Bookstores of the Twin Cities: Moon Palace, Boneshaker, and Open Book
by Birdie Keller ’25
Welcome back to Bookstores with Birdie! For this issue, I expanded my bookstore adventures from Saint Paul to Minneapolis. Read on to experience the magic of books, stickers, zines, and stuffed animals that I discovered waiting for me there.
It had been a long time since I’d been to Moon Palace (the last time was for Professor Emma Törzs’s book launch for Ink Blood Sister Scribe!) and I gasped when I walked in, immediately enraptured by the interior of the bookstore. The books on display! The stuffed animals! The excess of stickers and pins! This was truly a book lover’s dream. Charley Eatchel ’24, beloved alum of the English department, almost had to drag me out when the time came to leave.
In Moon Palace, colorfully stuffed shelves line the walls and form sections in the middle of the store. Tables boast zines, stickers, and curated selections of books. Towards the back, you can find a clearance section, kids’ books, and other fun stuff like tote bags and crafts.
Note that Moon Palace still requires masks! By the entrance, there are free masks, free Covid tests, an adorable possum (an artwork, not a real one, unfortunately) advertising their Class Consciousness Book Club, and templates of letters people can use to write to their elected officials. Additionally, Moon Palace hosts events in their back theater space, including the aforementioned book launch and regular BuckSlam poetry slams. You can find events and more at Moon Palace’s website here: https://moonpalacebooks.com/
I absolutely plan on returning to Moon Palace again soon to browse their books, get recommendations, and peruse their stickers. (They restock with new designs pretty often, and all are amazing). The only trouble will be when I have to leave!
“It looks mysterious on the outside.” -Winnie Hilker, upon seeing an image of Boneshaker Books (and she’s right!)
I had been meaning to frequent Boneshaker Books for a very long time, and this article was the perfect reason to do so. I honestly couldn’t believe I hadn’t visited sooner. You can tell that you are in for a wonderful bookstore the moment you see the front; housed in a quaint little building overgrown with vines, Boneshaker looksso quintessentially, magically bookstore, a feeling that does not subside when you enter. It’s a small but mighty bookstore, volunteer-run and very engaged with the local community. Additionally, many items at Boneshaker are on a sliding scale, pay-what-you-can.
Boneshaker features a zine wall, a fantastic selection of books (I saw many books I know and love, and even more that I don’t yet!), and prints, patches, and artwork by local artists. There were handmade rag dolls, t-shirts, and cute scrap paper notebooks. Their bulletin board by the entrance features notices of ongoing community events, and like Moon Palace, Boneshaker offers masks for all visitors. They also used to host BuckSlam, before the poetry slams grew too large for this more intimate space.
I had a wonderful conversation with the two volunteers working behind the counter, one of whom was reading a book about birds; the other was a law student at the University of Minnesota with an awesome outfit who encouraged me to adopt a cat. Reader, this could be YOU! Visit Boneshaker right now and if you love the vibe there (like I did), you can consider volunteering!
Open Book features The Shop at Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Milkweed Books, a cafe, a gorgeous spiraling staircase designed to give the vibes of the pages/spine of a book, the Loft resource library and writing studios, and more! On my visit, I explored the Open Book shop, Milkweed Books, and the cafe.
The Open Book shop has a great collection of books, stationary, notebooks, and more. I particularly loved the wall of cards; if you are looking for something cute and personal for a friend’s birthday, this would be a great place to go. Like Boneshaker, Open Book has a zine wall, adorned with the definition of zine painted at the top. “Zine: a DIY, self-published booklet covering niche or personal topics, often using a countercultural lens.” My greatest takeaway from visiting all of these independent bookstores is how much they support local artists and communities. This was clear to me, not only in the zines that I found everywhere, but the dedication to providing masks (Open Book does too!), the community bulletin boards, and the enthusiasm of everyone I met.
Across from Open Book is Milkweed Books! Specializing in poetry, Milkweed Books has a great curated selected of collections; there are many published by Button Poetry, a local publisher of poetry. (Many students have interned at Button Poetry in the past and present!)
I spotted a “bookseller recommends” shelf by the English department’s very own Colleen Apostle ’23, who currently works at Milkweed Books. Milkweed Books also has an adorable reading nook where you can sit with a collection and read.
The cafe between the Open Book shop and Milkweed Books did not disappoint! Their coffee was great and their pastries delicious. Around the cafe were tables, booths, and counters for people to sit and work. Many of the people working there had stickers on their laptops or water bottles from the cafe itself, a fun little hint that they are regular visitors.
Overall, both bookstores and the entire space were warm and welcoming. I see myself returning in the future to browse books and then settle in with a coffee to get work done in this cozy space.
