Six Florida LGBTQ+ Owned Bookstores To Get Lost in This Summer
Find your new favorite read just in time for Pride Month.
Summer bookstore trips are a wonderful idea for far more than just finding a beach read (although that’s a perfectly good reason to stop by). These shops share stories that stretch our imaginations; they make us laugh, they make us cry, and, above all, they bring us together in communities of all kinds. Flamingo writer Diane Roberts puts it best, “I don’t know what I’d do without these idea palaces, where you can discover voices you never imagined and stories you’d never otherwise know.” In celebration of Pride Month, embark on your own discovery of new voices and get lost among the colorful shelves in these six LGBTQ+-owned bookstores in the Sunshine State.
Common Ground Books
Tallahassee
Fresh off a move to a new location in Tallahassee’s booming downtown just around the corner from Cascades Park, this spot is ready to celebrate Pride as Tallahassee’s only specifically LGBT+ and feminist bookstore. Take a leisurely stroll through the shelves of stories, join one of their book clubs focused on queer stories, or stop by the Pride Arts Market, an annual event the shop will host on June 22.
Hello Again Books
Cocoa
Everything old is new again at this bookstore just steps from Indian River in historic Cocoa Village. Find a gently-loved favorite before swinging by their fifth annual Be the Rainbow event, a day of live music, local vendors, and rainbow everything on June 7. And even if your summer reading list is already frighteningly ambitious, their pet pride parade can’t be missed. But if you do find a must-read along the way, what’s one more book on your TBR?
White Rose Books & More
Kissimmee
Named after an anti-Nazi youth resistance group in 1940s Germany, White Rose, and run by former librarians, this Central Florida shop knows a thing or two about the importance of celebrating banned books. The store’s owners have created a homey space where dissenting opinions are not only welcome, but embraced as they share some of the Sunshine State’s most overlooked stories.
Tombolo Books
St. Petersburg
Believe it or not, the rainbow exterior of this Gulf Coast literary haven pales in comparison to the vibrant collection of books inside. Underneath polychromatic parasols, browse shelf upon shelf of classics, memoirs and your soon-to-be-discovered favorites. Get a head start on their June Tombolo Book Club pick, Alligator Tears by Edgar Gomez, or join one of their myriad other monthly book clubs (romance, sci-fi, St. Pete sapphic, fantasy, social justice, or horror, to name a few).
Rohi’s Readery
West Palm Beach
For nearly half a decade, Rohi’s Readery has been sharing the importance of literacy with children in South Florida. The social justice-focused children’s bookstore and corresponding nonprofit that holds literacy events for kids across the region, Rohi’s Liberation Station, share stories that promote inclusivity with kids across the area, and are just as important for the parents raising them. The colorful store is a space for children that celebrates our differences and fosters exactly what the glowing neon sign in their store says, “revolutionary readers.”
Blinking Owl Books
Fort Myers
Cozy up with a book, or, more realistically, a plethora of them, in the nooks of this South Florida bookstore. Shop a wonderfully curated selection of new and used books, plus a collection of yarn for the serial hobbyists. The quaint store, which is located in a little yellow bungalow, has cemented itself as a mainstay in the Fort Myers bibliophile scene, evident by the crowds that have shown their support by shopping frequently after the store’s previous location was damaged in Hurricane Helene last fall.
