Step through the doors and the pace shifts immediately. The café hums. An event calendar catches your eye. This is not a place designed for a quick in and out.
Denver Book Society was founded by Rich Garvin, whose love of bookstores stretches back to childhood. “I have fond memories of visiting bookstores in San Francisco, where I previously lived, and always finding something I didn’t know I wanted or needed,” he says. That same spirit of discovery shapes everything about the shop, from its carefully curated shelves to the programming that fills its calendar year-round.
Community is central to what Rich has built here. The shop has hosted talks by Little Rock Nine member Carlotta Walls LaNeir and performances by Opera Colorado’s Resident Artists, drawing Denver locals together around shared curiosity and culture. “Community is at the heart of our ethos, and our motto, ‘a book lover’s best friend,’” says Rich. “It’s all about forming and cementing new relationships.”
Settle in with a coffee and the room quiets as the next event begins. On one such evening, Carlotta recalls the weight of 1957, students booing and shouting as the Little Rock Nine walked the halls of Central High School. The contrast with a room full of neighbors gathered willingly, leaning in together, says everything about why a place like this matters.
Rich Recommends
A curated lineup of page-turners perfect for long summer afternoons.
Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
An honest memoir that follows the famed tennis star’s complicated relationship with the fame, the pressure, and the sport he sometimes loved to hate.
Go as a River: A Novel by Shelley Read
Set against the landscapes of southern Colorado, the book follows one woman’s life as it’s forever altered by the experience of first love.
Ball Four: The Final Pitch by Jim Bouton
A sharp, funny, and groundbreaking look inside the realities of life in Major League Baseball. Hilarious and revealing, a classic that changed sports writing forever.
For print-exclusive stories, download the digital magazine or pick up a copy from select local King Soopers, Safeway, Tattered Cover, or Barnes & Noble locations.
