John K. King Books North

With the end of the semester nearing, and my schedule getting busier, I didn't have time to drop by a book store this week. So, I am going to take this opportunity to tell about my favorite used book store of all time.

It was a sunny August day- my birthday to be exact. My parents, sister, and I piled into the car. I had no idea what our destination was. It seemed that they had planned a fun, surprise excursion. The trip was not far and we ended up on Woodward Avenue. The building before me had a towering sign that read BOOKS. My jaw dropped in awe.

Welcome to John K. King Bookstore, North.

John King is the biggest used bookstore in Michigan. It has over one million used and rare books in stock and three locations. The main location is in Detroit, in an old glove factory. The second is nearby and hold rare and art books, rather than general novels. The third location is in Ferndale, which is the store that my family and I visited.

Upon entering, I knew that I was in for a treat. I took a deep breath of the sweet smell of old books and grinned. I excitedly rushed forward to explore every inch of the store. The store had a multitude of shelves, each of which were stacked and filled to the ceiling with books. There were many genres and books of all kinds. There was a section of rare and old books, many of which were locked safely in a glass case. There was also a notably large selection of Holiday books, something that I usually do not see at book stores.

I instantly found the children's and young adult sections and immediately had a stack of books that I wanted to add to my own collection. From a friendly bookstore cat to a piled high bargain table, the store had everything I could ever ask for. The prices were low and reasonable, also. I walked away with five new books and the rest of my family made purchases as well.

The Nancy Drew collection as John King was astounding. From my memory, there was an entire book shelf full of the old yellow spined classics. There had to be at least forty of them. Many of the books were the old, 30s and 40s editions. I picked out a copy of one of my favorite Nancy Drew books, The Mystery at Lilac Inn. I was excited to add this book to my collection because it was one of the first old editions I had ever bought. I could have bought many other titles, since the store had pretty much every title of the original series, but I had to limit myself. All of the Nancy Drews were in good condition, though they also looked very loved by their previous owners. I knew I would love my own new book.

John King was a fantastic birthday experience for me. I could have spent hours and hours browsing the stacks. I cannot wait to go back and see what I find next.

The Paperback Exchange

The Paperback Exchange is a tiny store tucked away from the downtown area of Romeo. It is not on the main street, but on a back street by the police station. I trekked to the store twice. The first time, I arrived at the store just after it had closed for the day. It was quite inconvenient, I thought, that the store closed at three in the afternoon. But, I returned, braving the chilly weather and the long drive with my sister.

The store was not much bigger than the living room of my own house. It was super tiny. Opening the door, I was greeted with a burst of warmth and that familiar musty smell of old books. My eyes beheld books, books, and more books. Stacked on shelves, piled on the floor, strewn across table tops, there were books of all kinds everywhere. I found it difficult to browse, though. I was forced to move stacks around, sometimes only able to just peek at the titled spines. That experience wasn't particularly enjoyable, I felt like I missed out on seeing a lot of books. But, nevertheless, I was impressed with what I did find.

I found that a lot of the books were older. I don't mean from one hundred years ago, but classics from my childhood. There was an entire stack of Ann M. Martin's The Baby-Sitter's Club series, many of them wore their original covers. I also spotted some of the American Girl series as well as the Animal Ark series- both of which I loved when I was younger. Seeing those series was like taking a step back into the past, giving me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

The rest of the stock at The Paperback Exchange was the usual romance and mystery genres, along with one of  the biggest science fiction sections I have seen yet. The store also has magazines, religious books (both fiction and non), and the usual strew of adult fiction. There were two large stacks of just author Jodi Picoult's novels. And I even spotted a few old copies Agatha Christie mystery novels.

The store had a bit of a Red Wing's theme to it, including posters on the wall where bookshelves were absent. The theme brought out a bit of personality among the shelves and shelves of books. Prices were fairly decent. Mostly books were under ten dollars, with the exclusion of special editions or newer novels.

The Nancy Drew books were a challenge to find. After having to sit down on the floor to look on a low shelf, I first found about few of the Nancy Drew Files. The Files series is from the '90s and is just another spin-off from the original series. It carried on through the early 2000s, with refurbished covers and was fairly successful. On the other end of the children's section, far  from the Nancy Drew Files, there were more Nancy Drew books. I found a few of the yellow spined books behind a huge stack of old Hardy Boys books. I had to move the stack to get a better look at them. I ended up with  an old copy of The Sign of the Twisted Candles, which was in pretty good shape. The others were both copies of The Secret of Shadow Ranch, a title that seems to pop up in every bookstore I have visited.

 The Paperback Exchange is a little bit of a drive for me, so I can't say if I will return or not. But, after I got over having to sift through messy piles, the store left me with a fairly good impression.

Squirreled Away Books

Armada, Michigan. This small, farm town, is often overlooked on the map. Out-of-towners visit for the summer's popular Armada Fair and again in the fall for the nearby apple orchards and haunted houses. In other seasons, Armada can be unknown to the outside world. Within this town, there lies a duty gem. One that is just waiting to be unearthed and cleaned off.

This gem that I speak of is the local bookstore, Squirreled Away Books. Of course, the natives of Armada visit Squirreled Away often. A fact that a friend of mine, who grew up in Armada, told me. But, for those who live in the suburbs and city, there is something that they are missing out on- a fantastic store.

The store carries both used and new books, as it is the only bookstore in the city. The new books are recently published, current best-sellers, available to purchase for twenty percent off of the list price. The used books are all in fairly good condition and most of the titles were familiar to me. Prices depend on condition and edition, as well as if it is paperback or hardback. Most of the books are under five dollars.

The genres featured at Squirreled Away include children's fiction, general fiction, mystery, romance, self-help, travel, spiritual/religion, philosophy, fantasy, "fang-tasy" (vampire novels), classics, and child development. A wide variety of books were available under each genre. It was clever of the owners to play off the popularity of vampire novels by creating the “fang-tasy” section. This shows that the store is in-tune with popular novels and trends. Squirreled Away really knows how to engage customers.

 

Squirreled Away is an adorable store. Sitting high on the shelves were statues, stuffed animals, and photos of squirrels of all kinds all around the store. It really played up the cute "squirreled away" theme. The store was on the smaller side, but the shelves were stacked high. The atmosphere was comfortable and small-town friendly. The owner, who was working at the time I was there, showed genuine excitement when I made a purchase. 

The Nancy Drew books proved hard to find during my visit, but after searching the stacks high and low, I eventually found them in with the children's chapter books. At least twenty of the Nancy Drew on Campus books were in stock at the store. This series features Nancy during her college years. This set of books was not as popular as the original books because the story line strayed far from the familiar characters. Some critics said that it became more of a soap opera series than a mystery series. I, personally, did not care for this series, which only lasted for twenty-five books. The other Nancy Drew books at the store belonged to the Nancy Drew Notebook series, which features Nancy and her friends in their elementary school years, solving equally elementary mysteries. (Despite that, I really like that series.)

My experience at Squirreled Away was great. I'd be quick to award this used bookstore as my favorite, so far.

Friends of the Public Library- Sterling Heights

My intentions for this blog post were to review a used book store called K’s Book Exchange. But upon reaching my destination, I found that K’s had closed recently. So, I decided to visit another public library and check out its Friends Bookstore, as I did last week with Rochester Hills and Shelby Township. This time, I visited the Sterling Heights Public Library’s Friends Bookstore.

I have been to the Sterling Heights library many times. The library itself is huge. The Friends bookstore is large, as well. In fact, it is much bigger than both the Rochester Hills and Shelby Township stores.

    

To start, the store has a cart out front with sale books. Most of them were Christmas books, on sale for twenty-five cents. Inside, there were also tables full of sale books. These books were considered “red dot” items. Anything with a red dot is fifty percent off the sale price. Shoppers can also fill a plastic grocery bag with as many books as the bag can hold and only pay three dollars. The same goes for paper grocery bags, only costing five dollars. This is a great bargain- someone could easily fill a bag with ten or so books.

The rest of the Friends store was reasonably priced as well. All books, magazines, DVDs, VHSs, and audio books were under two dollars. Stock wise, there was an impressive collection of classics, many of which sported evidently older binding. Other types of books featured were romance, humor, large print, and a rather large section of cookbooks. There were a few audio books- both on cassette and CD- which was impressive. I rarely see audio books at other used book stores. Also, there was an extensive stock of Disney movies on VHS.

A big section of the store was dedicated to young adult books. Half of them were books withdrawn from the library’s collection- older books that don’t get checked out anymore. The other half was donations- newer books with more titles that I recognized. The young adult section was spread throughout the store, so I had to hunt a little to browse through everything. But, I was impressed by what I ended up finding.

Merchandise at the store seems to move in and out quickly. While I was there, there were about ten other people in the store at the same time. The Friends volunteers run an efficient store.

I was a bit disappointed to only find a single copy of Nancy Drew at Friends. This copy, though, was one of my favorites. The Secret of Shadow Ranch was an older copy, in good condition. It sat amongst other mystery series of that era- including The Hardy Boys and The Dana Girls Mysteries (also written by Carolyn Keene).

In all, the Friends of the Sterling Heights Library had a good store. I would recommend this store to anyone looking for new titles as well as looking to help out the local library. I know that I will return in the future.

Friends of the Public Library- Shelby Township and Rochester Hills

For many years, public libraries have developed a program called “Friends of the Library”. This is a non-profit program that takes donations given to the library and sells them in the library’s “Friends Bookstore”.  Used books, movies, and music can all be donated. Those of which cannot be used for the library’s collection then ends up in the store. Withdrawn books from the library's collection are sold as well. The money made from the sales from the bookstore goes to improving the library and buying new items.

Many libraries in the area have these bookstores. Recently, I visited the Rochester Hills Library store as well as the Shelby Township library.

I like to visit the Friends bookstores because, no matter the price, the money I spend goes to helping the library. As someone who visits libraries a lot, I like to know that I can be a part of something that helps make the libraries a better place.

The fact that the stores are community based and stocked by donations, the prices of the books and other medias remain low- mostly under two dollars for hardcovers and under one dollar for paperbacks. The variety of books is always good, even if there are not a large quantity of books.

Rochester Hills Friends Bookstore:

The Rochester Hills Public Library is huge, but the Friends Bookstore is not. In fact, it is two small carts parked in the library’s lobby. When I visited, I found out that a few weeks before the library had held their annual Fall book sale. Because of that, the stock at the Friends store was little to nothing. In all, my visit to Rochester was not exciting, but I will keep my eyes open for their next seasonal sale and hope for better luck then.

Shelby Township Friends Bookstore:

The Shelby Township Public Library’s Friends Bookstore is bigger than Rochester’s. At this library, the Friends store has its own room within the library. It is only a few shelves, but the stock is fairly decent.

The store has a few tables outside the actual store that holds sale items. These items are usually CDs and books bundled together by series or author. The store also has a Free Item table, where books are placed if they don’t sell after being on the shelves for a while.

Mystery and Romance genres are popular at the store, but there is also a large section of classic books as well. The children’s section was also large, mainly supplied with picture books.

Among the children’s section was the Nancy Drew series. There were 5 books total, more than I expected to find at the Friends store. Three of them were Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys Mysteries. I have been pleased to find the dual mysteries again at a used store. These along with the other two- Nancy Drew Case Files- are series that I usually only see among selections available to check out at libraries. I hardly ever see them for purchase, until now.

So, while the Rochester Hills store had little to offer, the Shelby Township made up for that disappointment. I was able to walk away with a few new books without spending much money, which is always a plus.

Downtown Booksellers

Downtown Bookseller's, located on University Road in downtown Rochester, is a store that I stumbled upon by chance. While walking around downtown Rochester, I spotted the Used Books sign from a distance away and practically ran towards the store.

Downtown's was, of course, filled with books, as most used book stores are. The store features old, new, and rare books. To me, what set the store apart from others was its vast collection of old books. And these books weren't just old, they were late 1800s/early 1900s old. Most of them were history collections, like war volumes and encyclopedia sets, but the amount of old books was astounding. There were also old editions of classics- like Jane Austen and Charles Dickens novels. Downtown's also featured a big section of just poetry books- both old and new books.

While the classic and rare book shelves were filled to the brim, the general fiction sections- divided into hardcover and paperback categories- were full as well. There was a decent variety- even the entire series of James Bond books as well as the entire Alex Cross series. Other featured genres that I rarely see at used book stores included religion, sports, and celebrity memoirs. The store also had a combined children's and teen's section, which was small.

The atmosphere of Downtown’s was pleasant. Quiet, classical music- which seems to be the popular background music of used book stores- allowed for peaceful browsing. The service was kind and helpful. Prices were not listed on all the books, so most had to be inquired upon. The prices that were listed varied on the condition and rarity of the book, though many were on the expensive side for used books. The store did offer sale prices on some series that had all or most of the books.

On to Nancy Drew, the books featured at Downtown's were the classics. There were about 20 books from the original series. Many of them were from early in the series; two of them had unique covers that I have not seen before. These covers- which were plain blue with an orange silhouette of Nancy- were from the books published between 1932 and 1937. The insides of these editions also feature four pages of glossy hand drawn illustrations that depict certain scenes from the story. The editions available at Downtown's were missing their dust jackets. So while they were not as valuable as those with dust jackets, they were still an interesting find.

Nancy Drew is well known for going hand-in-hand with the Hardy Boys- the boy detectives to Nancy's girl detective. Downtown's held a large stock of Franklin W. Dixon's The Hardy Boys series. This included copies from the original publishing date-1927.

Downtown Bookseller’s was a pleasant surprise to find. It is conveniently located close by and easy to visit while on the run to other places. While the selection at Downtown’s was unique, I did not find any books that were worth adding to my collection. There is, though, a chance that I will return to Downtown Booksellers sometime in the future.

Charlin's Book Nook

Charlin's Book Nook, a small shop in Frankenmuth, was among one of the most exciting used book store trips I've had. I visited in the summer, but the store is worth an honorable mention now. On my first trip there, I found a British edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. So, when I returned to Frankenmuth in the summer, I made a special trip to Charlin’s. The store is located in downtown Frankenmuth's River Place, a great stop on a bigger shopping trip.

Charlin's is relatively small, but the selection is good. The shelves are many- stacked high and full of countless books. The majority of the books were no older fifteen years, but there were a few old ones if you looked hard enough. Genre wise, there was a good variety, appealing to most reading interests. There were the usual genres, along with a rather large children’s and young adult’s section. In fact, these two sections were in a small room of their own- separate from the rest of the store. Prices depend on the condition of the book, how new or old it is, and if it’s rare or not. For the most part, the books ranged between a reasonable two to ten dollars.

I liked that the store featured a small area for browsers to sit and read. There were a few comfortable chairs, an electric fireplace, and a babbling fountain. Charlin's was peaceful- perfect for a used book store. Not only could I get lost in the stacks, but I could take a seat and read a little, something that I find helps me decide which books to buy.

Nancy's Mysterious Letter copyright 1932

When I came across the Nancy Drew selection, I was shocked. The number of Nancy Drew books was enormous. There had to at least have been twenty-five books, if not more. There were a few recently published copies, but the majority of them were older books- from the original Girl Detective Series. There was a mix of the old and new yellow books; both the early published editions and the re-published editions from the 2000s. My excitement came upon my finding of a Nancy Drew book that had been published in the 1930s. I found Nancy's Mysterious Letter which was published in 1932 for the first time. One of these copies is not necessarily rare, as some old books are, but I was excited to be able to add an early edition onto my list of found books. The second book that I found was The Secret in the Old Attic which was published in 1944, also the original publishing date, though book came later in the series. Both of these books are now members of my own personal collection.

It’s a sure fact that when I go back to Frankenmuth, I will visit Charlin’s again. I had a great and exciting experience there, finding the two Nancy Drew books. I am very excited to see what I will find on the shelves next.