The James Street Bookseller

The James Street Bookseller The James Street Bookseller is home to a wide variety of books, curios and fountain pens. Ask about our book exchange and our gorgeous rental space!

“People open shops in order to sell things, they hope to become busy so that they will have to enlarge the shop, then to...
04/04/2026

“People open shops in order to sell things, they hope to become busy so that they will have to enlarge the shop, then to sell more things, and grow rich, and eventually not have to come into the shop at all. Isn’t that true? But are there other people who open a shop with the hope of being sheltered there, among such things as they most value - the yarn or the teacups or the books - and with the idea only of making a comfortable assertion? They will become a part of the block, a part of the street, part of everybody’s map of the town, and eventually of everybody’s memories. They will sit and drink coffee in the middle of the morning, they will get out the familiar bits of tinsel at Christmas, they will wash the windows in spring before spreading out the new stock. Shops, to these people, are what a cabin in the woods might be to somebody else - a refuge and a justification.” 

— Alice Munro, Carried Away: A Personal Selection of Stories

It’s time to turn the page and say farewell to the many friends I have made over the years at the James Street Bookseller, my refuge, my justification. Thank you all for your support over the years, it has been my great joy to serve you. Please join me in welcoming the new owner of the bookshop, Josiah Nahwegahbow!

“All that is gold does not glitter… “J. R. R. TolkienValentino Garemi German made specialty brushes are just the thing f...
07/06/2024

“All that is gold does not glitter… “

J. R. R. Tolkien

Valentino Garemi German made specialty brushes are just the thing for caring for your precious treasures. Available in store or online.

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”Ernest Hemingway
05/16/2024

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

Ernest Hemingway

It’s Independent Bookstore Day! Spend $50 and receive a $10 gift certificate towards your next purchase!
04/27/2024

It’s Independent Bookstore Day! Spend $50 and receive a $10 gift certificate towards your next purchase!

“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits of al...
02/19/2024

“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!” Scrooge repeated, as he scrambled out of bed. “The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. Oh Jacob Marley! Heaven, and the Christmas Time be praised for this! I say it on my knees, old Jacob; on my knees!”
— Charles Dickens

Heads up folks! Appointments will not be available until Thursday this week, however online order pickups can still be arranged.

🎄

“I got a dollar in my pocketThere ain't a cloud up aboveI got a picture in a locketThat says 'Baby, I love you'”
11/19/2023

“I got a dollar in my pocket
There ain't a cloud up above
I got a picture in a locket
That says 'Baby, I love you'”

Bernard : [grabs a book at random] “This one's good, you'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll change your life!”Bernard Black, Bl...
10/26/2023

Bernard : [grabs a book at random] “This one's good, you'll laugh, you'll cry, it'll change your life!”

Bernard Black, Black Books

“There is some confusion as to what magic actually is. I think this can be cleared up if you just look at the very earli...
10/14/2023

“There is some confusion as to what magic actually is. I think this can be cleared up if you just look at the very earliest descriptions of magic. Magic in its earliest form is often referred to as “the art”. I believe this is completely literal. I believe that magic is art and that art, whether it be writing, music, sculpture, or any other form is literally magic. Art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words, or images, to achieve changes in consciousness. The very language about magic seems to be talking as much about writing or art as it is about supernatural events. A grimmoir for example, the book of spells is simply a fancy way of saying grammar. Indeed, to cast a spell, is simply to spell, to manipulate words, to change people's consciousness. And I believe that this is why an artist or writer is the closest thing in the contemporary world that you are likely to see to a Shaman.”

Alan Moore

“At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspiratio...
10/13/2023

“At night, when the objective world has slunk back into its cavern and left dreamers to their own, there come inspirations and capabilities impossible at any less magical and quiet hour. No one knows whether or not he is a writer unless he has tried writing at night.”

H. P. Lovecraft

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lot...
10/12/2023

“What an astonishing thing a book is. It's a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you're inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic."

Carl Sagan

Address

134 James Street South
Hamilton, ON
L8P2Z4

Opening Hours

Tuesday 1pm - 8pm
Wednesday 1pm - 8pm
Thursday 1pm - 8pm
Friday 1pm - 6pm
Saturday 12pm - 6pm

Telephone

+19052961251

Website

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