Celebrating The “Last Book Store” In Los Angeles!

One year, my wife Alex made my birthday a week long celebration of “all new” LA experiences, and that included our first ever trip to downtown LA’s legendary “Last Book Store!”

Here’s a bit of history about this iconic store:

The Last Bookstore is California’s largest used and new book and record store, opened in 2005 in a loft in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. 

Here’s a shot of the massive first floor, taken from the second floor…oh, and here are the really cool and very helpful stairs that take you up there!

The Store’s “Ironic” Name!

It has grown since then to 22,000 square feet, a softly lit labyrinthine collection of books and records, with space for literary, musical and theatrical events.

When Owner Josh Spencer opened The Last Bookstore in downtown Los Angeles, he thought it was going to fail because of the declining state of the book industry. 

That’s why he chose the ironic name!

Alex and I explored the entire store, and left with two bags full of books and used record albums as well – we could have stayed all day just exploring the unique features of the store, like their “book tunnel!”

Exploring The “Book Tunnel!”

Yes, it was still a time of masking as a precaution – pics like this become a “time capsule”, don’t they?

On the second floor of the store is the iconic “book tunnel”, a carefully constructed arc of literature!

I can only imagine it’s the most photographed spot in the store! I found this shot online, credited to “Stuff In LA” and it’s a great shot indeed! Thanks you for capturing it so well!

There are so many inventive touches, like a room with unique angles and books!

You can spend hours in here and not even shop! The store is filled with unique nooks and crannies – this surrealistic library shelf, and of course, the secret “book vault!”

Yes, this real bank vault door leads to a collection of rare first editions – not for sale as much as for show – a love letter to the printed page!

There are rare books everywhere, and yes, Alex perused them all while wearing her special “bunny ears” hat – it was a cold and rainy day in LA!

The “danger room” housed edgier fare, from more controversial writers and artists…everywhere you look there is something for everyone in this great store!

This was just one of the magical adventures Alex had for me – I showed you the view from the top of The Hollywood Sign, which we hiked to as well:

The view is spectacular, and if you want to see how difficult it is to make it to the top, just click on my story here:

If all of this Hollywood history makes you hungry, make a reservation to eat at Hollywood’s oldest and most famous restaurant!

Musso & Frank is over a hundred years old, and even has its own star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame!

Click here to see why they have the best Martini is the city!

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Here’s to more great L.A. adventures to come and thanks for visiting The Last Book Store!

Categories: Art, Books / Media, Exotic Travel, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, True Hollywood Mystery

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