Great Book Stores of the Southwest

[azbackpackr]

I love musty old used book stores. I like to browse the tattered out-of-print books. I like stores that have a cat on the counter, a potbelly stove, and several quiet nooks with easy chairs and couches, and random stacks of magazines and books that the owner hasn't quite yet found room for.

Just such a store is Stuart Books in Springerville, which is owned and operated by Robyn Burnham, a retired high school English teacher who lives in an apartment in the rear which was converted from old warehouse space. Stuart Books is really big, and has several of those nice, cozy places to sit, put your feet up and read. There are three big rooms full of books. Robyn isn't the type of bookseller, though, who knows every book on her shelves. She has a busy life in addition to her store, and usually has an employee manning the counter.

Stuart Books has sort of a trade credit system, whereby if you bring books in they'll keep a card in a file with your name and the amount of trade credit they gave you. Then when you buy a used book from them, you tell the clerk to look at your card. They will take 25% off the price.

Of course, I do love Bookman's. Although they now have 5 locations that I know of (3 in Tucson, 1 in the Valley and 1 in Flag) I prefer the Flag location. Whenever we make a trip up there we take several boxes of books for trade credit. Bookman's trade credit is a good deal, assuming they actually want the books, magazines, CDs, LPs, video tapes or DVDS that you have! Sometimes they don't want them, so you have to be prepared for that. They pretty much know what they need and don't need at any given time, so they may sort through your boxes and take only a few of the books you brought in. But you can bring those same exact boxes back a few months later and they may well want to take some more. They really give a good deal on the credit, so that you can get more books without any outlay of cash from your wallet. They have different classifications of trade credit, which they will explain to you when you turn in your books to them. You need to be sure that the books are in good condition, though. Don't waste time bringing really battered paperbacks in, they won't take them.

I love how they always give you a playing card as a token. You bring the playing card back to them to get your credit slip. Then you take your book boxes back out to the car. Then you go back inside with your credit slip and start shopping. I have often had credit slips with over $50 of credit to spend. This is like free rein in a candy store to me! They serve espresso drinks in one corner, so I buy a latte and sit down to drink it and read after making my choices of books. I usually have spent some time scouring the Southwest history, true adventure and nature categories. I don't like to spend my trade credit on fiction. I get fiction from the public library, because I generally read fiction books only one time, whereas I will read a non-fiction book over and over again. Those are the ones that get a place on my shelves at home.

Another great bookstore is Xochi's in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. They have just about every rare book you can think of about the Old West. And great atmosphere. I seem to recall a cat as well. It's been several years since I went there.

Another one not to be missed, a true Arizona landmark, is Singing Winds Bookshop, which is on a ranch near Benson. I have only been there one time but it was truly an experience. It has been written up in Arizona Highways, etc.

Many great book stores have gone by the wayside in recent years, telling their loyal customers that they couldn't compete with Borders and Barnes and Noble. I have never understood this, as I can never find as many interesting titles in those two McBookstores. Plus, I almost never buy NEW books! Too expensive for my budget!

Anyone else have a favorite book store?

[big_load]

Mesa Books is pretty good. I've picked up a few out-of-print classics there.

[Sredfield]

Back of Beyond in Moab?

[desert spirit]

It's truly sad that so many funky old bookstores have disappeared. There used to be a place called "Wind, Water, Time" just outside Zion Nat'l Park ... maybe it's still there. I loved it just for the name, if nothing else. And "The King's English" in Salt Lake. What a wonderful store that was ... I think they may have had two cats.

On the main drag in Ajo, there's a little antique shop that's also a used bookstore (or at least it was there a couple of years ago). I went in one day (there isn't much else to do in Ajo) and was rummaging around, touching the old tools and smelling the old books. Since I'm a horse person and absolutely loved "The Black Stallion" books as a little girl, it occured to me to ask the elderly lady who owned the store if she had any of them.

She thought for a moment. "Come with me," she said with a grin.

She took me to the back room where there were books stacked floor to ceiling. One of the stacks was an entire set of the Black Stallion series, all 20-some of them. She said she could let me have them for a dollar apiece! Needless to say, I scarfed up the entire stack, then spent a couple of bleary-eyed nights reading every one of them again. I swear they were just as much fun this time around

While I do enjoy Barnes&Noble, it being one of my favorite places to hang out, you would never find an entire series of The Black Stallion for a buck apiece there

Speaking of Barnes&Noble, if you ever special order anything from them, don't give them your email address. Tell them you'll just keep checking back about the order. I made the mistake of giving them my email, and they spammed me unmercifully. I finally had to put them on ignore.

[azdesertfather]

Mesa Books is pretty good. I've picked up a few out-of-print classics there.

Yes, agree. Was surprised what I found in there the last time my wife and I went in, a couple of years ago

[joebartels]

There's several good ones near downtown but... no way! If I breathed a word I'd lose my quite time Going to these places is definitely cherished time I enjoy. I'm grateful to those that keep paying the bills as at one I've rarely seen anybody "buy" anything.

[big_load]

COAS Books in Las Cruces is great, and so is Bowlin's Book Center on the square in in Mesilla, NM.

[azbackpackr]

Yeah, I do wonder how some of these little places stay in business. Stuart Books being a case in point. The owner is retired, and perhaps doesn't need to actually live on the profits. At least, that is what I think. And she doesn't spend much money buying new inventory. However, for cultureless little Springerville it's truly a gem. And for the owner, I think, a labor of love.

I don't dislike the big, new places, but I just don't find them as charming or fun. The Barnes and Noble in Flag has long been the place I ask people to meet me when we are all converging from various points of the compass for a GC backpack. Can't miss that place, with its big tower! I like to browse the Southwest section, which is unique in that several Flagstaff authors, such as Michael Ghiglieri (Death in Grand Canyon, etc.) are well-represented there.

[Jeffshadows]

I've been amazed what I've turned up by putting it on the wanted list at Bookman's down here...

[azbackpackr]

Just, FYI, Stuart Books in Springerville is closing at the end of this month, alas! It wasn't the greatest bookstore, but it was pretty big, and it had a lot of very old books, and was fun to peruse, and now there will be no bookstore other than the LDS one. Reed's Motor Lodge gift shop and also the Casa Malpais Museum do have books for sale as well. We have a new library, which is nice, but they need to buy some books to fill it up!

[Sredfield]

How timely that this thread comes back up. September 26-October 3 is "Banned Book Week."

[azbackpackr]

Wish I'd known about this before. We have two book discussion groups here in town, and it would have been interesting to read a banned book. ( dead link removed )

Looking at the map on the website it seems that Nevada, NM and Utah have had no banned books. Nevada and NM surprise me less than Utah. The Southeast is pretty bad, but no surprise there. They still think the earth is 6,000 years old...

[rally_toad]

Raven's Books, just outside of Joshua Tree National Park! We've been going to that one every time we go to J-Tree for many, many years.

[cathymocha]

Thrift stores here in the Valley are impressive with the amount of books they offer (often a hardback will be $1.00 and a paperback $.50), also, every once in a while someone has donated a great book or two to the stores.

Bookman's is good, and there is one independent bookstore with a location in Phoenix and Tempe that sells used books at very good prices; as well as some old, very valuable books (one last year or so sold for about $32,000).

The first time I went into the Phoenix location I just stood there for about five minutes...awestruck. Have I bought much there? No, but it's a great place to visit and mosey around the selections.