My review is based on selling used books to this bookseller, as opposed to purchasing used books. Typically, I wouldn't expect much from selling used books, but my experience was so lousy that I felt I needed to warn others trying to sell books to this store. My husband and I are preparing to move, and had around 130 books we were trying to get rid of - good quality fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks and audio books. We let the owner know that we planned on taking anything he wouldn't take to the nearby Goodwill, as there were so many books. I didn't expect him to take many of them, but I thought it was worth a shot. We parked the car directly in front of the store, approximately 10 feet from the store's entrance. We had arranged the books in the trunk of the car with the spines facing up. My husband asked the owner if he wouldn't mind just looking in the trunk to see which titles he was interested in taking. The owner responded, "You're young; unload them onto the curb so I can look at them on the street." It wouldn't have been entirely too much to ask, except that I'm seven and a half months pregnant. The owner refused to budge, however, and proceeded to sit in a chair in front of the store and watch while my husband and I unloaded all 130 books from the trunk and walk about five feet to place them in piles onto the sidewalk. The guy chose about 10 of the books, including a few hardcovers and coffee-table cookbooks and then, with a really nasty look on his face, told me he would give me $6 for them. He gave me the cash, took the books he wanted, and left my husband and I standing on the curb to unload the remaining books back into the trunk of the car. $6 probably wasn't even worth the cost of gas to get out to Long Island and back. The store, from what I could see, looks like something out of an episode from one of those hoarders shows. The worst part was his lousy attitude, though. If you have books to get rid of and you're in the area, I'd highly recommend just donating them to Goodwill (the people there, only a few blocks away, are lovely). It's not worth the trouble visiting this grumpy owner to try and sell him anything. read more

I understand the negative comments about this book store but I do have to make an argument for the old "kook". The used book store business has really taken a downturn due to the big chain stores like Barnes and Noble and with the invention of things like the kindle and nook which make actual books obsolete. My experience with this store has been very good as opposed to the rest. I needed to make room for new books on my shelf so instead of throwing them away (which is like burning books in my opinion). I thought of Booklover's Paradise right away, I'd always driven past the store (located on Merrick Road) and figured that would be a great way to give back. I wasn't looking for any money so I called and spoke to the owner and then dropped off the piles of books I no longer had space for. I thought he was a kind old man, we spoke for a little bit and yes I admit he isn't the usual polite salesman we expect in our capitalist society, he's trying to make a living in a declining trade. He sent me a handwritten letter thanking me for my donation and a gift card for his store. I thought that was the sweetest thing, and didn't forget his simple kindness. I went back there recently to look for some science fiction novels I needed for a class I was taking and really enjoyed climbing over the mountain of books helping him dig out a novel by Ursula K. LeGuin! I got what I needed and had a conversation with him before leaving about his wife and their lives together which I thought was very sweet. Basically what I'm trying to say, is give the guy a break and buy some books from him instead of from a chain bookstore with no personality. You know your money is going to supporting this man and his wife instead of into the CEO's pocket. Imagine sitting in that store day after day hoping that someone would come in and buy something? I think that would make me a little crazy too. read more

I found this place on my break from work and got excited because you rarely ever see book shops anymore. So I decided to stop in. Well that was a bad idea, the moment I walked in the guy at the front asked if I was someone who was going to buy something or waste time. I told him I wanted to look around for a bit to see if I like anything. Then he began to lecture me on the difference between walking into a store to buy something and just wasting his time. Halfway through I stopped him and walked out. This guy is horrible. He is a pretentious prick and I wonder how he keeps his store running when all he does is turn potential customers away. Never stepping foot in this dump again. read more

After delivering a talk at the Jewish Community Center in Oceanside, L.I., a few miles from the store, I received a letter from (I assume) its president. The letter, on Booklovers Paradise stationery and signed by Amnon Tishler, President, included a clipping from a newspaper listing promoting the talk. The letter said, among other things, "I have reason to believe that you might be interested in what I have to offer." After reading all the one-star reviews I'm pretty sure I am not in the least interested. Thank you, Yelp for the warnings. Mark F. East Rockaway, NY read more

This shop caught my eye, it was small, unique and an adorable little place. Of course the name doesn't hurt, since i am definitely a 100% book lover. I walked in one day, prepared to get lost in the piles of books lying all around the store. The man greeted me, and asked me if there was something he could help me with, and i told him i was going to take a look around. His reply to this was: "is there money that's going to come out of this for me? i'm running a business here, and i need to know if your going to be actually making a purchase today." so i was obviously taken aback by this, i'm a first time customer coming into this store and his immediate attitude was completely unnecessary. With my annoyance clear on my face i asked him "are you telling me i can't look around?" so he goes on to explain to me that people come in and just look and waste his time, and their own time and he doesn't get any money out of it. He also compared his book store to a pizza place saying, you don't go into a pizza place to just look at pies, you come in to buy one. my argument back was, are you really comparing this to a pizza place? a book store is one of the only places where you should be allowed to come in and spend some time, viewing and reading the synopsis to see which books catch your attention. he tells me it's not like that, but since he can see my clear aggravation in his absolutely terrible attitude, he tells me he'll let me look around. obviously, i no longer have any desire to look around, so i tell him very sarcastically "no, i don't want to waste your time" and leave the store. It's really SUCH a shame, that a man like that, owns that shop, for people like me, who really truly love books, to be treated like that by a man who clearly does not have the same appreciation and love for books. i will not be returning to that store. funny that he wanted to make money, and by opening his mouth and asking that question, he immediately lost all hope of a sale at all. read more

This is a hard one to review. This place is owned by a "very nice" old man and has the largest selection I've ever seen, but he has no idea what anything is worth and the place is the biggest fire hazard I have ever seen! There are books everywhere, from floor to ceiling and it is impossible to find anything! The owner will tell you that most soft covers are $6.50 and hardcovers are $10. There are also old games and VHS tapes but stuff is everywhere and a lot of it is stuff you can buy on amazon for a penny, which is why it's on the floor collecting dust. I'm really not sure how this "poor guy" pays his rent. I suppose if you want to sit there and sift through piles you might find something, but it's a crap shoot and an absolute disaster of a store. It's a shame, because if things were online, correctly priced, and organized, it could be on hell of a great store. read more

As stated in just about every review here. The man does not know how to run a business. Besides basically the same story everybody has given ("Are you going to buy something or waste time?") the story is crowded to the point of having to climb over ladders and piles of books that are in no particular order. It's almost impossible to find anything. Not to mention the price gouging. Tried to sell me a damaged record I had just purchased for $10 elsewhere for $100. read more

Zero Stars!!! I am in search of a children's book so today I searched online for local bookstores and found Booklovers Paradise. I called up and asked if they carried the book I was looking for. The man was a bit snippy but seemed to be looking on the computer for me. I thought he was checking his stock but he then told me he found it and that he didn't think he carried it. He asked if I had ever been there before and I told him no and that I found him online and was calling because I like giving local businesses my business. He told me I could come in and look myself and hopefully find something else I might like. I asked him if the books were in a specific section (because of course then it would be easier to find my book) He then went off and started telling me that he couldn't stay in business if he sold $1 books. I was completely taken back by this man. I told him that I didn't appreciate the way he was speaking to me and that I already told him I had never been to his store and I was only trying to give my business to a local store verse Barnes and Noble. I explained that where I am from there is a local bookstore that carries children's books so there was no reason for him to speak to me like I was crazy. I told him I was going to hang up the phone now because I wasn't going to allow him to run my day... he quickly hung up on me! This is my first review on YELP. My experience was so bad that I needed to let others know. Funny to come on and see I'm not the only one with bad reviews for this guy! read more

Very honest book dealer. Had some very old books I inherited. The shop owner gave me an opinion on the books.

I called about possibly selling my rare book to this store, and the man on the phone who I believe is the owner was EXTREMELYYYYY rude. Even when I misunderstood him and attempted to correct myself, he kept cutting me off and not allowing me to talk, and then hung up on me. So basically this man had a chance to possibly make money on a book worth over $5,000, but instead hung up on me. I can't believe this store is actually still in business, and this store is even a member of the "Antiquarian Book Dealers Association of Long Island" who apparently have a code of ethics, so I was shocked by the treatment. How he is even making money in this store is beyond me?! By the way, to tell you how bad this was to me, I NEVER review on Yelp, but I felt like it was the least I could do for future customers. Please stay away for your good. read more

I really wish this was a good store, but it's not. First time I walked in, the owner decided that "do you have any money?" was a proper greeting. Store is a mess, which would be okay if the guy wasn't breathing down my neck the whole time I was digging through a pile of overpriced records to find anything interesting. Half the fun of used bookstores is browsing and seeing all the crazy stuff they have, but it's discouraged so much here that it's not even worth your time. Someone relatively pleasant should buy this place, because it could actually be a neat shop with proper management. read more

After reading all of these negative reviews, I was a more than a little bit afraid of going to this store. However, as it happened, I was in the neighborhood and thought it would be worth a visit. The owner was sitting outside in the doorway. My cousin and I approached him and asked if we could look around. He responded with, "That depends, am I going to make any money?" I waited for a second, just looking at him, and a big smile bloomed on his face. He got up and said "of course you can look around! Come on in! Anything I can help you find?" I get why some people would think he's mean, but the truth is, he just has an incredibly dry sense of humor. I'm sure he was serious to some degree, but I treated him with respect and in return, he treated me the same way. If you love books, have a full wallet, and don't mind spending all day in there, then this store is for you. It's a tad bit pricy, but occasionally I would find a book that was a real deal! Yes, there was really nothing in the store under $6, which was silly, I agree. He would sell much more books if he was willing to break on the price, even just a little bit. The store is piled to the ceiling with books. Wall to wall. So many stacks that it's almost impossible to navigate through the maze. But thats PART OF THE FUN! Go there and get lost in the books. I personally felt that this was truly a book lovers paradise. I would gladly go there again, and go there often. read more

We are a public library on Long Island. Mr. Kessler, the owner, called one of my book discussion presenters and left a cryptic message. I called him back and was treated to one of the most rude conversations I have ever experienced. I am the book buyer for my library and do buy from used book stores. I will never, ever, never, never (!!) buy anything from this man. He is rude and nasty. Stay away!!! read more

Like 2 of the other reviewers, I got a bizarre email from the owner after he saw my name in the newspaper asking me to call him, but saying it was too complicated to explain in an email. When I kindly asked if he could briefly tell me what it was about, I got a rude email back saying "sorry, I don't have time for emails". By this point I was mad, so I did some searching and luckily found this yelp listing. I will not be getting in touch with this man, clearly. It's just so bizarre! read more

I went to Book Lovers Paradise with my girlfriend to get a book for her fathers birthday. The owner greeted us at the door as we looked over the selection he had outside and asked if he could help us with anything. We told him we'd like to look around. He replied that his book store isn't a place to kill time. So we left. This guy is crazy. He claims he wants to sell books but overprices them and has them in piles all over the place. If you decide to go there, prepare to hear the following: that he is running a business and that you should buy something and not waste his time. I don't know how he stays in business. He's a crotchety man and I feel sad for him sitting in that pile of old books all day dealing with the smell and the loneliness. read more

Zero Stars. That would be for the condition of his store, the condition of the books, the price he charges (6.50 for each paperback ... you can buy them new for less than that) and a zero for his personality. Immediately upon entering his store, I was shown the section I was interested in and warned not to waste his time just by looking around. Bear in mind that this is after I already told him that I was interested in a few dozen books and hand a handful or so to trade in. I actually did find a few books I was interested in, which were in surprisingly good condition, but due to his piss poor attitude, and the fact that I can buy the books cheaper from any retailer of new books, I left in disgust and came here to warn others of this miserable wretch of a man and his fire hazard of a store. read more

The owner also saw my name in the newspaper, and proceeded to call ALL of my relatives in the phone book looking for me, claiming it was urgent and he had a tremendous opportunity. When I called back he said his great idea is for me to become I customer. I kindly hung up and never set foot in the store. That was 2007. Last month I was again in the newspaper, and this time he found my email address, saying again he had a tremendous opportunity that was too complicated to explain in an email. I didn't respond, so he has since started spamming my inbox desperately wanting to follow up. Granted I still haven't been inside the store, but if this is the only way he can attract customers, he must be doing something wrong. read more

rude guy that owns the place makes the whole experience here. thousands of books to choose from and can show you exactly where any author you want is if he has it. if you can appreciate this mans satire stay at barnes and nobles luv read more

I was a loyal customer for MANY years at this store, until I sent an email inquiring about a book and the cost of shipping for that book. The owner/seller got annoyed that I sent several emails yet last time I was in, gave me a business card WITH an email address on it. He said my emails were "unfocused" and wanted to charge me about triple amount of the same book that I found through another seller on Amazon. I was so frustrated at this point I told him to lose my contact information and I am no longer a customer and will not be returning. I now buy my books from various online resources, and this day and age, where you can basically find anything "rare" online, this guy is lucky to still have customers after treating loyal ones with a snotty attitude. read more

This is a place where if the store doesn't have the manager is willing to locate it! I needed a special book and Book Lover's Paradise was able to find it and get it too me in great time. So if you are looking for a special book I WOULD START HERE FIRST. read more

So I decided to venture into this shop after finding it on Google but not after having read the horrible reviews on it. I walked in and instantly noticed the air was not on, by the time I left the shop I was drenched in sweat! Not complaining though, all for saving energy. I arrived with my service dog and he gave me a bit of a hard time entering the store. I had to explain what he does for me and he softened up and allowed us in, warning me that the aisles are narrow. He also told me he has nothing for under $6. I began to peruse the shop and a few minutes later he found me and asked if I was looking for anything in particular. I told him I collect copies of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and he lit up, letting me know he has tons of copies. He pulled several of them out and I purchased a few books. I saw a copy of The Little Prince at the register and grabbed it, letting him know my boyfriend loves the book and that I would bring him back with me in a few days. He rang me out and gave me a $5 voucher for my next puchase. Perhaps a little gruff but a man that means well. He was very helpful and I let him pet my service dog before leaving and he could not say enough about how well behaved he was. Overall a nice experience, minus all the sweat!! read more

I had a decent experience. It is important to know what you are getting into. Negotiation on price is not that beneficial. But the amount of inventory is exhaustive. You will find something that pulls you in. Used books doesn't mean junk books. There are also a lot of out of print books that are in very good to excellent condition. The owner looks at his collection with a serious eye. You are allowed to browse and spend as much time there as you wish. Before you make your final selections make sure he shows you everything! related to your interest. He does not seem to do exchanges or refunds. Just after my purchase he showed me another item which I adored, he wouldn't exchange. So, watch yourself and keep your own best interest at heart, as he does. This was the only thing I didn't like about my experience. read more

This man is truly insufferable. I am not usually one for writing reviews, however, since it's been over a week since my unfortunate visit to this place, and the wound is still fresh, I've deemed it necessary. The owner of this store was rude to my friend and me immediately upon entering the store. We walked in, and he instantly looked at me--with what I thought at the time was a joking stare--and asked if I was serious about buying anything. I told him, of course I was and that's why I was there perusing his store. The store itself might have some sort of appeal, as was said by others, but largely it was an obstacle course, one which was difficult to navigate around and I had to pick up books that had fallen after being precariously stacked atop one another in the middle of the aisles. It's fairly clear that this fellow isn't doing much business based on his reprehensible attitude, and the conspicuous fact that he has far too many books than he know what to do with. I decided to select three volumes from him, all of which were remarkably overpriced ($12 for a mass market paperback of Stuart Gilbert's annotations to Ulysses?!). I had intimated that I was going to bargain the prices, which he seemed to say was fine until, that is, we got to the register. He rang the books up without taking any account of wanting to negotiate the absurd prices he had penciled in. He simply looked up at me and said "Here at this store, I'm not trying to make a dollar, I'm trying to make a living. So why don't you leave and not come back until you can afford to buy my products. I'm serious!". I will be glad never to return there. It is unfortunate, though, that in these days where bookstores are slowly fading to obscurity, one which purports to be a "booklover's paradise" is riddled with the obnoxious attitude of this morally ambiguous shop owner. Avoid at all costs; never patronize this man's business. read more

Listen, I know that the man is gruff, tactless and probably has been selling books for way too long, but I have only one recommendation for customers...ONLY COME TO BOOKLOVERS PARADISE WITH A PLAN! I would never recommend this store for browsers, if you want that go to Book Revue in Huntington or the pathetic Barnes & Noble in Massapequa...I usually come in with an author or a book in mind and, sure enough, with some sort of plan...He always has something to show me and I usually buy two books every visit...and last time I checked, I can't walk into B&N and buy a first edition Cat's Cradle or Infinite Jest!....In a way, I understand where he's coming from...it's almost a miracle that an independent bookstore (almost any bookstore) exists on Long Island...his prices (though I find them to be completely fair) are necessary to pay the utilities (though I have a feeling he owns the property) and just make ends meet...I can't imagine owning a brick and mortar and I suppose, yes, I think its time for him to close the place down, but I feel that is really a disservice to the community...people often forget that books are works of creativity, people put their heart and soul into the work...they are not products but more works of art whose worth have been deflated by Amazon and B&N...its a breath of fresh air that there are still places like this...they may not serve you Starbucks, have the right atmosphere or have an owner that kisses your rear, but you can still find a treasure for a reasonable amount of money. read more

This place was old, and smelly. The man was incredibly rude, and short when we asked about prices. "I have a system, paperbacks 5, hardcover, 10" When my father asked 5 dollars, even if the book originally was 3? He replied"II have a system" the guy was an asshole, we left. Overpriced used smelly books? no thanks read more

The owner of this store is nuts. I ask if the price he has marked on a book is his best price today (it's marked $25). He gets offended and says "because you asked that - the price for you is $35! For some reason, I remained in the store, and then he says you can have it for $25 if you buy another book. Like I said, this guy is nuts. read more

Traveled from a while away looking for used bookstores and was greatly disappointed. When I walked in, the owner asked if he could help me and I gave my usual response for salespeople that I needed time to look around. I had not been in the store for one minute and he falsely accused me of not wanting to buy anything and thus wasting his time and money. Completely rude and mean!! read more