# Why Do You Like Used Bookstores? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328 "2017-02-20T16:51:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/21 "2017-02-20T21:44:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > My favorite find was as set of the original Ace paperback editions of _Lord of the Rings_ Which, of course, you refused to purchase, since those are an abomination, spawned by the Devil, sold in contravention of the spirit of copyright, even if technically legal. Not to mention the fact that they are directly responsible for the stupid emu covers on the official BB edition that was put out immediately thereafter. :mad::eek: ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/22 "2017-02-20T21:56:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Jophiel** , you don’t even have a Half-Priced Books near you? Granted, they don’t have nearly the charm of an independent (I’ve never even seen one with a cat), but they’re still better than nothing. Half-Price Books at NASA Parkway in Houston Texas has had a resident cat for a quite some It’s been a while since I was there, so I am not sure if he is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/23 "2017-02-20T22:01:41Z")
Just wanted to clue everyone in to [John King Used and Rare Books](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_K._King_Books) in Detroit. [Photos](https://www.google.com/search?q=john+king+used+books&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt2OPI1p_SAhVH72MKHROFCDwQ_AUICygE&biw=1252&bih=554) From the Wiki: > [@](#): > > The store has an estimated 1 million books in stock, with a large collection of rare and used titles.[9] In a 2011 article from the online magazine Salon, the store was described as “one of the largest and strangest collections in North America”.[6] > > The store has four above-ground floors open to customers. An adjacent building has a collection of rarer and notable items available for viewing by appointment only. The rare book holdings are the only cataloged part of the inventory and can be viewed and order by visiting [rarebooklink.com](http://rarebooklink.com). If you ever find yourself in Detroit, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I spend a good part of daylight there one day, and only made it to 2 of the 4 floors. mmm ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/24 "2017-02-20T22:05:30Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m getting that a lot of it is more of the “aura of the used book store” moreso than the actual saving of money or finding something different. Those other two are still definitely there, but am I correct in thinking that this reason is the primary? Not really, I have shopped in some very un-aura-of-a-used-book-store (crazy owners and the constant smell of Lysol) book stores over the years. The appeal is saving money and finding odd and rare items. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/25 "2017-02-20T22:06:37Z")
In my case, Recycle Books has two locations within easy walking/light rail distance–both closer than Barnes and Nobel. They a better/more eclectic selection of the types of books I like (music, pop culture, travel, western history, etc) and the vibe, as mentioned by others, is just more laid back. The employees are cool and I like the resident cats that roam the aisles and always seem amenable to scritching. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/26 "2017-02-20T22:10:16Z")
Out of print books, cheap paperbacks in genres I like but titles or series I’ve never heard of, and sometimes interesting editions of older books (with illustrations, for example). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/27 "2017-02-20T22:11:51Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > I gave the first B&N answer in the “Browsing” thread, but I’m pick a used book store over it. I just haven’t come across a dedicated physical used book store in ages; the ones I used to know all went out of business or changed to an online-only model. What about the Myopic Bookstore on North Milwaukee? Last time I was in there I bought nine books for about sixty bucks. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/28 "2017-02-20T22:15:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Jophiel** , you don’t even have a Half-Priced Books near you? Granted, they don’t have nearly the charm of an independent (I’ve never even seen one with a cat), but they’re still better than nothing. Most people don’t have a Half-Priced Books near them. They’re only located in seventeen states. Only seven states if you don’t count the states that have five or fewer stores. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/29 "2017-02-20T22:21:02Z")
> [@Miss\_Mapp](#): > > …sometimes interesting editions of older books (with illustrations, for example). Yes! I bought a 1929 edition of J.K. Huysmans’ _A Rebours_ (a key novel in my Senior Thesis) with “naughty” illustrations at Publix Books in Cleveland, a marvelous and long-gone shop. The other great used bookshop in Cleveland was Kay’s Books on Prospect Avenue, a positive dungeon with 30-foot high shelving JAMMED with books and a nasty little white-haired lady monster (Kay herself) behind the counter. Bought my first copy of Ginsberg’s “Howl” there when I was 14, when the City Lights edition was still fifty cents. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/30 "2017-02-20T22:27:16Z")
Used book stores tend to have a more esoteric selection of books, though I like new book stores too. Chapters (a good Canadian new book store now branching into lifestyle items you don’t really need) has okay coffee, friendly staff, a good selection of recent books, current magazines, friendly staff, generous refill policy (order a coffee for $2, refill with herbal tea if you want). Except for very popular authors, they only carry the 2-3 most recent works. I would say the selection is good, but not deep. Some used book stores are much better than others. The best ones have a wide selection, a deep selection and lots of cool books you might not have heard of or even guessed at – though admittedly used stores may not have any specific book, especially if new or fairly popular. Prices are sometimes lower, though for me that is not the chief appeal. Often, prices aren’t even all that different with savings cards and promotions. I like bookstores in general since I like to read. I often skim books or magazines to see if they are interesting in some way and worth purchasing. These days, lots of people don’t read much. Kindle is a poor substitute (great for vacations though); the Internet too unfocused for fiction or to cover some things in detail – maybe your Google Fu is better than mine. Is there snob appeal to reading? Probably not these days! Good books have never been easier to find, and used books are amazingly cheap since demand is often low. Maybe books were important and snobby in the distant past… Less so now. Too many other entertainment choices to compete with book clubs. My pet theory is this is a sweet spot on history for buying books. If reading levels decline, buying books will become more difficult and expensive. Fifty years from now, maybe won’t be as easy to find good books. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/31 "2017-02-20T22:48:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **Jophiel** , you don’t even have a Half-Priced Books near you? Granted, they don’t have nearly the charm of an independent (I’ve never even seen one with a cat), but they’re still better than nothing. Turns out there is one relatively near me. I’ll be honest and say that I never knew of HP books as a used book store and always assumed they were more of a cut bin, clearance “last chance” retailer for new books. Like those 80% off tables at Barnes & Noble except on a wider scale. > [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > What about the Myopic Bookstore on North Milwaukee? Last time I was in there I bought nine books for about sixty bucks That’s a bit outside my normal ranging area from the western suburbs. Back in the day, there was The Bookzeller in Naperville as my go-to but they’re long since gone (Oct 2006? Wow, it’s been a while) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/32 "2017-02-20T23:03:32Z")
Recycling! Many of them operate on a two-for-one basis, and that’s cool. Lighten the load of paperbacks cluttering up the house, and still come home with a big armload of classics. May the next reader of my old books get as much pleasure from them as I have! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/33 "2017-02-20T23:06:17Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > You never know what you’ll find. New bookstores, you know there’s not a lot of back catalog, but you can find out-of-print and hard-to-find books in used book stores. There’s also the smell of old books. > [@running\_coach](#): > > Lower prices for recent books. > Much wider selection especially of individual authors. > Finding books that are long out of print you didn’t know existed. > Finding books from your youth that you had (almost) forgotten. Many of the responses clicked with me, the above two in particular. Anyone here know East Lansing, Michigan? Been in Curious Books? I once saw a book printed around 1900, a book of household medical advice, written by a woman physician. I flipped through it and was impressed by the author’s style, very frank and practical, especially when dealing with “female issues” Menstrual cycles were not “the curse”, and there was sage advice for mothers to give their girls when puberty hits. It would hardly be out of place now. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/34 "2017-02-21T00:28:56Z")
I really like used bookstores. My all-time favorite is Wonder Books in Frederick, Maryland. I enjoy finding books I may have forgotten about but loved as a kid. Also, I like to buy (when I can find them) textbook anthologies I read in school, or even ones I didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/35 "2017-02-21T01:16:43Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Which, of course, you refused to purchase, since those are an abomination, spawned by the Devil, sold in contravention of the spirit of copyright, even if technically legal. Not to mention the fact that they are directly responsible for the stupid emu covers on the official BB edition that was put out immediately thereafter. :mad::eek: Hey, Wollheim didn’t get any money from me from the sale. 🙂 My favorite used bookstore is Lyrical Ballad in Saratoga Springs, NY. You go in and see a couple of rooms - a typical small store. Then you notice a door in the back. You see the vault (yes, a real old-fashioned bank vault) and turn left to find a maze of rooms that just keep on going. It’s magical. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/36 "2017-02-21T01:17:32Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m getting that a lot of it is more of the “aura of the used book store” moreso than the actual saving of money or finding something different. Those other two are still definitely there, but am I correct in thinking that this reason is the primary? Not for me. The contents are far more important than the atmosphere, which is enormously variable. Some of my best trips are to literal barns stuffed with books. My greatest find were five books put out by Gnome Press, the seminal f&sf small publisher, for five dollars each. This was in 1981. Since then I’ve bought a couple more Gnome Press books a year until I amassed probably the best collection in the country, better than the dealer who boasts he has the best. I have all 86 books plus 43 of the 54 known variants. (That means two sets of The Foundation Trilogy.) And all the associational items. Enough so that I’m compiling a new bibliography to correct errors in the older ones. (See [gnomepress.com](http://gnomepress.com). Yes, I have the URL, too.) A chance find turned into a lifelong hobby. How do you beat that? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/37 "2017-02-21T01:35:10Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > I enjoy finding books I may have forgotten about but loved as a kid… I was killing time at a used bookstore in Pismo Beach and came across a book I absolutely loved growing up– **The World We Live In**. That book, with it’s wonderful photos and fold-out illustrations turned me on to dinosaurs ([The Age Of Reptiles](https://goo.gl/photos/AAV5gfsrPwsy8FmPA)), outer space ([planetscapes by Chesley Bonestell](https://goo.gl/photos/CagxVjvSLDQPEnu38)) and nature in general. I grabbed that book and took it up to the counter without even looking at the price. (It was $7, but I would’ve paid $20 without a second thought!) ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/38 "2017-02-21T01:40:18Z")
**Exapno Mapcase @ 36:** I’m impressed! I’ve heard great things about Gnome Press, but never had the luck to run across any inexpensive copies. I started collecting Arkham House in the late 1980s, after buying my first two volumes for ten bucks apiece from Fred Dannay’s son at a rare book show in Greenwich Village (Fred Dannay was half of Ellery Queen). I’ve amassed a solid and serious collection but never been rich enough to afford the real prizes, like the early Lovecrafts and Clark Ashton Smiths. > **[Arkham House](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkham_House)** > > Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham, Massachusetts. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. The colophon for Arkham House was d... ---
**Author:** ![TYphoonSignal8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e99b99/32.png) [@TYphoonSignal8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TYphoonSignal8)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/39 "2017-02-21T02:28:23Z")
The smell. New book shops have no smell other than polymers. Used book shops have the scent of the weight of years. Dusty yet pleasant. Sometimes you find manky 70s paperbacks that smell like egg farts or stale semen. But usually old books are imbued with the smell sof the past: old cottons, tin, lost perfumes. These are aggregated in a very quiet way in old book shops. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328/40 "2017-02-21T02:38:17Z")
Hmm. Note: don’t go wine tasting with Typhoon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-like-used-bookstores/780328.md?page=3)