Shelf Life Books

After McNally Robinson closed, and the Book and Art Den in Banff, I decided to never again shop Chapters/​Indigo/​Coles. I can’t handle big bookstores driving out cozy little bookstores. I am an avid reader, with a big book collecting problem. Luckily, I moved down the street from Shelf Life in August, and haven’t looked back! They always seem to have what I’m looking for, and browsing their shelves has lead me to amazing books from small publishing houses, interesting zines, and great new things to read. The staff is always so helpful and friendly, and on occasion have helped me search high and low for what I’m looking for. I really adore this bookstore and feel so lucky that it’s a 5 minute walk from my home!

Love this book store, always full of neat little finds and odds n ends. Cool selection of topics and local authors and events. Love love love it and will be back

I work near this bookstore and love the great selection; they have a ton of books I never thought I would be able to find in Calgary, and I always love their displays. They also had a great 5 dollar/​50% off book sale that I really enjoyed.
I would give them five stars if it wasn’t for the fact that I never get greeted in the store or really spoken to at all (even when I buy books there, which is often since I’ve been going there for years) which makes me feel unwelcome and awkward when I’m there; I don’t like going into stores where I feel like a nuisance or like I shouldn’t be there. If the staff greeted me or responded to my efforts to make conversation while I bought books I would be more inclined to give it five stars! Maybe I just have bad luck as I read the other reviews about the good service but that’s just my experience.

Shelf Life Books gets top marks for featuring, and carrying, local authors and poets, a decent amount of Canadian content and hosting monthly readings, poetry sessions and book clubs.
A perfectly musty-​book smelling place with creaky stairs and knowledgeable staff, Shelf Life Books wins at loving everything about words and reading.
Hard-​to-​find authors are the norm in this store but what really takes the cake are the above-​mentioned readings and book clubs.
If you have a new book coming out, want to host a poetry reading or have a book you’re keen to discuss with others interested in reading, Shelf Life can accommodate. I have been to a handful of readings at this store and they are always intimate, interesting and include snacks!
With most small, local bookstores going the way of the dodo, Shelf Life Books has managed to find a niche in it’s reading events that keeps it a beacon for local talent in Calgary.
T.

A pretty good bookstore. A great selection of local authors and hard to find titles. They hold book launches as well, great to have it in the community.

Shelf Life is the greatest.
whether I’m looking for something new to read, a new notebook to doodle in, a last minute gift for someone, or a random little zine, I never leave Shelf Life disappointed (or empty handed)!
staff is friendly (but not TOO friendly) they greet you and check in, but they don’t follow you around bugging you.
bonus points for always having the most recent issues of Lucky Peach.
(oh also, I’ve ordered books by emailing them quite a few times, and they are excellent via email — they reply right away, and the books have always come super quick!)
thanks, Shelf Life!

This place is so great.
They didn’t have the book I was looking for in stock but the loverly lady at the front was able to order it in for me annnnnnd she recommended another book I might like interim. It was a great recommendation and I love that she knew what I was going for.
This seems like a really great spot with lots of readings and events for the local literary crowd.
Will definitely be back :)

«There once was an old man who I knew I could be. Now he spreads his nights farting and pushing obsolete star charts off my table» Weyman Chan
«I once lived with a woman who was married to a man who could not bring himself to stop loving her» Rod Moody
To me, any store that facilitates in the adoption of books that wholeheartedly speaks honest words should be considered hallowed grounds.
Aaaaand I just made the Nobel Prize short list. But jokes aside Shelf Life, aside from heavily supporting the literary community, showcases books I would never find in the shelves of a chain bookstore.
Seriously, the aesthetics of an independent bookstore is one of my secret favourite things. I love walking through the small number of shelves and looking at book titles and dancing through a kaleidoscope of enthusiasm. One moment I’m «woot! woot!“ing when I spot a local writer/​poets’ work (or better yet a local writer/​poet I personally know thumbing through the shelves). Or a sudden outburst when classic favourite like «The Maltese Falcon» or «One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest» has a mind blowing book cover. Also I might just stand there in silence, salivating at a book and feeling a little bit of shame because I’m sort of judging it by it’s cover. Maybe you might just catch me violently cursing the fluorescent lighting because of a brilliant passage I wish I wrote.
They also have better and inexpensive selection of book covers. Not the ones that has Hello Kitty, Twilight Decals and were made with Alpaca hooves, but ones that were either unpretentious and portable, or had a quirky artsy vibe that’ll leave a smile on your face.
I’m confident Shelf would be around for a long time. But I have your back Shelf Life. In fact, I’m going to start spreading urban myths about you.
«Did you know Salman Rushdie used Shelf Life as a hideout?»
«Did you know there was a Unilocal Elite Event at Shelf Life?»
Unilocal’s 30 Day Challenge 2012 — ¹³⁄₃₀

I didn’t have enough time…
I wandered into Shelf Life Books too close to closing time. As I browsed the shelves, I quickly discovered that I was a special independent bookstore and felt a certainly literary nirvana that I had last experienced at Powell’s Books in Portland. The selection was thoughtfully curated and was strong with the Canadian Author force. Around every corner was a new thought-​provoking discovery and a desire to linger and explore further. Then it was time to go…
…I’ll be back.

Score another win for Shelf Life Books! I was pondering a couple of books to buy in the business/​networking realm. I’ve done some friends and family research, a little internet browsing, found some common book titles that I thought might be worth a shot and was just about to head out the door to the big C word. Then I stopped myself. The big C word would certainly have the titles I had already thought of. But I remembered Reg T’s review about finding books that were equally (if not more) über-​awesome than some of the best sellers at this little place called Shelf Life Books.
The store isn’t huge, and for surely doesn’t stock everything under the sun. But one round of the store brought an employee to my side asking me what it was I was in search of. She asked me questions, pondered different sections that might relate to my topic. In the end, she recommended I check out the business, international development and environment and sustainability sections. Bonus, each is only a bookcase or two big and not filled with multiple copies of the same book, rather one or two copies of many different books, so I didn’t need to go far and still had a variety of titles to ponder. She also invited me to settle into any of the chairs around the store to read through some of the books… just to make sure it was what I wanted before I brought it home.
In the end, I settled on two books, but while I was looking, that didn’t stop said employee from bringing by another one that had caught her eye on her way by. Oh, and the two books I came home with? Soooooo not anything that came up in my «research» phase of my book quest, and yet they’ve turned out to be even better suited for what I was looking for.
Stellar work Shelf Life. You’ve taken the lead as my first stop.

Rob dragged me out here this last weekend because we had seen ad advertisement for it, but had never been. Wow… is all I could say upon walking in. This is one heckuva bookstore. The books here are not second-​hand. I repeat, they are not second-​hand, but rather they are books that are privately published and not as ‘mass-​produced’ as some others. This is an excellent place to pick up an alternative read.
Easily accessible via the #3 transit bus if you don’t drive.

You would think that with the advent of mega-​bookstores with their large selections and deep discounts, that small independent bookstores would lose their place in today’s world.
If you love to read though, one visit to Shelf Life Books will change your mind, if you ever thought that way to begin with.
I don’t know what it is, but every time I walk in here, I either walk out with something or have to work hard to hold myself back from purchasing something.
It could be the way the store is laid out. It doesn’t boast the selection of a Chapters or an Indigo, although you can special order anything from the front desk. But perhaps the reduced clutter makes it easier to filter through stuff and find things.
Or it could be a conscious choice with respect to which books get displayed. I was speaking to the owner after a visit where I walked away with three books I had never intended to buy, nor was even looking for, and she said that they try their best to display «smart» books, and actively try not to display anything with vampires with them. A smarter person would have taken down a list and tried to bargain hunt online later, but I ended up paying full price for my wares for the simple fact that I a) wanted them right away and b) wasn’t confident that I’d find them in stock elsewhere.
Or maybe the person responsible for the displays has similar tastes as mine. For example, now on my bucket list is a Star Wars lenticular book that has moving pictures on each page depending on how you tilt it, How to Eat Organic for $ 5 a Day, and the entire «Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents…» children’s book series. I would never have found these sorts of books at the competition even if they carried them to begin with, and it was thanks to Shelf Life Books that I was made aware that these kinds of books even existed in the first place.
I can honestly say that Shelf Life Books is a place I’ll visit more often, especially when I have some spare time to kill in between meetings or other appointments. However, I know I’ll need to do a better job at guarding my wallet when I do.
²⁄₃₀

Heck, the selection might not be enormous, but this indepedent bookstore has a very fine fiction and poetry section. Plus, I talked about Flannery O’Connor’s short stories with two of the staff members for about 20 minutes. You can’t find that kind of enthusiams at Chapters.

Nice discovery. Awesome selection of books that simply aren’t available in any of the big box bookstores.