Bookstores in the San Francisco Bay Area (Peninsula and south)

Last change:
27 Feb 2009

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Peninsula
South Bay
Central Coast
San Francisco
   North Beach
   Chinatown
   Downtown
   Civic Center
   Japantown
   Lower Haight
   Upper Haight
   Mission (and Noe Valley)
   Castro
   Richmond
   West Portal
   Marina
   Sunset
Berkeley/Oakland
North of San Francisco
East Bay
Comments
other geographic areas

[Note 1: This list contains stores on the Peninsula.
San Francisco and North Bay listings can be found in the San Francisco
list.
Berkeley, Oakland, and East Bay listings can be found in the Berkeley/Oakland
list.

Los Angeles listings can be found in the Los Angeles area list.  
San Diego and Hawai`i listings can be found in the San Diego area list.  
Sacramento and other California listings (outside of southern California) 
can be found in the Northwestern US list.  ]

[Note 2: I collected these comments from a variety of people.  I personally
have no knowledge of many of these places and take no responsibility if you
buy a book you don't enjoy. :-)   Phone numbers and precise addresses can be
gotten by calling directory assistance for the appropriate city.  Call ahead
for precise hours, as even when I list them they are subject to change.]

[Note 3: If you can add information for any of these, in particular
addresses when they are missing, please send it to me.  *PLEASE SPECIFY CITY
AND STATE.*]

[Note 4: Area codes change so quickly these days that these may be wrong.] 

============================================================================

Peninsula:

Pacifica:
	Florey's.  Forey's stocks a good supply of books, and Mrs. Florey is
		very accomodating.

San Mateo:
	Barnes & Nopble (Hillsdale and El Camino, not in the mall).  
		[12/03]  
	Books Unlimited (22 E 25th Ave, 94063, 650-574-5377).  "Great little 
		used bookstore.  Has excellent selection of fiction (general 
		and literature) and collectibles.  Knowledgeable staff."  
		Open Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM, Sun 11AM-5PM.  
	Lee's Comics (2222 S El Camino Real, 650-571-1489, 
		http://www.lcomics.com).  Has a comprehensive selection 
		of new comics, back issues, books, graphic novels, adult, and 
		alternative comics.  "The only full service, fully stocked 
		comic store in between San Francisco and Mountain View."  
		Open seven days a week 10AM-9PM.
	"M" is for Mystery... and More (86 E Third Ave, 94401, 
		650-401-8077 or 888-405-8077, FAX 650-401-8079, 
		http://www.MforMystery.com).  
		New and used mystery, crime and detective fiction.  Open 
		Mon-Sat 10:30AM-6PM, Sun 10AM-4PM.  [06/07]

Belmont:
	Full Circle Books (1538 El Camino Real, 650-508-9546).  A bright,
		cheerful New Age store, with a broad selection of new and
		used books.  Titles range from psychological to the Occult.
		The store also carries incense, crystals and jewelry.
Redwood City:
	Chimaera (across from the library on Middlefield Rd).  Excellent
		mostly used bookstore specializing in well-selected
		literary and humanities titles.  Also good selection of
		used records, cassettes, and CDs, especially for classical,
		jazz, and progressive rock.  [This description is based on
		what it was when it was in Palo Alto--can anyone confirm or
		update it?]  
	Szwede Slavic Books (1629 Main, Redwood City, 650-780-0966).  Good 
		selection of Polish books, among others.  

Half Moon Bay:
	Coastside Books (432 Main, 650-726-5889).  "It has a love of books.
		As the local newspaper said: 'The shop carries best-sellers, 
		but an individualistic streak dominates.'"
	Moon News (20-F Stone Pine Rd, 650-726-8610).  Newspapers, magazines, 
		and books.  
	Ocean Books (416 Main, davidf@oceanbks.com).  Used.  "A very
		literate selection, and the store has oriental rugs,
		hardwood floors, a wood stove ... it's quite cozy."

South Bay:

Menlo Park:
	The Book Rack (865 Santa Cruz Ave, 650-323-3877).  Romance and
		mysteries.
	Feldman's Books (1170 El Camino Real, 94025, 650-326-5300).  Used 
		books.  One reader writes, "This is definitely my favourite 
		bookstore in the area.  good sections on mathematics, foreign 
		language learning, and dance.  film, photography, art, music, 
		pop science, and history aren't too shabby either.  Love this 
		place."  Open 7 days.  [05/05]
	Kepler's (1010 El Camino Real, 650-324-4321,http://www.keplers.com).
		"One of the two stores in the Bay area I hold up as the
		definition of the term 'bookstore.'"  Special emphasis on
		alternative and progressive titles.  Has regular in-person
		programs, often featuring important authors."  Sun-Thu 
		9AM-11PM, Fri-Sat 9AM-12M.

Palo Alto:
	Bell's (536 Emerson, 650-323-7822).  Used.  In terms of selection
		good.  Great for book collectors.  "Unfortunately much of
		their stock is out of reach on high shelves, which can be
		frustrating.  They also shelve their fiction books in three
		layers, so you have to create little temporary piles on the
		floor as you mine for books.  Great place!"  People used to
		complain that they often changed the price on the book when
		you bring it up to the register (so that for a book marked
		$3 they might say, "Sorry, that's $7.50 now"), but someone
		recently reported that they had stopped doing this because
		it pissed off too many customers.  Closed Sundays.
	Bob and Bob (151 Forest Ave, 650-329-9050).  Judaica.  Closed
		Saturdays.
	Books Inc. (157 Stanford Shopping Center, 94304, 650-321-0600,
		http://www.booksinc.net).  New books.  Basically
		indistinguishable from Waldenbooks.  Open 7 days a week.
	Borders (University Ave).  The usual.  [05/05]  
	Know Knew Books (415 California, 650-326-9355,
		http://www.knowknew.com).  A good spot for used paperbacks,
		SF and general.  A good selection of hard-cover fiction and
		non-fiction as well.  "My vote for the best Bay Area used
		bookstore.  Although Recycle Books in San Jose, or Acorn
		Books in San Francisco may have larger overall volumes, the
		SF selection in this store is unbeatable.  There is also a
		large, reasonably priced, collectible section."  "My vote for
		best, too.  Not only is the SF collection great, but the SF
		and fantasy first editions collection is good; excellent
		collection of series-format paperbacks."  And finally, my
		personal recommendation as the one bookstore I *must* visit
		whenever I vist my in-laws in Mountain View.  Open 7 days a
		week; buys Mon, Fri, Sat 2PM-6PM.  
	Megabooks (444 University Avenue near Waverly, 650-326-4730).  Good
		general used bookstore which often has real bargains on
		recent cook books.
	Stanford University Bookstore (on the Stanford Campus,
		415-329-1217).  The largest bookstore in the Bay Area.  It's
		the most likely place to find a new book.  Their inventory
		is available on the network for people who have the right
		accounts.  There's also a branch at 135 University Avenue
		(415-327-3680) in Palo Alto which specializes in technical
		books and is open Mon-Fri 9:30AM-7PM, Sat 10AM-6PM.
		One person writes, "I would have to say that the Stanford
		on-campus bookstore is the best scientific/technical
		bookstore, especially for CS and math, that I now know of."  

Los Altos:
	The Book Nest (366 Second Street, 650-948-4724).  It takes up
		several rooms in a regular house, but the selection is
		second-rate.

Mountain View:
	BookBuyers Used Books and Media (317 Castro, 94041, 
		650-968-7323, http://www.bookbuyers.com).  A good 
		general used book store with 400,000 titles.  It has a 
		good SF section.  Also CDs, records, videos, calendars, 
		and software.  Open Sun-Thu 10AM-11PM, Fri-Sat 10AM-12M; 
		buys Fri-Sat 10AM-5PM.  Open 363 days a year; closed 
		Christmas and Thanksgiving.  [09/08]
	Book Barterers Exchange (2025 El Camino, 94040, 650-650-3747).  Used 
		books, half price.
	Books Inc. (301 Castro Street, 800-742-0402, 650-961-8500).  Used to 
		be Printers Inc.  Supposedly pretty much the same now.  Open 
		Mon-Thu 8AM-11PM, Fri 8AM-12M, Sat 9AM-12M, Sun 9AM-11PM
		(assuming the hours haven't changed).
	East West Books (324 Castro, 650-988-9800, 800-909-6161, 
		http://www.eastwest.com).  "A complete New Age book shop,
		with sections on herbalism, metaphysics, aromatherapy,
		shamanism, inner healing....  Also cards, incense, crystals,
		gongs, and other Aquarian doodads.  This is the sort of
		thing that people who like this sort of thing will like."
		(Moved from their Menlo Park location.)  Mon-Thu,
		Sat 10AM-9PM; Fri 10AM-5:30PM; Sun 1PM-5:30PM.	
	Lee's Comics (1020 N Rengstorf Ave, Suite F, 94040, 650-965-1800, 
		http://www.lcomics.com).  Has a wide selection of new and 
		back-issue comics, books, graphic novels, alternative, and 
		adultcomics.  Lee's Comics was chosen "Best Selection Of 
		AdultComics", and "Best Comic Book Store," by Metro 
		Newspaper.  Open seven days a week 10AM-9PM.  
	San Antonio Hobby Shop (San Antonio Shopping Center, 650-941-1278).
		Amazing selection of new books on aircraft, trains and ships
		(warships, mostly).  They have many hard-to-find and
		imported titles.  One person claimed, "This store
		have been bought out by the same people who own the gospel
		bookstore in the Mall.  It used to be a good general gaming
		bookstore; all of the non-military gaming was purged after
		the buyout," but another pointed out "San Antonio Hobby has
		been owned by the same couple for *at least* 25 years.  They
		chose to alter their product line.  It happened over *10
		years* ago, when they dropped the Dungeons and Dragons
		stuff.  And yes, they *do* own the gospel bookstore nearby.
		So what?"  Closed Sunday; short hours the rest of the week.

Sunnyvale:
	A Wrinkle in Time (1012 Morse Ave. #15, 94089, 408-541-0358,
		http://www.awit.com/).  SF and fantasy.  Open
		Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 11:30AM-5:30PM; Wed 11:30AM-9PM.

Campbell:
	Barnes & Noble (Hamilton and Bascom).  Not as big as their
		superstore in Santa Clara but definitely the best thing open
		for miles, especially at night.  Next to a Starbucks if you
		need espresso with your reading.
	Poor Pat's (1800 South Bascom Ave, 408-374-4900).  Used.

Milpitas:
	Borders Books & Music (McCarthy Ranch Marketplace, 15 Ranch Drive,
		408-934-1180).  Also has videos and a coffee shop.

San Jose:
	Barnes & Noble (Steven's Creek and San Tomas Expressways).
		Fourth-largest bookstore in the United States.  "64,000
		square feet of pure sensory overload."  "About the best
		selection of new books around these parts, a cafe, very
		helpful staff, but a bit of a chain-store feel.  They claim
		to be the fourth largest bookstore in the country, but based
		on what?"  "This bookstore is a meat market on Friday and
		Saturday nights.  Avoid it at those times.  Other times,
		it's a decent bookstore with nice discounts, but the staff
		is only marginally helpful."
	Hicklebee's (1378 Lincoln, 408-292-8880, 888-898-0093, 
		http://www.hicklebees.com.  A very good childrens' 
		bookstore.
	Kinokuniya (685 Saratoga Ave, 95129, 408-252-1300).  Japanese 
		books and books in English about things Japanese.  
		[09/08]
	Recycle Books (1066 The Alameda, 408-286-6275).  They have a
		pretty decent general selection.  SF books are a strong
		point, but philosophy books are a weak spot.  "This is a
		very large used book store.  They have the best Bay Area
		collection of used SF hardcovers.  Very few collectibles,
		though."  Open 7 days.
	Woodruff & Thrush.  Used books.  Huge, but a big collection of old 
		magazines.  Not as well labeled as it could be.  Sounds like 
		a place that might turn up something if you have time to 
		browse, but not a quick stop for something specific.  
	? (2194 Lincoln).  Used books.

Cupertino:
	Stacey's (19625 Stevens Creek Boulevard, 408-253-7521,
		http://www.staceys.com).  General interest with a specialty
		in technical books.  Open Mon-Sat 9AM-9PM, Sun 11AM-7PM.

Central Coast:

Santa Cruz:
	Book Loft (Soquel Drive at Seabright, 408-429-1812).
		Used books only.
	Bookshop Santa Cruz (in the old St. George Hotel on the Pacific
		Avenue, 408-423-0900).  A Santa Cruz tradition.  Very large
		magazine selection and indoor/outdoor cafe.
	Chimney Sweep Books (across from Caffe Pergolesi on Center Street).
		A used bookshop, great for philosophy, religion, some rare
		stuff too, but small.
	Gateways (a block from Logos/Plaza in the old Great Outdoors
		Outlet).  A venerable Santa Cruz institution, with twice the
		space of its old location and a small cafe.  It is primarily
		known for new-age, metaphysics, self-help, etc.
	The Literary Guillotine (Union St, downtown).  Used books.  They
		seem to tend more in the direction of the scholarly than the
		popular, but they have a pretty interesting selection of
		things.
	Logos (has re-opened in a new building at its *old* location at
		1117 Pacific Avenue, 408-426-2106).  Two full floors of
		books, used records, and used CDs.  Can be thought of as
		Santa Cruz's answer to Moe's in Berkeley.  "It is this
		bibliophile's opinion that Logos has *the* best used book
		selection (in Santa Cruz, the center of the Universe).  You
		can get the same book (used) here you can get in Capitola for
		1/2 price (new)."
	Plaza Books  (on Pacific Ave. roughly across from the Palomar).  New
		books only.  Plaza Books has the best tee-shirts, post-card
		books, and greeting cards, by far beating out any of the
		more "touristy" places.

San Juan Bautista:
	Belinda's Bookaround (402 Third).  Medium-sized selection of
		used paperbacks.

Capitola:
	Book-Cafe (41st Ave, next to the movie theater, 408-462-4415,
		http://www.cruzio.com/~bookcafe).  New books only.  
		Good selection of magazines.  Probably has the best 
		selection of audio books and literary magazines in the 
		Santa Cruz area.  Also has a small coffee-shop inside.  
		In 2009, they instituted a membership program which 
		will give members benefits including "free food and 
		drink, shopping sprees, tickets to events and other 
		discounts."  [02/09]

============================================================================

Comments:

For more used bookstores, you might check  http://www.abaa-booknet.com/ or
 http://www.bookweb.org/bookstores/usa_states.html.

For more bookstores in California, see also http://www.nciba.com/stores.html.

Sonia Sachs (ssachs@moonlight.berkeley.edu) reports on the availability of
BROWSING THE BEST WEST COAST USED BOOK STORES: A SELECT GUIDE:
	I have discovered a new and very thoughtful California travel
	guide called BROWSING THE BEST WEST COAST USED BOOK STORES,
	[subtitled A Series of Guides to The Foremost General Stock
	Used and Out-of-Print Establishments in Los Angeles, Berkeley,
	Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Portland, Sacramento &
	Orange County].  This terrific little guide -- which is
	actually a series of eight separate folio guides -- was
	probably intended for visiting scholars and other bibliophiles,
	but it will likely appeal to local residents as well because it
	offers fresh views of well-known places.  Four cities are
	featured in the first series of guides -- Los Angeles, San
	Francisco, Berkeley, and Seattle.  A second series of four
	guides -- due out later this year -- tours San Diego, Orange
	County, Sacramento, and Portland, Oregon.  Each guide begins
	with introductory essays that expound, quite eloquently and at
	some length, on the value of out-of-print bookstore browsing.
	Readers are then offered tips on how to browse out-of-print
	bookstores and simultaneously avoid big price tags.  Would-be
	hobbyists are shown how to develop and advance book
	collections.  Novice bibliophiles are given a glossary of terms
	to explain different classifications of books -- rare, used,
	out-of-print, first edition, etc.  This is not just an ode to
	bookstores.  It is an ode to books.  The travel aspect is the
	guides' most exciting feature.  Each guide contains an
	insightful city essay and ten descriptive bookstore narratives
	that go a long way toward situating the reader in the town he
	or she is visiting.  And who hasn't been looking for a new way
	to explore a faraway city?  Individually, these guides form a
	strong argument that bookstore touring is the best way to learn
	the physical and intellectual contours of any town.  Taken
	together, the guides are nothing less than a grand tour of
	literary landmarks all along America's Pacific Coast.  Maps, of
	course, are included.  The author of these guides is a West
	Coast native and long-time bibliophile who is not affiliated
	with any bookstore or bookstore association.  Consequently, and
	happily so, the narrative point-of-view is that of a bookbuyer
	rather than a bookseller.  In terms of style, each guide is
	often as humorous as it is telling, and the author does not shy
	away from pointed comments.  "The Los Angeles metropolitan area
	is surprisingly good used book store territory," begins the
	city essay for the Los Angeles guide.  "Admittedly, there is a
	glut of shops that tend to feature first editions of Eddie
	Fisher's autobiography, but sequestered between all these
	hackneyed enterprises are some very reputable bookstores."  The
	guides, which read like booklets with a map as centerpiece,
	sell for $6.00 each.  For more information, write Browsing The
	Best Publications, Box 7263, Berkeley, California 94707-0263,
	USA.

There is also the NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BOOK FINDER, a pocket-sized
directory of "used bookshops in northern Calfornia from San Luis Obispo
County to the Oregon Border."  (Stores that carry both used and new are
also listed.)  Arranged geographically, it has address, phone, hours
and a brief description for each store.  (Some stores have ads with
more details, but it includes listings for all the used bookstores.)
There are also maps showing bookstore locations for most of the larger
towns, an index of towns, and an index of ads.  The ninth edition
(1995) is probably available at bookstores in the area (for $5.95), or
you can order it from Jules Greenblatt, 4021 Campana Drive, Palo Alto
CA 94306 for $8.95 (including postage and handling).

There are also Book Hunter Press's USED BOOK LOVER'S GUIDE TO [various 
regions], seven regional guides to over 7,900 used, out-of-print, and 
antiquarian book dealers in the United States and Canada.  The complete 
database is online and can be searched by location, dealer name, specialty, 
and type of dealer. Access to the database is available on a two tier basis: 
partial access is free, full access is by subscription.The web page also 
includes free access to regional and city maps showing locations with used 
bookstores. For more information or a free catalog, check their web page at 
http://bookhunterpress.com/.

And there is also ANTIQUARIAN, SPECIALTY, AND USED BOOK SELLERS
DIRECTORY 1997-98, covering 5,261 dealers in 863 pages.  For more
information, send E-mail request asubs@aol.com, or check their web page
at  http://www.auldbooks.com/biblio/asubs.

Anecdote from a reader (circa 1995):

"Had an interesting experience last night:  I was having dinner at a
friend's house when he asked me if I had access to internet.  This was
curious, indeed, as he is probably the most neo-Luddite younger person I
know, resistant to computer technology to the point of keeping business
records on scraps of paper beneath found paperweights and doing business
correspondence via penciled letters.

It turns out that the reason for this sudden interest is that someone
came into his store [which shall remain nameless here] in San Francisco,
and made a stunning $50.00 purchase on the basis of some recommended
bookstore list that you produced and posted on rec.arts.books.  A captain
of industry he's not, so fifty big ones made about as big an impression
on him as a major bus wreck ("Don't mention the money," he says of this
message, "it sounds so crass.").  Suddenly, this computer thing had
reality to him.  He produced a scrap of paper with your net address on
it and requested that I thank you.

I just thought you might get as big a giggle out of this as I did."

Of all the messages people have sent me over the years, this one is
still my favorite.

=============================================================================
Copyright Notice

Information contained in this FAQ is compiled from many sources.  The
compiler accepts no responsibility for the comments contained herein.
The comments are provided "as is" with no warranty, express or implied,
for the information provided within them.

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 4) They will agree, in writing, that the collection including the FAQ will
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To support this, this FAQ is Compilation Copyright 2009 by Evelyn C. Leeper
(the FAQ maintainer).

=============================================================================