If you’ve never been to The Spiral Bookcase, you should make plans to head to Manayunk as soon as you can to visit. I first found out about this charming used bookstore last semester, but it has quickly become my favorite place to go in Manayunk. It is located at 112 Cotton St. in Manayunk, right off the main drive. Its location almost makes it feel like a secret, enough so that when you finally walk in you feel a little proud that you stumbled upon such a place.
As you enter the store you immediately notice the stacks upon stacks of books. Personally, I wasn’t aware that it was actually a used bookstore until my third time visiting – the books are all in great condition, and they even have books that were recently published. If you’re a big reader, you most likely will usually find yourself putting books back on the shelf because of the price, but at the Spiral Bookcase, you won’t have to worry about that. This makes it the perfect place to finally buy the book you’ve been eyeing, if they happen to have it.
Because of the sheer number of books that they have, you might not even notice the side room when you first come to the shop. However, this side room contains my favorite part of the bookstore: Amelia, their resident cat. Amelia is a gentle calico who loves to hop into the laps of whoever sits down in one of the chairs in her room. This room is also dedicated to all things mystical and mysterious, a trademark theme of The Spiral Bookcase. Here you can find books about voodoo and witchcraft, as well as old philosophy readings and books on astronomy. Even if you aren’t immediately interested in one of those things, it’s still worth looking at. It is one of the most unique book collections I have ever found and I always make sure to check it out every time I stop in.
While these reasons are probably enough to convince you to go to The Spiral Bookcase, another one is that they hold special events for the public to go to. Their most recent event was called “Brunch with a Book”, which was for Valentine’s Day. I heard about it when I visited the store in January and quickly RSVP’d on their Facebook page so that I wouldn’t miss anything. The idea was to have a “blind date with a book” after either donating your own used one or paying $3 to receive your new book. Each “blind date” book was wrapped beautifully in brown paper, tied up with pretty string, and stamped with a wax seal. They were displayed on a table of brunch items: donuts, pastries, banana bread, and mimosas. This set-up allowed you to snack on whatever you wanted (my favorite were the donuts) while searching through the store for new finds as well as picking up a wrapped book. The wrapped books were my favorite part of the event – unwrapping them felt like Christmas morning! Neither book I received was one that I probably would have picked out on my own, but I’m now excited to read both.
So the next time you’re looking for something to do – or just miss your cat from home – I would recommend heading over to The Spiral Bookcase. It’s charming, unique, and a great place to search for your next read. In the meantime, make sure to look for them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and visit their website!