Exploring 3 Used bookstores

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:04]Hello friends, it's Nikki and welcome or welcome back to my messy bookshelf.

[00:00:08]Today I am sharing my weekend with you.

[00:00:11]Um I made it a point this weekend to try out a few well three used bookstores. I have been wanting to find a used bookstore in my area and there is one relatively close to my house. I did check out that one again and two others that are a little bit further away, like 30 minutes or more away from my house. But I will share with you the clips that I took. And of course, I forgot to film the second one.

[00:00:42]I am embarrassed filming in public. So, um, I just filmed a couple of short clips from the first and the third bookstores that I went to. And yeah, this is not going to be some sort of aesthetic vlog situation, but I will share those clips with you. So stick around if you are interested in my experience checking out some new to me bookstores and one that I've been to before.

[00:01:12]Hello friends. So here I am. I am attempting to make my way to a couple of used bookstores this weekend because I have been searching for some new used bookstores in my area and I have found a couple. They are not super close to my house and so over this weekend I hope to visit two or three of them and I have just parked at the first of them and it is quite a crowded parking lot so I don't want to be talking to myself in the car for too long but I will check it out and let you know what I think.

[00:01:52]So that was nice. Um, they did have a bunch of used books, and they're obviously a used bookstore, but it was much more expensive than I'm used to seeing in a used bookstore. Most of the books were only a dollar or two less than the asking price that I would pay somewhere else and get store credit for um, for purchasing.

[00:02:17]But I did actually manage to pick up a few things and I will share that at the end. I did I think I will make this my spot for I because I will come back. The owner was very nice. It seems they've been here for a long time. I think that I will make this a spot to check out for out of print classics because they did have a huge selection of those. But for more modern contemporary books, I don't think the price was worth it. But it was good. It was good. I enjoyed it.

[00:02:51]So, we'll see what the next one holds.

[00:02:54]About to check out our next spot.

[00:02:59]Got the family here. Drag them along.

[00:03:02]>> Help.

[00:03:07]>> Hold on. Mommy's recording. We can't talk to her right now.

[00:03:14]>> She makes me hold her coffin.

[00:03:21]That was such a massive success compared to yesterday. I loved it. I loved it.

[00:03:26]>> And yes, you got ramen chips and a plushy.

[00:03:31]>> Hello.

[00:03:31]>> Thanks to daddy.

[00:03:34]So, now I thought I'd quickly share what I picked up in all of these bookstores.

[00:03:39]So, I did purchase something in each of the stores that I visited. Number two was the one I did not film. It is the one closest to my house that I have been to before and the selection just it really honestly sucks. But I did I do want to support local and I want that used bookstore experience. Usually my used books are randomly found in thrift stores when I am looking for clothing or from thriftbooks.com.

[00:04:13]So, the first store that I went to was new to me and it wasn't too far away. It was maybe 30 minutes away from my house.

[00:04:24]I was disappointed by how expensive everything was. It was a hole in the wall. It was not, you know, fancy or anything, which I love. I love browsing a good used bookstore. But everything was so expensive. They had a ton of things piled to the ceiling and they had a bunch of different things, but it was so expensive. And when I say expensive, I mean everything was only about a dollar or two off of the list price of new books. So, I was very disappointed about that. But I did want to support them because they were the owners were a very nice elderly couple that have been running that store for over 30 years and I did want to support and I did find some things that I wanted. So I think I've decided that I will make that my spot. I think I mentioned it in the clip that I will make that my spot to go searching for out of print classics. I don't think I will ever purchase anything else from there because the price is honestly not worth it. I could buy something not creased and not, you know, that doesn't have annotations inside for a dollar more, but I will share what I got in that first store.

[00:05:45]So, the first thing I got, thankfully, this one had nothing inside of it. I picked up a mini wreck this journal. And if you are unfamiliar with these, these are super fun. Uh my daughter and I have two of these full-size ones and have worked through them over the past few years. And the whole point is you are supposed to wreck this journal and it gives you prompts of things to do.

[00:06:09]Um I'll give you an example.

[00:06:15]Hide parts of this page in your travels.

[00:06:19]Uh so it has you cut uh make a mess with it. Poke holes. Uh there's prompts that, you know, cover this page with odd things that you find.

[00:06:33]It's super fun. We've always enjoyed um these books.

[00:06:41]Get it stamped by someone.

[00:06:43]So, this one is a mini one that's meant to be carried with you everywhere. my other one that the most recent one that we have is almost finished, but it's quite a bit bigger and not easy to just throw in my purse. So, this one will fit perfectly in my purse. And I did pick this one up because we love love doing these together. Uh, the next thing I picked up at that store, the first store was a book I just read in April, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denny Sovich by Alexander Soleniten.

[00:07:18]And I really, really liked this book a lot, more than I thought I would. Now this is not or this I haven't read anything else by this author but this was no dstoyki or toolstoy but it was fascinating and it documents the life of um well not the life it documents one day in the life of a prisoner of a goolog camp and his good day he had a good day and it's just documenting that one day in his life and I really really liked it a lot and I decided I wanted to own it and I saw it and I said, "Okay, the next one."

[00:08:00]I honestly probably should have just bought this one new because it was almost as expensive as the new version.

[00:08:08]And Crime and Punishment, a book I've read that I plan on rereading, and it's the Pavir and Volkski uh translation. And I keep hearing good things about that duo in their translation of Russian works. And I plan on reading Crime and Punishment again in the near future. So I picked that one up. And then this one I was very happy to find because I think both of these are on my 50 before 50 list. Um, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

[00:08:45]And then this one was a fun find. I probably shouldn't have bought it because, you know, it wasn't cheap for a used bookstore, but it's uh Geisha by Liza Dolby. And this has all kinds. So I guess this woman is a photographer or a journal. No, an anthropologist specializing in Japanese culture. She visited Japan and went to a couple of different geisha districts and spent time with them and photographed them and got a lot of historical context about geisha. Of course, now I can't find any of the photos, but I am currently reading Memoirs of a Geisha with my friend Jessica and another Audio Miles um friend and we are loving it. And I think all of us are pretty intrigued by all of the historical context with Geisha. And I was also very intrigued when I read Shogun because there was a lot of mention and description of Geisha in that book too. And I have been flipping. This is the one I have spent the most time with since this past weekend. And uh I've been loving the pictures. And even certain things like on the cover and the back cover that I recognize, you looking at it probably don't, but now I know what the meaning behind some of the articles of dress and like the tattoos that they have on the back of their neck. Now I know what that means.

[00:10:21]And it's fascinating to see this. So, I am really happy that I found this and picked it up. Does have annotations in it and it was not cheap for a used bookstore, but I still picked it up. And like I said, I will return there when I'm kind of searching for some classics. But yeah, the second bookstore that I went to is the one that is closest to my house and that I have always complained here on book that my local used bookstore has a horrible selection and they do. But I did get a couple things and I was happy with both.

[00:11:00]Didn't see anything else in the store that I wanted. Um, so I picked up a rather battered copy of The Mill on the Floss by George Elliot. I read Middle March two years ago and I want more George Elliot. So, I've heard a lot of people say this is one of their favorites. So, got that one. And then this one I've been wanting to read and I haven't picked it up new. The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. And it sounds like this is based in New York or set in New York City at a bodega type grocery store.

[00:11:40]and the community the community that is built in those very closely lit neighbor closeknit neighborhoods. Words words we got we have words. Uh I've been wanting to read this one and I mean I I will say the second bookstore I went to their books are cheap. They are cheap. So, I was very happy to find this for over half of the cost or less than half of the cost that I would have picked it up at Barnes & Noble or somewhere like that. So, I am happy to have found this and I will continue to check in there every now and again, but every time I go in there, sometimes I walk out with nothing. So, yeah. Uh, and then the third place that I went to, I actually went with my husband and daughter, and we all had a great time at that place. Um, that was a store called Second and Charles that I guess is a chain that has used books and pop culture like memorabilia. And we had a lot of fun in there. And the books were cheap, way cheaper than the mom and pop store I went to first. So, I found two of the books that I was looking for at the other two bookstores, and I will share those right now. So, I found London and Sarum by Edward Rutherford. And I was looking for these two and Ruska by Edward Rutherford. These are both books that I have read before, but I loved them and I am looking to get back into historical fiction and reread these. And Ruska, I never made it fully through and I've been wanting to get through that one completely. So, love these ones. I love these ones.

[00:13:32]This one I owned it and I actually left it. I took it with me when I was out to sea and I left it on the ship and someone else picked it up and was reading it so I abandoned it. So, and then this one I had a mass market paperback version of it and I think I unhauled it because I a giant chunker like this in mass market paperback is just so unpleasant to hold and try to open and turn pages. So, yeah, I wanted copies of these. And then this one, I didn't even know this was a thing.

[00:14:12]The Professor by Charlotte Bronte. Never heard of this before. Apparently, her first novel ever told from the perspective of a man. And why have I never heard anyone talk about this before? So, I picked this one up.

[00:14:28]And then the next one I picked up, I have read this one as well. Uh, this is The Black Opal by Victoria Hol. If you have been here for any length of time, you will know that I am a huge Victoria Hol fan. That is a pen name of Eleanor Hibbert, who is no longer with us, but she had various pen names for the different genres that she wrote in. Her Victoria Holt pen name is her Gothic romance historical fiction novels. And she was very prevalent in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. And these books remind me of my mother.

[00:15:08]These uh and we owned a couple of them when I was growing up and I read them when I was a teenager because she loved them. But the local library where I grew up, my hometown, had all of the books and I did read all of these books and I was very happy to find a copy of this one for cheap because I have never owned a copy of this one. And this one is about a young woman who I can't remember if she was a governness or not. They're usually governnesses um but not always. And she goes to Australia from Great Britain in the late 1800s for some reason and um is involved in the opal mining industry or she meets someone who's involved in the opal mining industry.

[00:16:01]Super gothic.

[00:16:03]Gothic romance set in the Victorian period.

[00:16:08]I love these books. Not all of them are the best.

[00:16:14]You know, I think they try to be Janeire, but they're not they're not all up to par, but they are excellent, and I love them, and they are fun, and they are comfort reads for me, and I was happy to find this one for cheap. Uh, the next one I have was solely based on a recommendation that someone left on my channel on one of my videos where I mentioned not reading poetry or like getting poetry and someone recommended to start with Milk and Honey by Rupy Cow Cow.

[00:16:49]And I found I found a copy at that last bookstore for cheap. And so I picked it up and you know I want to give poetry some more attention.

[00:17:03]So here we go. I don't know anything about the poems in there. And then the last one I picked up was this awesome edition also for cheap. $7. Come on. Uh DTOfki the house of the dead and the gambler. And this is a Wordssworth edition.

[00:17:22]and never heard of these two and I plan on reading two Dostoykis on my 50 before 50 list. So here we have more. I really enjoy the very bleak and depressing writing by many of the great Russian authors.

[00:17:48]And yeah, here we are. I have no idea what these are about, but I picked them up anyway because it's Doski and I loved Crime and Punishment and I am rereading Crime and Punishment. But that is what I picked up at the last store and what I picked up at the other two stores. I thought it was a very successful weekend. A little unhappy with the first bookstore because of how expensive it was for a used bookstore and the second one with the uh selection there. There was like nothing.

[00:18:21]Very, very few books that I would ever be interested in reading, but I will continue to visit all of these places.

[00:18:29]But the third one, I am so happy and I plan on going there a lot more often. But yeah, that was my experience checking out three used bookstores this weekend. I did support local and yeah, we can't always be buying new books and I wanted to go to the store instead of just ordering on thrift books. So, thank you so much if you listened to me ramble that whole time and I thank you so much and I hope to see you in the next video.

[00:19:01]Take care. Bye.