Green Bay Bookstore Crawl

I have a rather long commute to work, and when people ask me why I don’t move to the city where I work, I joke that I could never live in a city that can’t sustain a bookstore. Honestly, it’s half a joke. (The other not-so-jokey part is how expensive said city is, especially since it is closer in size to a small town than a big city.) How a city with a large university within its borders and a community college a few miles away can’t keep a bookstore, I will never understand. (Or a local coffee shop, for that matter.)

Meanwhile, in Green Bay, we have several book shops (and many great local coffee shops as you’ll see in the coming weeks). While we do indeed have a B&N, and yes, I have been there many times, I do prefer to shop local whenever I can. My go to is Lion’s Mouth, but I know that this city has several other spots, and I decided to use this series of GB-related blog posts as an excuse to visit these other shops, too.

Originally known as The Reader’s Loft located in Bellevue, the store reopened in November 2019 under new ownership with a new name and a new downtown location. Lion’s Mouth (and The Reader’s Loft before it) has been my favorite bookshop in Green Bay for a long time. They have a plethora of events that include everything from story time for kids to author readings/Q&As to a number of book clubs you can join and story time for the kids. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend checking them out.

My first encounter with this bookstore/café was during college my freshman year. I was in a creative writing workshop course, and the class was so large that the professor offered to meet a smaller group downtown for more workshop time. I jumped at the opportunity. At that time, the café had run down couches (I always felt like my butt was on the floor) and shelves upon shelves of used books. I loved it. These days, the furniture has all been replaced, though the shelves still line the walls.

This is a used book shop – and I honestly can’t believe I’d never been here before! (I will definitely be back.) While I was looking around, I overheard a customer who had brought in some of their own used books to ‘sell’. I had recently boxed up some books to donate, and they were still sitting in my car, so I inquired about the process. I brought in one of the boxes (the others had hardcovers and textbooks, which they don’t buy), and she flipped through them. For each book they take, you get up to 15% of the original price (listed on the cover) worth of store credit. You can use that to get discounts on books you buy – which are all priced at half the cover price or four bucks (whichever is more). If you have credit, you pay half the cost (so 25% of the cover price) and can use credit for the rest (if you have enough, of course – otherwise your out-of-pocket is higher). The credit doesn’t expire. Also, they have a stamp card – buy ten books, get one free. (They had a pretty stellar children’s/YA section.)

I included this on my list partly because I’d never been there before, but also because I think it’s good to have a comic shop on a bookstore list. Comics are stories, too – and it shouldn’t matter how we consume stories. The store is large, and I could see someone easily spend hours flipping through all the boxes of comics. (I had hoped to see more graphic novels – most of the ones I saw were Marvel/DC related, of course.) Will definitely go back and peruse when I have more time.

I debated not including this because (after visiting, I realized) it’s a shop with something for everyone – except if you are looking for books. The shop is a thrift store (which I assumed given the name – but it appears on all the GB bookshop lists, so I thought maybe they had a used book section). It’s a series of ‘booths’ that people can display their items for sale. There were some books scattered throughout, and I’m sure the number fluctuates, but if you are looking to have yourself a bookshop crawl, this isn’t the place. However, if you are looking for odds and ends, it’s a fun place to wander through.

I originally had a sixth stop during my bookstore crawl, but despite being there during their posted open hours, the shop was closed. I reached out via Facebook (there is no phone number available on the website or elsewhere) to inquire if the shop is indeed in operation, but I never heard back. (The lawn looked like it hadn’t been cut in a long time, so I’m guessing closed meant closed-closed). I’m bummed as it was a combo book shop and gallery, and that sounds like my kind of place.

Make sure you check websites or call ahead to verify if hours have changed.