Booktown Books

Maybe my favorite used book store ever. There’s so many categories and such a wide selection. It’s a total treasure hunt, and I love it. I found a bunch of gems for my daughter recently here.

This is by far the best bookstore in town. Not only is it such a characteristic place, with tons of bookshelves and books just pouring out from everywhere, there are also barely used books for half the price, and you can very often find what you are looking for, and more often something that you never would even expect to exist. I love going here on cold rainy days and just spending hours picking out cheap books to bring home. Shopping here is also a GREAT way to support local small business instead of buying expensive stuff from chain stores in Roseville and the like, and it’s more fun to pop in and get something than buying used on Amazon. I highly recommend.

Books are not always in the best alphabetical order, so you need time to find what you are looking for. But don’t ask the mean old man working behind the counter!!! He gives you weird looks, argues with the other employees, is bothered by you and makes you feel uncomfortable. There are two older men that work there. The one with the thick head of beautiful white hair and blue eyes is so kind and has always been helpful in the years I’ve been going. The one I’m talking about is small and has a polished dome. If he is working when I go back. I will rock right out!!! One bad apple…

All that can be said is if you love books you’ll love this place it’s a candy store for the book lover & the staff very helpful… Some prices aren’t too shabby whereas some are a bit extreme… But to expected as this a small town co-​op (I think 12 or 13 different booths/​vendors)

A bravo! bookstore with 4000 square feet on two floors of books to choose from. You can run in and grab a $ 4 mystery for the airplane or spend an hour in the rare book room looking at amazingly nifty books. The prices run from $ 2 – 3 to $ 200 – 300 in just about any subject you can imagine. The staff is helpful and knowledgeable, the store is clean and well lit, the hours are convenient. I was really impressed from the first of the many time I’ve been there. Juniper Rose

A broad selection so take enough time to browse in depth. The café is no more. There are now more books in the former café space. You can get a coffee across the street at Caroline’s. Lots of art books, trade paperbacks and Western Americana. A good old time bookstore feel about the place.

An amazingly large used bookstore (or sellers collective) for such a small city. This shop is comparable in size to all the used bookstores I’ve visited in Chicago. The topical range is wide. Well worth a visit by book lovers. Definitely a retail high point in our visit to Grass Valley.

Nice book store, clean, friendly staff. Big selection and ok prices.

Not a bookstore, it’s more like an antique mall for books only (plus a few CDs and records).
There are about 20 booths and every dealer has a separate booth (or two). There’s a somewhat helpful index that tells you which dealers advertise which subject areas, although that doesn’t necessarily help you find books in a certain booth. Almost all subjects are represented somewhere, although overall there’s a lot of Western/​California books and New Agey books. Prices are generally OK but vary by dealer.
Parking is in the adjacent public lot.

see space 24 — the BEST books sold in the store. they have everything! so cool and unique. way better than a borders or corporate bookstore chain.

Same so-​called «experts» here as at Tomes. It’s game playing and coffee at best.

This town hates chain stores so this place is one of the solutions for that book fix. This is a co-​op with thirteen owners of book stalls, art studios and the new café. The building is located in the center of a parking place across from a new motel so the location is good. The inside is a large barn-​like structure where you’ll want to spend hours investigating the nooks and crannies (and the working studies upstairs). Then enjoy a coffee, lunch etc. at the café. My only complaint is that the books are not that cheap ($ 7 and up) and EACH owner owns different stalls and shelves so it can be hard to find what you are looking for… if you like books to be in sections… the good news is that the owners are usually sitting around so you can ask for help (but they will invariably show you to the books in their «store» i.e. their shelf area). So be warned. It looks like one big store but it’s actually thirteen stores where some of the stores are several rooms and some are only two bookshelves. So good hunting!
It’s a quaint town and a quaint store. Enjoy paying with credit card and watch the guy fill out an old fashioned receipt.

Expect to spend a good hour or so when you go to Booktown Books & Tomes.
The way this bookstore works is that it’s a co-​op with about 12 different sections with different sellers. If it’s your first time, be sure to pick up a directory list at the front desk.
With that said, enjoy yourself while you browse through several thousand different books. Each co-​op section organizes their books differently so you’ll find everything from your typical NY Times best-​sellers to books on philosophy and religion as well as a whole section upstairs on horses (equine literature!). I was slightly disappointed to see that their sci-​fi sections didn’t have any Philip K. Dick and only one Octavia Butler. Oh well.
This is definitely not Borders but it’s almost more fun to see what great titles you’ll stumble upon. And the prices are quite affordable. $ 2 – 8 books depending on what you want. I’m sure there are more expensive books there but that’s a part of the antiques and collectors items and that’s not my taste.
The staff is quite friendly and willing to help and they don’t mind if you decide to sit on one of the stools they have around the store to read a bit.
The bookstore is connected to a nice little artsy café which is a great set-​up for after you’ve purchased your books and you can’t wait to read them.
I’m so glad I stumbled across this bookstore during my stay in Grass Valley. It definitely made my weekend!