Head House Books

When I moved here I had a huge independent-​bookstore-​shaped-​hole in my life. I went to pretty much every bookstore in Philly to try and fill the void, and this was far and away the best one. If you’re looking for the instant gratification of asking for something very specific and getting it right away, this is probably not the right place for you – it’s small, so the on-​site stock is limited. However, this means that what they do have in the store is well-​curated and easy to find, and they’ll order anything you’d like and give you a call when it comes in. I’m don’t have kids, but do have an appreciation for children’s books, and their kids section is incredible.
The best way to describe this store is cozy, or the kind of place you’d want to be on a snow day. Everyone who works there is warm and friendly, and it’s perfectly acceptable to browse for as long as you want or sit and read for a little. I also love this store’s commitment to the neighborhood – I live around the corner, and they recently included a coupon for the store in my small neighborhood newsletter. Please try to buy from here whenever possible!

This is an amazing book store. My children and I have spent many hours getting lost in books here and it has been a key in developing their love of reading. It is a truly magical place!

I’m someone who believes in supporting local businesses whenever possible and Head House Books is the perfect example as to why. The staff was friendly and helpful; they genuinely seemed to appreciate my business.
But the thing that really struck me was that while I was in the store, a woman came in looking to browse for a very specific genre of book. One of the gentlemen in the store — whom I believe might be the owner — indicated that they didn’t have much of what she was looking for, but suggested a nearby store that specialized in the subject. I think that really speaks volumes to the type of place this is.
As someone else mentioned, they have a membership club where once you spend $ 100, you get $ 7.
I’ll definitely be back.

I absolutely adore this place. From the second you walk in everything is warm and welcoming. The lighting, the décor, the staff.
I just came in to browse because I’d been looking for an independent bookstore and had checked a few out. Head House Books is by far my favorite. They have a pretty diverse selection from bestsellers to more obscure art and philosophy books. The woman working while I was there was really friendly and we had a short conversation about the book I was buying, but what struck me more was that she took about 10 minutes to help this group of people from out of town figure out how to use septa. There were other customers in the store browsing, but she focused on helping these folks, and it really gave me a good look at the type of place this is.
They also have a pretty sweet discount if you’re a member/​friend of the store — $ 7 towards your next book once you spend $ 100. I haven’t run into many independent local businesses who offer any sort of membership reward like that, so it was a nice surprise.
I truly enjoyed my experience here and definitely plan on returning often.

I don’t write Unilocal reviews. Not purely out of laziness, and not entirely because my fingers are too big for my phone screen, but probably a mixture of the two. That leads to my reviews probably being viewed as outliers, but I just feel the need to tell someone about this, so here goes– My experience at this place was not only pleasant, but impactful. I came in and was greeted genuinely by a man I came to know as Rick. I am assuming he was an owner based on the amount of care and interest paid to my search despite the obscurity of the subject matter I was searching for. This, of course is what we’d hope for in a small local business fighting the uphill battle against both technology and corporate giants, but again, it wasn’t orchestrated, it felt as if he was genuinely happy to see me and genuinely interested in my search. He had dropped what he was doing by this point, and was searching his database for titles and keywords to no avail. My subconscious had already drifted to ‘welp, i’ll just hit ‘order’ on my Amazon cart that has these 4 books, but it was worth a shot’. He said he was going to order the one title regardless if I came back or not, and urged me not to feel obligated to come back and take it. I figured I would, but convenience is awfully tempting; I was (at least in my head) on the fence. The door opened amid our conversation to show a rough-​looking man I recognized from around the neighborhood, often asking for spare change outside 7 – 11. He was polite in his method for interjecting into the conversation, but I could feel the mood shift a tad, or maybe that’s just what i’d come to expect in 2014. (Paraphrasing): The man at the door asked if he could ‘do that thing’ again and the two went back and forth for a bit, disagreeing about when the last time he stopped by actually was. The owner smirked and said ‘i thought we agreed on every 2 weeks?’ The man at the door replied with a tad of intensity ‘but i need to do it today!’ The owner smiled and shook his head, ‘Alright, you can do it today’. The owner and I finished our conversation and I left the store. Outside, I saw the man from inside the door, broom in hand, sweeping the front of the store and assisting in preparing the store to close for the night. ‘You have a good night, now’ the man said to me as I closed the door behind me.
I don’t know if it is the society we live in today, or my preconceived notions of what certain neighborhoods in Philadelphia are like, but I anticipated that exchange going completely different. I’ve SEEN this type of interaction go completely different in San Francisco and NYC. What I saw tonight was a local store owner essentially lose money, sure. But he did so by offering a fellow Philadelphian, who was down and out, the opportunity to earn an honest dollar. He invested that money back into his community. With that investment, I now officially (well as of next week) get my books from Head House Books. I’ll pay the 10% more than online retailers (guessing), huff and puff the 4 extra blocks past my doorstep where Amazon drops their packages, and i’ll know that my money is going into the pocket of a man who actively weaves good deeds into the fabric of this city.

Where to begin? First and foremost, head house books exudes Philly Charm. It’s cute, quaint, yet very practical. The inventory is not prohibited by its independent status and instead contains titles of interest for the tourist and Philadelphian alike. The children books are great gifts and abundant and the employee working was knowledgable and very interested in what they carried. I will be visiting this store each time I am in town going forward to support their obvious Commitment to books and literature in the most pleasant way possible. ⁵⁄₅.

I love cute little bookstores. Don’t get me wrong — I do love B&N but sometimes it can be a little too crowded and overwhelming.
I like that I can quickly pick up a book for myself and my son without having to spend hours looking for the perfect book. I also love that they staff there are knowledgeable about what is in stock and can give great recommendation.
Oh and upon reading other reviews, I’ll definitely have to check out their story time!

Small locally owned independent bookstore in the heart of Headhouse Square. While the space itself is small, it is well-​organized and offers a wide selection of books in a variety of genres. I was very happy to see a Paddington Bear plushie sitting in an armchair right by the window, so naturally, I got a picture of him, and no one in the store made a fuss about it. So if you’re not a slave to your e-​reader or need to find a tangible copy of a book, give this shop a chance… you could leave pleasantly surprised!

Great independent bookstore. Why get a gift card to Target when you can get introduce friends to a unique shop with a friendly owner and wonderful staff. I attended a book signing the artist Charlie Santori who drew a small picture on the title page for our kids. Highly recommended.

I have been compiling a long list of new books I’d like to start reading. Finally I was able to visit here earlier today and check it out. I was just looking around and seeing what they had, and the woman behind the counter (her name was Claire) asked if I needed any help and we just started having a really nice conversation about good books that are out currently. She didn’t have any books that I wanted, but kindly put the one book I wanted on order for me (no charge) so I could pick it up in a few days.
It’s a friendly environment, very relaxing and you can just walk around as long as you want without feeling pressured or rushed to choose something. I will for sure be coming in here more often.

Great bookstore. Wonderful ambiance, friendly staff. They could improve the children’s selection slightly, but that’s my only complaint.

Love this little store. Their selection is thoughtfully stocked, the folks who work there are knowledgeable, friendly and so helpful. I’ll admit to more than once realizing I needed a gift ASAP, called to ask for a recommendation en route and had it waiting for me when I got there. Free gift wrapping just rounds out the awesomeness.
They also have storytime Friday at 11am (I think Wednesday also?). The back area is perfect for my little one who is in love with pulling books down and flipping through them. Claire read through probably 8 – 10 books, all fun and many I’d never heard of and had to make mental notes about checking out later. The crowd ranged from a few months to a couple years, it was a fun time, and they were totally cool with us hanging out afterward.

ahhhhhhdorable, small bookstore that has like all the new released books and a cozy back corner where I could sit with my imaginary toddler while we read stories.
it’s the place you cross your fingers that online bookstores don’t become too popular and drive little places like this out of business. :-/

This is a great, cozy independent bookstore. They have a great selection of suggested books towards the front the of store and a cozy window seat complete with coffee, I believe. This is a good place to shop if you like to browse a bit, without being overwhelmed by titles.

There’s something magical about the way a little bookstore smells. You can’t replicate it in big-​box chains, not really. A little shop like this has that distinct smell of old paper, vague wisps of leather and coffee and worn oriental rugs. A smell of hundreds of thousands of pages, pressed together, bound, selected and arranged by loving hands.
You can’t get that in the flourescent-​lit megastores, even with all their miles of magazines and picture frames next to the Starbucks café.
You also can’t get the personal service.
I’m lucky enough to live directly across from this cozy, tightly-​packed shop and have found myself browsing through its tall wooden shelves many times. There’s a great selection of best sellers, cookbooks, art books, children’s titles and other gems tucked away. I love browsing the front of the store for titles and authors I haven’t heard of before and chatting with the lovely employees about stories someone recommended or we heard about on the radio.
This weekend, I ordered several books as gifts and they arrived just a few days later. A friendly clerk kindly giftwrapped one and sent me home with nice paper to wrap the other (after I’d finished reading it, of course). Happy to spend a few more dollars per order if it means keeping businesses like this in our community.

Gotta love local businesses. And this is one of them. And they’re proud of it.
I went in looking for a specific title, found it instantly, and bought a second book that looked good just to show my support.
The man working the cash wrap was very friendly. While I was browsing, I overheard him searching online for an obscure book one woman was looking for. Then I heard him mid-​discussion with a young child, complimenting his book choice.
Very charming spot! No complaints here :)

This place is adorable. I visited on a lazy Saturday afternoon and the store would’ve been absolutely silent (less than a block from South Street, even!) if it weren’t for some soft music playing in the background. There were only two other customers when I was there, both also browsing silently, and the woman working was very friendly during our short exchange (mostly about the gorgeous spring weather).
I’ll admit I popped in with a specific book in mind (Michael Pollan’s «The Omnivore’s Dilemma»), which they had two copies of, though I didn’t see any of his other books. I’m very glad it saved me a trip to «the Big Bs», and it seems like a great place to browse for books in a general area when you’re looking to discover something new. The foodie/​nutrition section (my topic of choice) was full of assorted titles that looked fascinating, and I’ll definitely return once I’ve finished this book to find a new point of view on the subject!

I love this bookstore — I’ll echo what others have arleady said. It is small, independent, and local. I would argue, however, that they tend to have whatever book I have needed/​wanted. The few times they haven’t they have ordered it and received it within 3 – 4 days max. The staff is knowledgable and really kind and low-​key.
It’s very cozy in here. I like curling into the window nook and reading the first 20 pages of whatever I’m going to buy. Warm, fuzzy and brainy at Head House Books.

With the dwindling economy and the rise of selling books on Amazon it’s good to know that there’s still some solid new book stores like Head House in Philadelphia. after reading about it in City Paper’s book issue two weeks ago I knew that I just had to make the trek and give it a try. And I definitely found it to be a treasure trove of literature.
Inside Head House you’ll find a better display of new releases than you’ll find at either of the big B’s (had to borrow that one Karla.) and you’ll find a friendly staff who knows their literature and are capable of making good suggestions. While I could have easily walked out with 5 – 15 books I held back while my friend walked out with «The Lost City of Z: A Tale Of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon». But through him I got to learn that they have awesome discount offers listed in their newsletter, and you can sign up to be a friend of the store and receive even more discounts. With an incredible selection and incentives like that I know I’m sold.

This bookstore receives 4 stars because it is so small that you can’t come here looking for some weird title or only one specific book.
This is, however, a great place to spend an afternoon browsing and talking to neighbors. They have lots of the new books, and keep a smattering of older books as well. If you really really need a certain book, call and they will order it for you.