Welcome to LA: home to Hollywood, gorgeous beaches, unironic rollerblading, perfect weather, avocados––and books!
Below you will find the ultimate city guide to Los Angeles for book lovers! This infographic features the best bookstores to visit, best places to read, authors that live in the area and the quintessential YA books set Los Angeles, all curated by the Epic Reads community! (Want to print out the guide below? Click here to download the PDF!)
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Keep scrolling for links and a breakdown of this city guide to help guide you on your book nerd adventures in The City of Angels!
Author Spotting in Los Angeles
Keep an eye out for these authors while you’re out on the town, they all live here!
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Aaron Hartzler, author of What We Saw
- Elissa Sussman, author of Stray
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Tahereh Mafi, author of Shatter Me
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Leigh Bardugo, author of Six of Crows
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Victoria Aveyard, author of Red Queen
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Melissa de la Cruz, author of The Ring and the Crown
- Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
The 7 Best Bookstores in LA
The Last Bookstore: This downtown bibliophile heaven is the perfect bookstore to up your Instagram game. Rainbow bookshelves, flying books, an archway of books …prepare to be awed. It’s pure magic. Fun fact: this also the same location where Tahereh Mafi and Ransom Riggs got married! #Swoon
Diesel, A Bookstore: Located in Brentwood, this quirky indie bookstore is full of charm and love. Their YA selection is top-notch and the weekly events are definitely worth the effort it takes to venture over to the west side of town!
Skylight Books: A friendly staff, a resident cat, cool events, and a giant tree all make up this beautiful bookstore located in Los Feliz. They also have an excellent of knickknacks if you need to pick up a quick gift. (Or you could give someone the best gift of all: a book)
Barnes & Noble The Grove: Barnes & Noble is always a solid choice and this one located at The Grove is a behemoth. It has three floors of books and weekly events with some really big names. Everyone from Stan Lee to Hillary Clinton has done an event here. Make your parking worth it by wandering The Grove and keep your eyes peeled for any celebrities.
Small Worlds Books: If you’re strolling on the Venice Beach boardwalk, why not stop in Small Worlds Books and pick up something new to read before you head out to the beach? It’s a small, very cute bookstore with an excellent selection of books. Bonus: this bookstore also has a cat!
Book Soup: I know what you’re thinking. The Sunset Strip is definitely not where you’d think to go to pick up a new book but Book Soup is a quintessential LA bookstore. There are shelves and shelves of books complete with staff recommendations sprinkled throughout to help you find your next read. They also pretty much have an event every single night.
Children’s Book World: In our last Book Nerd City Guide for New York City, we profiled Books of Wonder, also a children’s books only bookstore and you can consider Children’s Book World located in Cheviot Hills the West Coast version of Books of Wonder! They have a super friendly and knowledgeable staff and their selection of YA is unbeatable.
The 5 Best Places to Read in LA
Santa Monica Beach: There’s a good reason YALLWEST, a book festival that we are sponsoring, is located here! Bring your shades and listen to the calming sound of waves as you read. It’s true what they say about California weather: it really is perfect. Clear blue skies and mountains frame the beach so you can get the best of both worlds. Third Street Promenade is also nearby for more fun.
Central Library: This is not your typical library! Gorgeously designed with multiple levels and interesting exhibits, it’s a place where you can spend hours. They have fountains, gardens, a gift store, and coffee shop. All ideal places to read a book.
The Getty: Beautiful gardens, art, and architecture, what more can you want? Admission to the museum is free(!!!!) so it’s a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. You can read among literal works of art. Pick up a coffee and a snack at the cafe outside and go read by the spiral gardens!
Descanso Gardens: Get out of LA proper and spend a leisurely day at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge and breathe the fresh air. Read a book surrounded by the beauty of nature and marvel at the flowers in bloom.
Griffith Park: A popular destination for hikers, trek it out with your book for the amazing views of LA. There’s so many things to do at the park as well such as seeing the Hollywood sign or going to the fantastic Griffith Observatory. This park is a true Californian highlight.
10 Young Adult Books Set in Los Angeles
- Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
- Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
- Legend by Marie Lu
- Exquisite Captive by Heather Demetrios
- Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
- Blackbird by Anna Carey
- Unrivaled by Alyson Noël
- L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad
- Starters by Lissa Price
- Map to the Stars by Jen Malone
What city should we create a guide for next? Tell us in the comments below! Do you live in LA and know of places and books to add to this guide? Share your recommendations below!