If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s bookstores. If there are two things I’m passionate about, it’s bookstores and the Valley. So this summer, when I caught wind of the fact that none other than the Last Bookstore was going to open a new location mere minutes away from me, it just about made my year. And this week, I got an early look at the shop before it has its grand opening on Saturday. The Valley outpost came about because the Last Bookstore’s lease was nearly up on its warehouse in Northridge, where over a half a million books were stored, so the team needed a new base of operations. Enter the new space, which serves as both storage and retail. The Last Bookstore in DTLA is one of the best independent bookstores in L.A.—and certainly the largest and highest-profile (check out this bar it inspired all the way in Glasgow, Scotland). After its first iteration in a Downtown loft in 2005, the Last Bookstore made a huge splash when it opened in an old bank building on Spring Street. It’s often credited as part of Downtown’s renaissance, but it led an independent-bookstore renaissance as well. It cleverly drew people in with its eye-catching book installations—who flocked to snap pics in the book tunnel or peekaboo window, leading to its being crowned the world’s most-Instagrammed bookstore. But the Last Bookstore’s magic lies in the way it’s always combined immaculate vibes and aesthetics with real substance and a love of reading—and the result is getting people into bookstores, buying physical books in the digital age. Owner Josh Spencer and his wife, Jenna, also have a “little sister” bookstore in idyllic Montrose, Lost Books, which has a smaller footprint but is an equally enchanting shop that you enter through a plant-lined tunnel. Real birdsong—there’s an actual cage with live birds—provides the soundtrack as you browse the labyrinth of bookshelves. Photograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out That makes the Last Bookstore Studio City the couple’s third L.A. bookstore. Located on an unassuming block—its neighbors are a McDonald’s and a Catholic church—near the border of Studio City, North Hollywood and Toluca Lake, the 10,000-foot space technically belongs to Designers Views, a furniture and landscaping sculpture store that still has another location right across the street. Interspersed throughout the Last Bookstore Studio City are some of Designers Views’ large-scale decor items—botanical sculptures, a life-size brass horse, a hanging birdcage, huge potted trees and more—that can be purchased. When I visited on the first day of the soft opening, the employees were still hard at work stocking shelves and arranging decor. All told, the store will stock over 500,000 books. The front room has a curated selection of new books: bestsellers, new editions of classics, coffee table books, poetry books, celebrity memoirs and quite a few books about mythology. Photograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out Pass through to the back of the store, and you’ll find high bowstring truss ceilings, exposed brick and tons of used books organized into hyper-specific categories. You’ve got your fiction anthologies, horror and true crime, music books by genre and literary criticism, but also things like paranormal romance, alternative graphic novels and—this one made me smile—shelves devoted purely to Jane Austen fan fiction (from which I snagged Lost in Austen, a “create-your-own Jane Austen adventure”).  Photograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out Overall, the Last Bookstore Studio City offers a much more Zen and laid-back shopping experience than you’ll find at its Downtown counterpart. It’s going for a “reading garden” vibe, according to the store’s Instagram account. I caught up with owner Josh Spencer to ask his thoughts before this weekend’s grand opening: What's the experience you want shoppers to have at this new location?The same as all our locations: wonder and joy! But also a sense of peace and relaxation at this one. What makes this a “Last Bookstore,” as opposed to Lost Books in Montrose? Is it a matter of square footage?Lost Books is primarily my wife, Jenna’s, creative expression. This Studio City store has its own style but is a fusion of both of us, and yes it is large like the Last Bookstore Downtown. It will also be the hub for all of our inventory receiving, sorting, creative content, online sales and so forth. We’ll both be working at this store often. Why are you excited about opening in the Valley in particular?We’re excited to provide a great bookstore for those who aren’t up for the trek Downtown and all that entails. We live in the Valley, so this is more our neighborhood these days than DTLA. How does it feel having played a role in getting people excited about independent bookstores and physical media again since you first opened the Last Bookstore? It feels great! Since I opened the first Last Bookstore and we became known around the world, I’ve seen an explosion of new independent stores globally, with an emphasis on distinctive design and personality in the bookstore experience. It’s been very gratifying to be at the forefront of that new wave of experiential bookstores since the more corporate style faded away. The Last Bookstore Studio City is located at 4437 Lankershim Blvd. It officially opens to the public this Saturday, December 14. Visit the store on Instagram at @lastbookstorestudiocity for more information.  Photograph: Gillian Glover for Time Out