Black Bond Books Ltd

For a bookstore, there’s a surprising amount of conversation in Book Warehouse on Main Street. Walk into the cozy, street level location and you’ll be greeted by the dozens of shelf talkers throughout the store — small cards dangling from the shelves, reviewing and suggesting favourite titles. It’s a book browsers dream. Small but perfectly formed, the store nestles into the bustling corner intersection of Main Street and King Edward, housing fiction, non-fiction and an impressive collection of locally published titles and children’s books.

What Book Warehouse staff thrive on, they say, is a deep passion for their work and favourite pastime: reading. “Our recommendations come from the heart,” says Mary-Ann Yazedjian, manager of Book Warehouse Main Street. “When a book arrives that we’re excited about — when we see something we adore — it’s the idea of both reading that book and then sharing it with our customers we love. We don’t recommend a book unless we genuinely believe in it.”

“Sometimes a customer will pick up a book when browsing and we’ll make recommendations based on that,” continues the owner of Book Warehouse Main Street, and Black Bond Books president, Cathy Jesson. “We’ll tell them what they may enjoy more, or a similar title for a future read.” Their readers are loyal, too, explains Cathy. “In our world there is so much distraction. It’s becoming increasingly hard for us as booksellers because we’re competing with so many things — on your phone, on your computer. But there’s a strong core of people who support bookstores here.”