Sweet Briar Books

Not the best bookstore, but since it’s local, I gave it a shot. A mixture of part used bookstore, part overstock, the place was well-​organized and the clerks were polite. Didn’t find anything of particular interest, but was surprised they were open during Winter Break in a plaza where nearly everything else was closed. I’d gladly come here over the Borders down the street if I knew they had what I needed.

Nice, clean, well-​organized store with reasonable prices, pleasant atmosphere for browsing. Nothing really stands out except for the pleasantness and helpfulness of the staff.
Neither as academic nor as large as you would expect given its location. Does having two medium sized used bookstores in Sacramento make it impossible to have one medium or large bookstore in Davis?

I just moved to Davis, and one of my first stops had to be the local used book store. You can tell a lot about a place by its used books, and I had high hopes for this cute college town.
My first reaction? Eh. I’m willing to give Sweet Briar the benefit of the doubt for now, and I’m sure I’ll find myself wandering back in from time to time (although, it’s a little tucked away for accidentally finding myself there), but the whole place just felt a little. well behaved. Books were all shelved correctly. Signs were all in place. I know it sounds a little silly, but I like my used book stores a little more rough and tumble. A little mustier. Perusing the shelves, I never felt like I was going to accidentally stumble on a gem that had sat gathering dust for years.
Which has its advantages, of course. I also never felt like I’d miss out on the rare slim volume of Ferlinghetti because it had accidentally found itself in the mystery section. Which is fine. That’s great. But give me a store with more shelf space than walking room, and more dust than shelf talkers any day.

I LOVE Sweet Briar!
They have a great selection of books, and if they don’t have it, they’ll put your name on this list and call you when it comes it.
My first time there I almost bought 3 books, but thought it would be super expensive b/​c at Borders 3 books comes out to 40 something dollars.
I bought just one book and it only came out to 3 dollars. How sweet is that?
I’m always gonna go to Sweet Briar.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORES!

Only one review so far? I’m surprised!
I know the owner and her mother (long story), and both are very sweet. The owner tries to employ only helpful, friendly people, and I’ve always found this to be true. Those cute, funky drawings you see up in places, those were made by one of the former staff, which I think shows a good relationship between the owner and her employees.
Dianna is right, that their selection is pretty good, especially for literature. And it’s always nice and quiet, but not awfully so. This is definitely a place I like to check out when I visit Davis.

While it’s not huge, 9 times out of ten they will have what you’re looking for and then some. Overall Sweet Briar has a pretty good selection of literature, and some cheap finds. Happily, it lacks the condescending pretensions of other used bookstores, and the staff is friendly and helpful.