Reminded me of Powell's in Portland Oregon. Such an amazing bookstore. It's a shame more stores like this are not around today. ALL the books. Many signed from the numerous author visits and various other events. Calendars galore. Jewelry. All sorts of bits and bobs from sweet gifts to funny little desk trinkets. This store has EVERYTHING. From children to older adults I think you'll find the perfect gift or just a quiet spot to relax and disappear into the pages in front of you. Multiple floors plus an elevator if you're not a fan of stairs. Cafe inside so you can grab a hot or cold drink and a snack while you read, wait, or visit with a friend. You can chat in the store, at a reasonable volume of course. Really appreciate that! Some book stores come off as stiff with a rule of absolute silence but everyone here was respectful and aware of their noise level and what was appropriate for the section or area of the store they were in. read more

If you are looking for a book they have it! Such a huge selection. They have a section for everything. I found such a unique book upstairs in the art section. They also have a lot of Knick knacks that are unique. I didn't have any encounter with the staff but I did see several of the staff members helping other customers. read more

It feels so good to be back in a book store! BookPeople is a favorite spot, and after a year of social distancing it was great to browse the shelves. COVID measures are still (mostly) in place. Masks aren't required for those vaccinated, which I appreciate, but there isn't any seating and the bathrooms are closed. I'm looking forward to a full reopening once the folks at BookPeople feel it is safe. read more

Wonderful local bookstore with great variety and a lot of recommendations. It's easy to spend a lot of time in here. Support local bookstores! read more

Ok I get it. They have a ton of books. Nice selection and pretty store. However, overpriced. I needed a book to take back with me on my flight and wanted to just get a nice paperback. I purchased a regular fiction paperback book from their "bargain" area and it was still $6.99. My friend bought a brand new paperback fiction book and it was $18.99! The same books on amazon or target were a lot cheaper (hers was $11.29 on amazon and mine was $7.79- but again, I purchased it from the bargain shelf). It's sad because brick and mortar bookstores are going out of business for this very thing. Get with the times and start competing with your online businesses. read more

Rude management and staff. Honestly cannot believe they're still in business wow witnessed them treating people so poorly and then them experienced it myself. Cool spot shame they are so poorly behaved. read more

Book People has everything I want in a bookstore - big selection, great staff, and a feeling of community. I come here whenever I need a book, a calendar, a greeting card, stationary, a gift...a lot of stuff. Also, the staff are fantastic. Every time I've come in looking for something, some member of the staff always notices my quizzical expression and helps me find whatever I'm looking for. I'm not proud of this, but I once spent five hours sitting in the fiction section reading a book from cover to cover and nobody bothered me. Extra props for frequent author talks and signings - meeting Neil Gaiman at Book People was the highlight of my book nerd career. read more

No longer "Creating Community in Austin" by not being inclusive towards the needs of neurodiverse children at their bookstore downtown. Seems they are the latest Austin original, of which I had been proud to be a patron since 1995, to drink the conformist Kool-Aid of the new toxic Austin regime. Definitely no longer "keeping it weird" and celebrating the full spectrum of Austinites, of which my son is an original, unlike me who embraced the unique places of my adopted hometown from South Texas many years ago and was proud to list this bookstore among the many places that provided a sanctuary. No longer a place to seek peaceful solace. No longer worth the pilgrimage from South Austin to what used to be a literary Mecca on North Lamar downtown. Sad times for the locals when everybody has to fit in or be deemed a disturbance. Thank you Bookpeople for ushering in this new world order I was warned about growing up in the 80's. read more

The people here are really helpful. Love supporting my local bookstore. Plenty of parking even for downtown. Great vibes!

A really nice independent bookstore in Austin that provides a comfortable environment for browsing. Long live BookPeople! read more

I've had this place bookmarked for years and we finally checked it out, a "new" books store with a heavy Texas theme....me likey! From cool artwork to quirky books you won't find at B & N, this place even has a very nice coffee bar with baked goods. Unfortunately we picked the morning a city water line busted and was geysering out of the pavement, to visit and the coffee bar only had coffee that had already been made, since the city shut off their water to do emergency repairs. We'll definitely revisit when we're in this area. read more

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Great place, always has pretty much anything you could be looking for. Wonderful selection, friendly staff.

Came in today with my family and won't be back! Was harassed by all employees in the store that my mask wasn't covering my nose. My eight year daughter with sensory issues was harassed by employees for her mask not covering her nose. All employees ran around the store yelling at us. We'll be taking our business elsewhere. read more

Book lovers' dream! I stopped in quickly to grab a book before closing. I was so sad to not have more time to stroll around! It was well worth the few minutes I had though read more

One of my favorite bookstores EVER! The selection here is insane! I've been here a few times and also came here for Eva Chen's Book Signing - Juno Valentine and the Fantastic Fashion Adventure. The event was well organized and the staff here was so friendly, helpful and assertive! It was such an amazing experience, thank you BookPeople! read more

BookPeople - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

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I visited Austin and wanted to visit one of my favorite bookstores- Book People. I have visited on multiple occasions and never experienced an issue. As someone who takes the pandemic very seriously, I was incredibly disappointed with how the COVID restrictions were handled. I have made a list below: 1. I checked their website for precautions before going. The website says that they require masks. That's it. The website doesn't mention that patrons only have 30min to browse and that they cannot sit in the cafe. As someone who was looking to visit a bookstore, browse at my leisure, and then buy a coffee and enjoy a new purchase, finding out at the door that literally none of that would be possible was frustrating because the information could easily have been listed on their website. 2. They mentioned at the door that there were no "public restrooms" as I waited to enter. I assumed that meant, no rest rooms for people not making a purchase. I didn't not realize it meant that I could shop in the store and pay money, but could not use the rest room, even though I am a patron. 2a. I found the lack of bathroom most frustrating because I struggle to see how not allowing customers to use the bathroom is a COVID precaution. It felt quit insulting to open a store to accept money, but then tell people bathrooms were unavailable because of COVID. 2b. This is especially true because serving food at an establishment but barring bathroom use is a health code violation. I believe Book People is trying to get around this by designating themselves as offering to-go services only. But I viewed at least three people who were sitting in the store working on computers with textbooks, and they did not appear to be employees. This means it is totally within the realm of possibility that someone could need to use the restroom because they consumed a food item on the premises. And disallowing this, under the guise of a safety precaution, simply poses additional health risk. read more

Fantastic selection! They have books that one can't find in regular book stores. Love the the name of the store was taken from Fahrenheit 451. read more

I just love bookstores, and for whatever reason I love Bookpeople a bit more. They have really friendly staff that always greet you as you walk in (without actually sounding fake) and will always be willing to help you with whatever you may need. The staff also have recommendations laying around the shelves of certain books that they liked and these notes are always cleanly written and even decorated (it's not much but I love it!). The prices are what you'd expect but they have sections for every interest you'd think of, with plenty of little knickknacks laying around. Perfect place for book clubs or just to go and sit around the indoor coffee shop with that brand new/recently reissued favorite you just found! read more

One of the cashiers at this store deeply offended me when assuming my political party. She made a joke about how I should go look for a Trump book in the humor section. Very unprofessional and uncalled for. read more

I could have spent the whole weekend here! There are so many great curated collections and staff recommendations and gifts and cozy and quiet reading areas. The coffee was delicious and the store seemed to just go on and on! An absolute treasure. read more

I drove to stop by Austin to visit a dear friend of mine and wanted to get her a couple of books. I went into this store and fell in love with the vibe and the cute notes that the staff and readers were saying about the books that they had read on every shelf. There were several lounges for people to sit around with their children or alone to skim through the books. And it was such a nice surprise to see a small cafe back in the corner and I love the options they had there. There were a lot of genres to look around including two floors with multiple books that I literally kept notes to get in the future and I had selected two books for my friend and was satisfied with the whole process since I came inside this bookstore. I would love to visit there again and would definitely recommend everyone to go and check it out. read more

Absolutely loved this independent bookstore!! It has such a wide variety of literature and memorabilia at very reasonable prices! The store is organized very well and they have cute display cards for certain books that show what regular readers had to say about those books (and why you should get it). They seem to regularly host authors too! Overall great indie bookstore that you should go and support! read more

Fiercely independent, true original Austin. (Ignore the crummy review from the out-of-towners who freak out about masks... this shop is simply following state rules to avoid fines.) The café is a delight with interesting art on display. The selection and helpfulness of staff is above par. Do consider supporting this gem before the bug box conglomerate. I had been going there for years before I relocated to the PacNW. Definitely worth a visit. read more

This is one of the best bookstores in Austin! I took a friend of mine who was visiting here and we spent a good 2 hrs wondering around the store, looking at all the recommendations, looking at all the various book paraphernalia (like book-themed socks!), chatting about what books we've read and which ones we're planning to read. Of course we ended up buying several things each because, how can you not. The BookPeople also does regular book signings and sponsors (maybe also organizes?) the Texas Book Festival every year. They are completely invested in the community. If you're looking for a book, go to BookPeople and buy it - support your local stores! If you're not looking for anything, come in anyway, just to enjoy the atmosphere and check out what's new They do have a coffee shop inside, with excellent coffee. Plenty of parking up front or in the nearby garage. read more

I have this fantasy where Book People opens a location in DFW. Until that dream becomes a reality, I will visit the Austin Lamar location every single time I'm down that way. Wouldn't miss it! The awesome thing about Book People is that it's an extremely large building (40,000 sf) filled with books. Without question, it's one of the best independent bookstores in the country. There are a ton of displays throughout the store to draw your attention to titles of interest. So fun to browse! I'm a big fan of the staff recommendations, and boy do the staff here know A LOT about books and the authors who write them. Very helpful people who love to read are my favorite! Aside from all the books, BookPeople has a great selection of gifts and magazines. Also of note are the hundreds of free events the store hosts every year. Mostly famous authors signing and talking about their books, but also story times for kids and books clubs for all ages. I'm telling ya, this place is a Book Mecca! read more

BookPeople - Shelves lined with staff recommendation cards. - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

Super rad bookstore! Quintessential austin.. this review is for the coffee bar.. there is no sense of urgency here. The one barista (super tall guy) pays no attention to you if you walk up and he is in doing something... I literally stood there for three minutes and he didn't even look my way.. I ordered a coffee and an empanada that needed to be cooked.. he told me it would be 10 minutes... I had to ask for my coffee and I've been here almost 20 minutes and still haven't been given my food.. read more

Book People is a charming independent bookstore with plenty more than just books. They have a wide selection of greeting cards and gifts. I have found many greeting cards here from local artists and small businesses that are much more creative or funny than what you find in the card aisle at Target. I like supporting these designers and businesses. I buy very few books these days, but I recently attended one their book signings to support my cousin's book which was recently released. Book People's policy is to require customers to purchase the book from their store if they want it signed. I completely support this policy. I was able to pre-purchase two copies of the book (one for myself, one for my dad) and pick them up on the night of the signing. The pick-up process was very smooth. The signing was upstairs in a make-shift stage area. It was well-organized and well-attended. I recently stopped by here to pick up some greeting cards and browse their gift selection. The gift selection is not in one designated part of the store. You can find small gift selections all over the store including many on the staircase. I picked up many greeting cards and a pair of novelty socks. I feel that items are priced fairly for the quality you receive. I am happy to support independent book stores like Book People. I also appreciate their ample available parking. read more

This is a happy place. It makes me happy. It makes other people happy, which matters much less to me, but still, it is good. My brother was not joking when he told me this was one of the best bookstores he had ever been to (the other we went to together back in Seattle) - and I too consider this one of the best bookstores I have ever been to for a number of reasons. The wide selection, the intuitive organization, how quiet it is that you can sit and read a chapter or two of something that looks interesting before you buy it, no jackasses yelling into their iPhone like at Barnes & Noble, and eye candy hello. They have awesome toys. A huge Moleskine aisle. Tons of books. Two floors. Clean restrooms. Knowledgeable employees. I don't know of any more compliments to issue that would not be repetitive. One of my favorite places in the country. Unlike Borders shutting down I would legitimately be sad to see this place ever go - probably why I am compelled to stop by and buy something every time I am in Austin, then tell other bros cool stories about this place so they too will come spend their money to give me another option than ordering books off of Amazon like a shut-in. read more

I would just like to thank BookPeople for being an IndieBound Book seller. I was so excited to pick up a copy of one of my favorite podcaster's new book right around the corner at my local book store. The helpful staff reserved my copy and had it ready for me behind the counter when I got there! Supporting indie publishers and authors makes more of these wonderful books accessible without having to go through amazon or other 3rd party sellers. Much appreciated :) read more

BookPeople - Jessica Lanyadoo's New Book - "Astrology for Real Relationships" avalible at Book People! - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

Hoping this place never closes as it is a rare larg indep book store. They were hyper cautious during Covid and moved speakers/authors online. I'm sure foot traffic suffered. Still the est place to go in Austin for book selection and advice. read more

BookPeople is an awesome local bookstore. It's like Vroman's in Pasadena for those of you who are from Socal. The children's section is upstairs. They have storytime (and once a month, puppet show). It is GIGANTIC!! So many books, so much fun. They have sections for books from Texas too. In the children's section, there are books like "Goodnight Austin". In the cooking area, there are cookbooks from Texas too. You can pick up souvenir books, Tshirts, etc. It's very close to Whole Foods so you can go grocery shopping afterwards. read more

Oh man what a gem! This place is just pure MAGIC. I could stand for hours in the notebook section alone. Staff and service are supreme, and there are always amazing events to go to! As an indie author, I was also super pumped that they carried my novel, The Waiting Room for awhile, in the local Texas author section! read more

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What a great store! If you've ever been to Powell's in Portland, it has very similar vibes. We went here to kill time before our flight and it was great. read more

I love Book People. They have a great selection and don't hesitate to order something in for you if they don't carry it. The staff is generally well versed and they seem to enjoy directing you to whomever has a specialty in what you're asking about, which I love. It's fun to geek out over a good book and these guys are right there with you. There's a section for almost every genre you could imagine. The prices are also equal to or not much more than online retailers. So support local and shop here! read more

BookPeople - Turkey and Havarti on wheat from the cafe. - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

Book People is just the type of independent bookstore I expect to find in Austin. Everything from its gazillion knick-knacky gifts to its quirky clothing to its awesome book selection gives off that unique Austin vibe. I don't know how it manages to do so... I can't quite pin it down... but there it is. I like browsing the whole store, but I'm particularly impressed with the children's and young adults' sections. The layout is lovely and the selection is amazing. My two younglings love it here. I thought Book People couldn't get any better until I found out that they helped sponsor a recent author visit to my son's elementary school. A local business that gives back to the community in such a tangible way -- that generous gesture alone earns them five, 24-carat gold stars. read more

The layout of this store is insane, really makes you feel like you could spend hours in here. In a great place in Austin, lots of stuff to do around it. The attention to detail is what catches your attention immediately. Only 3 stars though bc from an actual reading point of view it was very difficult to find a book that wasn't obviously politically one sided. Every genre or category in the store was heavy liberal leaning. I understand it's Austin but bookstores should do their best at keeping the information informative and non biased. Reading is about gaining information and then making up your own opinions based on facts, no one likes to read a book where the author is obviously biased towards one side only. If I'm wanting to read a book about the civil war it's because I want to read about particular instances and the chain of events that happened in that moment. Not bc I wanna know how the actions of the civil war led to Donald trump becoming president. Was just very difficult to find books that were informative and right down the middle, no political agenda just honest information. read more

I'm way overdue for a review. Book People never disappoints me. It is my favorite store and my oldest daughter loves it even more than I do (she's 11). I've been to two book signings now. You do have to buy the book there that you want signed. You can bring more books in, but you have to buy one there. For popular authors, they have a ticketing system that puts you into groups. Well, they put the wrong tickets in for our books...tickets for a book signing the week after the one we were going to. They fixed that when I (thankfully) found the error a few days before we went to the book signing. They also fixed the group we were in...we should have been A (we bought the book right when it came out) and by the time I found the mistake they were already on something like group D. So props to them for making that right. With two kids, I spend most of my time in the teen and kids section. The staff at Book People always have great suggestions. They don't have everything you could want on the shelves (the selection is excellent , however), but I have ordered from them online and picked it up at the store. So easy. I used to love coming to Book People when I lived here 20 years ago. I am pleased to see it's still here and better than ever. read more

BookPeople - Love all the knitting bombing! - Bookstores Near Me - Austin, Texas

It's nice to see a small book company. It was so fun to walk around and browse all the books. There was a lot of helpful staff and they knew their stuff. read more

I've been coming here since I was a kid back from they had the midnight Hart Potter release parties. Definitely the best bookstore in Austin, and is a place with so much authenticity and nostalgia. I love the personal touch the staff book recommendations add us the hard wood flooring and little nooks of the shelves. read more

I've been to BookPeople a couple times to browse, but I've never bought anything because everything is overpriced. The layout is spacious and clean. I stopped going, because my art teacher is an employee there and he commented about my legs in class. It made me really uncomfortable and I don't want to run into him at the store. I recently came across an event for tomorrow to host a former border patrol agent. BookPeople says his book is very important to the immigration discussion, which I disagree heavily with. I find it disgusting that he will gain a platform for border patrol apologism and profit off the suffering of immigrants. read more