Where the Sidewalk Ends

BEST BOOK STORE EVER! I can spend hours in here, the staff is very friendly and knowledgeable and you can never go wrong with the staff picks or recommendations. There is separate building with an excellent children’s section as well. If you don’t see it ask, they are happy to order what you want.

Great for children’s books and gifts and the odd trade paperback of this or that literary luminary. I prefer bookstores that cater more to popular and genre fiction – the books people actually read at the beach, which I’d think might be a better fit for a bookstore in a beach town. Then again, I may be just unduly grumpy as I haven’t been back in town in a while and I miss Cabbages and Kings.

They have a staircase that leads up to more books! Amazing! I use those steps for a cardio workout three days a week. The employees don’t mind. Just don’t ride the bannister down. Then the employees DO mind.

I love this book store! There is parking and once inside, it is well organized and easy to either find something specific or get ideas. They have a big section next door just for kids (toys and crafts as well as books). You can get a cup of coffee there too now I think.

I am a sucker for book stores. I love Shel Silverstein. So, it’s only natural that as I was checking out the Chatam shops and came across a cute book store named after one of my childhood favorite books, I had to check it out.
The store is split into 2 small buildings — one for children and one for adults. I checked out the children’s side first. While the selection isn’t vast, they have used the space well — showcasing each individual book instead of packing them all together. I could tell there was some thought to the organization of the books by topic and gender, which made browsing a little easier.
Over in the adult’s side, I really liked that they were very focused on showcasing local authors and topics. They also seem to have regular book signings and prominent authors, so if I was in town again, I would definitely look into checking that out.

Wonderful independent bookstore with an excellent range of titles, especially given the small size. Excellent section on Cape Cod topics and books by Cape Cod authors. A knowledgeable, well-​read and helpful staff.

Found this store this year and was pleasantly surprised for a place that proclaims that it is a children’s annex, gift shop, bookstore, AND coffee place. The boy was very pleased with the selection of fiction books. The history section is fairly small, but the children’s section is large for a store this size. The staff was fairly pleasant with us and the parking lot was most helpful on a recent day since Chatham was the place to be and parking in the muni lots was impossible.

Grumpy customer service and lousy selection. Won’t go back!

This is an agreeable summer visitor-​oriented bookstore at the end of Chatham’s «downtown» (in addition to the Shel Silverstein shoutout, it literally is where the sidewalk ends) spread out over two buildings. The younger children’s section has nice selections at pretty much retail prices, including lots of toys and distractions. In terms of volume of titles stocked, it’s on the small side, but there’s obviously some careful selectivity in some sections and less so in others.
In summer the place is usually overcrowded, and navigating around the store is difficult, particularly with children. The checkout area is confusingly laid out, particularly if you’re trying to get a coffee (which is just a one-​cup cartridge machine). As such, it’s sort of hard to linger and browse carefree the way one would want to do in a summer-​crowd-​oriented store.
Because the stock is low and the prices a bit steep, I can’t do better than three stars on the shop, but if you just want to grab something to read and you’re in that summery mood, and you don’t mind the Madness that is Chatham, it’s perfectly fine. And the younger children’s side, particularly the staff there, is well-​recommended (again with the caveat about prices).
One tip: if you need to park in downtown Chatham, they’ve got some places in front. Obviously you want to buy something there and not abuse the privilege, but during the dark hours of peak season it may be your only alternative.

Awesome space, great selection whether you’re looking for a specific title or are looking for a recommendation for your next read.

This is my favorite bookstore in Chatham. Heck, it’s my favorite bookstore. Where the Sidewalk Ends, in the center of town, is located in a lovely barn-​like (as the previous reviewer mentioned) building with gleaming hardwood floors and pendant lighting. It’s air-​conditioned in the summer and warm and inviting in the fall and winter. It offers a number of books pertinent to Cape Cod as well as the latest best-​selling fiction and non-​fiction. For those who love to knit, this bookstore has an entire section dedicated to knitting (they even sell needles and baskets of beautiful yarn). This is also a great place to buy greeting cards.
One of my favorite things about Where the Sidewalk Ends is the author luncheon series it offers during the summer and the author signings and other events it offers throughout the year. Last summer, my mom and I bought tickets to their Jennifer Weiner event which was held at the Wequasset Inn (was so much fun).
The Sidewalk is owned by an extremely nice and knowledgeable mother-​daughter team (the type of people who really deserve to succeed) and the rest of the staff is very friendly and always willing to give suggestions.
Finally, the Sidewalk just recently added a children’s toy and bookstore to a building that is attached to the main store via a covered walkway. It is just as nice as the main store and full of all sorts of wonderful high-​quality toys and children’s books.
Don’t miss out on this awesome independent bookseller!

They just put an addition on to this bookstore which sits back from the main street of busy downtown Chatham. This place is great and furnished nicely housed in what looks like an refinished barn. Loaded with kids books of all types for all ages and all sorts of books for Adults from every category! The staff is very friendly and welcoming and at times I have witnessed book signings from local authors. This is a refreshing business to have in this town which has a hodge podge of gifty type stores but no book stores. This is a must stop on a visit to this town!