Ketab Corporation

I’m an author so I’m a little book obsessed. I totally judge a city by its bookstores, and Los Angeles has some pretty exceptional ones, including Ketab Corp. This bookstore is so well-stocked, with everything from Iranian magazines to children’s books to sheet music from Iranian composers. It’s also a great gift shop, with candles and art. My personal favorite thing in the whole store are old Iranian magazines with pictures of everyone from the Shah to Elizabeth Taylor to Sophia Loren on the cover. It's a blast to leaf through these, and think about how different the country was before the Revolution in 1979.