A fantastic local book store in a beautiful historic building. The architecture alone is worth…read moreadmiring. They have an extensive selection of books, including many by local authors. They also carry a variety of gifts and souvenirs. We end up buying several pretty good quality magnets as gifts to friends, and they were actually cheaper than many of the stand alone souvenir stores in downtown area.

Fantastic local book store in downtown Victoria. Nice architecture and large selection of books and…read moremerch! Friendly staff to boot.

A remarkable bookstore with an incredible selection of books, including many rare collectible, and…read morehistorical editions you'd only expect to see at specialty book fairs. It's a wonderful place to browse whether you are a causal reader or a collector. If I ever win the lottery, there will be signs. Some of these books are coming home with me.

Located in downtown Victoria with an unassuming exterior. Great selection of books; the interior is…read morelarger than it looks and has an escalator! The collection of vintage books there is impressive to say the least.

This bookstore is what dreams are made of…read more Serendipity books on San Juan Island is hands down my favorite bookstore. Not only does it have small town flare, but it also has the largest assortment of used books that I've personally seen. The store sits inside a small house on the main strip of San Juan Island. It looks tiny from the outside, but, oh wow, does it hold entire worlds inside. There's a multitude of rooms all themed after each genre. You'll find everything from cookbooks, history, fantasy, young adult, sci-fi, history, fiction, self help, and autobiographies. Like other reviewers have mentioned you might have to do a bit of digging, as most of the books are stacked since they do not have the space on the shelves. Something else to note is that they do not allow food and drink inside, but they do have the cutest fireplace for you to place your hot coffee or tea on to keep it warm. Highly recommend checking out this spot when you're on San Juan Island, and be sure to stop by next-door to pick up a homie style lunch.

Wow! I'm glad I stumbled upon this cute book shop - serendipity, indeed! I did find a lot of…read moredifferent genres, so it's worth exploring. Personally, I was looking for the science fiction / fantasy section, and yep, I found one of interest! It was perfect. Others were stopping by and were couples. Unfortunately due to scheduled travel times, I could not spend unmarked amounts of time getting lost and wandering amongst the tomes. I will have to stumble my way back sometime in the future!

Great store! I was visiting Victoria and the sign attracted my attention! The cozy cat and…read moreChronicles of Crime! What can sound better for the crime lover who is traveling! Books are reasonably priced and huge selection sorted by by country, gender of detective and even includes section with cat/dogs assisting sleuth. I got few books. The sales person man is really helpful.

From the owner: New used and rare books, photos, postcards and booklets. Historical Letters and documents related…read moreto BC. Always looking to buy vintage photos from Vancouver Island relating to old homesteads and business history as well as railway and logging. Signed Emily Carr books or unique items. Nautical and Exploration. We also Appraise libraries and private collections. Buying and selling rare books since 1991.

It's one of the best bookstore in Victoria, with lots of choices and they are open until 9pm…read more In fact they remind me of Renault Bray in Quebec. They have chairs to sit and read a bit and prices is good i would say better than Indigo. They have nice depts of biography, novels and a nice dept of magasines. Un des bon libraire de Victoria, beaucoup de choix, et de plus comme Renaud Bray au Québec ils sont ouvert jusqu'a 9 hrs. Ils ont quelques chaises ou on peut s'assoir et feuilleter un bon livre, les prix sont meilleurs qu'Indigo, et au moins ce n'est pas une chaine de magasins. Ils ont plusieurs sections : Biography, novels et une belle section de magasines.

Rude and unfriendly staff. Will not be back. Too bad - the store has a good selection of children's…read morebooks and puzzles. Off I happily skip to Munro's (bookstore) instead!

Lovely quaint local business. a wide selection of books and topics, local and mass market. great…read moregifts and a comfortable fun atmosphere. and the owner was a gem to encounter. will definitely frequent you all online (since I was only there on vacation) and will definitely be back in person!!

Great selection of books: Local subjects to matters of global importance. Picture books the…read moreyoungest readers/listeners to classic tomes. Recent books to enduring classics. Wisely curated selections of newspapers and other periodicals, of greeting cards, and of guides to the nearby mountains, forests, and fauna of the Olympic Peninsula. Knowledgeable staff always eager to learn more: worthy successors to the store's original, said to have retired to start catching up on their reading. As all loyal customers know, one can try, but will never succeed: there are always more books out there, and one of them is the one that you, gentle reader, needs to read next. If it's not at PBN, they'll get it for you quickly. What. A. Gem.

This is a well layed out book store. Biggest kid section i have ever seen. A whole room…read more Thru one wall is the used section , all divided by type. Another big room. i found two for me for 7.00. Can't go wrong in the used section. Two free book marks as a thank you. And they take books in trade for credit. That Could be useful.

Cute bookstore and gift shop. I always find a great selection of holiday cards here. New and used…read morebooks, cards, gifts, novelties, kids stuff. Tight aisles but means more to choose from.

Love this place, I was visiting from out of town and felt very at home here. They have a great…read moreselection of books (I prefer fantasy and history) and the man at the desk and his daughter are very friendly and know where the book your looking for is. The place has that old musty book smell that I love and makes me want to go back again and again, I looked around there for an hour and it felt that no time had passed.

What a great book shop! The piles of books stacked…read moreeverywhere makes it even more magical. It is like you stepped into an adventure! So many great old books and the proprietor and his lovely assistant knows where each and every book can be found. I was lucky enough to get three hardcover mystery books from the 1950's!

Came for Warhammer / Citadel paints, found exactly what I was looking for…read more They have a good selection, and a lot of paints that were out of stock on warhammer's website. They've got a handful of box sets too. Great for a quick gift or if you just spilled your pot of Nuln oil!

Employees aren't welcoming, the Pokemon and overall selection isn't good, and the prices are very…read morehigh, even on figures and plushes. The Pokemon singles they do have aren't kept in sleeves/toploaders even for cards worth 5 dollars and up.

We love to see a bookstore thriving!! This is so much more than just a bookstore (and adjoining…read morepaper/confectionery/novelty shop). Its a community hub! I recently moved to Bellingham and Village Books (and paper dreams) actually really swayed me to move here. Its a book palace, 3 stories of well organized selection. The front facing books are well chosen, and the used books are interspersed with the new books. There are quite a few staff picks sections, all of which are super interesting and worth looking over. Three days before Christmas 2025 I was there trying to pick out a horror book for a friend of mine. Horror is not my genre (more of a fantasy and literature gal myself), so I for sure needed guidance. The shop lady spent so much time reviewing the whole horror section with me . When we couldn't find the main book we decided on me buying, she spent the time looking everywhere for it. She enlisted the help of two additional staff members. When she was needed for another task, she made sure one of the other shop ladies had me covered. I ended up ordering the book, which came in a few days and they texted me when it arrived. Easy peasy! I will never forget that experince, especially as the store was jam packed with x-mas shoppers. Village books in fairhaven is the spot! My only note is that their bookclubs could be better. The bookclubs are during the day and don't have different genre selections (they are mostly nonfiction). There is a silent reading bookclub that I might try. They could be cultivating different types of communities (ie book clubs geared towards romantasy, sci-fi, literature, etc.), but maybe that will come with time.

I really wanted to love the store. I'm long time book lover and one who worked in the book…read moreindustry for over 20 years. This store seemingly has it all; great selection of books, both knew and used, lots of old wood, and a staff that seems knowledgeable if a little bit unhappy. The last part can explain why the vibe is just off. It just doesn't feel comfortable nor welcoming, and if I had to put my finger on the cause, I would say it is likely due to management. I witnessed firsthand how the store manager ignored customers in line waiting to pay because he was on the phone. You never ignore the customers who are right in front of you. I wish the store all the best, but I'm gonna take my book shopping business elsewhere.