide selection of interesting literature here. It seems very well-curated actually. No fewer than three times did I pick something up and think "I should get this"; fortunately I managed to exercise some restraint. I got a copy of "The World Is Flat" for only $5. What a deal. It's a fat book, people!
I got to chat a bit with the owners and we commiserated about the death of the modern bookstore in the face of online shopping. Rather diplomatically, they did not curse the Amazons of the world, but humbly pointed out how there really is no better way to discover a new author or series or genre of literature, until you've set foot in a bookstore and physically thumbed through a few pages or hefted a potential buy in your hands. I couldn't agree more. I can't wait to come back once I've smoked this fattie. (The book I mean.)
Obligatory Title Pun: Let the RIVER run/Let all the READERS wake the nation.[1]
Menu Readability: What a bold word mark for a bookstore. It looks almost like a movie title.
Need to mention: They take debit and credit.
What this place teaches me about myself: I literally CANNOT walk into a bookstore without buying something.
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[1] If you don't know this song, you have missed out on life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cv-0mmVnxPA
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