Alienated Majesty Books — Local services in Austin

Alienated Majesty is the kind of bookstore I’ve been waiting for in Austin all my life. While we have other wonderful independent bookstores, Alienated Majesty is unique in their prioritization of small, indie presses and every form of written expression; literature, poetry, fiction, non-fiction from authors of every language. The last time I was in the store I was standing looking at the memoir section and reading all the different titles, names, “translated from the…”, and it made me realize that the written word is safe and sound. Sometimes it feels like the sphere of literature is growing smaller, being swallowed by very specific, mass-selling books but Alienated Majesty makes me feel confident that the world is full of interesting, deep, representative books to read. Where other stores shelve exclusively bestsellers Alienated Majesty refuses to be limited to only those titles. I recently asked for recommendations related to travel, non-fiction, and something with beautiful prose and two booksellers provided me with recommendations I took home and have really, really enjoyed. If you are considering a visit I would encourage you to go as soon as you can! If you see other commenters implying anything other than inclusivity from this store, their stock, or their booksellers - those comments are unfounded. Please ignore them or go see for yourself. It makes me sad and angry that this wonderful bookstore is being misrepresented in any way, especially one that could harm their stability because I NEED Alienated Majesty to stay exactly where they are for a very,...

Hands down the most wonderful, down-to-earth bookstore in the Austin area. The energy in the store is so welcoming and peaceful, as well as the workers! I feel very happy knowing this store is so close to where I live and work, it truly feels like a safe space anyone can walk into for 10 mins or an hour and feel enveloped by literature from all walks of life.

The selection is truly amazing. You will certainly find many books that you never imagined yourself even perusing for, which is the fun part of stopping into a bookstore. You can really tell whoever curates the selection for the store has a true passion for what they do.

I was most blown away by their poetry section, as that is something I am recently getting into. They had a very diverse selection of poetry. In particular, they have quite a large selection of haiku for a bookstore of their size. I was able to pick up a wonderful book on the collected works of Matsuo Basho, something I didn't even know I was looking for before I came...

The man working was awesome, I had purchased a book previously from him. Not a factor of this review. Not sure if the other worker was having a bad day but I did not appreciate the condescending way I was spoken to. I was going to come back to repurchase a book but I will go to another independent book store. My book was lost to a house fire and was wondering if there was any way to receive a discount, but had extremely low expectations and was totally fine with re-purchasing at a later time. The worker said that if I wanted free books I should go to a public library. I was not rude or demanding when I asked this, and the store was basically empty. Probably won’t...