City Lights

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261 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, CA 94133
+1 (415) 362-8193
https://citylights.com
Established in 1953, City Lights Bookstore is a general book store, specializing in featuring a wide range of books based on world literature, arts, and progressive politics. Based in San Francisco, Calif., the store carries a vast array of books for readers of all ages. It offers a variety of books in the categories of anthropology, mythology, art and architecture, beat literature and history, biography, memoir, essays, classics, cooking and food, fiction, films, poetry, political theory and practices, music, CDs (Compact Disks)/DVDs (Digital Video Disks) and many more.

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Reviews

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5.0799 reviews
Photo of Anne W.
Anne W.
11/23/2025

I'm a huge book nerd, and this is one of the best bookstores I've been to in the city. I went to three different bookstores trying to look for a copy of Breakback, which was sold out in the first...

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Adam B.
11/21/2025

We turned the corner and there were a couple oldsters standing in front of the North Beach Hotel and I commented "beatniks," though they would have had to have been the elderly children of the...

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Photo of Allison R.
Allison R.
10/23/2025

Really cute small bookstore. I prefer larger selections with more of a romance variety so this wasn't one of my absolute favorite stores, but for the shop being so small you can't expect that. The...

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Photo of Dean W.
Dean W.
4/2/2025

What a gem! I had the opportunity to check out City Lights Booksellers during my visit to San Francisco recently. Considering that the independent bookstore is starting to become a thing of the...

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Juan V.
12/24/2024

I like to slide inside this bookstore anytime I am in the border of Chinatown and North Beach in San Francisco. There are lots of books which are not usually at most book stores .You will find a...

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