Grey Matter is heaven in a used bookstore! It has such a large and extensive collection of titles…read morein every category. I am particularly impressed by its offerings in art, theology, philosophy, literary theory, and literature. (Where else could I find, to my delight, a copy of Julia Kristeva's Desire in Language, which was a work cited and consulted in my master's thesis so many years ago? It was like bumping into an old friend.) Some first editions reside inside glass display cases. Academic titles abound. The store is impeccably organized and there are no boxes of incoming titles obstructing one's view or path. They have a pile of free books near the door and a rack of titles for $1.00 each both outside as well as inside. Grey Matter is a must when book shopping in New Haven. (And I think I'll be back to pick up that title by Kristeva!)

Our bellies were full and we needed to burn off some calories while in downtown New Haven, so my…read morefriends took my wife and I over to Grey Matter Books since we are big readers and don't care to just walk into the Barnes and Noble down the street. From the moment you walk into this place you are slapped in the face with the lovely smell of used books. This shop is filled from front to back with thousands of used books all separated in little sections. This place definitely doesn't have a ton of newer titles, but is definitely the type of place you can spend an hour or so in just digging through everything and finding some weird and quirky reads. Overall, Grey Matter Books is a very solid used book store with a wide array of different types of books. Although I didn't leave with anything (I live in LA so I can only travel with so many new books, which is a shame) this place is definitely somewhere I'll continue to stop at when visiting Connecticut in the future.

I visited here again recently and this place is still just as magical! It's tucked away in the…read morewoods and is chock full of immeasurable charm. The owner is English and her business is an extension of her lovely personality. I have childhood memories of this place that could have come straight out of a magical fairytale book. There are many categories here; a large history section, gardening, art, film, geography, mythology, crafts, so many categories and subcategories, and because they are curated by someone passionate with books there are no filler books here. The prices are unbelievably reasonable, this is a curated collection by a woman passionate about books, making a living off of it feels secondary here to the passion of finding the books. You will not ever find another place like this. In a small rural town no less! This is a destination place if you are visiting the area. Such a gem!

Brief drive up winding hillside roads gets you to this barn/oasis of books, reasonably priced and…read morefun to browse across 2 floors and an adjacent annex. Will be back. Be sure to say hello to the tuxedo cat haunting the stacks.

This is a great used bookstore. It is almost a literal hole in the wall, located in an old factory…read moredown a long hallway. The books are used but all in fantastic condition. The aisles are narrow so only one person can occupy the space at a time, but it just means you have to look at other books waiting your turn. The prices have a range depending on type, age, and genre but are pretty easy to figure out. Those that do have special pricing are also clearly marked. The shop doesn't have set hours so definitely follow on social media. Not only is it fun to see all the new books that come in, they're very clear about when a sale will come along.

Great used book shop. They're done an expansion for add to their overall are which allowed aisles…read moreto be expanded for easier movement. All books are in great condition and very from an average of $2-$10 with children's books at .50, occasional $1 finds and signed copies or harder to find/newer books being over that $10 average, which is perfectly fine. Still a great overall discount usually and the experience is always great. Always busy!

I loved my time at the book barn! There's an uncountable amount of books all at reasonable prices,…read morestarting from just $1, and the staff were so nice. I ended up with $50 of books (11) and barely scratched the surface of what they had. I will return when in need of more books!

As Connecticut's equivalent to Strand Book Store in Manhattan, Book Barn is a bibliophile's…read moreseemingly bottomless treasure chest! Indeed, dispersed at three distinct locations, BB provides three seemingly bottomless treasure chests. Be prepared to spend several hours browsing their shelves and, if you're game, to buy several armfuls of books. Be prepared in other ways. At the main location, the Barn and its many satellite sheds have some aisles that are damp, dusty, and musty, so if you have respiratory allergies you are advised to wear a face mask there. And while you're at it, dig into your spelunker gear and wear a headlamp, because some of the corners and bottom shelves are so dark you must strain your eyes to read the book spines. Nevertheless, such perils are worth enduring when you arrive home with your trove of cherished books. 5-stars for buying books at Book Barn. An advisory about selling books to BB. You might return home with half of your books unsold. Lugging heavy books from home to car trunk to BB and again to car trunk and again to home rarely can be worth your time and effort. Best to leave at home your paperbacks, and to bring only your hardbacks, as you are more likely sell most of your hardbound books. And best to arrive in the morning soon after they begin buying books, else you must wait in line behind other people selling their books. But, and this is the big BUT. At the conclusion of their hasty appraisal of your entire load of books while you watched helplessly as they rummaged through your trove, be prepared for disappointment, if not humiliation. What they offer to pay you is dismal. They quote you one lump sum for your load of books, never for individual books, but the outcome is as if for, say, your scholarly hardbound book published by an academic press, a first printing in mint condition with its dust jacket intact, they will offer to pay you one-tenth of the price at which they will eventually sell it. To its credit, BB is hardly different from other used book stores in its book buying protocol. Unless you are impoverished, you're better off saving yourself the time and trouble, and instead to donate your books to your local public library. Yet, even your public library will be as selective and unwelcoming, and most of the books they do accept from you will be sold at their annual book sale. The sad fact is that 99-percent of all used books, when measured solely in monetary terms of resale value, are totally worthless. 3-stars for selling your books at Book Barn. So 4-stars total.

The Salmon Brook Shops is a store of a large collection of antiques in Granby. I stopped by on…read moreTuesday afternoon. This is a must visit for anyone who appreciates antiques. There's so much of everything in here. There's furniture, books, toys, fine china, jewelry, paintings, tools, etc... I was a bit nervous walking around, you have to be really careful not to knock anything over, as I'm sure it would cause a domino effect. There's so many delicate little things piled on each other, the tiniest swing of an arm could cost you a big embarrassment of a situation. My favorite are the paintings. The fine China they have is also beautiful and in excellent shape. There was an all wood rocking horse, that you could tell was well loved, but still has more love to give. There was only one other lady there browsing while I was there. It can't be good having too many people at the same time in such a tight space, with fragile items everywhere. If you love beautiful, well kept, antique items, I encourage you to visit The Salmon Brook Shops.

If you like digging for vintage postcards, they have lots! They even thought to leave a magnifying…read moreglass nearby...

It's a wonderful place for pretty much everything here, not just books!…read more There's a nice lady who runs the bookstore in weekends. They sell everything from books to board games to puzzles and many more. There's a whole section dedicated to anime and graphic novels as well. They also carry movies on DVD. They also have shelves exclusive to paperbacks as well. They also have books on nonfiction, Sci-Fi, Mysteries and Thrillers. They sell books at thrifty prices and they give you store credit if you're loyal to this small business shop. We support bookstores and small businesses!

This place was SO COOL! The books occupied one half of the store and then the games were the other…read moreright-most half. The store is run by a husband and wife duo who were both there when I stopped by. She handles the non fiction books and he handles the fiction. All books are 3$ and they accept donations (if you have any books bopping around your home that you mine want to part with)! If you're looking for something particular, you can provide them the details and then they mentioned they have 10,000 more books at their home. I can't wait to come back! Great value and easy to spend an hour + going through all the titles. Thank you!

Closed for the season but can't wait to go when they reopen. This place is epic vinyl, beer,…read morebooks, and live music !!! I'm IN

This place is so groovy and welcoming! Martha the owner is quite literally an earth angel! She…read moremakes a mean Bloody Mary and has such a great energy to her, and has cultivated that into her business! Great selection of vinyl, drinks and some snackies! There was live music playing and all of the musicians were really good. It was nice to see the little community come together! 10/10!!