You wouldn't know it, but there is a large amount of comics and comic collectibles in this store. I have been going here since I was in elementary school because of the cheap used books, but more recently the store opened up what I like to call 'The Geek Area' which is where you can find some of the best comics in Temple (especially since Kopriva's Collectibles closed down). They also buy used books, which is great for those of us who don't collect a large amount of books. Yes, that means I have never sold any books here, but I have bought a lot. So continue selling them books that I will eventually own. Only downside to the place is the staff. They virtually ignore you until you get up to the counter and they also don't seem to be real interested in most geek stuff or culture, which is weird considering the back room. I mean, someone had to catalog all that stuff right? There has to be a geek working there somewhere! Finally, the smell. If you're a book lover like I am, you love that old book smell (the sweet smell of vanillin). You can smell the books going down the stairs to the front door. It's like a nerd lure just pulling you down into literary heaven. read more

Smells of mold. Caged cat. very dark and cluttered so you cannot get around. My friend got confused and opened a door he wasn't supposed to and the worker freaking out and screamed at him, despite his profuse apologies read more

Place has become a hoarders dream. Cat in a cage amongst the hoard. The business smells like cat urine. If you aren't a thin person you will have a hard time moving around in there. There is no longer rhyme or reason to the shop because there is to much used product. She states she will give you a deal on anything in the place but then say the item you're looking at isn't for sale. Plus price marked is not the price of item. She has hand written signs that states she will name her price. The lady running the place admitted that her house had been bulldozed by temple. then stated about how much stuff she had lost. This used to be one of my favorite places to visit. I am very concerned the city of Temple is going to shut it down once they see the hoard. read more

I walked down the stairs, looked in the door, hesitated to go in then I walked in and realized that is a hoarders location books all over the place, not able to get into any aisles. I turned around and walked out. I had a lot of hopes for this location. I was totally disappointed. read more

Since Jimmy left and apparently the owner had a stroke - there is a very female worker that has been over pricing books based on what she finds to be selling for ( not sold for) - The store is full of trash on the floor - There is a cat locked in a bird cage - no food or water-- -- she put up a sign that said she can change prices when she pleases.... We ended up buying books- but she took 4 books from my pile because she wanted to keep them-- I kept my cool -- because my husband really wanted these rare books for his collection-- this is not a good book store--- I highly recommend going to Copperas Cove Used book store for used books.... read more

If I could I would give zero stars Literally walked in and was looking at the comic books where I was looking at an open package full of comics just to count how many were in there, literally got yelled by the owner not to open them when there was no signs of saying not to, I obviously apologized and later when I went to buy my comics he immediately accused me of taking off the price tags, stealing, and started cussing me out to get out WHEN I LITERALLY ASKED BEFORE IF THEY WERE COVER PRICE BECAUSE THERE WAS NO TAGS AND HE SAID YES anyways he continued to say to get out and never comeback and threatened to call the cops for the $5 worth of comics I was supposedly stealing and while he was still yelling I slammed the door while he was mid-sentence Of course I was the only dark skinned person among my group so yeah, never coming back read more

Jimmy was super polite and made awesome suggestions for my classroom library. Thank you for your help. read more

Book Cellar - Comic books for my class set. - Bookstores Near Me - Temple, Texas

This place is way over priced the books look like they've been owned by 7 different people and, the dude who works there is a jerk and was super rude for no reason. read more

It's been awhile since we've visited and they have a plethora of signed sports memorabilia, from football helmets, jerseys and photos...two of my favorites were photos of Bob Lily and Warren Moon.....yes...you can like both teams.....they have a wide selection of every book genre and comic books....and you can bring books in to trade. read more

Book Cellar - an autographed phot of the best Oilers QB...Warren Moon...they have lots of signed sports memorabilia - Bookstores Near Me - Temple, Texas

Coolest bookstore in Texas. You can spend hours looking and still not see everything. Autographs, vintage, full runs, hidden gems, sports cards. They have everything!! And the coolest guy ever works there. He's incredibly friendly and full of knowledge. I could spend all day here. read more

i was always told that this store was managed poorly and that it was best to go to a different comic/books store so for years i didn't visit the store until today i was with some friends that wanted to check out the book cellar and as soon as we walked in it didn't even exceeded my lowest expectations it was obvious that whoever runs this place is a slob and or a hoarder the books are barely organized, floors are filthy, trash strewn all around, roaches and spiders everywhere you look, smells strongly of mildew rather than smelling like books, comics were strewn all over the floor with no organization, prices were extremely high for the quality of the literature available and the man at the counter was extremely rude but thats just the tip of the ice berg! after first impressions we continued into the store and while looking through the comics we came across a plastic comic sleeve with multiple comics inside so to reveal what comics were inside we lifted the plastic flap and pulled the middle comic out and immediately the man behind the counter begins shouting at us in a extremely condescending voice saying "i know your not opening that sleeve" (SLEEVES THAT WERE ALREADY OPENED!) and continues to yell at us that we should not be opening the sleeves even though there was no signs or anything informing costumer's to not open sleeves. we then apologize about opening the comics and fast forward a short while and one of my friends chooses 3 comics to buy and asks if the comics were cover priced because they did not have sticker prices and the owner said yes and just to be sure my friend ASKED A SECOND TIME AND GOT THE SAME ANSWER! we then walked up to the counter to pay and as soon as my friend set the comics down the owner became even more aggressive and agitated and accused us of swapping price tags and threatened to call the police for stealing EVEN THOUGH their weren't any stickers on the comics to even switch and then he cursed at all 5 of us and told us to leave and never come back! while this all was happening the youngest girl with us (16 years old) began to have a panic attack so we quickly left not just because of our concern for our friends mental health but also the whole groups physical safety was threatened so we got out of there ASAP. so in conclusion i would highly recommend not coming here not just because of how gross, unorganized, expensive and unsafe it is but also because their are many other businesses that deserve support far more than this one read more

Found some great things after poking around for awhile. If it wasn't for the check-out process, I'd give a better review. Boss man was apparently needing to train someone new and began shouting at said new employee when they didn't know how to ring certain items up, being super demeaning. Pretty bad when your employee has to (nicely) ask you not to yell at them in front of customers. Also, don't act out of control in that way if you're going to boldly open-carry your firearm. Really poor impression to give off. read more

The guy that runs this place is unfriendly & mean spirited. He obviously hates his job. The books are way overpriced and selection is very poor. The sports cards & autographed merchandise is obviously fake. After three trips having to bear up under his bad attitude I won't be going back. read more

I was looking to buy books in the area, we recently moved to Temple, and only found this store so we went there. It is bigger than expected, the service is great, and prices are the best. Highly recommend you stop by and get something. Lots of books there. Loved it and will definitely go back. read more

Only giving 1 star because i can't give zero! A couple of years ago, i was out of a job and trying to buy Christmas for the kids. Have a huge selection of all genres of books and thought i would start parting with them to afford presents. Found that the book cellar would pay cash for books and called them and inquired. They assured me that the titles i had were desirable and would purchase the books from me. I took a laundry basket full of books to the book cellar...they had absolutely NO interest in what i had brought and were incredibly rude and disrespectful of the books i had brought...picking them up and tossing them back into my basket..i would never have disrespected their merchandise that way! Told me there was only 1 book of interest and he would give me 3 bucks for it! I decided this was not as advertised and carried the laundry basket full of hardback books up the stairway, without this joker offering any assistance whatsoever! Have never and will never do business with this establishment! Oh, and by the way...the book he was gonna give me 3 bucks for, i sold online the next week for 82 bucks! read more

I love going to the Book Cellar. It has a vast selection of books at reasonable prices. It is refreshing to have a place downtown that still sells real books. If you are going in to sell your books, don t expect a huge amount of money for your used books, but he offers a fair price. Remember it is a resale shop. And always call first to make sure they are excepting books at that time. Calling ahead can save you any inconvenience. The owner and employees are always friendly and knowledgeable about what is for sale in the store. read more

We visited this bookstore last week after having lunch in the area. It is located on the town square, below street level. The two gentlemen who worked there were kind and talked to the group of us throughout our visit. The store is crammed full of books - ceiling to floor, wall to wall. They have a huge variety of all genres. Prices are decent, too. I paid $11.95 for three used paperbacks: two fictions standard-size books, and a larger paperback biography. So, more expensive than some places, but definitely less expensive than others. The place is cool. They have a lot of memorabilia, etc, displayed. The bathroom was a thumbs down. Overall, I would definitely go back. read more

I love this place! They have a big selection of books and comics! I could spend hours- or days actually- looking through their selection! The staff has always been friendly to me and willing to give recommendations for future reads. read more

I found this used book store dirty and more like a hole in the wall.The owners seemed rude and condescending and eveytime I have gone in there they have had a diffrent employee, telling me that they are not very good to their help,seeing as I have met some very nice emplyees of theirs that werent there long.The selection of books seemed mundane. I go there only as a a last resort to find some easy to find books, as I have never found a hard to find book there. Not worth the trip to me and several others i have spoken to have to same opinion. read more

I was looking to sell some of my books so I called ahead to make sure they were taking books at the moment. The gentleman was rude and short with me on the phone. After the call, I should have known better then to actually go into the store, but I did. He seemed annoyed that I was there. The website said that they pay 10%-20% per book, but that is not the case. I had several books and they were all in brand new condition and with popular titles. I had a box of over 40 books, most of which were hardbacks and I was offered less than a dollar a book, less than 10% a book. Getting any kind of direct information out of this guy was like pulling teeth. When I told him what his website quoted he complained to me that his was a dying business. With service like his, it's clear why it is a dying business. I was someone who wanted to support his small business, but I will not do business with this book store. read more

This place is kind of cool. It is in downtown Temple and literally is in a cellar, you have to walk down a set of stairs to reach it. The shop is small but has lots of shelves, and will take trades. They have assorted used books, sci fi, romance, westerns, etc. The staff never bothers me. They also have comic books. It's the only used book store I know of in Temple, so if you don't want to shell out the $$$ at the bookstore in the mall try out the Book Cellar. read more

I went there today thinking to sell some of my books. I had no idea that they stopped buying books. The gentleman behind the counter was rude and condescending and seemed quite irritated that I was even there. I couldn't haul my laundry basket of heavy books back up the stairs so I asked I could just donate them. Again, with the attitude, he grudgingly allowed and was pretty vocal about it too. I won't be back because of this treatment. And if I find out that they actually do buy books, I will be vocal about it myself. I seriously doubt they will be in business much longer with the level of customer service they have. A pity because it really was a fine little shop at one point. read more

I read about it in the bell county magazine- the space itself has a fantastically interesting history. The new owner has changed a back room into a space filled to the brim with both new and old comics. I bought 8 vintage and special edition comics for like twenty dollars. I didn't look much through the books, which are mostly the books you'd find in any small-town secondhand bookstore, but just upon browsing I found a book from 1876. Definitely some hidden gems in this place, and the prices are great. read more

I'd like to begin this review by saying I signed up for Yelp just so I could write it. I recently developed an interest in collecting old/rare books and while visiting Temple, I was told I should stop at Book Cellar since it's one of the only bookstores around. After looking the business up online, I was happy with this choice because the store was supposed to have quite a collection of books of all genres, etc. Well, I should have known how the rest of the experience would be when we first walked in. The owner didn't at all seem pleased to have customers walk through the door. He gave us the stink-eye, asked us if there was anything in particular we were looking for, then quickly went back to his private thoughts, which probably consisted of inventing new ways he could condescend to future customers. I would have liked to immediately inquire about the more valuable pieces of his collection but he wasn't a very approachable individual and he didn't seem interested in being one. After browsing around for about 15 minutes, I finally worked up the courage to ask him if he had a back room or some particular space where he stored his more valuable old/rare books. After receiving yet another stink-eye, he asked me where I was from, I told him Houston, and then he launched into a tirade basically calling me a city dweller looking for good deals on books by ripping off unsuspecting country bumpkins. He then told me that if I wanted to know what he had that I would have to go online and look them up myself. If you're in the mood to be ignored, insulted, and treated like a moron (especially if you're an out-of-towner), this is the place for you. My advice to the owner: if you don't like dealing with customers, find something to do that doesn't involve dealing with customers. Jerk. read more

It's rare to find an independent book store anymore, let alone one with great service and a wide selection. The owner is very helpful. Highly recommend stopping buy to pick something up, or to just donate books so someone else can enjoy them later. read more

Just wanted to let everyone know I have just read the bad reviews on the store. The people on the reviews are no longer here , Bob retired in July of this year and sold the store and susan was gone shortly thereafter. We have remodeled and added gifts, coins,and autograph collectibles so I ask everyone to give us an oppurtunity read more