Op-Ed: Eliot's Bookshop, a little bookstore in a big city Special

In Woody Allen’s 1980s motion picture “Hannah and Her Sisters”, two characters are in a used bookstore and one of them says, “I love this bookstore. You can spend hours reading in here and not buy anything at all.” Well, that’s exactly how I feel about Eliot’s Bookshop, which is a used bookstore that buys and sells large quantities of books. Ever since I was in junior high, I would go to that store and just discover all these different authors from Dostoevsky to Pushkin to Voltaire to Dante without having to fork over my entire allowance or paycheck. When I entered high school and then onto University, I would consistently skip class to either read in the washroom or go to Eliot’s. Nowadays, I am still a customer and I consistently buy books on a monthly basis from them. Eliot’s Bookshop is a little store tucked in between a leather paraphernalia store and a Japanese restaurant at the corner of Yonge Street and Wellesley Street. The store has three floors filled with books ranging from classic literature to history to psychology to science (all my favorite subjects) and at low prices, especially compared to a store like Indigo or Chapters.

Andrew Moran

A little gem of a bookstore in downtown Toronto, which has been the second of home of this Digital Journalist.

As an example, over the summer I was looking for Erich von Daniken’s “Chariots of the Gods” and each major bookstore charged between $20 and $30 but one day I entered Eliot’s and found it for $2.99. Another time I was searching for a cheap version of Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice” and, once again, all the top-of-the-line stores charged between $15 and $45 but Eliot’s did not fail me. “Death in Venice” was $3.99 at Eliot’s and that copy even had other short stories attached to it. Tony Lee, an avid reader and fan of the Russian classics, told Digital Journal that the only bookstores he goes to are Eliot’s and BMV and he also feels he's back in the 1930s because Eliot's has a nostalgic feeling, "only place you can escape in toronto."

Andrew Moran

A little gem of a bookstore in downtown Toronto, which has been the second of home of this Digital Journalist.

For years now, Eliot’s Bookshop has been my home away from home and has given me everything I need and desire: books, knowledge, information and even shelter. Yes, shelter. I highly recommend anyone who has a love for books to visit Eliot’s Bookshop. One could even call it one big love affair. For me, Eliot’s Bookshop is now synonymous with a Puccini opera, a Miles Davis tune or a Bach concerto.