"Invisible Monsters" writer Chuck Palahniuk selected Powell's City of Books for his choice, in part because of the many authors who come to do readings and signings at the store. "At Powell's you see the literary gods at their not-best," he wrote. "Exhausted from sleeping in a different hotel bed every night. Starved. Lonely for family."

St. John's Bridge in Portland, Ore.
Mike Zacchino/The Oregonian/AP