River Bend Bookshop — Local services in West Hartford

This was the most enjoyable experience in a bookshop I’ve had in a long time! We were greeted right away and someone checked in to make sure we didn’t need help to find anything specific while we browsed. I really enjoyed the little notecards on all the shelves giving you extra information about some of the books on the shelves to entice you to pull it out and investigate it a bit more than you might have just from reading the spine. After a good while of us browsing the owner checked in on us to see if we had any questions or needed recommendations and then proceeded to give my partner and I thoughtfully curated recommendations based on our own book genre preferences. It’s been a long time since I’ve made time for myself to be able to read so I appreciated the recommendations to help me get back into reading with some book I am sure to enjoy! This store was so well organized, and even though it’s smaller in size than chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble, there was such a great variety of books to choose from here and we were even told a book could be ordered if we didn’t happen to see it in stock on the shelves. Moving from a very conservative state (TX) where you’re lucky if you can find the secret 12inches wide shelf with LGBTQ+ books on it out of the whole store, to then finding this bookstore here that has multiple pride flags and signs and a dedicated display of LGBTQ+ books, it was such a comforting experience! My joy for reading was restored after a trip here to River Bend Bookshop and I can’t wait to come back...

Today I had a unique experience. A store where the help knew what they were talking about. As an older person I stopped to purchase gifts for my great niece and was helped by the saleswoman Maggie. I showed her what she has been reading and being familiar with the type of books this young adult wanted, took the time and recommended books she thought she would enjoy. Never felt rushed and very satisfied with my purchases. Thank you. Will stop again for...

Really cute bookstore. Bright and open. Clean. Bookseller was welcoming and friendly. Good selection of books although their romance section could use improvement. They had a small selection from each genre. Good children's section. Not accessible from the front at all, multiple stairs to climb. I did see a backdoor but unsure if there is a ramp for accessibility there or not. Cute walkable neighborhood. Worth stopping by if you're...