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It’s a bookstore kind of day.

// June 23rd, 2009 // Books

Coming off a rocking week headlined by the party exhaustion that accompanied the North by Northeast music festival, what better way to refresh then to introduce a serene new column by Grade Scool contributor Nick Staudt.

Nick is going to do you all an educational solid once a week and take a look at a book store or art gallery off the beaten path here in Toronto. Do yourself a favour and go pick up a book, take a read, relax the body, refresh the mind.

This first review takes a look at College Street’s Balfour Books.

Balfour Books

If the colorful display of books in the front window doesn’t draw you in, the aroma most definitely will. Any lover of old books will pick up the unlikely scent combination of dust and pages both in impeccable moderation. The store is relatively quiet, aside from the shuffling of feet and the turn of pages. Balfour is a wondrous and engaging way to whittle away an evening with sharp words and an equally charming atmosphere. The prices of books are decent, in general for new books, about half the price of the compromising variety of the larger chains. On top of this paperbacks, art books, literature on fashion, music, culture theory and fiction are all at very reasonable prices.

The store is organized in enough of a manner that you can plot a general direction, but with just enough chaos present that you can be surprised but inspired by a random acquisition. The store hours are suitable to all traffic, from lunchtime visitors to afternoon passers, after dinner crowds and late night strolls down College, any day of the week.

Hours Open 7 days a week Noon – 11Pm
Location: 601 College Street, at Clinton (416 531 9911)

Best Find:

B is for Beer; A Children’s Book for Grown Ups;
A Grown-up Book for Children
by Tom Robbins

Quote of Interest:

“She meant what she said, but even as she downsized the sundae, she caught
herself wondering what vinegar eels actually look like, and how they would
react if one day a reincarnated Uncle Moe showed up in their midst.”

- Pg. 41. Robbins, Tom. B is for Beer, 2009 HarperCollins