Its an absolute jewel of a little shop and its a pleasure to see its still open. (Dont you miss book stores that still have a little rack for staff favorites? Also theyve got a great section for childrens books if you need gifts.)

I love this bookshop! The staff are really helpful and are able to locate the books Im asking for very quickly. Even though the store is small, it packs a lot of different genres. As someone from NYC who loves checking out NYC independent bookstores, I was even able to find some gems that Ive never seen before at Joseph Fox! I also think its a lot better than Shakespear & Co down the street. Would highly recommend!

Quaint and modern, but no room to sit. Lots of titles and a great selection of nonfiction

I’m from DFW and I don’t see a lot of bookshops like this anymore. The selections of books were amazing. Wonderful staff and they were so patient. I really loved the book I got and they even helped give a recommendation on lunch to an out of towner. 10/10.

Lovely old time book shop!!! I would much rather shop there instead of Barnes and Noble!!

Small bookstore with very helpful staff and a great selection of books. They will also order in books for you and they offer curbside pickup!

Cozy bookstore I stumbled across after recently moving to Center City. They were able to order the book I was searching for in just 2 business days at a reasonable price!

This s is the best bookshop in the Philadelphia area.

Lovely local independent bookstore with a great selection. Will place books aside if you call ahead, and very sweet gift wrapping options as well. Go here!

Such a cool bookshop with great and helpful employees. Also just have the PERFECT collection of beautiful books without the absurd numbers of books to sort through.

Wonderful selection and great service 👏

This is my favorite bookstore, small but stocked and the staff are always very helpful

Very cozy yet modern.

Great place to find interesting reads. Trends slightly towards nonfiction, and has fantastic sections on architecture and urban planning, history, science, and economics. It really is the best place to find books that make you think!Be warned: this place stocks mostly new, recently-published books, and so this definitely isnt the cheapest place to look. However, the shop brings a unique, cozy character to the experience of finding a new books, and its easy to tell how closely intertwined the J. Fox Bookshop is with the surrounding community. Bottom line: great character, great selection.

My favorite place in Harvard Square. And thats saying a lot because I love food.A great place to browse, find great book deals for under $5, and find signed by the authors. Lots of events and book readings, friendly staff, a frequent buyers program... Definitely satisfies my inner nerd!

This place is seriously awesome. I dont know what else to say. I pretty much always buy 2 or 3 books every time I go here. It is irresistible and their selection is impeccable. Someone else on here said it, I truly feel like Joseph Fox Bookshop gets me.

The Joseph Fox Bookshop is a fantastic independent book shop tucked away on Samson. You wont find a large selection of popular titles, but a very interesting, and often tempting, selection of books that would be hidden in a larger chain bookstore, if carried at all. Gift wrapping for the books is included and a great way to treat yourself with your purchase.

Quaint little bookstore, tucked away down a side street.

If you end up liking the place, its definitely worth getting on their email list. They have outstanding small events, authors, and speakers all the time; some of which are last minute.The people who work there are extremely helpful.

Good bookstore.

Wonderfully curated book selection for the intellectually curious. A delight for the reader seeking the best of art, literature, and wisdom. Helpful and knowledgeable staff. My credit card always wants to max out here!

Nice and friendly staff there to help you with any questions. They really know their store. They have a great selection for their size as its not the biggest place. If you have kids there is a nice section in the back for them to find their next favorite book. I wish thete were more random books for cheap and the sections were labeled a bit better but thats it. Definitely a place to check out if your a book nerd.

Excellent selection of books. Loved the staff picks and bought one. Well be back!

I’ve been in hundreds of bookstores throughout my lifetime, and I have to say that this is one of the best-curated ones I’ve ever seen. Though a small store, its collection is vast and diverse. One of those bookstores that makes you fall in love with bookstores.

Cool little book shop with what seems to be a good collection of books. Interesting selections in the disparate topics I looked at.

Lots of cool books! Nothing very edgy or alternative that I saw. Seemed to be mostly white male authors but I was impressed by the selection nonetheless. The organization seemed a little haphazard but I kind of loved it - like youd see the same book in multiple sections but it made sense. Good travel and childrens sections.

Amazing selection and great staff. Very comfortable and every book was tempting! Great kids section too. When I couldnt find a book they offered to order it at no extra charge!

Staff was quite snippety but the shop has a delightfully eclectic selection of books.

Joseph Fox Bookshop is my favorite independent bookstore in Center City Philadelphia, which is small and intimate yet contains a rich selection of quality books, and is staffed by friendly and knowledgeable booksellers, and is conveniently located a short distance from Rittenhouse Square.

Well curated book store with friendly and helpful staff. If you want to support local bookstores then stop by.

I was so pleased to stumble on this place after going to the black diamond bakery. An awesome selection in almost pristine condition. Nice man running the store.

Wonderful selection of unusual cookbooks. I always stop in when I visit Philadelphia. You never how what you’re going to find! Love this shop!!

So cozy and intimate!

This store is really great and the book selection is wonderful. But the reason Im scoring it so low is because of how I was treated by one of the staff members in the store. I was browsing through the store and wrote down a couple of book titles that seemed interesting and that I was going to look up later. Then a woman, who I think was the manager, came up to me and confronted me about what I was doing, asking why I was writing down book titles. I told her my reason and she just nodded and walked away. Overall it was really strange and I just didnt feel very welcome after that so I left. So even though I would love to go to the store again since everything else was awesome (and the rest of the staff seemed very nice), that whole interaction really turned me off the place :/

The single greatest book store in Philadelphia. The staff is educated, informed and goes out of their way to help you.

Lovely little book nook on Sansom Street! My kiddos loved the kid section & the emoji dog stickers at checkout.

Awesome little book shop tucked away in the heart of philly. I am a tourist and stopped in and loved how cozy it was!

Favorite place to get books! Its cute, tiny and carries books you might not catch in a big chain bookstore.

The greatest! A real bookstore, not a chain stocking only bestsellers, Joseph Fox is a store for browsing, a place where you can find a wide variety of books for all interests.

So small but selection is so big. Lots of POC lead childrens books. Perfect mix of classics and contemporary.

Great recommendations for my niece and nephew!!! They love their books.

Very helpful staff and a wide variety of books. Very willing to order and pre-order books.

The selection is great for those trendy readers who want to be on the pulse of the latest philosophical and poetic titles to hit the market. The staff leave you alone, which is either good or bad depending on what youre looking for.

Lovely shop with a helpful literate staff. Always a pleasure to browse here.

As a small store, they have to stock the best.

Deliciously eclectic collection of childrens books, including many translations. Could have easily spent the whole day here browsing.

Great little bookstore, with incredible selection of international literature.

Excellent independent seller. Good selection of map books, which as a geographer, is very important.

Decent shop, but unfortunately I was looking for used books, which they dont do.

Joseph Fox Books is everything an independent bookseller should be. Great selection of both adult and childrens books, knowledgeable staff, and theyll order anything they dont have in stock.

The best bookstore in Philly.

Charming bookstore with amazing staff!

A sanctuary for books and those who love them.

Awesome independent store with a fun selection and really warm people

Fantastic little bookshop. Snarky sign about cell phone use is unnecessary.

Very nice selection and people, but it was just not what I was looking for

A gem of a shop, with a great Childrens section, and wonderful service.

Small place, but friendly and helpful staff and good selection of books

Great little independent bookstore, with a great selection.

Superb, old-fashioned, bookstore with a wonderful staff.

Few book stores have the integrity and feeling of a great place to be that is Joseph Fox.

A nice enough place, and an idea you want to root for, but the location is a drag. Lots of people like to sit outside at the tables and drink coffee and pretend theyre at an urban cafe, but sorry, its just a parking lot.PSB is great I bet if you have kids, or just want to pick up a book (I like the staff, I like the selection) but the customer base is so sadly petty-bourgeoisie in their public leisure that its depressing.

Great staff and a nice little shop. Defiantly will buy from this shop as much as I can first for any book!

Helpful staff always has a great recommendation

Not Barnes and Noble, and thats a good thing.

THIS place gets full marks.A tiny little bookshop, you can tell the owners put some thought into their selection. Your time digging through these shelves will be well rewarded.

Great collection in a small local store

Very cool place with unusual books

The clerk was a tremendous help.

Knowledgeable consultative staff.

Very helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable staff.

They dont over price their books and thats the reason I keep on coming back here. I have already purchased several items here.

They have several books

Really nice place

Old time bookstore

So cool.

The bookstore of your fantasies

Its magic.

A hidden gem.

Love it

Organized to perfection.