Domy Books

I love Domy Books. I started my designer toy collection when I was still in Houston, and try to come here every time I’m in town. It’s a very typical Montrose establishment. By that I mean it’s a really cool place with all kinds of cool stuff. It’s not just for toy collectors either. They sell books, display art, and show random movies. I love that it’s a little bungalow turned book/​toy store. It adds to its cuteness and quirkiness.

Domy is my favorite bookstore, ever; I keep asking myself, «When will Seattle get something like this?» It isn’t about having your standard issue, cookie cutter library of genres across the spectrum as most stores do, it’s about filling a desirable niche for lovers of artful writing, collectors of chic coffee table tomes, and fans of offbeat literature. I don’t go here to find Faulkner or Plato, I go here to pick up litanies of street art across the globe and cultural manifestos that take a bite out of the mainstream. If there were ever a place that got doing it differently right, Domy would be it. Period.

This place is super cool! The layout of the store looks great, and it is full of quirky books, toys, and dvds. The staff are very friendly. The only thing I wasn’t super happy about was that some of the prices were a little high, especially on books that had damage. Also, they often only carry one copy of a certain book, so if someone gets it before you you are out of luck!

Domy rules! It’s got all sorts of books, zines, comics, DVDs, toys, arts, and other random crap from afar and local. It’s the kind of place you can walk in and find something for anyone and most definitely for yourself, since the books and other stuff span the gamut from music to art to travel to nonfiction to pop culture… even nudies! And a lot are really difficult to find or limited runs.
They’ve always got an art installation going on, and show flyers outside the door, as well as movie nights. They used to be quite frequent (I’m not living in Houston anymore) but some friends caught the Karp documentary the other night AND the guy who made it was even there for a Q&A. As a bonus, it shares a back courtyard with Brasil, so that means good coffee, food, and drinks as well.
The folks that work here are always helpful when I’m asking for recommendations. I like Snakepit, they recommended Cometbus. Love. No one would even know what that is at the big bookstores!
Go to Domy! If you can’t find anything you like there, perhaps you were never there in the first place (does wavy fake dream sequence arms and ghosty noises).

I am a huuuge fan of this place! If you love collecting vinyl toys, this is somewhere I HIGHLY suggest you stop by. If you’re the artsy fartsy type, this is somewhere I HIGHLY suggest you stop by. If you’re just looking to kill time, i HIGHLY suggest you stop by!!!
So stop by already!
Lol but seriously, this small, cute, house-​like book store holds a wide collection of artisic coffee books, vinyl toys, local artwork, and miscellaneous items like kidrobot stuffed animals, or tokidoki bags. The things in here are what keeps me young at heart. They have shelves full of different collector vinyl figures/​toys from kidrobot, tokidoki, be@rbrick, etc. on display and for sale.
They also hold events in the store. They host release parties when there’s a new series for Kidrobot Dunny’s. I’ve also attended their ‘DIY Munny’ event where you can design your own Munny right in the store. It’s connected to Brasil through the back patio where they also hold some film nights every now and then.
The location is good and bad.
The Good: You’re pretty much at the heart of the montrose shopping area. You have American Apparel, DuO, Mint, thrift stores like, Taxi Taxi and Buffalo Exchange, all across the street or a 2 minute walk away!
The Bad: You need to find parking along 2-​way, horribly constructed, WESTHEIMER. We all know how fun that can be!

I really love dome books but I wish this location had more zines, like their Austin location. They do have art little art shows here and I’ve seen some really neat pieces.
They have some comic/​graphic novel, children’s books, architecture, design and art books.
The people who work here are always really helpful with anything you are looking for.

Dork paradise. Great browsing; good people-​watching; interesting toys to look at; and tons of other unique stuff you really could not find anywhere else in Houston. And of course, you always run into an ex if you ever have dated anyone into dork stuff in Houston.
When you are finished go get a Mexican coke and some food at Brasil next door, or pop across to the street and go have a beer at Agora.
This is kind of in the «the freaks only come out at night, except in this case, when they are out in the day» part of lower Montrose so just be on notice that you are going to be seeing LOTS of piercings on the faces, ugly tattoos, and other desperate/​pathetic hipstery thingies dotting the landscape of everyone in the city who is mad at daddy.

Domy is the bees knees, truly. We were referred here by the bookstore at the Menil, and it has been a crazy love affair ever since. They have an outstanding collection of books that the lay person would likely not be exposed to, and they also boast a stupendous toy collection. If you like books and pop culture, you are doing yourself a disservice not stop in and see what they have to offer.
All in all I love this little place, and we find ourselves in here at least three times a month just to hang out and browse. Plus (!), you can stop in at Brazil next door and have a delicious lunch.

I feel like any time you enter a very niche market place or review them, you should be very upfront and honest about your skillset and knowledge of said niche. That said, I know almost nothing about graphic novels, I’m not a big reader, and while I love art I totally don’t understand most of it aside from it being pretty. Consider this me showing my belly in a sign of submission to those of you exponentially more qualified to review this place.
Last summer my long lost bff was visiting and we had a wickedly large piece of cake over at Empire Café. Afterwards she wanted to walk around a bit and said we HAD to go to Domy. I had honestly never even noticed this place and likely assumed it was just one of those one-​off legitimate houses in the middle of a busy area in Houston. It’s an old bungalow style house that’s been turned into one of the coolest little book, gift, graphic novel, etc. store. My friend was in heaven in this store and I was surprisingly fascinated by about everything in here. If you know someone that loves neat books, collectible toys or gifts, and anything in that vein, this place is right up your alley.
I forgot that these niche places are always staffed by like crème de la crème of experts and I muttered something about the book Helvetica and got into a lengthy discussion about the freeware knockoff Coolvetica and how awful the capital G is. This is the kind of conversation that would only happen 1) on the internet or 2) in Domy.
Long story short, this place is really cool and I’ve come back several times when looking for the most unique and funky gifts I can find for my loved ones. Check it out!

Mmmmm, I adore Domy Books for a certain type of genre of books — cool, graphic. contemporary, modern, nerdy, architecture, geeky, fashion, zine, and even some of the old «canon» of art history.
je t’adore domy books. i got the ‘core memory’ computer history book for my lover as a present thanks to the attention of a very helpful salesperson.
Je t’aime.

Found this place through the Houston Wallpaper guide. In addition to the wonderful aesthetics of the space, this store makes me feel at home. I am a huge graphic novel groupie and it’s been really hard to finding a store that stocks the latest and greatest. Their film series is fantastic and being next to Brasil is a super plus.
People in the store are friendly and super knowledgeable. Had a full ½ hr conversation conversation about graphic novels. I know at times I can be totally obnoxious and overbearing but this conversation was totally un-​forced. You could tell they really take time to look into the products they carry and have a genuine interest for the authors.

As an aspiring Graphic Designer, this place was the bomb-​diggity! I couldn’t get over how many things were curtailed to the industry. I mean, I was taken aback at the Helvetica displays and the picture books of design.
Their stuff ranges from documentary style books, text books, graphic novels, photography books and quirky books too. A lot of the books are really expensive but I’ve never seen quite a collection before. I think it’s worth the money for these books because they are so rare.
They also have fun toys, movies, and trinkets. Cute greeting cards, nice back porch area, and free movie screenings rather frequently.

I stumbled in, ecstatic to find a small and cozy bookstore tucked behind Café Brazil. My excitement didn’t last long. After a good 15 minutes or so, I was thoroughly bored. There were some cool stuff to look at, for sure, but they were all overpriced. $ 20 for a stuffed animal that’s the size of a beer can? Not digging it.
It’s a spiffy place to check out, but don’t walk in expecting a huge array of cheap, exotic goods. The selection is limited and nothing will be very kind to your wallet.

Cute place! I brought my friend here and she was in love with it. We spent almost an hour just looking at all of the books and the toys on the shelves. What makes it better is it’s connected to Brasil so there’s a huge patio area in the back to study and hang out.
They have movie showings for free at night in this patio area.

This place is freaking cute as all haleee! It’s conveniently located (and owned by the same people as (so I’m told?)) Brasil. So as the other reviews have stated, it’s a pretty small space, but filled with independent and quirky books, magazines, vinyl, shirts, and toys. So if that’s your kind of thing (as it is mine), this is the place for you!
Of course there isn’t a huge spectrum in terms of genres of books and music — mostly things that would appeal to an arty-​prone younger adult (I guess?). Or it’s a great place to peruse for an unique birthday present for someone.
Shamefully I have never purchased anything from Domy, but I’ve dragged many friends there and they have! I just simply like walking around and perusing the adorable selection of books and random things. And it’s really just nice to take a break from a long study session at Brasil and have a breather here.

Walking into Domy I felt like an intruder in someones bizarre but beloved collection of books, toys, art, and movies. Everything about about this independent bookstore is unique. Even the out of order restroom sign is a riot! (see pic)
The cute converted cottage consists of three open rooms. The 1^st mostly had books on shelves and art on the walls. The 2^nd held a giant table with books on top and below as well as fully loaded shelves. The 3^rd room held more books, larger toys-​some in display cases, shirts, bags, movies, and flat screen TV. Throughout all the rooms as well as the shelves surrounding the cashier were cute little toys.
There were books in Japanese with English translations, pop-​up book of buildings, pop-​up book of ships (the battleship could truly be a centerpiece, it was so awesome), art books on burlesque beauties, the Lost Girls (an erotic version of Alice in Wonderland), graffiti, photography, even an A-​Z of Metal (the music genre), and so many I didn’t even get a chance to browse through.
They had stuffed toys that were NOT for kids. An angry koala bear with bloody claws, one of which held a little human scratched up and bleeding from the head. Smoking rabbits (I thought they were piggy banks), and something call the Mongers, which seemed to be a collection of smoking food characters. The had a Wood Donkey that was so neat, one of the ears was a cut off tree trunk.
The art in the first room was not so bad either. It’s diverse, from framed pencil drawings to large painted canvases. Some were funny, like a comic styling of some creature from a horror movie with a quote claiming he didn’t care about his looks while making fun of some comic for at least trying. Others were political (and scary), some white guy getting his guts ripped out by M.L.K. and Obama. Yuck, but cool at the same time.
I didn’t spend a dollar, not because I didn’t find anything I like but more out of guilt for all the other things I would end up not buying. It’s not fair you know? Everything is so cool and interesting, how can I choose? I have no will power and it’s obvious that Domy is addictive. Better not start at all, for now, at least, until my next paycheck…
Yes, I will be back. I am in the area often enough, sometimes to eat the delicious pizza at Brasil and watch a movie in the patio that is connected to the bookstore itself. Other times to enjoy the happy hour at Poison Girl just down the street. Domy is jut another addition of great places I willingly brave the traffic and parking nightmare to visit.

If for no other reasons than A.) This is not a chain store; and B.) They have a huge selection of off the wall items, you should check out Domy.
In all seriousness, Domy is a writer’s dream. There’s art books to jump start you past writer’s block, niche market stuff like Tokidoki toys and Gloomy Bear, and one of the best selections of literary level books I’ve seen. You can get McSweeney’s and the Believer here. There’s an independent book sale every May – so incredibly worth checking out, especially since they have issues of Gulf Coast.
Parking is touch and go since you’re on the street, but you’re very close to Brasil and Agora if you wanna grab a bite or some coffee. Also, you’re right down the street from Poison Girl Bar, so if it happens to be a Thursday night during the school year, chances are there just may be a Poison Pen reading going on. (These feature writers from the UH creative writing graduate program, and some of those guys are rock stars in their own right.)

This is a cool little bookstore next to Brasil which specializes in graphic novels, art books, movies, and collectible toys. There is no other store like it in Houston.
This is not a «comic book» store, or even a highfalutin’ «art» bookstore, but rather, it carries materials for those who like graphic novels, graffiti art, pop culture, or all of it combined, and can appreciate the artistry in such things. As a result, Domy also serves as a gallery, in addition to selling books, and has offered shows by local graffiti artists, such as Give Up and Yar, to «outsider» artist/​musicain Daniel Johnston. Most of the art work on sale is pretty reasonably priced, accessible, and in my humble opinion, worth the investment.
In addition to offering cool books and artwork, they have a free movie night. Check out their website for the schedule cos’ it can be as divergent as Fellini’s «8 ½» one night, to «Scanners» on another, to «A Day at the Races», which happens to be scheduled for tomorrow, btw.
I popped in today to pounce on some goofy, sweet zipper pulls by an artist group called Friends With You. Their work makes me happy.

I’ve recently come to terms with a very simple fact: it’s okay to not find most of the books in Domy interesting. For the most part, they aren’t. They’re not mainstream or typical. A few of them (quite a few of them) border on the «I’m too hip for New York gutter punk» cool. But within these «too kool for skool» sub-​genres of avant-​garde reading material, there are quite a number of gems that you would never be able to find anywhere else… and leaf through before buying.
Mixed in between the most decidedly «cool» fifteen year old boy reading material (bound comic books) and the history of certain comic books, you can find many subcultures and counter cultures. Novels, coffee table books, histories, anthologies. Some that are so New York City that even browsing through them would make you want to pack up your humid, roach-​infested studio apartment and move to an even smaller one with bad plumbing and big rats, nestled somewhere in the heart of NYC.
But back to these hidden gems, you say? It’s subjective to a fault. I found a few books on artistic tiles from India. Page after page of different-​patterned tiles. Beautifully photographed, and perfect for reference. Design fascinates me. If I could find a beautifully photographed book of stenciled walls in Marrakesh, I would be one happy camper. On the industrial steel table above however, were books on graffiti, comic book art, and branding. (No, not the marketing term.) Eh. But I’m certain that some would be blown away by a book with photos of welts on human flesh in the shape of tribal art.
Beyond the books, I love this space. It’s an old house converted. It’s mostly open, but it is a bit of an adventure to wander through the rooms. Also, the employees are nice. They are friendly, but won’t follow you around the store (hover). They are there to help, but not ruin your browsing before buying experience. Actually, the guy was so polite that I had to ask him when the store closed. He told me, but I had to look at my watch to realize I must have walked in five minutes before closing time. Whoops.

Need book on the Congo’s Imperialist warfare – how about a book about sock monkeys? Looking to beef up your vinyl toy collection? You’ll find the most underground books, toys, figurines – even obscure usb memory sticks – at Domy.
The store carries an array of books on photography and underground art, as well as historical and political subjects. Owner Dan maintains a creative layout of the store, opting not to section books by subject; right next to a book on the Great Depression will you find a paperback copy of how to become a prostitute. What a *novel* idea. I think it keeps an open mind and introduces patrons to new and interesting topics they wouldn’t have otherwise considered delving into. He also prefers to display books on their backside with the faces up – not stacked vertically. Dan once told me that books’ illustrations and covers are art in itself and should be seen, not hidden. Kudos to that.
Speaking of art, the book store and gallery has local painting and sculptures displayed throughout. Check out their site for dates, as well as the movie schedule night. Mondays and Wednesdays, Domy features zany, old skool films.
If you’re ever in a rut while gift shopping, I recommend swinging by Domy for its fun selections, if not just to browse around and just chill the eff out.