Good used bookstore. Reasonably priced. Very friendly staff. Good selection and a searchable…read moreinventory

I visited Books & Company recently for the first time & completely fell in love with it…read more Apparently, this store used to be in Hamden, but the owner retired & sold the building & the company. This is the new location & new ownership. I had never been to the prior store. I spent a whopping two hours in this little shop. It is set up & well curated like a fancy bookstore, on par with my experience at shops like Athena Books in Greenwich, CT, and Martin House Books (formerly Savoy) in Westerly, RI. It's on the smaller/boutique-style size, so don't expect a massive range of genres, like one would find at the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. There's no coffee shop, but there is a Keurig & water available, and a handful of chairs to sit in. The used fiction books were in good or very good condition, easy to locate in their sections, and priced around $8 for hardcovers if the book retailed $24+. I got two recent NYTimes bestsellers that had been on my wishlist. The children's & young adults books were also well selected, and I bought a handful, ranging in $2-$3/each for paperback & hardcover. The price stickers easily peeled off all of my books without leaving any residue, which I very much appreciated. The gift selection was perfect for stocking stuffers or small mailed gifts, including for nerds, gamers, and musicians. There were bowls full of stickers, $0.25 each, and postcards, $1 each. Funny magnets, like Mincing Mockingbird, were a full $3 cheaper than at other gift shops (e.g. Bowerbird in Old Lyme, CT). There were also some handmade gifts from locals. There's a shelf near checkout with wrapped mystery books. I thought this was the common "buy a date with a random book" thing. It wasn't -- You picked one for free with the purchase of any book in the store. The wrapping is a hint related to the title or theme, and a lot of the wrapping was sustainable, e.g. reusing a helium balloon body or old calendars, etc. I was surprised that the mystery book wasn't tied to a minimum purchase amount (and I wonder if it will be sustainable for the shop's bottom line, I have to admit). I was further amazed that all of the wrapped books were advertised as being at least 3.5+ stars on GoodReads. My mystery book ended up being a pristine paperback copy of "The Time Traveler's Wife." There's a selection of greeting cards as well, but I found those to be the only spot the store was lacking; they were expensive at $6+, and I've seen a lot better selections, e.g. at The Bowerbird, with a larger range of independent artists, at more affordable price points $3-$5. I normally buy a lot of greeting cards when I come across ones that aren't the big box brands (Hallmark has a massive monopoly, omg), but I didn't buy any cards here. There was a free section near the front door, and there was a fill-a-bag sale rack near the front. I asked the cashier/owner a lot of questions, and she was very knowledgeable and helpful. I heard her speaking with others who came in & from my understanding, when you trade in books, you get half their selling value in store credit. All in all, this is one of my favorite used bookstores I've visited, and I will definitely travel to the area again before the holidays to visit it. I would highly recommend it! If you like to shop used/vintage/antiques, there's also a little store next door in the same plaza, but it doesn't have A/C. This book shop does have A/C. =)

Well played, Miller Memorial Public Library…read more We were looking for used bookstores & found a place in Hamden called "Second Hand Prose." Sounds cool, right? It's. in. the. library. Gah. Unfortunately, said store was closed. Instead, there was a small area near the checkout desk with an unexciting selection available for sale. So there is - or was - a used bookstore-- just not in the way we thought.

I had books to sell and it was very convenient to do business with her at her new location in…read moreCollinsville. She is very pleasant and paid more than I expected. A great experience!

Small location, almost like a large living ro to an old house stuffed with book. Call ahead for…read morehours since they aren't posted. A lot of older harder to find items. Not the place if you want lame romance paperbacks or 100's of Harry Potter novels. Looked like they had some earlier or 1st edition novels, and books for people who want to research or read more thoughtful subjects. Worth a look if you're in the area, but again, it's not strands in NYC with aisles and aisles of books. It's a small, intimate, dead quite place with the true book lover in mind.

It's a cool place, so stop in some time....You'll find cool books, as well as vintage shoestore…read moreaccouterments and vintage shoes to view. Super cool and nostalgic!

Eclectic retro-chic bookstore that is also a hangout for artists and locals. The proprietor is…read morefriendly, witty, and a nationally known sculptor who uses one of the upstairs rooms as his workshop. The building itself is huge and is worth a trip just to explore the remnants of the shoestore, radio station, and candlepin alley that it used to house. This is your bookstore if you want to buy 25-year-old satin wedding shoes, There are many Western and English saddles, 3 pianos , a harp, guitars, and other musical instruments you can play. Not to mention the candlepins.

I found this bookstore last year on a recommendation from a co-worker and have visited several…read moretimes to pick up books. What I love about them is that they are creating a beautiful new place for the community to gather where all are welcome and you can books that might not be as easily found elsewhere, such as books by authors of color, Indigenous authors, LGBTQ+ authors, bi/multilingual authors, local authors, and poets of all kinds. They have also been offering events with authors both virtually and limited in-person. Lauren and the rest of the staff are super friendly and helpful if you are looking for personal book recommendations. Right now due to COVID, they are not open for browsing but you can place an order online and they will follow up with you via email when your books are ready for pick up. Their instagram @peoplegetreadybooks provides the best recommendations for timely reads from new releases and in response to world events. I highly recommend checking them out and they ship nationwide.

I recently moved close to this this great independent bookstore. I immediately started purchasing…read morebooks through their nice web site, where you can special order easily. At first, Covid regulations kept me from going inside. This week, I was able to go inside. It's a real community offering! They have an air conditioned room available! It looks comfy. Now, I want to head over there and read for a bit, just to get out of the house!

Exploring the are we came across this huge store. It not only has books but clothing and a little…read morebit of history. I liked the selection and the service. Everyone watches and greets people around Pretty impressed

If you know me you know that I love bookstores. They are my way to relax when I am exploring a new…read morecity and need a break. I was in New Haven for the week and I came about this campus bookstore. It is about two floors of books and Yale gear. I was happy to walk around and see the local merchandise. There were several clothing items with "Beat Harvard" on it in front. I knew I was not in Boston anymore. I enjoyed seeing the "trending books on campus" section. They had several fun titles such as "How to Drink" and "How to Have a Life." These were made to be helpful to the younger college students to adapt to college life. I could have used these books when I went to college. I did not see them at any of the local bookstores near me. I wanted to buy them and start a collection at my house. This store will usually be filled with Yale students. Everyone was inside drinking coffee and studying or hanging out at the time. It looked like a fun place to be. I would love to come back here and read up on these books in the future.

My kids and I love this place. If you're looking for comic books from the major publishers--DC and…read moreMarvel--you'll find them here. The more you look, the more amazing it gets. It's very well organized, and you can find almost anything. If you're hunting for grails, you'll probably spot them on the wall.

Looking for a comic book store in Wallingford, came across this store. Owner was very nice to us…read morehelping us find the issues we wanted. Even let us browse around for as long as we wanted. Never in anyway did we feel uncomfortable. I'd describe the store as a place that's kinda small but has alot to offer. Will definitely be visited again in the future.

Gorgeous gallery full of lovingly-chosen pieces of art by lots of local artists. All so different…read more And fun fact: the owner lets you borrow the art and try it out in your home for a week or so before buying, which is pretty incredible. Really generous guy and great spot. 5 stars!!!

I did not buy anything but stopped in when I was in the area. They have some really lovely art and…read moreas I love to look at art, we did stop here and we also admired the outside of the store. Litchfield has some beautiful places to shop. It was my first time in the area and will absolutely be back. I would say if you are in the area and like art, stop in here.