Nora helped me find a rare old book when I could not find it on the internet. Wow! Great person who does a lot for Bethel. :)

I am a giant nerd. I own multiple bookcases filled with books in multiple languages in addition to an extensive e-book collection. I have "issues" with books. Folded corners irk me. Notes incense. Books abandoned open and face down may lead to crimes against humanity or, admittedly more often, indignant snorts. Rainy Day Paperback Exchange appeals to all of my sensibilities. Bright, well-lit, well-organized, and pleasantly musky with the smell of aged paper, I felt as though I were in an awesomely curated library rather than a used book store. I navigated to my go-to categories of U.S. public policy history and science fiction/fantasy and was pleasantly surprised with both the breadth of the selection available and the condition of the books themselves. The owners clearly aren't in the business of selling messy, haphazardly used books with large stains or ample evidence of dog or cat chewing. That the proprietor and the other staff member I met were also charming, intelligent, bookish people more than happy to discuss the town of Bethel, forthcoming improvements to it, and provide me a bit of perspective on its character only added to my impression. Were I closer to Rainy Day Paperback Exchange than Buffalo, NY, I assure you that it would be my first stop for all of my literary needs. read more

A lovely small used bookstore that will make you feel at home. Plus you can even trade in your old books for credit towards buying books there (hence the name :) ) The store is very organized and the staff is welcoming and friendly. There even is a little 4 legged staff member named Mana you can meet if you catch her on her shift. If you are a book lover who doesn't want to break the bank, you will have a much better time spending your money here rather than Amazon. read more

Today was my first trip to Rainy Day Paperback Exchange and I am more than satisfied with my experience. For the past year I've been helping clean out a family member's hoarding house, and it just so happens this particular hoard contains an unbelievable amount of books. Today, I toyed with the idea of going to Book Trader Cafe, but I wasn't keen on the idea of fighting with downtown New Haven traffic and lack of parking, only to spend precious time and energy lugging mass quantities of books around the block just to be told that they can't take anything and have to lug it all back to my car, feeling stressed and disappointed. I remembered seeing flyers for this locale at a convention last fall, and figured I would give this place a shot. Not only was Honorah, the owner, very gracious with helping me get the bins upon boxes upon baskets of books out of my car, but she also was kind enough to offer to donate whatever she couldn't take to the Mark Twain Library, since she knew I traveled 45 minutes from Seymour and figured she'd save me as much time as possible. This was very encouraging, since Book Trader usually donates the books they're given to New Haven Reads but didn't the last time I went there. To be fair, this may have been due to the age or relevance of the books that were donated, but anyway, this isn't meant to be a compare and contrast, just a slight informative aside from someone who's been casually selling used books for a few years now. Honorah was also very understanding and compassionate about the hoarding issue, which is a godsend for anyone who's had to live with the embarrassment and stress that hoarding can cause. She also made a lot of helpful suggestions of what to do with books that are obsolete and how to recycle awkward items that I might find during the clean-out process. Last but not least, as mentioned in other reviews, the doggie there is ADORABLE! He's very playful and friendly and really makes the buying/selling experience all the better. So, in closing, if you aren't looking to pay top dollar for a good read, like you would at Barnes and Noble or some big name book store, and you either aren't close to Book Trader Cafe or don't want to fight the swarms of Yalies and one-way streets for a used book, or if you're like me and you're looking to sell some books (they mainly do store credit, except for NEW text books), this is the place for you. An added bonus is that there's a nice coffee store literally right behind Rainy Day, so you can pick up some excellent coffee while you're there and successfully scratch two things off your to do list at once! Most excellent! read more

Rainy Day is the best place to browse, chat, get dog kisses and good books. Couldn't ask for more in a book store.