Good used bookstore. Reasonably priced. Very friendly staff. Good selection and a searchable…read moreinventory

I visited Books & Company recently for the first time & completely fell in love with it…read more Apparently, this store used to be in Hamden, but the owner retired & sold the building & the company. This is the new location & new ownership. I had never been to the prior store. I spent a whopping two hours in this little shop. It is set up & well curated like a fancy bookstore, on par with my experience at shops like Athena Books in Greenwich, CT, and Martin House Books (formerly Savoy) in Westerly, RI. It's on the smaller/boutique-style size, so don't expect a massive range of genres, like one would find at the Book Barn in Niantic, CT. There's no coffee shop, but there is a Keurig & water available, and a handful of chairs to sit in. The used fiction books were in good or very good condition, easy to locate in their sections, and priced around $8 for hardcovers if the book retailed $24+. I got two recent NYTimes bestsellers that had been on my wishlist. The children's & young adults books were also well selected, and I bought a handful, ranging in $2-$3/each for paperback & hardcover. The price stickers easily peeled off all of my books without leaving any residue, which I very much appreciated. The gift selection was perfect for stocking stuffers or small mailed gifts, including for nerds, gamers, and musicians. There were bowls full of stickers, $0.25 each, and postcards, $1 each. Funny magnets, like Mincing Mockingbird, were a full $3 cheaper than at other gift shops (e.g. Bowerbird in Old Lyme, CT). There were also some handmade gifts from locals. There's a shelf near checkout with wrapped mystery books. I thought this was the common "buy a date with a random book" thing. It wasn't -- You picked one for free with the purchase of any book in the store. The wrapping is a hint related to the title or theme, and a lot of the wrapping was sustainable, e.g. reusing a helium balloon body or old calendars, etc. I was surprised that the mystery book wasn't tied to a minimum purchase amount (and I wonder if it will be sustainable for the shop's bottom line, I have to admit). I was further amazed that all of the wrapped books were advertised as being at least 3.5+ stars on GoodReads. My mystery book ended up being a pristine paperback copy of "The Time Traveler's Wife." There's a selection of greeting cards as well, but I found those to be the only spot the store was lacking; they were expensive at $6+, and I've seen a lot better selections, e.g. at The Bowerbird, with a larger range of independent artists, at more affordable price points $3-$5. I normally buy a lot of greeting cards when I come across ones that aren't the big box brands (Hallmark has a massive monopoly, omg), but I didn't buy any cards here. There was a free section near the front door, and there was a fill-a-bag sale rack near the front. I asked the cashier/owner a lot of questions, and she was very knowledgeable and helpful. I heard her speaking with others who came in & from my understanding, when you trade in books, you get half their selling value in store credit. All in all, this is one of my favorite used bookstores I've visited, and I will definitely travel to the area again before the holidays to visit it. I would highly recommend it! If you like to shop used/vintage/antiques, there's also a little store next door in the same plaza, but it doesn't have A/C. This book shop does have A/C. =)

Explored this place as a random Yelp find. It certainly takes a minute or two to find being in the…read moreart space multi building parking lot, and figuring out how to get buzzed in by calling, however, there's some really good book hunting here in the decent sized space, particularly if you're a fan of old books. The owner was very friendly and chatty to me and I had a pleasant experience, found a few old reads, and would return. Thanks!

Weird little place in a weird little space. The whole store is under lock and key--one must buzz-in…read moreby telephone request unless one has made a prior appointment to access what could be a browser's paradise. The owner (as he announced himself) is, on every third Thursday of each alternate month, a nice-enough-fellow full of the love of books. But every other day at the store, he cements his love of books at the cost of a passing indifference for his customers that borders on hostility. While the book selection is as comprehensive as it is well-organized, something about the place seems... well... 'off.' It's as though one is being watched--or rather scrutinized--by unseen eyes, suspicious you may be replacing a book in the wrong place, disturbing the piles of rarities without regard to how the newly imbalanced feng-shui will impact the owner as he lingers scowling from the sequestered bowls of the shop. The books are, nevertheless, excellent and priced clearly in the "almost-too-expensive-but-still-just-affordable" range. Comparatively, the prices here are fair to good. You will not be finding any shocking bargains or hidden but neglected treasures here. The books are carefully selected, after all, and intended to turn a profit for the owner. After all, buying low and selling high is the name of the game--and yet, listening in on the owner's bargaining with one collector attempting to sell her books, I'd say there are fairer prices to be had from other buyers. But after exhaustive talks ranging from condition to author popularity (when has it been hard to sell Orwell?), she settled on a price with our peculiar host all the same. It was, in a word, creepy. Upon leaving with my new acquisitions, I was reminded of John Locke's description of this weird trade which combines refined erudition with predatory avarice: "Printers, binders, sellers, and others that make a trade and gain out of them have universally so odd a turn and corruption of mind, that they have a way of dealing peculiar to themselves, and not conformed to the good of society, and that general fairness that cements mankind." True enough of this odd little place, I thought. And then I went home, placed the books on my desk, and retired to take a nice long shower.

My wife and I are driving around Connecticut (we grew up here, but many many years ago) and are…read morehitting up some local book shops while in the area. We were making our way through West Hartford when we stumbled across the River Bend Bookshop and just had to check it out. This shop is super cool looking because it's basically just inside of a small apartment. The shop itself has a cozy New England vibe and has a small to large section of pretty much every genre. Sadly, the horror section seems to be one of the smaller sections but hey, I don't live here, so clearly they know what their customers are looking for. Near the cash registers they have a nice selection of merch for the shop (sadly, no River Bend Bookshop Magnet) and a cool section dedicated to local authors and stuff like that. Overall, River Bend Bookshop is a super nice little book shop for the area and definitely a place worth checking out. Sadly, I didn't make a purchase on this trip because I can only fly back to LA with so much stuff, but I very much enjoyed checking this place out.

This is one of those places I wish I had growing up in CT. I make it a point to try and stop in…read morewhenever I'm back. This place just has that cozy, local charm that you won't find at other bookstores. The selection is great, the prices are fair, and their selection of bookmarks is pretty amazing. Could'a left with ten, but I need to cut back.

I ordered a shirt as a gift and was sent the incorrect item that was of lesser value. I am out of…read morestate, so returning to the store is not an option. After multiple phone calls and emails with proof provided I was told by the store manager that the order was correct and I could return it by mail if I didn't want it, at my expense. Terrible customer service and an overall disappointing experience. I was a student and a volleyball player at the university and will not be ordering from there again.

Large bookstore much like what you'd see or many other college campuses. It has anything you need…read moreplus lots of branded merch options. Starbucks is conveniently located in the front of the store as an added bonus.

I am so grateful they had a sign pointing the direction of Whitlocks Book Barn on the main road - I…read morewasn't 100% expecting it to be in a residential area. But it is, and the store itself is lovely with the books split between two barns. The upper barn (as was explained to me) is where the majority of their fiction is and the best prices on used books. The lower, or main, barn with the cash register has their newer and rarer inventory. The floor is a bit warped so just be careful with your step. They do accept credit cards despite the initial appearance of a vintage register.

Neat place. Two…read morebarns off the main track. Good prices on used books and a cool atmosphere. It's been here since 1948, a very hidden gem.

Grey Matter is heaven in a used bookstore! It has such a large and extensive collection of titles…read morein every category. I am particularly impressed by its offerings in art, theology, philosophy, literary theory, and literature. (Where else could I find, to my delight, a copy of Julia Kristeva's Desire in Language, which was a work cited and consulted in my master's thesis so many years ago? It was like bumping into an old friend.) Some first editions reside inside glass display cases. Academic titles abound. The store is impeccably organized and there are no boxes of incoming titles obstructing one's view or path. They have a pile of free books near the door and a rack of titles for $1.00 each both outside as well as inside. Grey Matter is a must when book shopping in New Haven. (And I think I'll be back to pick up that title by Kristeva!)

Our bellies were full and we needed to burn off some calories while in downtown New Haven, so my…read morefriends took my wife and I over to Grey Matter Books since we are big readers and don't care to just walk into the Barnes and Noble down the street. From the moment you walk into this place you are slapped in the face with the lovely smell of used books. This shop is filled from front to back with thousands of used books all separated in little sections. This place definitely doesn't have a ton of newer titles, but is definitely the type of place you can spend an hour or so in just digging through everything and finding some weird and quirky reads. Overall, Grey Matter Books is a very solid used book store with a wide array of different types of books. Although I didn't leave with anything (I live in LA so I can only travel with so many new books, which is a shame) this place is definitely somewhere I'll continue to stop at when visiting Connecticut in the future.

In all the years I have stepped into this shop the staff are friendly, authentic and knowledgeable,…read moreproviding unique and varied items to peruse, discuss or purchase. This is a welcoming peaceful sacred space.

They erase bad reviews, worst business ever... not a single helpful or even an approachable…read moreemployee on site

I stopped in on a Saturday afternoon in late January. I live pretty close by, but tend to hibernate…read morein the winter time and don't venture out too often to explore, other than errands or specific plans. I started following them on social media, specifically Instagram, when they popped up, promoting some sort of book club activity. It sounded like something I'd be interested in the future, so I made sure to keep tabs on this place. While scrolling I saw they were having a perfume pop-up, and I didn't have any plans that afternoon, so I figured it was a good time to finally check it out. I made sure to skip lunch so that I'd have room for coffee and a pastry while I was there. The space is definitely cozy and it feels like you're hanging out in someone's living room. I ordered just a simple cappuccino and an apple danish which was warmed up for me. The woman at the counter told me I can have a seat, and that she would bring it over to me. I decided on a seat in a separate room, where there were small tables so that I can put my food and drink down, and because I had brought a book. The perfume was set up nearby, and I had a nice conversation with that woman, as well. There was a band setting up, but I did not have a chance to hang around and listen. The danish was very good and so was my coffee. They post on their social media often and it seems they have a lot of cool stuff going on. I hung around for about one hour and it was only later that I saw online that they have things for purchase, so I will definitely have to return and browse. I'm excited that Meriden has this cool spot and I'm really looking forward to visiting more often.

I saw some reviews on social media about this place and decided to try it out. it looked like a…read morefamily owned place. I got a drink and it was great. Everything looked good and the place is cutely decorated but I am very worried about the family. It looked like a mother son and daughter working there. The mom and sister were screaming at the son and were slamming things around while customers were present. the sister especially was so mean. On social media she looked so cheerful and smiley which made me want to come here, but in person not at all. I won't go back. Oh well.