Independent bookstores are treasure troves of knowledge and ideas, invaluable for the imagination, and often reflect their owners' personalities in ways chain stores and internet behemoths could never recreate. In this book, photographer Horst A. Friedrichs opens the door to the world of independent bookstores, showcasing their variety, quirkiness, and vitality with lavish photography. It celebrates the passion and commitment of the owners with interviews and anecdotes. Explore William Stout Books, a specialty store for architecture and art books in San Francisco, and Baldwin's Book Barn in Pennsylvania, a 5-story bookstore housed in a dairy barn open since the mid-1940s. Discover Gay's the Word, the UK's first and only dedicated LGBTQI bookshop, and Livraria Lello, whose art deco interior is a temple to reading in the middle of Porto, Portugal. Some of the featured bookstores specialise in a certain genre, some are massive with vaulted ceilings, some are tiny and filled to the brim with books, some are in historic buildings that evoke a different time and place, and some are brand new in their neighbourhoods. What all the bookstores have in common is that they are all dedicated to spreading the written word to their communities. 'Shelf Life' is an ideal book for anyone who loves to read, browse, or simply linger in the analog world of books and bookstores.