My wife and I are driving around Connecticut (we grew up here, but many many years ago) and are…read morehitting up some local book shops while in the area. We were making our way through West Hartford when we stumbled across the River Bend Bookshop and just had to check it out. This shop is super cool looking because it's basically just inside of a small apartment. The shop itself has a cozy New England vibe and has a small to large section of pretty much every genre. Sadly, the horror section seems to be one of the smaller sections but hey, I don't live here, so clearly they know what their customers are looking for. Near the cash registers they have a nice selection of merch for the shop (sadly, no River Bend Bookshop Magnet) and a cool section dedicated to local authors and stuff like that. Overall, River Bend Bookshop is a super nice little book shop for the area and definitely a place worth checking out. Sadly, I didn't make a purchase on this trip because I can only fly back to LA with so much stuff, but I very much enjoyed checking this place out.

We did a book fair with them last year. The book choices were lovely. I worked with Meghan. She…read morewas not very responsive. She would tell us she would be somewhere and not show up and not communicate she would be late. Communication was a huge issue. I wish so much that we had a better experience because our school really enjoyed working with a local company. We were looking forward to planning two book fairs as well as a Parent book fair this year with Riverbend, prior to the issues. I ended up having to reconcile our account, since she did not have time. The system they use is not user friendly. Meghan did apologize in the end. I would be very cautious working with this company as a book fair.

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 had been to their "main" (original?) store in Massachusetts, and was so excited to see them as I…read moredrove through New Haven. In fact, even though they were not participating in the Dessert Crawl I was there for, they were my first stop. I made such a smart decision. This store has the same type of fantastic inventory you find in Massachusetts, just fewer ducks guarding it. Every space that can reasonably hold a book shelf has one. It's clean, well faced, and has the occasional folding chair to sit and take it all in. The clerk let people browse quietly, which was more appreciated. The prices were written on the inside cover, so it was nice and clear. I'm excited to go back for the next Crawl and include this store as a stop!

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!

Been going here for years with my family. I love walking around the garden, saying hello to cheese…read morepuff (pictured here), and picking up a few cheap books! Staff is really friendly and helps out when you're selling books.

It's an interesting place with gardens and random junk everywhere. Lots of uninteresting books to…read morechoose from. If you're on the hunt for a book and have time to slowly poke through the shelves, this place might be for you. The goats were friendly and cute. Wasn't my cup of tea.

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!!

A very small bookshop in rural Woodbury, CT. Couldn't pass by w/o taking a look, but the Sci-Fi…read moreFantasy section was so minuscule, it only took a minute to see that there was nothing there that interested me. Honestly, I've found selections of used books in church basements. That's my report, "Hidden Gem" it is not.

I had a fantastic experience when I visited this store on a Saturday. The two people working there…read morewere incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful. The prices are very reasonable, and the selection is surprisingly extensive for a small secondhand bookstore. I highly recommend stopping by the Book Cellar in Woodbury, CT--you never know what treasures you'll find!