Frantic City

VIBE
Really easy to peruse. I always end up stopping by here to browse on my way down the Ossington strip.
THE GOODS
I’ve found great design books here. Lots of current titles too. The front table is a great area for good finds. I like the whole organization of the store.
OBLIGATORY CATCHY REMARK
Not frantic at all. One of the better used bookstores in the city and needed store for the Oss. strip.

Long before the Ossington strip became the food and bar «hotspot» it is now Frantic City was there as your friendly neighborhood used bookstore. From what I remember in the early days they use to be equally a bookstore and used CD shop, but as there is not really a market for used CDs anymore they now are primarily a book seller with only a small used vinyl section.
What I like most about Frantic City is that the book buyer has an eye for titles. You should be able to find a book of interest at the shop without wading through a lot of crap. You’ll find your standard categories from literature to poetry to non fiction and so on. They even have a decent graphic novel section. The prices are reasonable too.
If you ever thought it be cool to open your own lil bookshop in your neighborhood Frantic City is kinda what you’d imagine it being. They have it tough though for not being in a major retail area with good day traffic. If you are looking for your next good read and are in the area I suggest dropping in and checking out what titles they currently have available.

I think this is a great store. I tend to walk up Ossington on my way home from Queen Street so I tend to pass by Frantic City a lot and would pop in to browse their records. Unfortunately the last time I was there they were selling off all their vinyl because they were opening up a record shop on Queen Street… So as I write this Frantic City might be just a book store.
I have browsed their books before but I am more of a record man. I have gotten some pretty good gems there for dead cheap because I tend to grab their hip-​hop and jazz records and I don’t think they really know how to price them… Which is good for a crate digger like me.
The people who work there are super nice. Each time I’ve been whoever is working the counter is mad pleasant and helpful. Even though they don’t have records anymore I will try and swing through to browse some books. Highly recommend supporting this business!

This is my local record store and I love it. Luckily the guy who owns it has similar tastes in music as I do so I can always find something I need. The majority of the stock is used but that does include newer used independent garage, punk and country along with hard to find more classic rock. The cool thing is they also have tons of books. This is a nice place to spend time, talking about music and flipping through records and books.