I enjoy coming to this location of The Open Book for a solo day out, and while there's isn't much staff interaction unless initiated yourself, there are fun events and book clubs that are hosted monthly :) I especially love to come when they do mini art markets with 3-4 vendors, and I've gotten some cute things while interacting with fellow artists. Also, I appreciate that they're very LGBTQ+ friendly, and I hope that I can make it to their future community mixers. Aside from that, their books are priced affordably, and I like that they recently integrated a crafting supplies section. Feel free to give this place a chance if you're looking to engage with the community or find your next read! read more

Bought a book here today and it was $2 cheaper than Amazon!! What a cool store to buy books, join their book club, hang out, and have a place that's welcoming for you to be apart of a community. The vibe is cool and this place is a gem - there arent many places like this anymore where you can just hang out. Support local and read! read more

The Open Book - Bookstores Near Me - Simi Valley, California

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I really enjoy The Open Book chain. Each store has its own flavor and personality. I don't come to this location often because it's a bit far from where I live but it's always a treat when I can visit. Currently this location and the Canyon Country one are doing buy backs. I had a small stack of books to resell and thankfully they took all of them. Years ago, you had to make an appointment to sell but now you can just come in during business hours. I really like the layout of this location. It's spacious and conducive to browsing and literally getting lost in a book. The different sections have nicely themed signs. If this location wasn't so far, I'd come here regularly for their book clubs. Maybe you can go and I can live vicariously thru you. read more

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They have a lot of books for a great value especially a variety on children books. My kids love books so I try to buy at places with good offers like this place! Books start from $1-15 is the highest price I seen. It's also very nice and bigger than most I seen..I recommend this place they also have different discounted days. Customer service is great they all greet you with a smile read more

The Open Book - Bookstores Near Me - Simi Valley, California

It's a nice store whoever they did not have what I was looking for I would go back to look for something that may come up I am looking for

Such a great spot to find books especially if you're looking for alternatives covers to copies you already own! Friendly staff! Low low lowww prices! Great vibes and music!!! read more

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It is NOT inclusive and welcoming of all people! Without any reason, they kicked out a nice little group of seniors who were meeting for a writing group, and who were just enjoying themselves. Shame on The Open Book! read more

Every time I go here the staff is extremely rude and judgmental. I don't even feel acknowledged walking in like it's more of a chore that I am there. Last night I went in and it was late like 30 minutes before close just to see if they had any new dune books and as I walked in the staff started playing extremely scary and unsettling music laughing to themselves trying to get us out of there. I felt so extremely unwelcome. The customer service was so poor I will most likely be going to the location in the Thousand Oaks mall. They have better staff who are more kind and welcoming i highly recommend going there instead of this location because it is absolutely terrible. read more

I don't know in what world someone would give a 1 star to a business that supports basic human rights, but kudos to you The Open book for providing a safe space & being all inclusive. Will forever keep coming back to your book store & telling everyone I know to keep coming back as we need more places to stand up for what matters with empathy & compassion. Your book store has always been a wonderful environment & may it continue to be that way and keep out people who have no business being there in the first place! Thank you for your signage out front. It is greatly appreciated. read more

Huge fan of this business, been going to the Open Book locations since I was in college! Staff are super friendly and knowledgeable, and they're keeping the tradition of the small business bookstore alive. Large selection ranging from rare collectors' editions to super cheap paperbacks (got a lot of those when I was a student). Absolutely a must visit, cannot recommend them enough! read more

Great place to get classics for a couple bucks instead of the insane prices at Barnes and Noble. There's comfy seats to read and fun, community-oriented stuff scattered around the store. All the staff make great suggestions as well, super friendly people. What's not to like? read more

We love coming here! Especially for the kids books. It's so nice having a local bookstore that curates such a great selection, has kind employees, and offers wonderful selections. This sort of store is rare these days! read more

Was greeted by the comforting smell of books. So many options to choose from, at all price points. They also have small toys available for purchase, stickers, bookmarks, etc. I ended up purchasing 10ish $1 books, all in really great condition. Staff is friendly and helpful if you need help finding a book that you would be interested in reading. Plan to come back in the future. read more

Very cute little place but every time I've gone in the girls they have working here are all so rude. Such a bummer! Every time I think it was maybe just an off day with the staff and I try to give it another chance, it's more of the same. Super rude. I'm seeing other people who have left reviews saying the staff is friendly. I'm curious maybe what days they went maybe I can try a different day? I'd hate to think it was an issue of prejudice, I'm hoping it's just the staff that's there on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. read more

This is a clean, and well-organized bookstore with great prices, and everything is organized by section. Even the children's books has sections like "super-heroes and princesses" so you (or your kid) can more easily navigate what is an otherwise very large children's section. I also appreciate the chairs in the middle of the store for taking a break or perusing your picks. read more

I was excited about going, It was my first time, the service though I received was terrible. The lady at the front desk was cold and rude, didn't even bother to look up from her computer, not asking if I needed help or anything, I was looking for a specific book and with her attitude I didn't want to ask. The store is amazing but the people who work there are really rude. Also some of the book qualities were bad, some were ripped and dirty. read more

I would give this 1 star if it weren't for my love of books. I'm all for supporting book stores. I've been here so many times and only had one young lady who was kind and great with customer service and that happened only once. Wished I knew her name. But I never saw her again. My last visit was a few days ago. It finally prompted me to write this review. If I'm not mistaken, based on my receipt, the cashier named EMMA looked and acted like she didn't want to be there or bothered. I didn't ask for help nor questions, just wanted to buy my book. EMMA got up from her seat with an attitude on her face. No hello, no greeting. No thank yous. Is it that hard to be kind? read more

I've been going here for well over a year now but the last few months i've had to stop going due to the extremely rude staff. I wasn't going to post a yelp review but after seeing that a few people have felt the same way, I thought it was important to bring this up. The girl with the dark brown hair who seems to be the manager loves to mean mug my friend and I the entire time we are there. She also refuses to speak during the entire transaction process which is fine, but slamming books all over the counter angrily is a bit jarring! It is no longer a fun and happy place to go, which is truly unfortunate. read more

my favorite book store in the world! great selection, great prices, great quality books. everyone i've met has been very kind!

We love this bookstore for the kids' books. Great prices and sales. I always loved going to bookstores as a child and am so glad I can still bring my child to one nowadays when there are so few brick and mortars. Please stay open and stay affordable! read more

A charming little store with a great selection of used books. I've found some gems here for cheap, and I always enjoy perusing what's on offer. The staff are friendly and it's nice to have a place where I can trade in old books as well. read more

Today was my first time in - stopped by while my daughter was getting her nails done and honestly always thought it was just like Barnes and Noble, so I never stopped by. I never knew this place was a rad second hand book store! Other reviews about rude staff - can't comment much on those because the gal behind the counter was very warm and welcoming. I will say her job looks very busy as she's obviously intaking and processing new books as well as checking out customers and answering questions. I feel like people are a little to quick to judge on timeliness. All in all I'll be back often read more

Excellent selection of books. The staff is very knowledgable, the girl with dark hair and glasses had great romance novel recommendation. I will be back. read more

They have like every version of the hobbit and I love the hobbit it's so cute in there they even have a little section for "blind reading dates" where you don't see what book you are selecting you just pull it based on the general idea listed on the front ITS SO CUTE I love it in there 10/10 Service is really nice all high school students usually, they have every section ever including comics and manga Prices are very cheap for good quality used books! read more

The lady at the counter is EXTREMELY rude! She doesn't pick up her head when you say hi, yelled at me they were closing soon and when checking out was huffing and puffing multiple times. Not sure why I went back but the fact that she works here blows my mind! I will be sharing with all my Simi neighbors to avoid this store! Rude people should not have a job! read more

Caroline was very helpful in trying to help me find a book that I was looking for, she went out of her way.

I'm wandering around and looking I went to the DVD section and was trying to see what was there. Unfortunately someone, I'm figuring an employee, was permanently parked right in the middle of the whole section. I tried to see what I could and decided to look elsewhere and come back. And the person was still sitting permanently blocking the whole area. I'm sorry but if a customer is trying to look for something and you're blocking the area. I'd expect the employee to say something like "are you looking for something specific?" Or let me get out of your way then they could come back after the customer had moved on. I'm not sure I'll come back to this store again. I'll stick with the Canyon Country location. read more

We love the open book chain. We've gone to every one in southern California just to buy some bargain books and experience each environment's unique vibe. The value for the books are great too! We love to save and read the annotations left by past owners. Unfortunately though, we decided to give this location a one star. The service is terrible. We have gone 12 times now and it feels like we have met every worker there and they have all been terribly rude. This last experience has been, by far, our worst experience. We asked for some assistance locating a book on June 30 from 10am-11am. There were two girls working , just chatting about but the one behind the counter with darker hair and jeans was awful. After naming the book, she proceeded to say - verbatim - "yeah, well my inventory's down so I can't do anything about it. What genre would you say it's under?" My husband calmly says "science" and she rudely responds "then I'd check there" and turns around to talk to her coworker again. Being 38 weeks pregnant, I was sitting down with our 1year old son and noticed her attitude when returning to chat with her coworker. It's really disappointing since we love this library chain but I think this is our last time supporting this location. We just don't want to be in an environment where people can be so inconsiderate and rude. I understand if you're having. A bad day which is why we decided to keep trying this location but so far every experience has been horrid. read more

Very rude staff, I went in there today and asked for help barely got help, as well as asked them about a magazine and brought it to them to ask a question and the brunette girl, was very rude and said that next time to ask them to bring it. It was a simple question and it's not like I was going to steal the magazine obviously. Anyway I didn't end up buying the magazine and when we proceeded to check out and purchase our books she had a bitchy face the whole time. Giving my BF dirty looks, as well as didn't even offer a bag for all the books we bought. That brunette lady needs an attitude adjustment or just quit in customer service because I felt negative vibes the whole time I was there. I miss the times when the 5$ dollar book store used to be. With friendly staff members. Now these girls are like teenagers, which I of course have no respect for, if you can't even be nice to your customers. Also prices have gone up. So I don't think it's worth going anymore. read more

The most amazing staff. This bookstore is a hidden gem. They are always super helpful and on the lookout for books that I'm looking for.

this is a great book store! A wide variety of books. Very helpful, friendly staff. They have had every book that I needed for my book club and for half the price of Amazon or Target. I highly recommend people check it out! read more

I've been coming here for over a year now and it's been so nice seeing the store grow! From my experience everyone has always been so helpful and respectful. They also have been hosting little art markets that I have yet to go to but it's really nice for the community! I love the vibe and highly recommend their classics section! read more

I was SO looking forward to checking out this store and while upon walking in it seemed like a place to peruse and relax it did not have that vibe. Two girls were working. The dark haired one wouldn't even look up as I waited to ask a question and really seemed inconvenienced by any question I asked. My two kids who normally aren't afraid to ask questions, did not want to ask her questions about books. We had also brought a few books to sell/donate and were told that they weren't accepting ANY childrens books. I wanted clarification on what children's books meant, I mean huge difference between picture/baby books and Elementary/Junior High Chapter books and graphic novels. Apparently NONE of that was accepted. That should be on the website, which is interesting because there is a children's young adult section that had many of the books we had to sell. So many handwritten signs about what you can and cannot do etc it just seemed like they don't really want anyone in that store. Nothing but Taylor Swift was played which is fine (especially since my daughter is a huge Swifty) but when my daughter asked about the Taylor Swift bio on display were were rudely told it wasn't for sale. Then don't display it in the middle of Swifty mania. I won't be going back. Would rather go to my library, donate books and give them my money or Barnes and Noble. My son who is 10 as we were leaving without me mentioning anything to him, said "I wouldn't go back there, I don't think the customer service was nice." I mean wow. read more