Pegasus Books Downtown

A wide selection of Pulitzer Prize winners, art books, and fiction. Their knickknack to book ratio is on point. I took advantage of their clearance on art books (mark downs from $ 50 to $ 10) to amp up my coffee table game. Will definitely return!

This location is the best Pegasus bookstore location out of all the locations. I like how there is a bathroom and a small upstairs area. I used to come here a lot. I bought a few Tin Tin books here. I love this location. I would come back here if I am ever in the area. I also like how there is a discount for students if they show their student ID.

PROS:
— Located in downtown Berkeley
— Near public transportation
— Variety of books, CDs/​records, cards
— Customer service is great
— Open early & close late
— New and gently used books
— Used books are in good condition
— Prices for all items are fair
— Everything is organized well & easy to find what you are looking for
CONS:
— The store has cats around and if you allergic, you won’t enjoy being here
— Because it is downtown it is tricky to find parking but not impossible
— Can get rather busy on the weekend

Cute bookstore that plays Bob Dylan and have thousand of cute buttons makes me so excited about life.
Also I love the fact it has poetry books touched by thousands eager fingers that never got sold. Oh wait, those are just used books.

Awesome!

Great local book store.
I love that there is house cat living in the store.
Great to get ideas and do the lost art of «reading».
Also, they have bargain carts, I bought my cousin «Pat-​a-​cake», he loved it.

Pros: This is a very cute bookstore. One of the things I love about the Bay Area is bookstores like this one! The place isn’t huge but it surprisingly has a lot of hidden treasures throughout the place! There is a «upper level» with more books but it is primarily paper books, cards, and some music. The staff is very friendly and for you cat lovers, there is a cat mascot that also «works» there if you can find the cat!
Cons: It is on the smaller side and I can’t say there are too many opportunities for really good deals (unlike Half Priced Book store which is 3−4x bigger with coupons).
Overall: Definitely worth a walk through if you are in the area!

I really liked this places mix between library and record store. Seems very small and local and was fun to browse around looking for the perfect find

Not really a big bookstore but they have amazing reads. The staff are all really nice and friendly. They also have a section featuring weekly picks from staff. I highly recommend it for readers who want to explore new books. 10% discount for students!

This is a medium sized bookstore. It has an impressive kids section for the size of the store. We found some interesting things. I wish it had more used books because I’m always up for a bargain.

I went 4 weeks ago.
1) Employees are nice
2) They still selling Vintage records (interesting)
3) They have very nice cards (special one)
4) They carry special «magazines», you won’t see in regular Walgreen or CVS stores.
5) Kids book selections are very good.
Highly recommended.

I saw the cats and I immediately fell in love with the store! Great place to relax and explore on a weekend :)

Who has time to read books?
Why can’t you just see the movie,
or something,
jeesh.
If a guy is in the bookstore, I bet he is short.
Shorties never date or go out, they read a lot.
Also people who hate trees read books.
No wonder we don’t celebrate arbor day anymore.
Why can’t they just get a kindle?
It has a built in light and saves the environment,
some people…
Pssshhh…
1983 called and asked for its books back.
Also while we’re answering calls,
1975 wants its old spice aftershave back and
that awful smell of books with it.
God.
The only people who read are those that do laundry
on a Saturday night and
spend rainy days at a bar window drinking wine or whiskey with their stupid book.
They might as well be an invisiblé.
Most of the books those idiots read are fiction anyways. Why don’t they read something educational that can help them with life?
Dummies.
But I guess if «books» are your thing,
Pegasus is alright.
I mean they have books.
Might even have a signed copy of some fanciful book in black velvet called Night Circus.
Or that horrible novel about Noah n Allie that takes place in North Carolina or somewhere that doesn’t matter.
I bet Noah wasn’t a shortie.
He got the girl in the end.
*sigh
The Notebook…
Psshhhh
I could watch the movie in a fraction of the time.

Great policy for buying/​selling secondhand books. The store credit is redeemable for anything in the store — new, used, pencil sharpener, zine, anything. They also support local teeny tiny publishers.

This is more of a 3.5 star review. Plus side, they have cool books and cute cats! It’s a nice store with a good sale selection, and they do seem to give better buyback prices than Half Price Books, even if they are a little more choosy.
Cons: the employees seem to have a serious attitude problem with clients of all kinds, even snubbing each other occasionally, and seem to need better leadership in customer service. As someone who works in retail I know the struggle not to strangle customers some days, and who knows if they’re dealing with personal stuff, but really it’s been bad each time and all I do is smile and say please/​thank you.
Last time there was also a clerk who very obviously had a cold and was coughing all over her hands and others… poor girl needed to be sent home with some soup!
Overall, it’s an alright place. Just prepare for the scathing looks (if they even acknowledge you at all) once you get to the checkout.

I have been in here many times, and I cannot believe I have not reviewed Pegasus Books Downtown. I remember when this location opened in the mid-​1990s and the storefront was painted gray. Now it is a cool azure blue color. I came here for a Lyrics and Dirges poetry reading here many years ago as extra credit for English class just for attending and to make up a missed absence. And the resident cat is still here at Pegasus Books presiding over the establishment.
I came here the other day with one of my BFFs to seek some books written by my future professor, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reisch aka Bob to me. I asked if this Pegasus Books had any of Bob’s books. I was advised to look in the Sociology section. Lo and behold – I was beyond delighted when I saw they had two of his books I was looking for, Locked in the Cabinet and – SCORE – a brand new copy of one of his recent books, Aftershock. Aftershock is the basis of his 2013 film, Inequality for All, directed by Jason Kornbluth.
When I went to the till, I was beyond delighted to learn that a student discount is offered with proof of and producing a student ID. I whipped it out and got my discount. Behind the till was a cute little doggie lying in her doggie bed. She was tethered to keep her under control and not to stress the cat out. The guys behind the till made my friend and myself laugh regarding this dog and separation issues between the dog and one of the associates who likes the dog. Awwww! It was like watching an Abbott & Costello or a Burns & Schreiber comedy routine unfolding before our very eyes.
Great selection of books, cards, calendars, and other miscellaneous gift items. It is a tad bit smaller than the Solano Avenue location.
Well, I would welcome an opportunity to come back to this branch of Pegasus Books here in the People’s Republic of Berkeley anytime.
SYOY! Cheers!!!

I love this place. Whether I actually need a book or I’m waiting for my name to be called at La Note down the way, I love perusing the selection. They have a great New in Used Books which I get a kick out of. Cool to see what other people are reading.
The staff are helpful – happy to order you something, always seem to know another place that one book you want could live in their store («No, let’s check Children’s for that Camus book, I think I saw it there this afternoon.»).
Extra bonus – or sad time if you’re allergic: the store cat. He/​she sits and sunbathes in the window or claims its position on one of the couches by the magazine panoply. Cool.
The good: allll the books!
The bad: um… sometimes they give me a bookmark and I don’t want one? I don’t know, I got nothin’.

I feel like I’m on a treasure hunt whenever I enter this place. You just never know what cool thing or book you’re going to find. We almost always pass by this whenever we’re in downtown Berkeley and more than not, we pick up a book or two.
As soon you walk in, you see an island of new books. On your right is a curated shelf of staff picks. Love browsing through these. It always interesting to see what people recommend. On your left are more shelves of new books. They have a large selection of fiction/​literature books and mysteries, and smaller collections of sci-​fi, poetry, biography, science, cookbooks, travel, and etc. They also carts of used book outside the store by the door and it’s fun looking through those.
My husband was happy that I did not buy another cookbook. Haha I think I bought a cookbook the last time we were here. I have amassed quite a collection of cookbooks and we are running out of room for them even though I’ve already donate some to the library. We ended up getting two books, a used nonfiction for me and a new sci-​fi novel for the hubby. Let’s just hope we get to them before the New Year. We both have piles of books to read through waiting at home!

5 stars just for the two cute cats in here. Honestly, sometimes I just go in to pet the cats and ignore the books. However, I do like it as a used bookstore. I came in to get a book of poetry for my own pleasure rather than for school and I discovered two precious cats instead. They’re probably thought I was weird human for gawking and petting them, but they’re just so adorable.
But back to the books. The layout is pretty simple, but everything is sort of cramped together. One section is devoted entirely to kids (¹⁄₃ of the store), so it was a little awkward navigating around kids. But the staff were pretty nice and they also have a decent selection of new titles too.
The books are decently priced and they have a great selection of poetry. I can’t really say their other sections like philosophy are abundant, but since it’s a small bookstore, I can’t really fault them.
Definitely check out Pegasus books to get cheap used books or just to enjoy the company of two beautiful cats.

What an awesome place. Its great to see a bookstore like this still standing. Excellent selection of books, friendly staff. It was fun exploring.
Books: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Location: ⁴⁄₅