Secret Book & Record Store

What a gem! Every imaginable book and at great prices.
The real «secret» is the owner! A delightful man who could not have been kinder and more helpful, and all with a smile!

This is definitely a gem I’ve found in Dublin. You can probably find me lost in their literature section or in the back, where all their records live. I love secondhand books because you don’t know how many people read the same words, held the same cover, or flipped the same pages as you – and this place is filled with them!
They have a wall of classics for under € 5 – works from Don Quixote to Emily Brontë to Fyodor Dostoyevsky all stocked to nurture your mind and guide you on an adventure.
Wanna learn to cook? Read about what it’s like to be an astronaut? Time travel back to the 70’s and see why they insisted on donning such vibrant prints? Or maybe you just really wanna see that 1985 edition of National Geographic. They’ve got such an eclectic selection, I’m sure you’d be able to find whatever it is you are looking for here.
I also love the ambient music they’ve got in the background; it’s perfect for perusing through the shop. Not only that, but they’ve got incredibly friendly and approachable staff as well. The only thing I wish they had were chairs to read in! But alas SB&RS, you are too tiny to let the chairs take up such large real estate. It’s okay, I forgive you. You just keep doing you.

Hells yes, this is ‘Dublin’ to me. The kind of Dublin you hope will manage to stick around though boom and bust and everything in between. Going about business with a quiet stalwart dignity, unfazed by trends and the need to be shiny and the next new hip thing, instead very much it’s own.
This place sells books, well curated second hand and new ones. The selection is pretty good considering they don’t have a lot of space, and I love the way they are laid out on the central tables so you can have a gawp or a good auld rummage. That’s exactly the pleasure of this place too; you go in for a look and leave with something unexpected. It’s not really a bookshop you go to with a singular book in mind to purchase — sure we have Chapters for that, this place is far more enchanting and perhaps, some might say, disorganized.
There’s also a great second hand music store in the back (Freebird Records) with a brill Blues section and decently priced CDs and vinyl too.
Long may this place last. Go in with no expectations and you may well find yourself charmed.

Great little bookstore hidden in the back of a building. A great selection of used books, which was laid out and organised in such a way that lent to great browsing. I found about a dozen I wanted to buy, but I’m on a budget, so *tears* I did not. Definitely worth a stop in, and I’d say the owners would know if you were looking for something in particular.

Great little book shop, another little place I can’t enter without leaving with a brown bag full of nooks that I never knew existed.
Great for chats and laughs about books too, whether it is about Patrick O’Brian’s betrayal of us with killing off XXXXX too quickly, or having them refuse to sell me a second hand bible (that I had confessed I wanted for a Halloween costume) «not because it meant anything to [the owner] but because it meant something sentimental to someone, once»
A mad little spot which enriches the city with its presence

Great independent record/​book store. I have found many a gem here and only recently picked up some CDs I was looking for (I try to avoid getting them online, because it means for my taste I have to import them from the US, meaning the risk of customs charging me an arm and a leg!). For the books and cds/​vinyls you really would need an hour or two to get stuck in and search around, but it’s generally worth it.

Nice little indie store, and I really like the ‘hidden’ aspect of it. It’s possible to find some unique books or CDs here, at very good prices. In fact, a family friend who is an old lady in Canada traced an out-​of-​print antequarian book that she wanted to this very shop, and they sent it out to her with a lovely note and voucher for the next time.
The negative points are that the shop, and consequently the books, stink of damp. A big negative that some of the staff are a bit misogynistic. I had books to sell– (they buy books, but at such a low price it’s worth the trek to Chapters instead) — brand new, recently published titles from well-​known authors. The guy in the shop didn’t recognise the authors, therefore decided that these books were ‘for women’ (pronounced like ‘give you herpes’) and then went into a speech about how women are ‘intimidated’ by the shop and therefore he won’t stock titles ‘for them’. I didn’t know women are a different species, their silly easily-​scared little heads incapable of reading big important books that are only for boys. Prick.
Apart from that, it’s grand.

If, like me, you know your shit (about music and film and books in all their genres from A to Z) then this little gem will be right up your street (if you live on Wicklow Street that is). it is LITERALLY wall to wall with books (besides the DVD wall and another one with records on it). I went in to find a book (nothing in particular but just something i knew i wanted and couldn’t find in Eason’s) and I left with something I was VERY happy with (although I haven’t read it yet). All major artists and bands and directors are represented in their mediums (and some in a number of mediums!). The only reason I’m dropping a coveted star is because the internet is way better for evertything but you have to wait for it to be delivered. Plus the fat lad who looked like Elvis with shit hair doesn’t seem to work there anymore. Where are (is) you (he)?

I found this place sometime in 2000 or 2001, and am still amazed at the random things to be found here. Everything from old Punch annuals to history to Hamlet in Klingon has popped up here, and that’s just the book section. It’s one of the few secondhand bookshops which survived the Celtic Tiger boom, and the tattered posters on the walls trace the history of arts and social events that the shop has outlasted. A great little find.

A brilliant small shop that reminds me of the indie stores I frequented before «Alternative» became a bin label in the Tower/​HMV/​etc megastores. They handle secondhand books as well as both secondhand and new music (vinyl & CDs). When we were there, separate staff were on for the bookshop and music. The gent with whom we chatted (sorry I’ve forgotten your name) when seeking irish rock was knowledgable, personable and after a long chat about many different artists and styles gave three solid recommendations that we’ve enjoyed immensely.
Go past the sterile stores with label-​enforced rigid categorization and clueless cheap labour and take the time to visit with someone plugged into the regional music scene.

I felt pretentious walking in. I was unable to find anything because of the way it was organized and the staff made me feel as though questions were not welcome. They do have A LOT of books and records though… and priced pretty cheap from what I saw!

I kind of liked the ‘hidden’ aspect of it all.
When I arrived though, the used record section was rather small. I only buy ABBA and old Western albums so the pickins’ were extremely slim here. Not even a Loretta Lyn or Conway Twitty to be found. Feel free to judge me.
I was surprised by a large CD area. Maybe they should call it Secret Book & CD Store? I dont even buy CDs anymore except at live shows. Anyway, I also liked how the books were arranged by theme and the large section of philosophy books. It felt like the college bookstore that I never had.

I just read Shane K’s review prior to writing and found myself nodding in agreement but whereas Shane’s review is negative I find all those qualities so endearing.
Yeah it’s a bit tattered and battered but like the cynical eyes of someone that has been burnt more then a half price crematorium it still has the dewy spark of possibility when the right person comes along. It still holds that hope that someone will come and fall in love with it… And that’s what I did.
I saw past the yellowing books, the cramped layout and the eccentric staff. And what I saw is a place that is willing to be found and appreciated by the right person. It’s not like the chain stores with their shiny, glossy, try too hard to be cool vibe.
It’s the girl at the bar that is in the corner pretending to text and hoping no one will notice her. It’s not the girl with her know it all laugh and domineering conversationalist tendencies. When she talks it will be interesting and you should pop along and search for something that this place has that will turn you on.

I happened upon this place on one of my little exploratory walks through Dublin about eight years ago. Back then in my less cynical youth I found it really cool and quirky.
I recently revisited it to see how the years had treated this strange little shop. I was not impressed. In fact I found myself wondering why I ever liked it in the first place. It’s depressing, disorganised and almost always smells like stale bread. The kind of smell you get when you have a tiny but persistent plumbing leak that doesn’t get noticed for months until you have to rip up the resulting mouldy carpet.
The shops humble aspirations are something I can normally get into. I’m all for the little guy and it’s great to see small business still plugging away but that doesn’t mean you can’t run the hoover around once in a while. You’ll maintain your street cred even if you do break out the Mr Sheen. The staff always look a bit down as well. I feel like going up and handing them a sandwich to lift their spirits some.
The place gets a second star for the mad range of CD’s they have. I’ve seen some seriously obscure stuff in there. Top marks for effort on that.

Yes, the Secret Book & Record store is hidden down a long and narrow hallway, sandwiched between chain stores on Wicklow street –making it less than immediately accessible.
Yes, there are stacks and racks and rows of used books from all eras of publishing, all priced to move onto your shelf. And there’s an amazing selection of vinyl on sale, the kind that would make any self respecting music-​lover giddy.
But that’s not the real secret –it’s the love, the genuine appreciation shared by staff and loyal customers for the books and music that’s on sale here. Feel free to break into a big smile when you see the spine of an old favourite ready to come home with you for a fiver; everyone here feels the same way.
The cataloguing can be a bit of a mess, but it makes the hunt even more fun (if you have the time).

I love places like this, you feel really cool for having discovered it and think that only you and a select few ‘hip cool’ people will be in here looking for those rare Sly & Robbie or Hendrix vinyl pieces of gold. However, the truth is this is a well known and loved record and bookstore, that even my mum loves.
They have a super selection of both records and books and the collection is really eclectic and exciting! You never know what you might find and what you do find usually leads the bloke serving behind the counter to recommend something else which in turn leads the customer standing beside to pip up and show you another fab item that you just can’t pass up and you walk out of the store broke, but ultimately happy with lots of super cool purchases!

The Secret Book & Record Store is very aptly named, as I must have walked past the place hundreds of times over the last number of years without noticing it (and I tend to keep my eye out for secondhand bookshops).
I eventually discovered its existence on the recommendation of a friend, so I took myself along one day to get the 411, as it were.
And I haven’t looked back since. The Secret Book & Record Store is how you would make a shop of this type look like if you were making a film about a cool shopkeeper and the problems he has with his idiosyncratic love life (whoops, just checked IMDB and ‘High Fidelity’ has already been made. Ah pooh).
If you have a particular book in mind and think you might go to SB&RS on the off-​chance that they might have it: don’t. This one is strictly for the rummagers, but a rummagers dream it certainly is, with piles of books stacked any oul’ way.
I don’t go in for records much meself but they have them too.
Tip-​top shop.

My favorite bookstore by a mile. This place has educated me. A great selection of books from a wide range of fields organised in a manner which, even after the past five or six years of custom, I simply cannot comprehend.
Plus you gotta love second hand books. A well thumbed novel is probably a good read, so a quick look at the spine will tell you more than the blurb on the back. They’re cheaper too.
The hidden record and bookstore specialises in that thing big chain bookstores don’t have, soul. Yes, it makes me feel that cheesey.

I love hanging out in this shop… Millions of books and records all over the place, and interesting ones at that. My friends and I often come here to browse for extended periods of time.
We’ve picked up some gems here, not your usual Celia Aherns… A friend managed to find a book with a title to the effect of ‘If you think your life’s shit read this book…’ Hilarious!
The other day I found newspaper clippings from a Dublin newspaper in the 1800s… there are treasures to be found here, I tell you!
Books are quite reasonably priced, around a fiver for a decent read, and there’s a one euro bargain bin at the entrance to the shop.
The shelves are topped with some interesting ornaments. Look for the freaky dolls heads, and the doll pushing a shopping trolley filled with Guinness. Class!
To get there look for the sign in Wicklow St. Follow along the white corridor (there are yoga studios and maybe even a chiropractor here).

The ‘secret’ part of this shop’s name is that it’s located down a long corridor — you’d miss it if it weren’t for the big sign on the street.
Once you’ve unlocked the secret you’ll find a fully-​stocked second-​hand bookshop (great for gift ideas) and a gem of a record shop. The atmosphere in both parts of the shop is probably more welcoming than any other shop in the city.
Music and books. Even if you’ve no money it’s the best browse in Dublin.