Strand Bookstore

The Strand may be the most famous independent, (predominantly) English language bookstore in the world, although Portland's Powell's and Paris' Shakespeare and Company may give it something of a brief sprint for its money.  Its absurdly large selection and comparably – often stunningly – low prices, along with its ubiquitous tote bags, have earned it its reputation for the formidable behemoth that it is, and it seems to all at once gloat in its fame and breadth, glower in its distinct aversion to aesthetics and common-sense shelving tactics, and humbly present itself without any pretense toward the outré showiness one might expect of an institution of its stature.  This stature has earned it both adoration and scorn from book lovers and other, smaller independent bookstores, who view it as essentially comparable in its monopsonical domination to Barnes & Noble, but there is no doubting that it is a bookstore to be reckoned with.