This morning, Rebecca and I headed over to Green Apple Books and Music store on Clement St. We both love bookstores, and used bookstores in particular. I'm always in search for a good bargain and Green Apple is pretty close to campus, so it seemed like a good idea.
The thing that struck me about Green Apple is how much stuff they have. Their seas of shelves are packed with books, DVDs, and CDs. The store itself is pretty old and has that nice neighborhood bookstore feel. The ancient wooden flooring creaks and is pretty scratched up do to decades of booklovers wandering up and down the aisles. Just exploring the layout of the store itself is an adventure. From the outside, the store doesn't look very big. But one step inside reveals otherwise. It seemed like every corner we turned there was another room, or another staircase, or another hidden section. It was pretty awesome. We spent about fifteen minutes looking around the store for the used fiction area. And then we saw a sign that the used fiction area, along with the dvd and music section, was in their store annex three doors down. They had a pretty good selection of everything.
The only complaint I have is that the prices aren't as cheap as I thought they would be. The average price range for the books I looked at was $5-$10. While that's still cheaper than paying retail, Bay Books (the used bookstore in my hometown) carries books I like for as cheap as $2-$4. Plus, I can even go to the Alameda County Library in Dublin and buy softbounds for $0.50.
In honor of my love for bookstores, I have made it my mission to visit every independent bookstore in San Francisco. So, Green Apple: check.