Take a fall road trip to some great used book storesDate: 9/20/2022 WESTERN MASS. – A good used bookstore is a treasure and is worth the drive. At least I think so.
My buddy Steve Bissette and I have frequently gone on used book hunts. We’d get in the car, map out a trip and spend the day going through stores. Some were musty and messy, while some were neatly organized.
It really didn’t matter, as we were after something we had never seen before, but when spotted, we knew we could not live without it.
The Holy Grail of used books stores is long gone, but if you are of a certain age, you will remember the used book annex at Johnson’s Book Store in downtown Springfield. It was a remarkable place with a huge selection of books neatly organized by subject.
I would always go to the sorting table where the new arrivals rested that had been priced but not yet shelved. It was there you had first choice before some other book hound could find that desired book on the appropriate shelf.
Johnson’s may be no more, but there are plenty of great stores that are still with us. Considering that fall is on the way, it’s a good time to consider a road trip. Perhaps a book run coupled with a leaf-peeping adventure and a good lunch someplace should be in your future.
The Big Bear Used Bookstore and Cafe
Let’s start in Easthampton. It has a fine new bookstore, Book Moon, and Comix ’n More, which has a comprehensive collection of graphic novels. Both are well worth a visit and are close to one another on Cottage Street. It also has a used bookstore at 122 Pleasant St. in the Keystone Building, one of the town’s converted mill buildings.
Co-owner Chandler Franz of The Big Bear Used Books and Café (http://bigbearbooksandcafe.com/) explained the bookstore also has a coffee shop with both breakfast and lunch offerings.
The emphasis on the book inventory is on fiction, although there are non-fiction volumes there as well. The most popular collection is children’s books.
Most of the stock come from donations, and Franz said besides the books in the store, he has an additional inventory of 55,000 books in a nearby warehouse.
He said the shop is dedicated to keeping books out of landfills. He said that books that don’t sell go to Discover Books and if they don’t reach new readers, the books are then recycled.
The store is open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Raven Used Books
Using Route 10 to drive from Easthampton, Raven Used Books in downtown Northampton is at 4 Old South St. The semi-basement shop feels like a well-organized labyrinth with a number of rooms filled with bookcases containing a dizzying variety of books.
A friendly employee noted there are some topics not carried by the shop: sports, current affairs and romance, but from my survey the collection is quite complete even without these genres.
Poetry is a specialty, I was told. If you can’t find a section, please be sure to ask, as the staff was quite helpful to me during my visit. There are numerous displays around the shop with additional books.
Greeting cards are also available, with other items such as mugs.
Current hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m,. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
For more information go to https://www.ravenusedbooks.com.
Red Brick Books
The final stop in this tour would be Red Brick Books in Springfield at 797 Page Blvd.
This unassuming brick building houses a wildly eclectic collection of books, magazines and other ephemera, as well as VHS tapes and DVDs.
I’ve found quite a lot of treasures at this shop over the years. It is organized by topic and if you’re looking for used paperbacks, particularly romance novels, this is the place.
On my recent trip I picked up a book by Bill Bryson I hadn’t yet read plus a DVD of the Gary Cooper version of “Beau Geste” and another DVD of the James Cagney film “Yankee Doodle Dandy.”
I scored!
This is the type of shop that houses so many different items that in the past I’ve easily spent an hour there poking around.
Owner Marcia Fuller has been in business for years and the shop is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
So, this weekend, consider going on a magical mystery tour. You may know where you’re going, but you won’t know what you’ll find.
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