One of the main activities of my Pittsburgh trip last month was a bookstore crawl.

You see, the greater Pittsburgh area is home to dozens of independent bookstores. That doesn’t count the chains like Barnes and Noble or Half Price Books.

That’s just the small guys.

On previous trips we have made a decent dent in that list of local book shops but decided to make an effort to hit a few more.

Here’s where we went:

Amazing Books and Records.

This store specializes in used books and records. In a rare instance of restraint, I didn’t find anything but my friend left with a decent stack. It has a cool vibe with smooth music, coffee brewing, and a guy behind the counter who charmed me by recommending a couple of other stores in the neighborhood. I liked his sense of community among local businesses. Visit them here.

Riverstone Books

Just down the street we explored Riverstone Books which sells basically everything I would ever want to read and some things I didn’t know I need to read. This is a delightful store with a small but mighty nonfiction section amidst a robust collection of fiction, children’s books and bookish things. They host author talks and other events that made me want to come back. There’s also a French bakery a couple of doors down, in case you need to know.

Stay Gold Books

In terms of footprint, this store is small. However, this is a carefully curated collection where it feels like every book has earned its spot on the shelf. There’s a comfy sofa and the place is run by some lovely people so I was glad to linger here. Visit them here.

Kards Unlimited

This is a cool gift shop with a fantastic selection of books. So it’s not a dedicated bookstore but that’s half the fun. Not only do they have a good mix of the popular and obscure in books, there’s jewelry, blown glass ornaments, paper goods and lots of novelty items. Visit them here.

Beyond Bedtime Books

I have written about this used bookstore before. It’s really packed in there but everything is tidy and organized and you never know what you’ll find. I picked up a like- new signed copy of a Marie Benedict book for just a few dollars. There’s a small bakery down the block with amazing brownies. In case you need to know. Read about them here.

We also stopped at a Barnes and Noble so I could pick up the new Bella Grace Field Guide which is a different story for another day. We had three more bookstores on our agenda for that day but ran out of time. I think we ran out of time because we kept stopping for brownies and macarons but that’s also a story for another day.

We have goals for next time.

In case you’re keeping track, that’s six bookstores in a day plus a seventh in Bedford. We won’t discuss all the baked goods and candy involved in this trip!