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Thornwell Books, located in a renovated historic building in downtown Morganton, is a bookstore and cafe selling new books, coffee, freshly made bakery items and a changing selection of curated wines. We offer a variety of cozy reading areas and will reserve spaces for book club meetings and other events.
From Google. Shown as written by the reviewers.
Michelle Carswell
December 2025
This is a very charming and cozy bookstore. Very inviting with the smells of coffee and sounds of Christmas music playing in the background. The wise, knowledgeable, and sweet woman I spoke to was very welcoming and informative. I would love to return when time allowed to sit above the rafters in their cozy looking book lounge thats upstairs. Thanks for the experience. Till we meet again...
Emmy Whitmore
August 2025
I am attending NCSSM, up the hill, and this coffee shop is the best in town. They have amazing Gluten Free pastries, and lots of ultimate milks, such as oat and almond. The atmosphere is chill and collected, and this is one of my favorite study spots. All of their lattes are incredibly good, and this is one of my favorite coffee shops in town. 10/10
Heidi Barnes
November 2025
Great atmosphere, plenty of areas to sit and work/study/generally relax. Great selection of books, particularly in the fantasy and science fiction section, many of which appeared to be limited edition hard covers. The coffee was delicious and they have lots of fun flavor combinations. Didn't try the food or pastries but we'll be back soon. Great little spot in Morganton to unwind.
Tina Thompson
January 2026
Morganton is the 1/2 way point between my best friend and me (each of us driving an hour), and he chose Thornwell Books this weekend for us to meet-up. He could not have chosen any more perfect place for great coffee, good books, nice natural light and our pick of the most thoughtfully-arranged cozy seating to catch up on this rainy day. What a wonderful place!
Riley Harrison
October 2025
Great selection of books with clear labels of genre. Also some nice summaries for specific books on the shelves. The staff is incredibly friendly and makes some amazing coffee! A nice selection of pastries is also available. The lemon blueberry scones were a 10/10 the store is thoughtfully laid out making browsing for a book a delight and there a ton of seating options including some tucked back away a bit from the main store. 10/10 could not recommend any more!
