9:54am | Your heart is pounding in your chest, sweat beads on your face, and the grip of terror plagues your mind as you realize that you forgot to get a gift for your boss, your girlfriend’s sister, or your mail carrier. Sure, you could slip some cash into an envelope or, even worse, a gift card to some corporate hell hole, and hope they don’t feel like second stringers on the Great Holiday Gift List of Life. But wait! There may be a better, more personal, alternative that reflects well on you and, at the same time, makes them feel a bit more special: The local independent book store.
Long Beach has many, and they’re a real asset to the cultural landscape of the City. For all you last minute shoppers out there, here’s some information about several of them that, hopefully, will help you to know which one to visit.
I sent a survey to all the local book stores I could find. Sadly, I didn’t get responses from all of them, but I’ll post the info from those that did, and include some information about the others.
Gatsby Books
5535 E. Spring St.
Long Beach CA 90808
(562) 208-9783
[email protected]
GatsbyBooks.com
Store Hours: Monday-Friday 11am-7pm, Saturday 11am-5pm
Owner: Sean Moor
Gatsby Books offers a thoughtful selection of new and gently-used books at affordable prices. While we are known for our handpicked wall of literature, we also specialize in science, poetry, eastern and western philosophy, cooking, history, drama, art, self-help, business, children’s books, westerns, mysteries and thrillers, and rare and unusual volumes.
We also offer “Reading is Sexy” coffee mugs, handmade greeting cards and literary buttons.
Every month, Gatsby Books hosts a Poetry Discussion Night, a Book Club, an Open Mic and a variety of other artistic and literary events including author visits, booksignings, children’s activities.
Our store is clean and well-organized with first-rate customer service and old-fashioned charm.
Gatsby Books offers cash or store credit for your gently-used books.
Special Holiday Promotion: Mention lbpost.com and get $5 off your $25 purchase until 1-1-11
What are your feelings about e-readers (Kindle, etc):
To a large extent, our reading habits shape our innermost thoughts, nurture our emotions, and strengthen our deepest beliefs. Why would you want to share your inner life with marketers and corporations?
If your book store were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?
Twisted, gnarled, useless… the type of tree that shelters small animals, and endures.
A Castle of Books
4302 Atlantic Ave.
562-448-2262
[email protected]
aCastleofBooks.com
Open 9:30 to 6:30 Every Day
Owner: A Hershberger
We try not to exclude any subject. We carry all genres & subjects.
We also carry used & new; Comic Books, Movies, Toys, Games, Music, some original art and animation cels, and related entertainment media & ephemera. In fact we have something from just about every version of obsolete media available, from 8-track tapes, to Laserdiscs, to Books themselves.
Each first Friday of the month we participate in the Bixby Knolls First Friday event, and give away books for FREE. We have had author signing events.
The store is larger on the inside than it looks from the outside. Rare Books make Rare Gifts. A man’s home is his castle. A house without books is like a room without windows.
Free search service / special orders available in person.
Find out about everything that’s going on at A Castle of Books by reading our daily blog, or becoming a friend on facebook.
We purchase select books, but cannot tell until we examine them which we will want, or what we can offer. We do pay cash but will offer much more in store credit.
Gift Certificates are available in any amount.
What are your feelings about e-readers (Kindle, etc):
Just as the Paperback didn’t make the Hardcover disappear, as the CD didn’t entirely erase Records, e-books will never entirely replace books, and there will always be used bookstores.
If your book store were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?
Baobab tree.
We also sell books on-line, via Biblio.com, Ebay, Amazon, AbeBooks, and Alibris.
Nused Books
4141 Norse Way
Long Beach, CA 90808
(562) 420-2467
[email protected]
nusedbooks.com
Open Tuesday to Thursday 11am to 6pm
Fri and Sat 11am to 7pm
Sunday 11am to 6pm
Closed Monday
Owner: Susan Simpson
We specialize in clean, gently used books from every author and genre at very affordable prices, in most cases even cheaper than Goodwill.
We trade 3 for 1 on paperback fiction genres. Our Trading policy is posted on our web site. We do pay cash for certain books, but this is done on a case-by-case basis. Please call store for details as our need constantly changes.
We may not have any fancy events, but that translates to lower overhead, which accounts for our consistently low prices. We hand pick most of our books, and each one is cleaned before it is placed on the shelf. Friendly customer service is our priority.
Do you have in-store pets and, if so, what are their names and species?
Ruby and Tawny, our adopted kitties.
What are your feelings about e-readers (Kindle, etc):
There is a consumer for every product. Some of my customers have e-readers, some don’t. I prefer the printed word myself.
If your book store were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?
An Oak.
Secret Passages Bookstore
406 E. 3rd Street, Unit A
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 984-7140
[email protected]
SecretPassagesBooks.com
CURRENT STORE HOURS
MON: 2PM – 7PM
TUE: CLOSED
WED: 11AM – 7P
THU: 11AM – 7PM
FRI: 10AM – 8PM
SAT: 9AM – 8PM
SUN: 10AM – 8PM
NEW HOURS EFFECTIVE JAN 1 2011
MON: CLOSED
TUE- THUR: 12PM – 7PM
FRI-SUN: 10AM – 8PM
Owners: Sophia and Alfredo Enciso
We specialize in Science Fiction, vintage sci-fi, fantasy, horror, mythology, manga, occult/new age. We also sell collectibles & toys.
We host D&D, Chess, and Anime clubs.
On December 31st, most books will be 50% off for our end-of-year clearance. From December 30th through January 2nd we will have a clearance specifically for manga.
We do special orders for just about anything imaginable. We’re (almost) always willing to make a deal.
What are your feelings about e-readers (Kindle, etc):
They’re portable and convenient, but I personally do not own one because they just can’t replicate the feel and smell of an honest to goodness book.
If your book store were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?
As a sapling it was watered with the tears of giants and fed with the blood of trolls until the gods soiled themselves in fear over its sheer awesomeness and banished it to forever reside on lowly, mundane Earth. It now lies dormant on 3rd Street, waiting…
{open}
2226 E. 4th St.
Long Beach, CA 90804
(562) 257-8583
[email protected]
thestoryofopen.com
Open Tues-Fri: 1-7pm
Sat: 11am-8pm
Sun: 11am-6pm
Owners: SÈ Reed and Shea Gauer
We specialize in interesting and quality-condition books in all genres! We have fiction, art, film and music, culture and politics, philosophy and spirituality, history, kids’ books … the whole wide range!
We feature art prints from local and international artists, music from local and independent musicians (many of whom have played instore), used and new vinyl, zines and chapbooks, and handcrafted gift items like blank journals made from old books and map wallets.
We host a wide range of special events, including new book release readings, poetry and author readings, music and multi-media performances, workshops and art exhibitions and installations.
We exhibit art on a regular basis. We accept submissions via email. There is a more specific FAQ on our website.
{open} is a truly independent bookstore and we are grateful to our customers, who have enabled us to still be here after seven years! We are proud to be a part of the Long Beach community and are excited to continue showcasing some of the incredibly creative talent that exists in our local culture!
We buy books for cash or book trade credit.
Special holiday promotion: Spend $50 and get a free 4th Street gift bag!
Do you have in-store pets and, if so, what are their names and species?
Sometimes SÈ’s new puppy Meta comes to work with her! She’s a six-month old Belgian Shepard!
What are your feelings about e-readers (Kindle, etc):
At {open}, we feel each individual book is a work of art unto itself, so there is really no way to compare them to today’s version of the e-book. As far are e-books themselves go, if reading the text is one’s only concern, it seems e-books are a rather convenient choice … until your e-reader battery dies or the edition you were halfway through gets removed by the distributor because of a content dispute with the publisher or some other such nonsense. The introduction of the e-book will affect the book industry, to be sure, but hopefully it be more on the side of paring down some of the egregious excess that has been bloating the shelves of the bigbox stores for so many years, and allow the “art” side of the literary arts to shine through a bit more.
If your book store were a tree, what kind of tree would it be?
We would be The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.
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Book stores I didn’t get ahold of include Apostrophe Books, Pulp Fiction, Once Read Books, and Amazing Comics & Cards.
Planet Books, located at 3917 East Anaheim Street, doesn’t seem to have a website. You can call them at (562) 985-3154.
If I missed any, please feel free to post a comment with the details.
Happy shopping!