City of Readers: The Book Lover's Guide to Portland

by Gabriel H. Boehmer

Portland has a love affair with books. Each day thousands of residents and visitors seek out the city'ss literary offerings to spend their leisure in the company of books and other readers. City of Readers brings together all the elements--bookstores, libraries, landmarks, authors, events, and titles--that create the ideal climate to experience the written word in Portland, Oregon.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference

179 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2007

Reviews

[J. Allen Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful at this point more for historical data than up-to-date info on the bookstores of this great literary city. Still a useful guide for anyone, such as myself, who is not from the area and wants to check out the literary wonders of the city.

[Douglas Marler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little dated(already! : [ ). Still great with lots of secrets.

[Bridget Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I'm leaving for college in a few months, I've suddenly become obsessed with everything Portland. This book fed the addiction. Now, in addition to my Birkenstocks and my Wordstock poster, I have "City of Readers," the quintessential guide for bookreaders in Portland. Boehmer lists his favorite places to read, describes in detail Portland's countless independent bookstores (other than Powell's), names Portland author after Portland author... and once again, I found the cover art altogether adorable. (P.S. Chuck Palahniuk is a GOD.)

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this as a reference book for a recent visit to Portland, a city I lived in years ago. City of Readers is a pretty good overview of what's available and I certainly used the information within its covers (the reason for my 4-star rating), but it could do with an updated re-issue: some locations are gone, hours have changed for others. Nice conversational format.

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bittersweet read. Portland's literary landscape sure has changed since this was first published. By the time I moved to the City of Readers, some of the bookstores were already closing. Now there have been even more closures but fortunately some new bookstores bringing new life into the scene. I really want an updated edition!

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad recommendations for places to read in Portland. Chain stores? Public Transit? Do this person even live here?
Well, excellent references to the IPRC, and a good list of "Takes place in Portland" books.

[Melody · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a difference a couple of years makes. Some of the bookstores referenced in this book are gone, which I suppose is the nature of bookstores, but it was sad to read about some absent friends. There are some fun lists in here, but overall it's fairly facile. Nice resource lists, though.

[Donovan Mattole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick overview of the Portland book scene

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for people who are new to Portland, moderately entertaining to those who aren't.