Manteo Booksellers

With its rambling, comfortable rooms, complete with inviting chairs; relaxed atmosphere; resident cat; helpful, friendly staff encouraging patrons to browse for hours; and--above all--its wide and remarkably choice selection of books, with special strengths in (among other areas) history, nature, fiction, and the history and culture of the endlessly fascinating Outer Banks region, this enchanting shop on Manteo's historic waterfront epitomizes everything a bookstore should be.

I've enjoyed it repeatedly for more than twenty years, making sure to visit for a couple of hours, at least, whenever I'm in the area. It remains what it became for me when I first stepped through the door: my favorite all-around bookstore anywhere.