John K King Books North

Do not be deceived, this place is much much larger than it looks.
I like the organization on each of the shelves so you’re not just aimlessly wandering.
Their prices are basement low compared to some other used bookstores, which is handy… more books!
I think it might take a few more trips to really familiarize myself with the selection and layout but I definitely want to go back.

I’ve been coming here for a while. There was a point when I avoided the place, because they had some rude staff of creepy guys there, but that changed at some point.
They have an amazing selection (especially in labor, history, and political). Trouble is, every time I come in looking for something, I never find it, but I end up finding something else and composing a list in my head of what to come back for. They aren’t so well off on graphic novels and comics, but eh. They do have a bit of kink at the counter, if you are really into that (I’m not). They don’t have the collection of VHS tapes they once had.
They got some polite folks there who will walk you right over to help you hunt for a selection or give you a tip on where to find a bathroom.
Do not call looking for selections around the holidays, they will refuse to help you because of the high volume of customers.

Large selection of a variety of books. They prefer to collect vintage, rare types. Will find occasional new-​used book and old postcards. They may accept trade in for store credit. I love used bookstores, will be back.
Street meter parking.

This place has a lot of books. If you like to read books, they have a lot of em.
They sometimes have movies too, if you prefer watching stories instead of reading em.
However, they don’t have any weight benches. So if you wanna work on your biceps, or build a strong core, avoid this place. Unless you can find a book about getting shredded.

A great little bookstore located in the awesome section of Ferndale, spitting distance from the Rust Belt.
The shelves are full, the sections are esoteric (death and dying is one of my favorites) and the staff is unobtrusive and quick to check you out when you are done perusing the stacks. If you love to read, you will love it here.
They can get pricey, especially if you are fond of the oddball. But oddball costs, so swing away.

Bookstores make me happy. Independent stores, and quality used shops, are things of bliss for a bibliophile. Ferndale’s blessing is a branch of the John K. King chain that is to Detroit as Powell’s is to Portland, albeit maybe on a more modest scale. I didn’t learn about that similarity until well after I had slipped past the «We’re having a)(%@!)% sale!» sign on several occasions.
This outpost is fairly small physically but still boasts shelves upon shelves groaning and laden with books. I find the non-​fiction section to be dated; self-​help, nutrition, cookbooks, history guides and the rest are worn with use and probably from the mid-​90s on average. For some people that might not appeal, and for others stricken with B&N/Amazon fatigue, anything different is a blessing. John K. King is to books what a good vintage shop is to clothing, full of oddities and unique pieces not many others are likely to have. And if they do, chalk it up to good or at least varied taste.
The delightfully dusty and a bit musty interior can give me a headache after too long, but the search in here warms my book-​reading and writing soul. My fingers walk along the spines and invariably discover a neat little gem worth some perusal. I almost never walk out without finding something of interest, though I’m not always in a buying mood. Their varied selection is quite well organized, and better than average in price. I don’t feel as though I am being robbed just because I wanted to buy used and spare a tree or promote reducing, reusing, recycling, and such.
My one headache (aside from the smell) is the number of boxes lying about the floor. I despise seeing unsorted books of completely unknown provenance surrounding me, as I so very rarely have the time to dig through them all and see if a desired tome is in there. It’s the reason I love Powell’s so: everything is out on their floor to ceiling shelves, basically; even if it’s more than I can take in all at once without being overloaded, it’s helpful. I don’t worry I’ve missed something. I wish it weren’t so common here. I deserve to be lazy, dammit! I don’t like disorganization, I really don’t.
Staff is knowledgeable and extremely friendly, and they quickly sort through books brought in for trade/​credit or checking your purchases out. I give them a plus for that.
Parking around here, however, is a bitch and then some. The adjacent lot is reserved for the chiropractors who throw down a dozen signs «for patrons only!» The three spots in front are metered, like so much of Ferndale. The free lot around the corner is getting perilously close to the library and the WAB, therefore encompassing some of the most haphazard parking that looks like a pair of three year olds fighting over toy cars smashed them altogether without consideration for anyone else. I can’t exactly walk in and out with books aplenty that way, so it’s a pain to find adequate places to stow the car. I don’t mind walking, but could they work out a spot or two with their neighbours?

Okay. Disregard the majority of what’s below. I had a bad day. Then recently I had a better day and wanted to buy a bunch of stuff. There’s always new (well, old but recent acquired) books out for perusing, and the prices are excellent. Large selection, too.

Great store in an even greater location! For John King’s «B-​side» book store, it has a whole mess of good reads to choose from. I commend its organization; Especially considering the store is bulging at the seems with books. The store is also supported with a well-​seasoned cast of book lovers (in this roster includes a fat cat) that are able and willing to help you. With its knowledgeable, comfortable staff, the experience is only heightened when shopping for your favorite literary piece.

I wasn’t impressed with this location but i gave it three stars for being an independent bookstore. The staff is a little snooty. I prefer the original location downtown.

It isn’t fair to compare JKB North to the flagship, I think. Compared to the other used bookstores in the area (several of which are along Woodward), this store is actually quite good. Not only do they seem to always have my favorite authors, but I’ve also found some great random reads here, priced reasonably. I also haven’t seen any cats walking around in a while, which is always a plus.

This is my go to place in the neighborhood to buy books. The staff is so friendly and helpful and always willing to chat about anything. There is a great selection of books that are fairly priced and there is a cat roaming the aisles (which is a plus for me). I have never walked out of there with less than a stack of books. Thanks for helping me to start building my personal library.

Great little place for a book exchange! Turn your old books in that a read and get new ones! Why not???
I recently took about 10 books in here and got a decent turn around on them. Of course you aren’t going to get a full price, but hey it is better than my books sitting on the shelves.
You can expect to find pretty new releases on their shelves. This store has a good turnaround.
Just remember if you want something brand new and unused stick with Barnes & Noble.
Great book store for the avid reader… stop in and start reading!

I have a feeling that if this shop didn’t have the John King moniker, it might get 5 solid stars. It’s got to be hard to live in the shadow of the other shop. Years ago, my mom bought me a signed copy of an Allen Ginsberg book during the height of my Beat phase. It was priced very reasonably.
Just a few weeks ago, I stopped in and picked up a collection of essays edited by David Foster Wallace, A collection of pop music writing from Christgauand a great book called «The Pop Makers» with some rad photos for under $ 6 total. Not $ 6 a book, my friends, my *total* bill was under six bucks.
I also looked through some great cookbooks, a small section of pulp, and a decent poetry section. The «local» section is interesting too — a mix of local authors and topics relevant to Michigan and Detroit.
Don’t think of this store in relation to the main location, and you’ll be impressed. It may not be a gigantic book warehouse, but still stands on it own merit.

I enjoy this branch of John King books. True, it does not have the multiple floors and amazing variety of the massive downtown branch. However, it is more browsable because it is smaller. I have found lots of good buys here. I have seen better used book stores in other cities (Chicago, Toronto) but this store’s location central to the suburbs and its more manageable size make it a favorite for me here.

Certainly not the original, really good prices, pretty strong collection.
Might be best to avoid comparisons with the original downtown site, if for no other reason than we’re talking about two incredibly different spaces. Downtown is EPIC, while this location is just plain old vanilla HUGE (really, it’s still a giant used bookstore).
The best thing going for John K King is their prices. They’re almost always priced at about what I’m hoping and/​or expect, which, of course depending on the condition and assuming you’re not collecting first editions, tends to be a good notch lower than 50% of the cover price. Most classic and contemporary fiction is going for around 4 bucks. They have a strong fiction collection. They have a strong lefty literature selection. They used to have a strong poetry collection before I raided it, but it’s still pretty big compared to most poetry sections. They have a pretty poor philosophy section and art section. There’s also two enormous «discount bins» in the middle which are impossible to search through. And there are always oddities and goodies up around the cashier.
NB: three people commented on weirdos??? EVERYONE in a used bookstore is a weirdo, don’t try to deny it! there is no «outside»… you’re one of us! mwuahahahahaha…

I don’t want to give this a better review than the one in Detroit because that feels wrong. However, I do really love this bookstore. I like that it’s smaller and the staff is more likely to hold a friendly conversation. The random cat that stalks the aisles is weird but not mean. My friend and I usually end coming in near close but we’re never kicked out or rushed. I’m usually able to walk away with something from the Black Poli Sci section. Also, the discount table usually has a few good choices, if you’ve got ten minutes to search carefully.

I used to be a regular at the downtown John King location, but honestly, I got tired of the brand of weirdos who hang out and/​or work at that one. And the dust really gets to me. Obviously all used book stores are going to be a little dusty, but the JK store downtown adds to it by being very dark and kinda musty.
The Ferndale location is totally different, as far as I’m concerned. No, it’s not as big as the other one. But the selection is still very broad, and the prices are great.
There’s a general quirkiness that seems to come with being an employee at John King Bookstores. I walked in two days ago, and the employee was on the phone saying «yeah, The Bird! Just now! It’s all over the web.» Then I turned the corner and over on the far end of the front counter is a sign that says «I’m Dead Now.» Above that was a book on a small stand and it was recently deceased Tiger’s pitcher Mark «The Bird» Fidrych’s biography. I asked, the sign is always there, the book changes based on recent deaths. It could be a comment on how death tends to cause the worth of media from a recently deceased person to increase, or maybe it’s just general dark humor.
It had been a few years since I’d been in the Ferndale location, and I was surprised at the depth of the fiction paperback section. Some other sections were slightly lacking, but I dare you to go in there and not find a book you want.
One of the problems I used to have with the downtown location is that it’s almost too big. And it gets picked-​over quickly. Rarely would I find anything recent that I wanted. At the suburban location I found «A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius» from David Eggers, and the «Detroit Almanac,» both published in the past decade.
I also noticed that the paperback fiction section seems to be full of books that were turned into cheesy movies, so if that’s your cup of tea, here’s where you find those books cheap.
I may be a Detroiter at heart (and address), but I think I prefer the weirdos and selection at John King’s Ferndale location over the mustiness and overwhelming selection at the one downtown.

Like most used book stores, the aisles at Joh King Books North are a bit cluttered with incoming books that haven’t been thoroughly sorted yet. However, in general, it’s really well organized by topic.
It’s got a lot of well-​priced paperbacks for under $ 5, including a table of 50 cent and $ 1 books. It also carries some rarer stuff at pretty good prices. I found a first edition copy of an Anne Morrow Lindbergh book, hard copy in good condition, for $ 10, for instance.

Very erudite staff, you actually have to pass an extremely hard quiz to get a job here so the people here know their stuff when it comes to authors. Friendly staff, the selection is obviously larger and much better at the Detroit location. Once in a great while you’ll see John King but he hates the suburbs and loves the D. Four stars for the very literate and intelligent staff.

This opinion is coming from someone that has yet to peruse the selection at the original John King in Downtown-​Detroit. The store was interesting and hosted a variety of book and genre selections. I personally would rather buy used books than new books, because I pretty much only read books once. I agree with Janelle that this place wasn’t very organized and there were a few strange people lingering, but overall I thought it was a pretty decent and affordable place to frequent. Perhaps I will change my opinion once I get downtown and see the main store everyone is raving about.