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BEST USED BOOKSTORE

Book Barn Book Exchange

Designed like a shoe store, the Barn features unvarnished wood shelves lining every available inch of wall space, stocked end-to-end with more books than some libraries. Simple ceiling-high shelves also divide the store into aisles for Detective (purchase: the unintentionally funny The Corpse Had a Familiar Face by Edna Buchanan), Novels (purchase: two brand-new reprints of The Catcher in the Rye), Science Fiction (purchase: a short-story collection by overlooked genius Alfred Bester called Starburst), Gothic, Children, Biography, Education, Historical Romance, and many others, including the unusual Math Crafts section. There's other stuff: wishing stones, page marks, bookbags. You trade even -- say three of your books for three of theirs -- then pay a 25 percent charge on the value of the barter. A couple decades old and blessed with young, smart, polite clerks, the Barn doesn't need computers or any of that newfangled junk. Just an adding machine and a kazillion words published in book form, then offered to the world.

BEST USED BOOKSTORE

Book Barn Book Exchange

Designed like a shoe store, the Barn features unvarnished wood shelves lining every available inch of wall space, stocked end-to-end with more books than some libraries. Simple ceiling-high shelves also divide the store into aisles for Detective (purchase: the unintentionally funny The Corpse Had a Familiar Face by Edna Buchanan), Novels (purchase: two brand-new reprints of The Catcher in the Rye), Science Fiction (purchase: a short-story collection by overlooked genius Alfred Bester called Starburst), Gothic, Children, Biography, Education, Historical Romance, and many others, including the unusual Math Crafts section. There's other stuff: wishing stones, page marks, bookbags. You trade even -- say three of your books for three of theirs -- then pay a 25 percent charge on the value of the barter. A couple decades old and blessed with young, smart, polite clerks, the Barn doesn't need computers or any of that newfangled junk. Just an adding machine and a kazillion words published in book form, then offered to the world.

BEST PERCUSSION STORE

Resurrection Drums

You are a spastic animal. You must bang on surfaces at all times. You drive your co-workers batty. You make people sweat by your demeanor. Like it or not, you are a drummer, and it sounds like you need something to bang. At Resurrection, located next to that temple of all things Miami, Bird Bowl, you'll find snares, bongos, congas, timbales, cow bells, and just about anything else to satiate your inner beat beast. Resurrection is well connected, so if you don't see the djembe drum of your dreams they can get it to you in a jiffy. What's more, they offer lessons and workshops for you to express yourself and make Art Blakey proud.

BEST PERCUSSION STORE

Resurrection Drums

You are a spastic animal. You must bang on surfaces at all times. You drive your co-workers batty. You make people sweat by your demeanor. Like it or not, you are a drummer, and it sounds like you need something to bang. At Resurrection, located next to that temple of all things Miami, Bird Bowl, you'll find snares, bongos, congas, timbales, cow bells, and just about anything else to satiate your inner beat beast. Resurrection is well connected, so if you don't see the djembe drum of your dreams they can get it to you in a jiffy. What's more, they offer lessons and workshops for you to express yourself and make Art Blakey proud.

BEST LEATHER

Leather World

Bright blue or yellow leather purses, slim brown leather wallets, cavernous leather luggage, silver-tipped leather belts, and leathery ostrich-skin ashtrays: These and more can be purchased at Leather World. The colors and sleek shapes attract the eye first, but the divine smell draws you farther into the store. A cool professional sales staff and leathers from all over the world and prices that make you ask: Why are the insides of cattle so cheap and their outsides so expensive?

BEST LEATHER

Leather World

Bright blue or yellow leather purses, slim brown leather wallets, cavernous leather luggage, silver-tipped leather belts, and leathery ostrich-skin ashtrays: These and more can be purchased at Leather World. The colors and sleek shapes attract the eye first, but the divine smell draws you farther into the store. A cool professional sales staff and leathers from all over the world and prices that make you ask: Why are the insides of cattle so cheap and their outsides so expensive?

BEST NEWSSTAND

Worldwide News

Yes, you've heard it before: Worldwide News is the best newspaper and magazine shop in the county. But before you cover your eyes, consider this: Where else are you going to get Sunday editions of the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle on a Wednesday? What other store is bold enough to offer National Geographic, the Advocate, and Taboo? What place can both educate you with the Nation (or, for the conservatively inclined, the National Review), feed you with a selection of ice cream novelties, then help you get rich with an impressive offering of scratch-off lottery and Lotto tickets? Worldwide News has got it all, man.

BEST NEWSSTAND

Worldwide News

Yes, you've heard it before: Worldwide News is the best newspaper and magazine shop in the county. But before you cover your eyes, consider this: Where else are you going to get Sunday editions of the New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle on a Wednesday? What other store is bold enough to offer National Geographic, the Advocate, and Taboo? What place can both educate you with the Nation (or, for the conservatively inclined, the National Review), feed you with a selection of ice cream novelties, then help you get rich with an impressive offering of scratch-off lottery and Lotto tickets? Worldwide News has got it all, man.

BEST PLACE TO GET A USED BIKE

Community Family Thrift Store

You never know what you'll find at the back of this thrift store on Washington Avenue in the heart of South Beach. One day it's a well-worn 24-inch Huffy, the next it's a vintage model so solid it looks like it came straight from the set of The Bicycle Thief, complete with leather satchel under the seat. And the store's resident mechanic tweaks each bike to make sure tires, brakes, and gears all run just so. From classic Schwinns to road bikes to balloon tire beach cruisers, the stock is varied but never large (only a few on hand at a time); if you pass on a bike today it won't be there tomorrow.

BEST PLACE TO GET A USED BIKE

Community Family Thrift Store

You never know what you'll find at the back of this thrift store on Washington Avenue in the heart of South Beach. One day it's a well-worn 24-inch Huffy, the next it's a vintage model so solid it looks like it came straight from the set of The Bicycle Thief, complete with leather satchel under the seat. And the store's resident mechanic tweaks each bike to make sure tires, brakes, and gears all run just so. From classic Schwinns to road bikes to balloon tire beach cruisers, the stock is varied but never large (only a few on hand at a time); if you pass on a bike today it won't be there tomorrow.

Best Of Miami®

Best Of Miami®

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