Fourteen independent booksellers in an inviting, walkable downtown district
Guide to the Bookstores of Portland, Maine
Portland’s bookselling community is vibrant and varied. Take it from me, your friendly, well-read, history nerd and tour guide, Dugan Murphy. Growing up in Greater Portland, I was familiar with the few bookshops we had at the time, some of which are still operating today. But the 21st century has brought us so many more bookstores than we had in the 20th! And that’s despite the concurrent rise of e-readers.
Even more exciting is the enterprising, young, and fiercely independent cadre of local bookworms driving that expansion.
Use this guide to navigate my city’s book-buying options. And ask me additional questions after you take the Hidden Histories Tour or Black History Tour with me!
This guide covers the Portland peninsula, but if you’re in the Woodford’s Corner or North Deering neighborhoods, you might enjoy stopping into Back Cove Books or Letterpress Books, respectively. I also don’t have much to say about comic books or graphic novels, but if you’re into that, look up Casablanca Comics or Coast City Comics, both located intown.
🌎 Geography
Portland is compact and walkable, so you don’t have to burn much shoe rubber to see a lot of shops. If you really want to maximize your books-per-mile experience, head to the Arts District (Congress Street between Monument Square and Longfellow Square), where a ten-minute walk will take you past nine different locations. But you can also string together all fourteen shops listed below into a pleasant, 1.7-mile (39-minute) stroll, the eastern end of which gets into areas of Washington Ave and eastern Congress Street that are buzzing with independent shops and restaurants.
When left to their own devices, tourists tend to stick around Commercial Street and the Old Port, so the only bookstore they run across is Sherman’s. If you're new to Portland, use this guide as an excuse to explore the historic parts of town more familiar to us locals. You’ll see the oldest building on the Portland peninsula, as well as a corridor of commercial blocks mostly built in the years following the electrification of the streetcar system in the 1890s.
East End
Total Loss Books
Strata
Carlson & Turner
Print
Old Port
Sherman’s
Grump & Sunshine
Arts District
Longfellow Books
Maine Historical Society gift shop
Yes Books
Strange Maine
Portland Museum of Art gift shop
Bold Magazine Shop
Novel
The Green Hand
📋 Inventory
Antiquarian, vintage, and secondhand
Total Loss Books
Carlson & Turner
Longfellow Books
Strange Maine
Yes Books
Novel
The Green Hand
Brand new books
Strata
Print
Sherman’s
Longfellow Books
Grump & Sunshine
Maine Historical Society gift shop
Portland Museum of Art gift shop
Bold Magazine Shop
The Green Hand
Themed shops
Art, design, poetry, literature: Total Loss Books
Cookbooks: Strata
Maine history: Maine Historical Society gift shop
Romance: Grump & Sunshine
Art: Portland Museum of Art gift shop
🛍️ The shops
(In order from east to west along the recommended 1.7-mile walking route)
Total Loss Books
93 Washington Ave
Look for a clump of recycled shipping containers. One of them is a bookstore! It’s operated by the former employee of a more established bookseller who preceded her in the same space. Emma went independent in January 2026, announcing she would sell “books that matter for people who care.” That makes Total Loss the newest shop on this list. Expect more of an artsy/design-related selection compared to the others. It’s the place to go if you need a gift for the architect or urban planning student in your life. Everything in stock has been loved by at least one previous owner.
Strata
67 Washington Ave
The owners of Strata describe the place as a kitchen supply store, but like half of the place is cookbooks, so I’m including it here. True to their stated purpose, they have some of the most beautiful knives I’ve ever seen. And they sharpen knives on site! But if you want some bound cooking ideas, there are lots of different themes on offer. Same goes for The Post Supply directly next door. The theme of that place is home, body, and clothing items, but that includes a decent number of cookbooks.
Both shops were carved (a pun, yes!) into the 1924 J.J. Nissen industrial bakery that closed in 1999. The building now features multiple storefronts and offices.
Carlson & Turner Antiquarian Books and Bookbindery
241 Congress St
I can’t imagine Portland without Carlson & Turner. It’s where all the good stuff is. Now, they’re not open as much as some of the other shops on this list, so plan accordingly. But if you appreciate a classic antiquarian bookshop, this is the place. I always go straight to the Maine section, but there are so many nooks and corners to explore, as well as old maps, postcards, photographs, and prints you don’t see at the other shops. And if the gate is open, maybe pop across the street and walk around Eastern Cemetery while you’re there. It’s Portland’s oldest burying ground, established 1688!
Print: A Bookstore
273 Congress St
Print is a bookstore for readers who like to keep up with the latest publications on prescient topics. There’s always a stack of special orders awaiting their new owners by the new-arrivals table. It’s the kind of place where the staff pick out their favorites and put together special displays on prescient topics like Black History Month or conflict between Israel and Palestine. There are a few puzzles, t-shirts, and stickers mixed in, but the place is mostly made of brand new books. And it's only the only shop on the list with a legit zine section!
Print is located in what used to be a neighborhood made vibrant by immigrants arriving around the turn of the 20th century: Jews from Russia and eastern Europe, as well as folks who fled the most impoverished parts of southern Italy.
Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop
49 Exchange St
Sherman’s is the only shop on here that is part of a chain; it’s also the oldest, having started in Bar Harbor in 1886. They’ve since expanded to multiple locations around the state. The Portland location is in the heart of the Old Port on Exchange Street, so prepare to get distracted by a new storefront every twelve feet or so. For that reason, this one probably sees more tourist traffic than all the others. In the back of Sherman’s is a small board game section as well. All the books are new.
Longfellow Books
1 Monument Way
Think of your classic, rock-solid local bookshop that’s been there as long as anyone in middle age can remember, steadfastly providing the community with a mix of new and used content for adults and kids through the many ups and downs of the literary economy. Where people bring in used books for store credit. That’s Longfellow Books, named of course for the man who grew up in what is now a museum on the other side of Monument Square. If you finally get that book published that you’ve been working on for the last decade, you’d hope to be invited to host your release party here. And if you're into falafel, Nura’s right next door.
Grump & Sunshine
40 Free St
This one is the most specific in its offerings—they only offer romance literature. Like, just romance. Browse by section: fantasy romance, LQBTQ+ romance, kink romance, paranormal romance, historical romance, or monster romance. Grump & Sunshine moved to Portland from Belfast in October 2025.
You wouldn’t know it now, but this shop is located in the middle of what used to be the heart of Portland’s Chinatown. While you’re on Free Street, consider looking up the self-guided tour posted on the website of the Chinese & American Friendship Association of Maine.
Maine Historical Society gift shop
489 Congress St
Maine Historical Society is right in the middle of downtown and the door from the sidewalk leads right into the gift shop. They’re not limited to books, but depending on the year, they offer more books than anything else. And surprise! they focus pretty well on Maine history. Which is not to say you won’t find a book or two about Maine written by a non-historian.
But if you are into history, consider taking a few minutes to explore their gallery (a new exhibit every year) and/or take a guided tour of the 1785 Wadsworth-Longfellow House to see where you-know-who grew up. They can also tell you about their historical walking tour guide. That’s me! I’m the official MHS tour partner (as in, the Hidden Histories Tour and Black History Tour I mentioned above).
Strange Maine
578 Congress St
So Strange Maine is not a bookstore. They’re more of a record store than anything else, but they do have a decent little book section. And hey, you’re already walking along this part of Congress Street anyway to get from Maine Historical Society to Yes Books. Strange Maine’s selection covers a few different topics, but if they do anything really well, it’s Stephen King. For a few bucks, you can walk away with an armload of old (but not old enough to be vintage) paperbacks from the last century.
Yes Books
589 Congress St
You open the door and are immediately confronted with stacks of books in front of stacks of books with a guy you can’t see seated behind them who raises his head from the book he’s reading: “let me know if you have any questions.” That’s this place—a labyrinth of secondhand, vintage, and antique books on every subject. The gem you never knew existed is in there; you just need to find it! By moving the books in front of it so you can see. Located in Congress Square across from the Portland Museum of Art.
Portland Museum of Art gift shop
7 Congress Square
Like I don't know if you've noticed, but museum gift shops are basically bookstores. What's not a book is mostly a puzzle, a calendar, or a greeting card. Like a bookshop! The stock rotates as their exhibits rotate, of course. And expect mostly pictures – not so heavy on the text in these books.
If you’re tromping around the museum while you’re there, find The Dead Pearl Diver. It was the museum’s first acquisition in 1888, and it’s still their best. I’m also a big fan of the Bernard Langlais sculptures on the top floor. But if you're there just for the gift shop, they won't make you pay admission or anything.
Bold Magazine Shop
604 Congress St
So, yes. Magazines are not books. But these magazines aren't stapled rags like Newsweek and Better Homes & Gardens. This place does mostly thick, quarterly, perfect-bound, local, international, and independent publications. Artsy stuff and the like. It's a small space, so you probably won't spend much time in there unless you get in a good conversation with Stacy or find a good article to read. They carry around 150 titles!
Novel
643 Congress St
This place is huge, but that’s because it’s more of a bar, coffee shop, hangout space, and event venue than a bookstore. But books they do sell! The walls are covered with shelves. If you’re hitting the shops along Congress Street in the Arts District, pop in and see if any of the secondhand goods are for you. Just don’t expect a lot of organization. Feel free to grab a snack, read one of the books, or borrow a board game off the shelf.
The Green Hand
661 Congress St
Steps from the 1888 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow monument in his eponymous square, you’ll find The Green Hand. Founded by Maine College of Art grad and celebrated author, Michelle Souliere, it’s full of antiques and vintage classics, though she has plenty of new titles as well. As the business name indicates, Michelle’s into the weird stuff, having authored two books herself: Bigfoot in Maine and Strange Maine: True Tales from the Pine Tree State. The International Cryptozoology Museum started in her back office, years before it moved into its own space out to Thompson’s Point. It’s kind of the halfway point between the spacious new shops and crowded old ones, with a Maine folklore flavor.
