Quito Bookstores

Quito Bookstores

With over 10,000 quality titles, Confederate Books is undoubtedly the best used bookstore in Ecuador. The gregarious owner Tommy Savage buys and sells used books in every category from science to biographies to fiction. He also has a small collection of French-, German-, and Spanish-language books. Additionally, he sells new Abya Yala publications (which focus on Ecuadorian indigenous groups).

This little corner bookstore, located in the heart of New Town’s Mariscal Sucre district, is a good place to come not only to swap and buy novels but also to have a glass of wine and a chat with Tommy, a New Orleans native. He is an enthusiastic source of what to do and where to do it in Quito. He also changes traveler’s checks and damaged dollars (possibly the only person in all of Ecuador to regularly do so) at rates comparable to those of local banks. As an ardent collector of unique beer cans and bottles, he may even give you a free book if you bring him something out of the ordinary.

Open: Monday through Saturday 10 – 7pm. In the summer he is occasionally open on Sundays. Located at Calama 410 y Juan León Mera. Phone number – (593 2) 2527890. Email –tommyisl@hotmail.com.

Libri Mundi, in La Mariscal on Juan León Mera between Wilson and Veintimilla, is the best place to buy new books in Quito. They have an extensive collection of books in Spanish, as well as modest selections of books in English, French, and German.

Open: Monday through Friday 8:30 – 7pm, Saturdays 9 – 1:30, 3:30 – 6:30pm.

There are also decent bookstores in Quito’s new shopping centers, El Jardín and QuiCentro.