You Got Mail

In 1998 it was less than common to meet your soulmate online. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks remain anonymous to each other in their internet chatroom romance. What they don’t know, is that they are business rivals… and what is their business? Bookstores! Meg Ryan runs an independently owned store while Tom Hank’s character opens a large superstore across the street in New York’s Upper West Side. The movie is filled with love letters and satisfying literary allusions. For all bookstore lovers, this movie is a must-see!

The Bookshop

Based off the 1978 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop is a romanticized tale of a young woman who opens up a bookstore in a small English village. Emily Mortimer plays the young widow who spends everything to open the bookshop despite all the forces working against her. It is a tale of courage and love, as well as a satisfying reminder of why we love bookshops. The Seattle Times Review stated that The Bookshop “reminds us that no one ever feels alone in a bookshop.”

Notting Hill

A famous Hollywood actress walks into a small, failing bookshop in Notting Hill, England. Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant fall in love despite their obvious differences and the obstacles that arise with mass fame. But I would argue that the main character in the story is actually the bookstore that brings them together. I would have loved to visit and have met my soulmate in the “Travel Bookshop,” but unfortunately it no longer exists and has been converted into a shoe store. But don’t worry- there are plenty more bookstores to visit in Notting Hill…

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

My favorite scene in this movie happens in a bookstore. The memory is of Clementine (Kate Winslet) wheeling around a cart of books while Joel (Jim Carrey) continues to bug her as she shelves. The conversation grows out of the memory into the present, and Joel pleas with her “remember”- to hold onto the memory even when it is painful, and in this way, the bookstore is itself an intersection of past and present. You couldn’t find a more perfect setting for these two worlds to collide.

Desperado

This 1995 classic made the bookstore list for its action. Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek turn a bookstore into a dangerous setting where anything can happen: love, explosions, thievery. And while there is no shortage of guns, bullets, and guitars, the characters’ bookstore represents a short break from the violent world they exist in.