Northtown Books

They have or will easily get whatever you need or desire! Comfy chairs for skimming and pre reading. Great complimentary book marks of all kinds!

My favorite Arcata bookstore. People working there were alway really nice. Great selection of books and magazines. Feel free to browse. You never feel rushed. Relax and find a good book to read. Great clearance section too! The two men that own it are also very nice. A+

Excellent INDEPENDENT bookstore. I find what I want to read online and then go buy it at Northtown. If they don’t have it, they will cheerfully order it. Good selection of quality books & a good sale table, too.

Great local store. Drifted in here looking for a newspaper but found lots of great books. I had to hold myself back from buying too many books that I did not even know I needed!

Love this bookstore. It is the perfect place to find a gift for anyone. It is not overwhelming because the owner/​buyers select only the best. Only thing missing is the coffee bar. It is down the street though. Take a book with you. Max, the poodle is adorable, too.

I don’t get up to Arcata (The Berkeley of the North) often enough. I particularly love the «Ying and Yang» between this town and nearby Eureka and enjoy the «Aren’t We Precious?» Progressive vibe, the square, and of course Northtown Books. It’s a great place to hang, read, wand watch. Local authors and periodicals are a strong suit, and online ordering is available.

I bought a book for a gift and asked if I could get it gift wrapped, which seems pretty standard at bookstores. I was told:“We don’t do that, but there is wrapping paper, tape, etc. at the end of the counter.”
OK, that’s fine. I was expecting to find a roll of paper but instead there was a small box of wrapping paper scraps. I had to patch together two pieces to cover the $ 30 book I had just bought. Whatever…

Great bookstore-​great staff. It’s small, so maybe not the biggest selection. But very good. The biggest selection seem to be in children and travel – not exactly what I was looking for. But that’s okay. It’s the kind of bookstore you hope sticks around in the age of e-​books and Amazon.

My God! I’m almost willing to move to Arcata just so I can be close to Northtown Books. The awesomeness of the Redwwods themselves are dwarfed by the coolness of this bookstore. We stopped in to browse while killing a little time. Stayed for an hour. Ate lunch then went back. I stayed in the car while the kids went in with their own saved-​up money to buy books. If you have kids you know this can be an iffy situation. Many store employees are rude to or suspicious of lone children. Not here. My 10 year old came back to the car talking excitedly about how the woman at the register had been so friendly and talked to him about the book he was buying. Incredible selection — almost a museum of literature — and friendly people? Hard to believe, but it’s true.

A nice little place. Their staff is always amazing (and cute) and they keep it so clean and organized… a big relief from Border’s in Eureka. Being Humboldt County, their stuff tends to be more on the liberal side… but easy to look past, considering the area. Being such a small place, they may not have EVERYTHING but they are very up with the times (in literary assortment and in mere newspaper selection). It’s hard to choose since they’re so close to two other bookstores, but their service is great and the store is maintained so much better while still looking like a bookstore, not a pristine gallery or cluttered bibliophile’s house.

An absolute mecca for booklovers, the only thing that could improve this place is more square footage so they could expand their fantastic selection. In other words, if you love perusing books, this place is heaven, mainstream and alternative selections, any interest, any style, pure book fun.

Great magazine selection that totally dwarf’s Borders, incredible deals on older releases and totally up to date as any college town bookstore should be.

Great bookstore! Great staff! This local store has just about everything – a solid collection of the top-​selling reads, plus a variety of titles I had not seen before, which piqued my interest. They also had a few sale tables with books priced as low at $ 5.
Like all great bookstores, they had a few fun, funky gifts (Wonder Woman stationary, anyone?) and gift cards. They even sold those old-​school book plates (the stickers that you write your name on to place inside the cover of your books so your roommate remembers to return them to their rightful owner).
Another unique, quality touch: free, do-​it-​yourself gift wrap in the fanciest papers with a selection of ribbon and gratis, tiny cards to complete the package. I was tempted to wrap up the book I had purchased for myself just so I could use the delicate paper! The store clerk and I joked about that, and she admitted that it’s hard for her not to spend her whole paycheck on the fancy papers they sell. You should definitely check this place out!

Great bookstore. Helpful staff. They’ll order anything they don’t have. Great selection of local writers, books on nature, flora, fauna, travel. Good graphic arts & graphic novel collection. Great magazine selection. They host their own book club as well, I believe.

A very nice upscale literature bookstore I’d say. Newspapers from all over. If you wanted to find out what was going on they are in the loop here.