Turns out the secret to a great bookstore might be letting people drink in it.
Philosophers & Fools, the Bogard Street shop that pairs a curated book selection with a wine-and-beer bar, just got named the sixth best independent bookstore in the country in USA Today’s 2026 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It was the only South Carolina store to make the list — chosen through a mix of expert nominations and public voting.
USA Today’s pitch: “A cozy neighborhood spot in Charleston, Philosophers & Fools blends an independent bookstore with a relaxed wine and beer bar,” praising a “thoughtfully curated selection” that shares shelf space with craft drinks and light snacks.
What makes this a genuinely good Charleston story is how new the place is. Philosophers & Fools opened in 2024 — barely two years ago — the project of co-owners and longtime locals Jenny Ferrara and her husband, Michael Bourke. They told the Post and Courier they liked to read while having a drink and wanted to “build a little clubhouse” where everyone else could do the same.
Mission accomplished. The shop at 50 Bogard St. runs bestsellers and oddball finds along a long wooden bar built for sitting and sipping. Marble tables line the windows; a back lounge does the velvet-chair-and-couch thing. There are book clubs, crossword brunches, trivia nights — a full calendar of reasons to come back once you’ve finished the book you bought.
“Our team has worked so hard to create a space and community that embraces not just reading, but also engaging and conversing with our neighbors and fellow readers,” Bourke said.
Consider the company it’s keeping. The list was topped by LBI Bookshop in New Jersey, followed by Barrow Bookstore in Massachusetts, Leopold’s in Wisconsin, Parnassus Books in Tennessee — novelist Ann Patchett’s shop — and Blue Willow Bookshop in Texas. A two-year-old Charleston operation slotting in at number six on a list like that is not nothing.
It also tracks with something we keep noticing about the city’s retail scene: the winners aren’t selling products so much as reasons to linger. A bookstore you can drink in. A jewelry shop you can browse on a slow Saturday. A fragrance store with a sink to test the hand soap. Charleston shoppers reward the places that turn a transaction into an afternoon.
For a “little clubhouse” on Bogard Street, national top-ten is a long way from where two readers started with a simple idea: good books, cold drinks, somewhere to stay a while.
This is a summary of an article published in the Post and Courier. Click here if you’d like to read that article.
