A bar where you can walk out with a stack of used paperbacks, or a bookstore where nobody minds if you stay past midnight? In Chattanooga, it's both. The Reading Room, on the city's east side, is a neighborhood bar and used bookstore in one, and the books are the real deal — not just interior design. Every title on its floor-to-ceiling shelves is for sale, and none costs more than $8.
The concept came from owner Linden Marno-Ferree, who worked as a bookseller at Harvard Book Store in Massachusetts and Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. before switching to bartending. She wanted a space that merged the sociability of a bar with the quiet comfort of browsing shelves, and found an ideal ally in the Chattanooga Public Library Foundation. Books supplied through that partnership stock the room, and a share of every sale goes back to the foundation — so your impulse paperback purchase funds public library work.
The vibe leans eccentric living room rather than retail: exposed brick, vintage chandeliers, mismatched furniture and enough corners to vanish into a novel for an afternoon. The drink list covers beer, cocktails, coffee and tea, plus nonalcoholic options, and a small food menu means you don't have to put your book down to eat.
It's also busier than most bookstores. The Reading Room bills itself as a home for 'creatives, free-thinkers, weirdos and regular nice people,' and the calendar matches: author readings, writers' and craft nights, bingo, comedy, bookish trivia, drag events, ambient music sets and live Drunk History-style performances.
For travellers, this is a solid reason to wander beyond Chattanooga's riverfront and aquarium district. It works as a daytime coffee-and-reading stop (it opens at noon) or a late-night drink, open until midnight Wednesday through Sunday, with parking behind the building. If you're in town for a weekend, pair it with a show or event night for the full experience — and leave shelf space in your suitcase, because at $8 a book, you will buy something. Hours and events shift, so check the bar's site before you go.
