You know how (mostly) everything in Orange County is a chain? Book Soup wasn't. (Well, their former “sister store” is located on LA's Sunset Strip . . . but that doesn't count anyway.) We mourn you, Book Soup. Not only did you always, always, always have great music playing—ranging from Gainsbourg to indie bands du jour, the perfect accompaniment to the perfect literary search—but we were able to locate books here that couldn't be found elsewhere beyond the Internet. You carried some relatively lesser-known titles, including some that covered local bands. But you did always stand out—stuck there in South Coast Plaza, right across from Bottega Veneta and next to Cartier. Even your interior was different, reminiscent of a certain dimly lit, former Beat hangout in San Francisco's North Beach, actually. It just wasn't your sort of place, Book Soup. Or time. You just didn't belong. But will it ever be? Alas, Book Soup really did close this past spring. And in its place will spring a brand-new Versace store. Cruel fate.
