If you are a serious reader, and particularly one interested in movies, TV, film history, acting, photography, or the arts in general, Iliad Bookshop, in North Hollywood, is a place you must get to. I've been a big reader since I learned to read, way back in the dark ages, and loved going with my dad to used book shops to wander among the stacks, and find that one perfect book for that time in my life. Or maybe 10 perfect books.
When I first moved to North Hollywood in 1991, after stumbling into the mainstream TV/video production world, I found Iliad at its former location, right on the X-shaped intersection of Vineland, Lankershim, and Camarillo streets. Odyssey Video rental store was next to it then, a big yellow building. That's where the name came from, a little literary joke, the used bookshop next to Odyssey must be named Iliad, right? The owners thought so.
If you're a book geek like me, you might also believe heaven (if there is one), looks something like this. Until we get there, there's Iliad Bookshop to check out. Floor to ceiling shelves of books. Everything you see in this photo is part of the movie/film section. #steveemigphotos.
Iliad Bookshop has moved from that original location, and is now located at 5400 Cahuenga Blvd., in North Hollywood, the cross street is Chandler. If you're a bike rider, you can actually take the Chandler Bikeway from the Red Line train station in North Hollywood straight to Iliad, and save some gas. I actually walked there from the train station, and I'm fat. It's less than a mile walk.
Iliad is home to two cats, Zeus and Apollo, who have a fan club of their own, people come in just to see the cats. So leave your service rhinoceros or service llama at home, service dogs only, if needed. Iliad is also home to about 150,000 used books. Real, paper books. You can wander the stacks, and find books on almost any subject. Their sections of books on movies, TV, acting, dance, music, art, and photography are ginormous, the biggest selection of these subjects that I've ever seen in any used book store. There's a huge selection of novels, and tons of graphic novels. Most every standard subject is represented, except business oriented books. If you're looking for epic used paperback novels, they have tons. I walked away with Robert Heinlein's Sci-Fi classic, Stranger in a Strange Land, on this trip, which is almost impossible to find in a used bookstore these days.
Iliad Bookshop sits on the corner of Cahuenga and Chandler in NoHo, and the blue background, street facing walls, are covered in murals of dozens of literary legends, and famous scenes from books, plus the huge books in the top photo. #steveemigphotos
If you're a book lover or avid reader anywhere in Southern California, you need to put a trip to Iliad Bookshop on your reader bucket list. In addition to the huge selection inside, there are almost always boxes of donated books, available for free, outside the main door, which is in the parking lot. I found a copy of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons on this trip, in the free boxes. These are the donated books not needed in the store itself. So if you like to read, are looking for that hard to find book, or just want to wander the huge stacks of a real, old fashioned used bookshop of epic proportions, head to Iliad Bookshop. I might see you there.
No comments:
Post a Comment