If you are a long-time Hawai`i resident who enjoys reading and a sweet deal, you've probably…read moreperused the donation shelves at your local library branch, and possibly attended the famous annual summer Friends of the Library of Hawai`i (FLH) book sale at McKinley Cafeteria, where the volunteer organization sold donated and library-withdrawn books at bargain basement prices. Profits support the State of Hawai'i's 51 Public Libraries. In more recent years, FLH opened a year-round used bookstore: Village Books and Music, first at the old Pier One, then a terrific space in Ward Centre next to Sedona. Due to the imminent demolition of Ward Center, the establishment shuttered the Ward location on 5/31/26, and will be reopening in mid-July at 610 Ward Ave., a.k.a. "Obama Building." While not as extensive as more famous used bookstores, e.g. NYC's "The Strand" and Portland's "Powell's Books," I thought there was a lot to love about Village Books and Music, where you could find books, but also CDs, vinyl records, games, puzzles, nostalgic Hawai`i memorabilia, and even art. While admittedly not all genres are well-stocked, when I've visited, I was impressed with the poetry section, which is small, but nicely curated, featuring a number of renowned BIPOC poets and local poets: look carefully, and you can find some signed editions in great shape. If you're looking for local Hawai`i writers or Hawaiian/Pacific materials, this store is worth browsing. And what a win-win: you get literary goods on the cheap AND you support the amazing Hawai`i State Library System: a worthy community hub committed to egalitarian public education!

We love coming to this spot after a meal at the Ward. The kid loves perusing the comic book…read moresection. This is where he's bought comic books every year on vacation. I love book stores in general so I don't mind hanging out checking out all the new books and art they have. We love coming here every year we're in town :)

I saw the homie Marcnado livestream from this spot, https://www.youtube.com/user/alohagotsoul…read more Since then I've always wanted to check it out. Parking: Street parking for the most part, free on Sundays! Vibes: It's in Downtown Honolulu area that's pretty close to the mall, eateries and other activities. The spot itself is pretty neat. Intimate space that's well intentionally designed to make space for all the records and for people to see the main things they need to see - records, merch, etc. I went here during their 3rd Sunday: Records Should be Played sessions and it was dope! Oliver was chill and welcoming and DJ Drew had a dope set. Good people and music, what more can you ask for! Overall: 5 stars. Love it! The little studio that could. Dope spot with great selections of vinyls with a neat listening bar. For those into music and all that jazz, check this spot out. Props to Roger Bong and the rest of AGS for spreading the good vibes! #RepresentASIAN TL;DR Tips: * Check out their website for any events!

Great store to visit. I was specifically looking for Hard Rock records. Small selections but did…read morenot disappoint. Got about 10 albums and all the albums were very clean and original inner sleeves are separated from the albums to avoid damage. Filipino cats inside were very friendly and even offered me a beverages if i wanted to. DJ was playing inside at the time. I will definitely will visit again when i am back in Honolulu.

I stopped by the Barnes & Noble at Ala Moana Center and it remains one of the most comfortable…read moreplaces in the mall if you want to slow down and spend some time browsing books. The store is spacious and well organized, with clearly arranged sections that make it easy to explore different genres. Walking through the aisles feels relaxed, and there is a wide selection of books ranging from best sellers and new releases to classics and specialty topics. One thing that stood out to me is how the store still maintains the traditional bookstore experience even though it is located inside a busy shopping center. The layout encourages browsing, and it is easy to spend a good amount of time looking through titles and discovering books you were not originally planning to buy. Another highlight is the range of non-book items available throughout the store. You will find journals, gifts, educational toys, and other reading-related merchandise, which adds variety to the experience. The atmosphere is calm compared to many other areas of the mall, and the store tends to attract a mix of students, families, and casual readers looking for a quiet place to browse. Overall, Barnes & Noble at Ala Moana Center is a great stop if you enjoy bookstores and want a comfortable place to explore books while spending time at the mall.

This specific store is noted for being a unique "cultural hub" in Honolulu with several standout…read morefeatures that distinguish it from a standard mainland location. 1. It serves as a major community gathering point, often hosting local author signings and cultural events that reflect the islands' literary scene. So now you can get your copy of Eat Lava Pray signed. 2. The in-store café serves official Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes, so you can skip the restaurant lines. 3. Reflecting Hawaii's deep cultural ties to Japan, this location features an exceptionally large manga and anime section that rivals international bookstores. 4. The store maintains a robust physical media section with a curated selection of vinyl records. I found Pois Don't Cry and Lei Lady Lei.

Other Realms is located in the back side of the Nimitz Center. Parking can be a little tight on…read morebusy weekdays but if you head straight past Eagle Cafe on the left, there's a smaller parking lot that usually has enough open stalls that doesn't compete with the other shops in the front. This store has absolutely everything from comic books, collectibles, MTG/TCG, D&D items and books, Warhammer, and also board games. Honestly if you are into any of those then this place is the place to come to. The absolute widespread level of inventory is only matched by how friendly the staff is and how comfortable of an environment they've created to spend your time there. They even put on events on nearly a daily basis depending what you're into. Pricing is very reasonable and I do majority of my shopping here as it is extremely competitive with online pricing. Not to mention being able to find the product that you're looking for locally is hard to find for most shops. The gameplay areas of the store are clean, tidy, and do not smell (yes... we know the stereotype of hobby shops). Plus they're always willing to spend the time to explain and help you get into any of the games they sell. I haven't played MTG for decades since I was a child and they were so kind to take me thru the differences from what I knew then to the large and vast game that it has become. They also make it simple to sign up on their website for Prerelease events and specialty game nights. I'm so glad to have found a store that has a staff that is passionate about the games as much as its customers. Thank you so much for having such a great shop to keep coming back to.

Wow never knew comic stores was so big other than Jellys. They are located way behind eagle cafe…read morenext to (I believe) a korean church. Real orderly (not surprised) and clean large comic book and other fantasy games. They seem to have alot of employees working and stocking. It seemed like a lot of them may have been lacking in social skills or customer service. Upon entering I stood at the main check out counter and a handful of workers looked up saw me and did not acknowledge me or call somebody to help me and nobody smiled. I was about to walk out feeling I was outside to their realm because essentially I was! Just came by to get a gift card. My visit left me with the impression from my experience as "what are you doing here outsider" or "you can wait we dont need your business" kind of vibe. So anyways nice clean well stocked store but the vibe meh!!

A non-profit bookstore in HI Kai! This little gem is such a treasure when you're simply looking…read morefor books or magazines to read, books to keep your kids occupied, or just seeking information on something you are researching. The State of HI government-run HI Kai Library opened in Dec. 1973, and for the next 30 years, the HI Kai Lions Club and Nagoya Lions provided monetary donations and cultural artifacts from Japan, respectively. In Aug. 2013, the Friends of the HI Kai Library opened the HI Kai Community Book Store to assist with the library's funding. Prior to the bookstore's opening, there was thought of using unused space on the ground floor of the library for a bookstore. A group of volunteers, including a carpenter and artist, and assisted by students of Kaiser High School and its Key and Leo clubs, spent much time and effort to enclose and enhance the space to make it look like a bookstore. Many of the volunteers, led by the current Manager, Lillian Yoshimura, were retired teachers who sought operational tips from similar bookstores of the Kaneohe and Kailua public libraries. They also hustled for gently used donations of books, cleaned them, priced them, and sorted them for placement on the shelves. Books were categorized and shelved in different areas: children, young adult, instructional books for teachers and home schoolers, test preparation, juvenile non-fiction, adult fiction, biographies, religion, self-help, business, cooking, crafts and games, foreign, etc. In Aug. 2013 and staffed entirely by volunteers, the HI Kai Community Book Store was open! As with any new entity, it took time for the community to learn that a non-profit bookstore had opened. Signs were placed on the library lawn as traffic whizzed by on busy Lunalilo Home Rd. With regular prices ranging from 50¢ to $3 per book, semi-annual sales of 50% off of its entire inventory during a one-week period were held to thank its patrons. This bookstore has been very successful over the years, as it's now known throughout the HI Kai community. Teachers and parents of little kids are especially happy, as well as the community residents! Improvements have been made over the years to tailor its services to the community: · In addition to books, its inventory has expanded to: - CDs & DVDs - all interests of music, books, films, and blank ones. - Vinyl records - popular, classical, and world. - Sheet music for all instruments. - Calendars, greeting cards, puzzles, world and road maps. - Clean and books that look new are placed in an area for gift giving. · Monthly and pop-up sales of 50% off specific categories of books, e.g., biography, history, and military; cookbooks; adult fiction; children's; home and garden; business, etc. · Story telling, sing-a-longs, and other events for children. · Acceptance of magazine donations that are categorized and placed in an area where they are free for the public at their choosing. Note that every item sold is donated by community residents, and all proceeds benefit the HI Kai Library. The bookstore is selective of what is donated, as items should be stain free, no age spots, no torn pages, and is in saleable condition. No encyclopedia or textbook donations. The bookstore was our lifesaver when we were babysitting our grandkids. Not only was it air conditioned so that we could make use of the cool air during the hot summer days, but we loved to take our grandkids there! They would spend a lot of time there, browsing through the many books. And because the cost of the books was so reasonable, we allowed them to pick as many books as they wanted, which they would later donate back to the bookstore once they had finished reading them. Hubby and I have and continue to make good use of the bookstore. Hubby collects vinyl records of the 1950's and '60's, so he periodically checks the offerings and has gotten some deals! He also reads a lot of novels, so he's constantly on the lookout for certain books. I gravitate to the local cookbooks that are out-of-print, books on chess for our grandson, books on HI by local authors, and books on Christianity and travel when I'm doing research. COVID requirements have affected the bookstore's operation. It was closed for 14 months after COVID started in 2020 and reopened in May 2021. Hours of operation are: Mon/Tues 12:30p - 3:30, Wed/Thurs/Sat 9:30a - 3:30p, Fri/Sat closed. Free parking available in the library's parking lot (21 spaces). COVID compliance required: max 6 shoppers in the store at one time, 20-minute shopping time limitation depending on number of people in line, facial masks, social distancing, and use of hand sanitizer. However, with the recent increase in COVID numbers, the bookstore had closed temporarily in Aug 2021 and will remain so until further notice. We look forward to it reopening again when it is safe, and I'm sure others do too! What a great gem in the HI Kai community!

I love this bookstore! It's like a book sale everyday and this store is better than all those book…read moresale events! Even the annual McKinley one! This bookstore is located at the bottom level of the Hawaii Kai Public Library. You'll walk by it from the parking lot. Their hours are 1230-430pm Monday, 10am-430pm Tuesday-Thursday, 930am-3pm on Saturday, and closed Friday and Sunday. There are so many great deals, and great finds. They have monthly and daily deals (50% off certain types of books or dvds), and a quarterly 50% off everything sale. I have found quite a few difficult to find items here and many great deals. I need to thank the individuals who donate their precious items, the staff and volunteers who work here that always keeps the store clean, well-stocked, organized, and always provide friendly and top-notch service. All the money earned here goes straight to the public library!

Wow. There honestly isn't enough time to go through all the amazing stuff at this collectibles…read moreshow, and I certainly do not have the budget to buy all the amazing things I want. So happy this comes around every 6 months. Thanks to all the organizers and vendors!

My first time at the show! I've always loved vintage, thrifting, flea markets, etc. so I was…read moreexcited to check this out. I heard about it from a sweet Japanese owner of this delicious local plate lunch spot (Pioneer) when I commented on how their vintage decor looked great, and noticed they were selling some of their vintage collectibles. The lady gave me a coupon/flyer to this show. I'm so glad I checked it out, it was so much more crowded than I expected. Over 90+ vendors, so much to look at and treasure-hunt through. Also a great place to discover good vintage sources, since the vendors can only bring a portion of their goods to the show! Price ranged from $1-$2000+ depending on what you're looking for. Bring cash!

Cozy little place nestled in Wahiawa along with other establishments fronting is the main highway…read moreparking is in the back nice lady behind the counter very friendly some really from the past items wow Marie

We stumbled across this vintage store after stopping at the Surfer's Coffee Shop that my friend…read morewanted to introduce me to. We hardly ever get to Wahiawa to walk around and this was one of those Saturdays where we wanted to explore, My friend is sooo into vintage Aloha Shirts and they had a good selection at decent prices. He ended up purchasing two at $20 each, both were in great condition and not the "run of the mill" stuff. We did have a great chat wtih the very personable owner who gave us a tour of the building which was purchased by their non-profit. We were very impressed with the apartments behind the store front where many of the volunteers are housed along with their facilities for homeless. They had restrooms and showers that the homeless could use (they were timed entry) along with a pantry where food was distributed. They also had classrooms including an art and dance room to get troubled younger people interested and out of the streets. It's great to know you are helping a good cause when you are shopping!

Super nostalgic to see a bookstore like this still existing in today's modern time. With the…read moreadaptation of technology and online books I never thought that a store like this would still exist! They had a ton of literature books at every single book and cranny of this store and it was substantial. I saw an old Aesop Fables book that I read when I was younger on the shelves as well - very nostalgic. I'm more of a manga girl so I didn't really see too much nooks that interested me - but if you're really into hardcore literature than this place is definitely it. They had so much books categorized and it felt a bit overwhelming - yet I liked it. I love the smell of books when you walk in, very comforting. I love physical books as well so shops like these are a gem. Had people manning the cashier but mostly just people browsing around enjoying the selection of books. Did not see the price range, but I would assume it is standard in comparison to B&N pricing.

This store is huge in the amount of books it has. It's like your great grandpas library full of…read moredifferent books scattered everywhere, but in some sense of crazy Order, if that makes any sense, your ADHD brain could either be really activated or it could be overstimulated Price is vary. They're all over the place, but there is so much to choose from. The service here is really good unfortunately there was a lady here that tried to use a "" gift certificate that did not work and she was not very polite to the staff The staff handled it really well and they were still polite back, although it made for an uncomfortable experience everybody just carried on, and she proceeded to yell at people behind her as well. Some people just are having a day sometimes. I loved how many things there were to look at I unfortunately had to also think about the fact that I was gonna be flying home with weight but if you're a book lover, definitely stop by and give this place a look at