I moved to this area in part because of all the bookstores, and sadly over the years have seen many of them close. While many are fine, Grey Matter, Troubadour, and Federal Street Books in Greenfield are the three I return to again and again. Now that Troubadour and Grey Matter merged their stock (sort of), this has really become a can't-miss stop. If the Montague Book Mill is "Books You Don't Need in a Place You Can't Find," Grey Matter is "Books You Don't Want to Miss, in a Location that You Might." I never have enough time to check out all I need to check, and I always come away with a great find, and a great deal. Add to that the quirky humor and smarts of the owner and staff... Oh, just go! read more

Grey Matter Books - Readings, too! - Bookstores Near Me - Hadley, Massachusetts

3rd stop today on my "Used bookstore trail in MASS" journey. This was the largest book shop I stopped at today, unfortunately, I couldn't find anything interesting to purchase. As other Yelpers have stated, this store is packed with "inventory of every genre and subject", but just nothing for me. On a side note, I'm almost happy I didn't buy anything here today. The clerk was sitting at a desk right near the front entrance, no acknowledgement of me entering or leaving the place. Would it hurt you to say, "Hello" ? Sorry, lack of customers skills irks me a bit. Anyway, got back in the vehicle and headed to the next Used bookstore ! read more

Grey Matter Books - Grey Matter Books in Hadley, MA. - Bookstores Near Me - Hadley, Massachusetts

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What took my travels to Grey Matter Books was (besides the promise of books) they have actual road signs directing you. How, in this day and age with stuff everywhere, they pulled that off, I can't tell you, but it's 100% worth following them. It's an amazing inventory - every genre, every subject seems to be represented. They're used books with the asking price a reduced portion of their cover price, and I honestly could have spent hours and hundreds of dollars. They were all books I didn't know what I want (including one book on a haunted Connecticut house that just appeared on a shelf), and I am glad to add to my To Read collection. The outside is guarded by a gargoyle who seems to work for pine cones and a herd of enclosed ducks. The cashier must be a saint to tolerate the quacking, these are opinionated fowl. read more

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Such an amazing selection of used books at great prices with excellent service. I highly recommend making a stop here. I just happened to come across it while on the bike path and I'm so glad I did. I look forward to making it back next time I'm in town. read more

It's like a treasure hunt for knowledge. Prices are reasonable and they often have free books as well..

Well organized; generously and helpfully staffed; remarkable selection in terms of quality and quantity. Prices reasonable. A bit difficult to find the location, but my human co-pilot helped. read more

My son is a student at UMass-Amherst and recommended this bookstore to me when I visited him. What a classic used-book store! Nothing but books, books, books. Very quiet. Very extensive collection of both commonly found used books and some very uncommon ones, include some nice collections. I highly recommend! And I will be back. read more

BIG! Big, big, biggie big, big. (It's not gargantuan, but you could lose a friend or family member for a few minutes.) And it's full of good books at good prices. This isn't some book barn filled with copies of the same old used books you find anywhere; there are some great books in any section you poke around in. First editions, massive art tomes, classic children's books, recent releases intermingled with books long out of print--lots to peruse. Well worth it! read more

A real find. Large selection that is well organized and maintained. Staff were friendly and helpful and the atmosphere was comfortable. It was easy for me to drop in and quickly find a couple books, but you could also spend plenty of time enjoyably perusing. read more

A magical place. Excellent curation across the board, especially in philosophy, medieval studies, history, religion, poetry, and foriegn languages. Honestly if I could have one bookstore wherever I live it would be this one. read more

All the ingredients are here for a great used bookstore (or two!), mind you. But something seems to be missing. Can't quite put my finger on it. But something's just...off. Nevertheless, I defy anyone to leave without finding something to bring home. The only drawback is that much of the stock molders in the underground accommodation--so it's tough to find rare, collectible books that do not have foxed and or dust-spotted edges from the "rising damp" that permeates the place. Yet in spite of this, as used bookstores go, I'd rate this shop as definitely in the top 10%! Well worth the visit. read more

Made a special trip based on reviews. Decent selection for the most part. Especially Art books. Had a stack that I was interested in but since I had my phone on me I Ebayed all out of curiosity to check prices and Ebay was MUCH less. I left them all there. It's easy to get caught up in a frenzy of seeing appetizing books when in reality there are no bargains here if that matters to you. read more

Was a loyal customer of this place, and have had many happy experiences here. Today I had a very suspicious and unfortunate experience with the owner. Today I bought a $3.00 book. I pulled out my cash, and had a five dollar bill, so I took it out and set it on the counter, below where the owner could see it. With tax, it came to $3.19 so before I handed over the bill, I fished through some change in my pocket to see if I had four pennies. I only found a dime and five pennies, but the owner said, I'll just take that. So I gave him the 14 cents and he said, I'll take the three dollars too. So I remembered the five, and set it on the counter in front of him. It landed on its side, and balanced there (since it was folded partially in half). He picked it up and put it in his cash register and handed me the book back and the receipt and just looked at me. No change for the five. I said, in tune with his previous statement, "I'll take my two dollars' change, then." Long story short, he refused to give me my change, saying I'd given him three ones. Not only had I handed him a five dollar bill, I'd only handed him one bill. He looked again in his register, saw the five, and said, "No, you definitely didn't give me a five. You can look in your wallet and see if your five is there if you expect to have one." I pulled out my cash, and I had no five. I'd given him my only one. I have some, but very little, doubt that I truly did give me a five. He never considered the possibility that he was incorrect, and though it was only two dollars, refused to consider my point of view. This was with the owner of Grey Matter books, Sam if I'm not mistaken, a man I recognize whenever I go there, and who has helped me many times not only finding books, but also giving me advice. I am not accusing him of intentionally cheating me of two dollars, but he certainly was not gracious about an honest mistake (on either side!) when I was the one who conceded, quickly, without putting up a fight. If, given my certainty of the situation, I would have tried harder if it were for anything more than two dollars. However, it's quite likely I wouldn't have bought the book if it were listed as five dollars. read more

GREAT selection, GREAT prices! We go to a lot of used book stores and often times they are over priced or just don't have anything particularly rare or special. Grey Matter is the opposite, we found more books that we had been long searching for there than we would find all year scouring other shops. GREAT FIND! read more

I went to Grey Matter Books because I wished to find something I didn't know I wanted to find before I arrived. In this lovely store I found the essential facts of life, and saw if I could not learn what it had to teach. Grey Matter is run by the charming Sam Burton. The name gives a clue to much of Sam's interests (and some of the highlights of his collection), books on the mind and philosophy. The store features a large selection, is spacious, and filled with academic and hard to find titles that reflect the highly educated communities surrounding (and again, Sam's intellectual pursuits). Additionally, the shop is relatively clean and orderly for a used bookstore. The staff have always been helpful and friendly. I have been there over 6 times and always found large numbers of interesting books, all in excellent condition and priced affordably. Grey Matter is a gem and one of the best open shops I have been to in the age of internet books. If you are in the Amherst area you should make a special stop. read more

This applies to both grey matter and troubadour since they are connected. I am an avid book collector who recently moved to the springfield, MA area. I have been to Raven books, the old book shoppe and a few of the non used book stores in northampton and Grey Matter is ten times better than any of them. There are a TON of books at this place, on every subject imaginable. They even had a section called weird books.They have a ton of art books, fiction, antique, and other assorted non fiction. I collect old paperbacks, the pocket book size, not the bigger, newer size, so this review will pertain mostly to that. For these types of books there are two kinds of bookstores. The first is crappy selection but amazing prices. The other is a wonderful selection but high prices. Grey Matter has an AMAZING selection AND AMAZING prices. I went here expecting to spend 30 minutes to an hour. Two and a half hours later i left with an arm full of books. The staff needs to be mentioned here as well. It was only one man, a friend of the owners, and he was amazingly helpful, chipper and seemed genuinely happy to be there. He chatted with each customer who came in, answered every question asked to him and didn't pressure you at all to buy anything. He told half the customers to have a free cup of coffee and enjoy browsing, if they got something, even better. He also gave me one of the books I wanted for free. I have no idea why. He just decided it should be free. I am only living in this area for one year. But for that year Grey matter has a loyal customer who will be spending a lot of money in their store. The photos the store has attached to their YELP page do not do the store justice. It is huge. Just go already! Wonderful, wonderful store. read more

Huge selection. I especially enjoy and appreciate that there are hardcover editions to many of my favorite authors. Too often, used bookstores have only one format: paperback, mass market, etc., but NOT with Grey Matter - perhaps the widest selection of books in the area. Wonderful selection of Library of America hardcover editions. read more

The best book store ever. You can find everything you need here. For an independently owned business in western Mass., it's not pretentious (which is a plus). The books are all in great condition. It beats Raven or Amherst Books or Food for Thought or any of those other ones. Grey Matter/ Troubadour is also really large. You get a discount if you bike here (it is a western Mass. business after all). It's tucked away, so it might be hard to find unless you're looking for it (which adds to the charm). read more

Fabulous. This is what a used book store should be in my mind. Books, nothing but books. Huge selection, good prices. Browse worthy.

This bookstore has a very good selection, with books ranging beach novels to scholarly. On several occasions, I found just the obscure book/author/subject I was looking for. Now that it is sharing space with Troubadour Books, the on-site selection is even better. Grey Matter Book's pricing is quite reasonable. The staff is knowledgeable and helpful. Grey Matter Books is a gem. read more

I'm writing one review for Grey Matter and Troubadour since they share a location and are connected. Possibly Grey Matter is the non-fiction side and Troubadour is the fiction side? My only complaint is that I couldn't spend ALL DAY in this bookstore! It is the best used bookstore in the five college area and one of the best I've been to EVER. I would like to move to Hadley and get a job here so I could spend all of my time with the books and spend all of my income taking them home and reading them. Ok, it is not fancy. No coffee shop, no comfy lounge area. Just an exceptional selection of used books on every topic, even math and the sciences. And the staff was not only friendly and helpful, but actually found a book that I couldn't even remember the title or author of. Pretty amazing. I left with a pile of books and the total price was so low I could hardly believe it. It's a little hard to find but it is so worth the trip. Love, love, love this bookstore! read more

One of the best book stores I've ever been in as well as best organized. Browsing is great, finding exactly what you want is too. Our house is bursting with books so we sell some too. I would never look for another book store while Grey Matter is in business. Troubadour is also wonderful, although you have to wander to the back for it. read more

I love this book store! It has a nice open feel to it. And, it is located on East St. right off of route 9, on the same street as the post office, the bike path, the police station and the fire station. The speed limit on the street is 30 mph so take heed. There is also an intersection with the extensive bike path so be on the lookout for bikers. It is right after the bike path on the left nestled in with a pottery business and some other businesses. The collection of books is extensive. The building is huge. It used to house another book store but the former owner to that one moved so Grey Matter space was expanded. It is easy to find a quality book here. Some stores don't keep up the pace with new, sought after inventory. However, they really pay attention to what topics people are searching for and stock accordingly. They run a tight ship so you needn't worry about wasting time looking at discarded, obsolete books on topics that are of no interest to anyone in particular. They made the space cozy too with a water bubbler, furniture, towering bookcases and a friendly, helpful staff. You just get the good vibes. read more

Just a fantastic place. Kind of dank and basementty but the books are all in good shape and the selection is vast. Best poetry selection anywhere on the planet. Lots of nooks and crannies to explore. Plan on spending several hours. Prices are very reasonable. read more

Amazing selection and good prices. I found stuff here that has been hard to find.

This place overflows with books and soul. You can count on an ever-changing stock; the owners must be mighty restless! Books run the gamut from really abstruse stuff to wonderful novelty finds. I've never felt less than utterly welcome. I'm biking over this weekend - 10% discount for bikers! read more

One of the great independent bookstores. Great browsing and friendly service. A must stop if you are in Northampton five college area.

Grey matter is a great place! Lots of books reasonably priced, eclectic music , free coffee! One of the best collections in the area. If you are a book lover it's a must stop. I am surprised at the negative reviews. The people that wrote them have no idea how difficult it is to keep a place like this open! You go Sam, those of us who love books are with you. read more