Mexico City Bookstores
I know that Mexico City bookstores is not the first thing that comes to mind when you are searching for things to do in the capital, but everyone has something they love to do when they visit a new city and I happen to love seeking out great bookstores. In general, I don’t like to buy a ton of souvenirs, especially heavy ones, but, what can I say, I’m a total sucker for books. I often carry a foldable duffle bag in my carry-on just in case I want to check a bag full of books, which I did in New York and New Orleans, and came close to doing in Cuba and Colombia. In Mexico, I restrained myself a bit, but I still ended up visiting a few notable Mexico City bookstores. If you’re a book nerd, I highly recommend hitting up a few of these places.
Mexico City Bookstores
All but one of the bookstores I visited were in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City, making it easier to hit them all in the same day.
Librería Através del Espejo
Avenida Álvaro Obregón 118, Roma Nte
06700 Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico
+52 55 5264 0246
Librería Através del Espejo was my first stop of the day. It was overflowing with books, which is exactly how I like my used bookstores. They had a bargain bin out front and a fairly well-organized collection. It was a good mix of bargains and antique/rare books. The English section isn’t huge, but certainly worth perusing. I had my eye on some pocket poetry books, but, unfortunately, they were only selling them in sets of 12, which was too expensive for my budget. They also have a bookstore cat, who has his own Instagram. I was all about petting that bookish beauty until I hit a section of the store that had a faint smell of cat pee. I still grabbed a couple of (fresh smelling) books, but it certainly seemed like Gunther the cat had shown his disapproval of some of the collection by urinating on it. Nonetheless, I’m still glad I made this stop.
Librería el Ático
Av. Alvaro Obregon 118, Roma Nte.
06700 Ciudad de México, Mexico
+52 55 5584 7627
This was an easy choice because it’s literally right next door to Librería Através del Espejo. I thoroughly enjoyed their selection of coffee table books, pictured above. I truly wanted to purchase Piropos, which is a book of horrible cat-calls in Spanish, printed over gorgeous photographs. Imagine a field of blooming flowers, with something like “hey girl, you got any rice to go with all that meat?” written over it. It included cat-calls from a variety of Spanish speaking countries, so it was a well-rounded piece of art. Sadly, it was outside my budget seeing as it was a brand new hardcover. If anyone wants to buy me a gift, please find me that book.
I spent a good amount of time browsing the stacks and came out with a couple of Spanish language poetry books. It was a nice mix of old and new and, much like its neighboring shop, embodied the “dusty, crowded, and full of knowledge” vibe I so love in a bookstore.
Cafebrería el Péndulo
Cuauhtémoc, Av. Álvaro Obregón 86, Roma Nte.
06140 Ciudad de México, Mexico
+52 55 5574 7034
Péndulo is a chain and only sells new books, but I decided to pop in anyway because it was walking distance from my first two stops. As an added bonus, this location is known as Cafebreria el Péndulo, “Cafebreria” being a mash up of the words for cafe and bookstore. I took advantage of the fancier shop by using the bathroom and soaking up some sweet air conditioning. It seemed to be a popular location for meetings, study groups, and people working on laptops. I was determined not to buy any new books, but then I saw a book of poetry written from the perspective of a dog, in Spanish. I mean, come on. How could I resist that? Here’s the poem from the back of Podría Morder Esto (This one could bite) by Francesco Marciuliano, along with my rough translation below:
My next stop wasn’t quite walking distance, so I grabbed an Uber to get me in the general area of Librería el Urbe which is located at San Luis Potosí 105, Roma Nte., 06700 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico. Unfortunately, it was inexplicably closed. There were books outside and the door was half open, but locked. I tried to get a bite to eat and then went back to check again, but it remained closed so I had to jump into another Uber to get to my final stop of the day.
Librería Porrúa Bosque de Chapultepec
Av. Paseo de la Reforma S/N, Bosque de Chapultepec I Sección
11580 Miguel Hidalgo, CDMX, Mexico
+52 55 5212 2242
Liberería Porrúa is another bookstore chain, but this location is special because it is inside the Chapultepec Forest and there is literally a tree growing right through it. The books were new, but you could find some decent bargains. This bookstore also had a really impressive kids section and I came very close to purchasing a set of illustrated Harry Potter books in Spanish, but I managed to get myself under control. The store is semi-open air and on one side it opens up right onto a lake. You can order coffee, buy a book, and then sit lakeside while you read. That’s pretty amazing.
I really wish I would have had more time to hang out at this store so I could have enjoyed the patio. The store also sits at the beginning of a nice walking path, but by this point I was carrying several bags of books, so a leisurely stroll was out of the question. I purchased a book about True Crime in Mexico and called it a day.
I only had a few days in Mexico City, but I still think that dedicating an entire day to browsing Mexico City bookstores was time well spent!
Do you spend time in bookstores no matter where you are? Tell me about your favorite bookstores around the world so I can add them to my list!
