The only downtown bookstore is the aptly named Downtown Books (152 Madison Ave., 901/577-6600), which trades in used books from its premises in the basement below the Memphis Coffee Exchange.
You’ll need a car to reach the city’s major bookstores, however. Burke’s Books (938 S. Cooper, 901/278-7484), in the Cooper-Young district east of midtown, specializes in used and antiquarian books.
Davis-Kidd Booksellers (387 Perkins Ext., 901/683-9801), a Tennessee-based independent bookseller, is in Laurelwood Shopping Center and is your best choice for new books. Davis-Kidd has weekly book signings and a café.
Bookstar (3402 Poplar Ave., 901/323-9332) in midtown is an outlet store for new books.